Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

Sous vide has largely been limited to restaurants but the Chef Sous Vide Machine makes it possible for anyone to enjoy this precision cooking from the comfort of home. This elegant countertop appliance, about the size of a microwave, is styled like a vintage stove with minimalistic controls and brass detail. Users can simply adjust the temperature settings to the requirements of the food being cooked, drop in the vacuum-sealed item, and set the timer to cook it to perfection. The vessel will keep water circulating to maintain temperature across all parts so you can set it and forget it! To save valuable counter space, it features a built-in mini oven in the lower section so you can ditch your toaster and make room for Chef!

Designer: Jaehyuk Lim

The temperature can be adjusted precisely as desired and it provides ease of use via the Quick Menu.

What I love about crowdfunding campaigns is that when they’re done right, they create this tight-knit community where maker and consumer coexist in appreciation of one another. Much like an indie musician with a small, loyal fanbase; campaigners too have a close relationship with the people they serve, often listening to the feedback that comes from them, and creating the most consumer-centric products ever. Crowdfunding has let Jared Morse amass a worldwide fanbase for his leather products who actively participate in the design process, offering critical feedback to create high-quality, low-cost, consumer-driven leather gear.

The Sitka Messenger Bag is a result of that feedback. Designed with an aesthetic that’s literally a class apart, the Sitka is the perfect bag for work, no matter what it is you do. Built with loads of space on the inside, the Sitka lets you efficiently store your laptop along with notebooks, chargers, and is even space-optimized for fitting DSLRs. The bag comes with a detachable shoulder strap, allowing you to carry it like a messenger or a briefcase, depending on your choice and style. It even integrates a back-strap that lets you fasten it to your luggage, making it easier to carry around on business trips or at the airport.

The Sitka’s characteristic look is thanks to its use of full-grain buffalo leather. The aesthetic it lends to the bag is vastly different from other types of leathers. The bag comes with a patina of its own, giving it a much more matured look than other leather bags, and each bag sports a different patina, making it unique. The thick buffalo leather also brings a rugged durability to the Sitka, so it’s truly as tough and enduring as it looks.

Developed alongside the Sitka, you’ve even got the Katmai 13″ MacBook portfolio, the Kenai Minimalist Wallet, and the Denali Gear Pouch, all designed to cater to every patron’s need. Each product boasts of impeccable craftsmanship and the same buffalo leather, making sure they look like a part of the family when carried together, and stand apart as unique, premium, well-crafted products when used independently!

Designer: Jared Morse of Kodiak Leather

Click here to Buy Now: $199.00 $299.00

Optional Padded Camera Case Insert

Padded insert with removable dividers turns this into the perfect camera bag. Laptop still fits in bag with padded insert installed.

Backpack conversion also available!

Wide base gives plenty of storage space on interior.

Padded laptop sleeve on the back wall opens up more space for cords, paperwork, tablet or other accessories

2 Color Options

Antique Brown (left) and Dark Walnut (right)

Katmai 13″ MacBook Portfolio

Kenai Wallet, Denali Gear Pouch and Leather Cord Wrap.

Click here to Buy Now: $199.00 $299.00

Theia Vision serves as set of eyes for users living with visual impairments. The system consists of a wearable camera and phone app that convert live video into audio feedback for a variety of purposes that aim to make life easier. It utilizes an innovative neural network that performs object detection in real time. Other designs that have attempted to do the same thing are usually large, bulky headsets. Theia, however, is designed to be attached to a pair of ordinary glasses or sunglasses. Its minimal style makes it unnoticeable to anyone but the wearer.

Designers: Karan Chawla and Rishabh Doshi

Its 5 modes include:

– Object Detection: looks for and recognizes objects in unknown surroundings
– Navigation: helps users navigate by alerting to stop signs, traffic signals and street signs while also providing directions
– Color Detection: helps users identify prominent colors to coordinate clothing
– Currency Identification: ensures users are making accurate transactions with appropriate bills
– Text to Speech: identifies text and reads to user when Braille is not available

Designed for those of us who aren’t crossfit freaks or gym rats, the Ploschadkus 1 aims to provide a perfect place to workout in any park! The modular unit can be customized in-studio, flat-packed and easily transferred to and between stations in public outdoor spaces. The standard version is fit with a crunch bench, pull up bars, dip bars and a ladder – all the essentials you need to get your core working and your blood pumping. Alternatively, you can get creative and supplement these exercise with a variety of other routines and techniques using the equipment. Made entirely from metal pipes and wood-polymer composite boards, it’s completely weather resistant and durable enough to take all you can give it.

Designer: Art Lebedev Studio

Four pivot points and ingenious designing makes Gerber’s Freescape Camp Saw a slim, portable delight. Designed to occupy no more space than a baton when folded, the Freescape takes less than three seconds to open up into a robust and capable hacksaw.

The design not only makes the hacksaw compact, it ensures it stays safe. While hacksaws aren’t really portable (you wouldn’t put one in your backpack), the Freescape’s folding design not only makes it easy to carry, the body of the hacksaw actually becomes the sheath for the blade, covering it completely so it doesn’t accidentally snag, rip, or cut anything.

Opening out the Freescape is simple. Just unlock it by opening out the grip unit and the rest is pretty intuitive. It uses the industry standard 12″ blade that opens out of its sheath, does a 180° and locks into the body again. Press the grip down against the Freescape when it’s opened and it locks into its new shape, robust and ready to cut. The blade can easily be replaced after it wears off, or if you want to switch between different blade types. It also comes with a small protective sleeve that slides on it to prevent the blade from making extra contact with air or moisture, therefore preventing it from rusting. The entire unit when opened, works like a proper hacksaw that can be operated with both hands, and when folded down, occupies less than a quarter of its previous space and weighs a mere 0.9lbs (420g). Throw it in your backpack, or under your car-seat and forget about it!

Designer: Gerber

Click Here to Buy Now

Click Here to Buy Now

Looking at the L-Concept bike by Bandit9, I’m not sure if it downplays the styling bit, or showcases just the appropriate amount of it.

Built as a limited edition of just 9 pieces (with only 2 being available as we speak), the L-Concept tries to bridge the gap between “fact and fiction” with a design that takes inspiration wholeheartedly from the sci-fi genre. The overall silhouette from the side resembles the USS Enterprise from Star Trek, with the 125cc engine being housed in a body that looks a lot like the spaceship’s main reactor.

The L-Concept comes in a chrome finish, dominated by straight lines and flat surfaces that create some beautifully balanced and geometric highlights and reflections. The seat, made of Italian calf leather sits within the main body of the bike in a way that retains the unibody approach, and creates a beautiful bend or punctuation in the reflections that run across the body.

The L-Concept comes with innovatively design head and taillamps comprising an array of LEDs. It even showcases an innovatively designed Flat Dual Shock for the rear wheel, keeping the overall design clean and ‘horizontal’. Designed to challenge how we perceive motorbike aesthetics, the L-Concept may be ahead of its time, but founder and chief designer Daryl Villanueva thinks we’re getting there.

Designer: Daryl Villanueva (Bandit9)

If ever a camera deserved to be photographed, it’s this one. This pretty little point-and-shoot by designer Abidur Chowdhury looks to tactility, depth, and personalization to define its aesthetic.

Thanks to a removable textile covering, it’s capable of being completely customized. Now, artists can define not only their photography content but also their personal style with hardware to match. Its equipped with a variety of zoom and prime lenses which are also available in different color options for further personalization. The rest of the body is composed of a technical ceramic called steatite, a highly specialized material with qualities often associated with soapstone. Aside from the stunning visual presented by this unusual material combination, the resulting tactile experience feels entirely natural as if one were grabbing a stone or an organic skin.

Designer: Abidur Chowdhury

The camera is available with different sets of different zoom and prime lenses which are available in a variety of color options to allow people to personalize this accessory as they do with others from fashion to technology. Allowing people to fit it, stand out and mix and match exactly to their tastes.

The design explores a removable textile composed of 90% worsted wool and 10% nylon – which in turn provides a level of tactility over traditional camera materials like leather and an opportunity for flexibility and personalization. The logo is foil stamped onto the textile, allowing for a fairly flat metallic detail highlighting the brand. The camera also features an optional lanyard allowing for a safer transfer when using the product.

Each of the lenses can be released by selecting the pop color circular button at the bottom right of the camera, twisting the lens and pulling once a click is heard – taking inspiration from traditional camera lens removal, a learned behavior over decades.

The materiality on the body of the camera looks again to evoke the sense of natural tactility which flows from the use of textile, ridges and material choices as the user pushes and rotates the variety of buttons and mechanisms on the product.

The animation below looks to showcase, one flow of how the camera could be used. From selecting modes, focusing on a photo, capturing and editing that photo – and sending a selection of those photos to the cloud.

The body is made of the technical ceramic “Steatite” a highly specialized ceramic material which has unique properties mechanically and technically optimized for applications like these. While also providing physical tactility for the user and unleashing a more raw aesthetic to the camera.

Digital cameras are trending towards less tactile experiences, and are starting to overlap with mobile phones more and more. One of the most satisfying elements of using a camera is the beautifully tactile elements which allow for better precision, control and feedback. The intangible effect of the level of control that physical elements can give can really enhance a product experience – especially one as special as a photography lover’s relationship with their camera.

Three of the project colors and material finishes were derived from the inspirational imagery below, exploring the expression of pink, the engulfing nature of plants and well an indulgent style piece for myself. I looked into how these behaviors, expressions, and quirks could be represented through imagery and effects alongside the product to create more tailored images.

The capture button features a force sensitive button which allows the user to control whether they’re capturing a photo, taking a video for a short period of time, multiple tapping for burst modes and also more fun and unique capture modes.

An expression in pink with quirky poses, fun tools and playful forms using a combination of the loveable color and the assets added to the imagery to evoke a level of playfulness.

An expression in green shying away from full view and becoming engulfed by plants around it.

Exploring the aesthetics of static, noise and glitches allowing the aesthetic to invite openness and a level of randomness.

The lenses are fully ridged providing the functionality of turning the lens at any point on the device to adjust for focus whilst also creating an aesthetic that evokes the sensory feeling running your fingers through each of the ridges providing an encapsulating level of tactile feedback.

A pop-up flash module for those rare moments you want to do a bit of flash photography – without compromising the form and size of the product. A viewfinder does provide an improved photography experience giving the user the option of both conveniences when not in use and improved accuracy when taking photographs.

The product is available in a variety of color variants to suit a person and their style. Also if you liked any of the pictures on the cameras – they’re all taken by me, so thanks!