Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

Remember those pens that have a few different colors but require you to click down one pen at a time to use each color? Well, this is the 2020 version of that! It’s called OMNI and it can write, doodle or draw in whatever color you manage to think of. No word on exactly the tech behind it, but we’re assuming it’s some micro-ink cartridge system judging by the controls. You can get very detailed in terms of hue and saturation simply using the adjustment interface located directly on the body of the pen. Gosh, kids get all the cool stuff these days!

Designer: David Kendall

Simply called Sight, this personal telescope was inspired by Google’s existing line of sophisticated electronics. A sports a robust yet minimalistic form with expert ergonomics, including a comfortable, padded viewing eyepiece located on top rather than behind the unit. It harnesses the latest tech to optimize the magnification experience including a dual lens system with First Light Adaptive Optics (FLAO) for enhanced clarity. In a myriad of cool color combinations including their Very Silver and Really Blue, there’s also one for every stargazer’s unique style.

Designer: Jacob Baldry

Spencer Kim envisions a reality where the DMC never went out of business. If their car, the DMC-12 (wildly popular for its feature in the Back to the Future series) was still in production, what would it look like?

Kim’s redesigned DeLorean looks completely different from its original, what with 25 years between them. The New DeLorean sports a more contemporary and organic design, but still manages to retain enough to be called a DeLorean. It sports the two gull-wing doors, the DMC logo on the front, and a characteristic grill on the back that’s quite similar to the one on the original. Like the original, the new DeLorean also comes with a rear-engine and rear wheel drive setup. It even comes in the classic metallic silver color and sports black accents. Other than that, the new DMC-12 feels refreshing and looks absolutely the part for a 2018 remake of the series (if it were to happen).

Designer: Spencer Kim for Drivetribe

When I was a kid, my sister was a teenager and our parents would make us share a suitcase any time we would travel. I would get SO angry because she would inevitably pack all her clothes PLUS a hair dryer PLUS a curling iron. There’s was little to no room left for me (and, of course, she was a bully who always got her way). I digress. If only we’d had the DRYON!

This hybrid design marries both functions into one minimalistic and super sleek unit that looks more like a modern art than a bathroom appliance! The curling iron is housed in the center of the square shape and doubles as the power supply for the blowdryer. When you want to curl, simply slide it out to activate the heating mechanism. It’s perfect for traveling (and your angsty teen sister when you go on vacation)!

Designers: Wanki Kim, Suhyeon Ki, Jo Ara, Nahyeon Park, Jihyeon Park & Seunghee Seo

Unveiled at Apple’s education event, Logitech’s new iPad stylus is meant to be used in schools. Very aptly named the Crayon (being indicative of the fact that it’s for the younger school-going generation as opposed to the Apple Pencil, meant for professionals), the stylus is colorful, sleek, and plays the perfect little sibling to the Apple Pencil.

The Logitech Crayon comes along with Apple’s announcement to build more school-friendly iPads. The Crayon works with all new iPads (except the Pro), and is meant for students to take notes. It doesn’t need pairing as the Apple Pencil does, which means a teacher with a Crayon could also go around checking and correcting notes on different iPads with the same Crayon.

The Crayon doesn’t come with pressure sensitivity, which makes sense because it isn’t for artists, but does angle-sensing and palm-rejection rather well. Where it truly beats the Apple Pencil (aside from the fact that it doesn’t need pairing) is in the fact that it comes with an on-off button (allowing you to use it only when you need it) and can last for up to 8 hours (perfect for a day of school) on a single charge. Unlike the Apple Pencil, the Crayon sports a lightning port at its base, allowing it to be charged via cable… a highly sensible move given how counter-productive and frustrating charging the Apple Pencil is. Lastly, it ditches the circular design for something more flat, making it not only easy to grip, but also less likely to roll off desks.

Built with a 3-year warranty and priced at $49 (half the price of the Apple Pencil), the Crayon will be only available as a part of the education bundle in schools and isn’t going to hit the retail shelves for regular consumers. *sadface*

Designer: Logitech

After stunning audiences in Beijing, Shanghai, and most recently in London, the Trashpresso makes its way to the Milan Design Week. The massive machine, big enough to fit into a 40-ft shipping container, is the world’s first off-grid, industrial grade recycling solution. What does it do? Turns plastic waste into stunning, upcycled architectural tiles.

The upcycling process takes place in five stages. The gathered plastic waste is first shredded, then washed, air-dried, dehumidified, and then baked into molds that form the recycled plastic into beautifully patterned hexagonal tiles. Made from PET waste, the tiles are durable, long-lasting, and weather resistant.

The Trashpresso can upcycle up to 50 kilograms of plastic waste per hour, converting vast expanses of plastic waste into decorative tiles that can be used in homes. The machine can be transported anywhere a truck can reach, and relies on solar power to run itself. It also leaves a zero water footprint, as every liter it uses is looped back through three steps of filtration: quartz sand filter, ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis.

The Trashpresso will be showcased at the Milan Design Week 2018 from April 15th to the 22nd.

Designer: Miniwiz

Made to bring absolute tears of joy to the analog synth lover, the Bivalvia Synthesis is a tiny wooden box that fits a remarkably powerful synthesizer into its tiny frame. Made clearly for the tinkerer, the Bivalvia Synthesis box comes with 15 keys and 6 dials/faders that let you work the synth and play music through it. 12 keys at the bottom provide 12 MIDI notes, while the three keys on the top are for cycling through patches and octave shifting. The dials/faders on top allow you to tweak the sound, editing aspects of it. The synth is based on the Axoloti Core, an open source hardware synth created by Johannes Taelman, and features absolutely no symbols or text on its body… the idea being to allow you to figure out what it is you’re doing and learn along the way. You can even create your own synth patches using the free Axoloti Patcher software by connecting the Bivalvia Synthesis to your computer and then storing all the patches on the Bivalvia’s SD card.

Designed with some absolutely delicious color combinations and a brain-melting electro sound coming from the 15W speaker built into the wooden box (it has stereo output too), the Bivalvia Synthesis is a great toy for musicians and music enthusiasts alike! *opens lid and plays the Stranger Things theme*

Designer: Love Hultén