Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

If you’ve ever had your hard drive crash, you know that losing you data is devastating! Currently, we’re limited to cloud storage or saving on an external hard drive to back up. However, there seems to be a great disconnect between the two. “Y” is an external SSD hard drive that is here to streamline your digital world by giving you the ability to access, save, edit, and erase from any connected device.

This expandable, customizable hard drive stores your irreplaceable in a secure, convenient, user-friendly way. The drive opens easily and can be unlocked by sliding your finger around the LED display in the center or directly from the downloaded iPhone app. In seconds, Y gives you the ability to insert or remove up to six SSD drives, customizing the size of your external drive.

Y offers the fastest data transfer speeds possible via USB-C or Bluetooth. It also features a fast save option for SD cards for when you are in a hurry and your card is already full. It will quickly save these files in a folder of which you may choose the location. Capable of being mounted on a wall or placed at the center of a communal desk, Y is also extremely convenient in the workplace, allowing colleagues to simultaneously access, edit, and save important data or designs. Save locally, in the cloud, or both!

Designer: Adrian Berr

Yes, there’s a high chance it could! Experts estimate that discarded fishing nets make up for a staggering 10% of the plastic pollution in our oceans and there’s no denying that these things, literally designed to trap marine life, wreak havoc if not disposed of carefully. California based Bureo decided to turn potentially lethal waste into a resource by converting those fishing nets into plastic pellets that they could then use as a raw material. Originally started as a skateboard manufacturing company, Bureo partnered with Jenga to make their popular block-stacking game out of recycled plastic.

As a part of their Net Positiva programme in Chile, Bureo would set up multiple waste collection points to source their raw material, and each box of Jenga Ocean would comprise as much as 25 square feet of recycled netting. The Jenga pieces are made 100% from recycled fishing nets, and they even feature images of the marine life they’ve saved on the blocks! Who knew playing Jenga could be eco-friendly?!

Designer: Bureo for Jenga

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When life gives you lemons… make a salad! That’s straight from the mouth of designer Gil Cohen who’s just revealed Lemoniere. It’s a handy kitchen gadget that makes adding a touch of lemon juice to salads and other food items a cinch. Its form is familiar for amateur gardeners and landscape artists alike, mimicking the essential shape of a classic watering can. The integrated lemon squeezer is also intuitive to use and ensures every last drop ends up in the reservoir! After squeezing, just tip to pour!

Designer: Gil Cohen for PELEG DESIGN

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This at home ovulation-checking kit by Sungick Jo and Hyeonjin Seo helps hopeful parents hone in on the woman’s most fertile days to increase chances of pregnancy. By detecting the LH surge that happens 24-36 hours before ovulation, it can help find the best time to try getting pregnant. Because it actually detects the hormonal changes associated with ovulation, it’s also more accurate than calendar and temperature methods when it comes to predicting fertile days.

The smart design consists of a charging station, oral thermometer unit, and smartphone app. By conducting a quick oral test every morning, the user can stay on top of their ovulation cycle. Data is automatically uploaded to the easy-to-understand smartphone app where the user an track their progression and view their calendar.

Designers: Sungick Jo & Hyeonjin Seo

The art of handwritten literature and letter writing is upheld by only a few and rarely seen. Which is a shame considering the true beauty of the process and the careful consideration given to the writing implements. Juwon Lee is one designer who understands the intricacies involved with these writing implements and has designed an elegant, modern version of the fountain pen with a complete set called Ilias – honoring the story of Iliad, said to have been written by Homer in the eighth century B.C.

Iliad tells the story of a variety of heroes that entering the war between Troy and Greece, so it comes as no surprise that the Ilias fountain pen carries similar design language to that of a spear, tying the weapon of words and a weapon of war together. The pen itself has a gorgeous matte black overview but is accented by a rose gold material, adding a serious touch of class to the product.

Not just a fountain pen, the Ilias is a complete set with three replacement cartridges, inkwell, a silicone mold for the use of wax sealing envelopes and a warranty card all neatly laid out in a sophisticated box, mirroring the design language it contents.

Designer: Juwon Lee

Without a sense of scale, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell the Nest foot massager apart from a chair. That’s pretty much a positive for the Nest, since its aesthetic complements the inside of a salon or a spa, with its curves and colors.

Sitting atop the Nest is its foldable cover that is sure to remind you of Apple’s iPad cases and the way they fold open and closed. Its presence helps bring a contemporary/modern touch to the massager, while the splash of colors aim to excite while the machine itself was designed to relax. Available in a variety of fresh colors, the Nest can be used with or even without the cover (which magnetically snapps on and off). It comes with the ability to tilt back, and cleverly conceals the control panel in a hatch at the back of the device, away from view while still remaining accessible when needed.

Designers: U designgroup and Martin Gschwandtl for Johnson

Any musician worth their salt will tell you that while electronic instruments offer a larger degree of control, they feel impersonal. A lot gets lost in converting electrical signals into audio, and this lack of expressiveness is what makes them sound robotic.

Flux, however, brings gesture control to the electronic instrument, allowing musicians to add their own personal touches and imperfections that help make the music sound natural. Made out of wood to give the instrument a natural feel, the Flux comes with buttons and a capacitive touch surface that records everything from the position of your fingers, to the angle, to even gestures, making sure the electronic audio signal captures as many details as possible. Designed to embody the aesthetic of high-end music equipment, the Flux lets you be as expressive as you would with an acoustic instrument while retaining full electronic control!

The FLUX is a winner of the Red Dot Design Concept Award for the year 2017.

Designer: Andrea-Alexandra Radulescu for ENSCI

Imagine if you could take a part of your travel experiences and preserve them in time in your house… The Whim does just that. Taking inspiration from the undulating rock formations seen at the Wave in Arizona, Whim’s form oscillates between geometric and organic, striking a balance between man-made design and nature’s design.

The Whim’s design makes for a great play of light and shadows, taking cues from how picturesque Arizona’s rock formations look in the daytime. The semi-circular unit houses an LED strip within, which shines on the organic forms at the opposite end of the circle, creating a dramatic, neo-minimalist halo of order and chaos, light and shade. The forms make for a great sculptural lighting unit and can be either wall-mounted, hung from above, or used as a table/floor lamp. Either which way, for people who’ve explored and loved Arizona’s geological wonders, the Whim is a beautiful way to preserve those memories in a format that’s utilitarian, aesthetic, and most importantly, non-traditional!

Designer: Rhea Mehta