Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

How does Vader like his tea? Burning hot! Although he doesn’t complain if it’s Luke-warm either…

The Fowndry’s hilarious, quirky kettle pays tribute to one of cinema’s most popular villains. Designed with a silhouette that uncannily resembles Vader’s helmet, the Darth Vader Kettle comes made in Stainless Steel and Plastic, has a 1.7L capacity, and a whistle that the creators describe as being powerful enough to “awaken the Force”!

We’re loving every bit of the adaptation, especially the handle that was designed to resemble the grip of Darth Vader’s lightsaber. Great for brewing up some tea or boiling water “with barely suppressed rage”, the Darth Vader Kettle is an officially licensed product and becomes available from the 19th of March, although pre-orders are open right now!

Designer: The Fowndry

Click Here to Buy Now

Click Here to Buy Now

Whether you don’t have time to make it to the masseuse or you’ve got a significant other with stingy hands, it’s important to treat yourself to a good massage every once in a while if not for the good feels, for the health benefits. This is especially true if you’ve got a desk job or are confined to a seat all day. Designed with this in mind, the Relacher Muscle Massager includes a neck and shoulder massager, posture detector and a mobile app that work together to ease back and shoulder pain.

Unlike other devices that simply correct posture by alerting the user when they’re slouching, the massage feature also soothes and relaxes the muscles to release tension and stress. Don’t worry, if you get too relaxed and start slouching it will send an alert direction to your smartphone. Using the dedicated ReLacher app, users can see how their posture is progressing and customize their massage type to fit their unique needs.

Designer: Shuang Lin

The Double Shot water purifier is one that your pet will love too! It earns its namesake for the companion water dispenser located at the foot that provides fresh H20 to any and all your pets at home or in the office.

The eco-conscious design ensures that any unused water ends up back in the lower bowl so it doesn’t go to waste. The unit also features a sensor system that detects when pets approach and will automatically refill their bowl if it’s empty. With its bead-blasted aluminum and stainless steel accents, it’s also aesthetically less invasive compared to other standalone water dispensers despite having the bonus Fido-loving functionality!

Designer: Jeonghyun Ahn

Run this comparison for me. Imagine having to pay for electricity every month, all your life. Electricity to power your phone, laptop, tablet, watch, etc. Or imagine the flipside. Owning a solar panel and a battery, and not having to pay for electricity, but rather, capturing your own.

Flextech has truly spearheaded the solar-friendly-consumer movement. Their range of solar panels (which we’ve admired and spoken of at length) help you tap into our solar system’s largest energy source to power your lives. Their latest offering, the SunPack backpack, is the most useful in their series of products. Giving you storage for your devices as well as the means to charge them.

If you hate electricity bills or having to look for plug-points, and you love backpacks, the SunPack may just be the best backpack for you. With Flextech’s powerful, weatherproof solar panel integrated into it, just being outdoors is enough to generate electricity! Designed to seamlessly integrate (and show off) Flextech’s solar panels, the bag comes with all the features you’d want from a good backpack. Compartmentalized storage, waterproof design, anti-theft locking, RFID blocking pockets for your cards, and integrated USB and headphone jack for juicing your devices and listening to music on the go. What steals the show, however, remains Flextech’s solar panels. Designed to be hardy and flexible, the panels are waterproof, dustproof, and generally weatherproof. Designed with an undulating texture, the panels can capture solar power efficiently at any time of the day, no matter where they’re facing (i.e., they don’t need to directly face the sun).

The solar panel on the SunPack is detachable, and slides into its own compartment when not in use. If you do want to take it out, snap it to the magnetic patch on the front of the backpack to secure it and keep it in place. Both the patch and the panel come with reflectors too, allowing the backpack and its wearer to be visible in low-light conditions (on the road, etc). The panel connects to the USB outlet on the bag, allowing you to power any of your gadgets (from your phones to drones) or even store the power for later in an external power bank. Just being outdoors or even in ambient light is enough to generate energy… so why would you pay for electricity when you can just tap into the world’s largest free energy source?!

Designers: Iris Liu & Lillian Wang

Click here to Buy Now: $59.00

1. Captures more sunlight and increase the solar absorption rate by 5%.
2. Non-adhesive surface, stain-resistant and can be easily cleaned by rain or damp cloth.
3. Lightweight, UV resistant, durable and long lifespan.

Charge any USB devices.

Last but not least, with SunPack on your back, you will never again have to worry about driving a bike or ridding a cycle during night. Reflective panels make you an easy target to spot from a distance.

Click here to Buy Now: $59.00

You’re never too young to start forming good habits and that’s especially true when it comes to dental health and hygiene. This clever collection of brushes by Studio HSNDGR aims to provide a fun, aesthetically friendly way to teach kids how to take care of their teeth!

Each brush in the set of three has a unique, toy-like shape complimented by vibrant colors that little ones will love. Clad in flexible, soft rubber, they’re also durable and have a tactile grip that won’t slip out of tiny hands. A sonic vibrating feature and integrated LED light are activated with the simple push of a button. Designed to be a subscription service, new brush heads will arrive at your door automatically to ensure you’re getting the most effective clean.

Designer: Studio HNSDGR

Designed for children from ages 0 to 8, both form and function match perfectly to skills and habits in different stages of life. At first Mom or Dad will help with these special soft bristled and round-happy sunshine-good-grip models. Little ones over the age of 3 can learn and master using the tripod with 2 hands. Later they can get a toothbrush that resembles Mom or Dad’s.

Not just for geometry geeks, the Pi bike is a functional twist on the fixie that was just released on 3/14, otherwise known as Pi Day (and, coincidentally, Albert Einstein’s bday)! The design applies the familiar shape of the pi (π) symbol to the frame of the bike. This far-out fixed gear’s high, flat top and low handlebars gives riders an extremely aggressive stance that looks anything but math nerd!

But was it as easy as pie to make?! Not quite. Before making molds, the designers sketched out the frame shape, tweaked the form using scale models made out of cardboard and plywood, and then cast the frame out of resin. After casting, it was sanded down and assembled by hand to form the fully functioning version you see today.

Designers: Tadas Maksimovas, Martijn Koomen & Tang Yau Hoong

The Pi Bike is a fixed gear bicycle handmade out of carbon fiber in the shape of pi (π) symbol.

Aside from the food wastage problem this world faces, there’s also a space wastage problem that goes unnoticed. Containers that go in your kitchen cupboard or cellar are usually uniformly sized, but your food quantities never are. The result is a set of half-empty or nearly jars that still occupy the same space as the full ones, filling your cabinets with empty space rather than actual food. In comes the 1/2 Smart Storage System, an air-tight, telescopic jar that grows large or small tailoring itself exactly to the quantity of food you have.

Its innovative valved lid, gasket, and transparent construction make it perfect for any type of food. Made from BPA free, food grade plastic, the 1/2 Smart Storage System grows to 32 ounces and shrinks to 16, allowing you to store more containers in the same space as before by using up every bit of space. Just expand the jar, open the lid, and pour your contents in before closing the lid and pressing down on the top. Air releases from the valve on the jar’s lid, packing your food in tightly not only to make the jar more compact but to also remove excess air from inside the container, keeping your food fresher for longer. The swoosh sound it makes when you expel the excess air from inside the jar almost acts as an auditory reassurance that your food is air-locked and preserved well. The jar’s ability to shapeshift makes it ideal for every cabinet size, given its one-size-size-fits-all design… Plus it’ll make your cookie jar always look full, so you’re less likely to refill the thing every time it reaches half capacity!

Designer: Terence Myers (Botto Design)

With emotional disorders and mental health now getting as much importance as physical health, it only seems fitting to not just have a physical medical first aid kit, but an emotional first aid kit too, to instantly treat emotional stress/trauma.

Rui Sun’s Emotional First Aid Kit is not just one of a kind, but also a first of its kind. Designed to alleviate stress, anger, self-doubt, depression, etc. (without medication), the Emotional First Aid Kit is quirky and playful. The paraphernalia within rely on unconventionally-developed albeit effective tools to help us overcome emotional barriers in uniquely creative ways (reminiscent of IDEO’s MonYay collection).

The kit comes with five products. The Indigo Third Eyeglasses are a pair of playful kaleidoscope glasses that let you look at things differently, bringing a sense of wonderment and a different perspective on life as you see it. The Purple Breathing Mask is an instant de-stresser. Equipped with the scent of violets, breathing through the mask brings the calming effects of breathing into a paper bag with the additional advantages of aromatherapy. The Blue stress buster is a megaphone that visualizes sound in blue ink. Screaming into it not only helps you release pent-up anger, but also helps create art out of it. The Green Mediating Stethoscope comes in pairs, allowing two people who’ve just had an argument to listen to each other’s heartbeats. It puts the argument into perspective, reminding you of the emotional aftermath of such fights. Listening to a beating heart also helps you calm down. Lastly, the Yellow Confidence Booster is a super-light padded jacket that when worn, gives you the feeling of being in a secure safe shell, and also having a puffed chest (a sign of confidence). It helps people with low self-esteem to feel secure and more confident in solving dilemmas or addressing uncomfortable situations.

Rui Sun’s Emotional First Aid Kit makes us feel less like adults with insurmountable problems and more like children, with its quirky playful nature. Reminding us that being carefree is a truly beautiful way to stay happy, the Emotional First Aid Kit helps you tackle and rise above your problems in an instant, just as any first aid kit should!

Designer: Rui Sun