Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

In this dull Space Gray and Rose Gold world, Huawei’s designers are working on a great phone that doesn’t just perform well. It breaks the barriers of smartphone CMF. So much focus has been given to phone’s fronts that the back now seems like an afterthought. Huawei’s P20 treats the back with just as much importance, making it look as pretty as a picture because if you can set a beautiful wallpaper on your display, your phone’s back needs to shine through as well, looking just as visually pleasing as the front. Sorry, Google Pixel. You tried, but your Kinda Blue was rather insipid and unimpactful.

There’s a great deal of composition in the P20’s colors. The hues look remarkable, and you stop to notice the phone in its entirety, rather than how most phones use super-glossy finishes and creative lighting to showcase beautiful highlights on their bodies. Their colors usher in what I believe is a renewed Nokia Lumia movement (Nokia’s Lumia phones were famous for their dazzlingly delicious colors). These shades and finishes elicit joy out of me the way scrolling through Design Seeds would. There’s something refreshing about them and makes them look premium and great at the same time (my heart belongs to that purple-blue gradient). It’s a shame most of us would cover them with protective cases, however.

Designers: Huawei

A circular/cylindrical writing instrument being the physical standard seems quite interesting. We’ve worked with everything from hexagonal pencils, to super-thin quills, to rectangular sticks of charcoal… so I see no reason any drawing/writing instrument needs to be circular.

The Ko-Axis™ Rail Pen uses that very observation to stand out from the rest. Designed to work like a pen but look more like a modern age sonic-screwdriver from Doctor Who, the Ko-Axis™ is thin, metallic, and looks/feels remarkable.

The pen’s non-cylindrical design may be a differentiating factor, but it’s provided a good amount of positives as a result. Fingers don’t cramp from holding something flat that doesn’t press into your skin, the pen doesn’t roll off flat surfaces, storing the pen with something as flat as a notebook seems much more comfortable.

The Ko-Axis™ pen’s flat design comes made from metal. Available in titanium and aluminum variants, the pens feature a two-rail system and a sliding mechanism that exposes and hides the pen’s refill. Using powerful earth magnets to secure the sliding component, the Ko-Axis™ feels robust and reliable as the metal-to-metal interface allows the intermediary component to slide from A to B with precise mechanical brilliance, before snapping to the end with a satisfying click. Designed to be functional but feel playful, the sliding mechanism has a fidget-quality to it, making you want to hold the pen more and interact with it when not writing anything.

Changing the refill on the Ko-Axis™ is as simple as pulling the old refill out and putting a new one in. The pen uses the industry standard D1 ink refill which sits conveniently between the two metal rails, looking like a part of the pen, rather than an external refill. The ease with which you can replace the Ko-Axis pen’s refill mirrors the ease with which you use the pen. There’s literally nothing that’s complicated about the rail pen.

Designed to look great from afar and feel great in your hand, the Ko-Axis™ pen is a simple, well-designed, and well-manufactured multi-sensory delight. At just 6mm thin, writing with the flat pen feels refreshingly great, while its metal construction not only feels premium to the touch, it ensures you’ll be using (and showing off) this pen for years to come!

Designer: TEC Accessories

Click here to Buy Now: $49.00 $79.95

Actuation:

Upon closer inspection of the Ko-Axis™ Rail Pen, you will discover that the aluminum bronze grip slider contains the ink cartridge. By implementing this clever design, it is impossible for the pen to accidentally retract while writing. The ink refill is always present when you need it and never when you don’t. We have painstakingly integrated eight ultra-strong neodymium magnets into the end stop positions to ensure perfect engagement, and eliminate any potential for movement of the mechanism while writing.

Writing Experience:

The Ko-axis™ transforms the act of writing into a wonderful experience. From the first time you extend the ink refill, you’re hooked. The rectangular shape of the Ko-axis™ rests gently in the crease of your hand and lands comfortably in your thumb-and-finger pinch. The shallow divot in the finely polished aluminum bronze offers the perfect spot for your pointer to land every time. The weight distribution of the pen was carefully calculated to rest in your hand without applying any torque to your fingers that would tire your hand in a late-night writing session. The Aluminum Edition is the featherlight member of the Ko-Axis™ family. The aluminum body allows the pen to float effortlessly across page after page. The Titanium Edition has 25% more mass than its aluminum brother, providing a solid and comfortable resilience that will last a lifetime. Every titanium model affords a rock-solid, stable action and exudes confidence in every word it writes.

Click here to Buy Now: $49.00 $79.95

This concept is so simple, it seems silly! I mean that in the best way possible. Its named “Secondary Area” and that’s a seriously perfect summarization of the design. Just clamp it on to any object to create a small addition to your square footage!

It’s really nothing more than a little extra area on your desk top, work table or any other surface on which it can clamp. On an entryway table, it’s an ideal spot for keys. At your desk, maybe its a place to keep your coffee elevated and out of the way. In pink and gold, it’s as much a style statement as it is a functional furniture addition.

The Secondary Area is a winner of the Asia Design Prize for the year 2018.

Designers: Yang Kyung Seob, Han Hee Joo & Song Su Jin

I, like many people, fell in love with the concept of multi-functionality long before I knew what it really was thanks to a little 1980s cartoon called Inspector Gadget! The weird and wacky detective had all sorts of multipurpose tools at his disposal and I imagine if he had a wallet, it’d be a lot like this one! It’s called CLIPPY and it’s perhaps the most versatile and useful wallet out there.

This pocket-size, magnetic, multi-tool can be used for a variety of handy functions like keeping your headphone cables in order, marking your book, acting as a paperclip, and even as a fidget device! Of course, it also keeps your cards and cash clipped and organized. Available in any imaginable Pantone color, you can customize yours to your precise style preference!

Designer: Ivan Shmatko for aiia

You’ve probably heard of biomimicry as a design trend but have you ever heard of animal architecture mimicry? Designed just for bird watchers of the Pape Nature Preserve in Latvia, Glint is an architectural exploration inspired by the way birds build their own nests and other structures. It utilizes this unique form of wildlife mimicry to place steel, timber and OSB in a similar form as a bird’s nest.

The resulting organic shape blends in to the serene setting of the park. Perched high above the ground, visitors can view bird specimens and other wildlife from the comfort of a sturdy vertical platform where they can enjoy and appreciate nature without disturbing. Check out the elevations and renderings. They’re works of art in themselves!

Designer: Keremcan Kırılmaz & Erdem Batırbek