Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

In a Parallel Universe Where OS Didn’t Matter, We’d All Use TicPods

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 10:58 AM PDT

You know, I personally don’t really like phrases like “the iPhone Killer” or in this case “the Airpod Killer”. The assumption that something is so good it will kill the competition completely, seems a little far-fetched and unrealistic, but the Red Dot and iF Design Award winning TicPods make a bulletproof case against most wireless earbuds, especially the AirPods.

These tiny truly-wireless earbuds are smart both internally and externally, rivaling those created by massive corporations, customized for their eco-systems (Google, Apple, I’m looking at you). Built for audio, but built for control too, the TicPods come with a touch-sensitive surface that lets you tap, double tap, slide, and long press to control music playback or even run phone functions. Regardless of which eco-system you’re in, the controls work cleverly with music playing apps to manipulate playback, volume, or even answer and reject calls. Long pressing lets you talk to your phone’s voice assistant… regardless of whether you’re an Android or iOS user. This inter-OS approach lets you use the TicPods for years, regardless of what phone you own at the time!

The TicPods come with in-ear detection as well, allowing you to pause music by simply taking any one earpiece out, making them immersive when you need them to be, and cooperative when you need to take a break. They come complete with ambient noise cancellation and noise isolation, making them perfect for use on your daily commute, or even while exercising, given the fact they have an IPx5 water-resistance rating. Built with a whopping 18 hour battery life and fast-charging that gives you close to 3 hours of playtime on a 30 minute charge, the TicPods can sit comfortably in your ears all day, allowing you to travel, work, play, and then work out without breaking a sweat… and what’s truly impressive is that it does all this with an OS agnostic approach. So in a world where you’re chained to your phone’s operating system, and their anti-headphone-jack dictatorial regime, the TicPods (which come at an early bird pricing of $79) are literally music to everyone’s ears!

I wouldn’t call the TicPods an “AirPod killer”, but then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if people stopped buying any other wireless earbud in favor of them.

Designer: Mobvoi

Click here to Buy Now: $79.00 $129.00

Ultra-intuitive touch controls

Try doing that on other earbuds. Go ahead. We’ll wait.

Tap-tap. Your audio, your control.

All good things come to those who… press for two seconds.

Smart and seamless. In-ear detection allows TicPods Free to know when you’re listening. Music pauses when you take one earbud out and resumes when you put it back in.

Click here to Buy Now: $79.00 $129.00

Freshen Up your Car in Style

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 05:36 AM PDT

Designed by the team at G11 Design Group, Vistic is a stunning alternative to the conventional, and rather unattractive car air-fresheners of today. Available in a variety of shapes and sizes, its design has been carefully considered to complement the interior of the car.

The simplistic and clean design style ensures that it will suit any environment that it is placed in, this is assisted further by the wide variety of color options that are available. Vistic gets its color from the unique fabric finish; the introduction of fabric is something rarely seen on air fresheners, but it completes the product perfectly and allows the device to become a welcomed feature within the cabin of the car.

It’s certainly a less distracting, well-designed and stylish alternative to the usual rubbish that you see suspended from rear-view mirrors!

Designer: Areum Gu of G11 Design Group

Virtual Reality at your Fingertips

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 04:46 AM PDT

It will probably come as no surprise to you that the Virtual Reality market is growing rapidly; partially due to an increased interest in the field and products becoming more accessible. Zerokey, a Canadian Start-up, are developing a special technology that enables millimetre-level digital interaction, by using your fingers. This technology is being brought to life in the form of the sleek and advanced Zerokey VR Glove.

The complex, technological inner workings of Zerokey are covered by a carefully considered and sleek design. The monochromatic colour scheme allows for a professional aesthetic, while pops of vibrant blue colour give the sense of advanced, intricate technology. The blue elements are actually conductive fibres, they act as wires for sensors that feed the main module.

The core material of the glove is a highly-breathable and elastic microfiber to ensure that the user will remain comfortable during long gaming sessions!

Designers: Soohun Jung & Rich Park of BEBOP for Zerokey

Skyshelter.zip is like a compressed bellow that opens into a skyscraper

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 05:20 PM PDT

What these designers proposed was ground-breaking enough to win them the Golden Prize at the eVolo Skyscraper Competition 2018. The premise? Instant Skyscrapers. The technique? Compressing them to make them easy to transport, and then expanding them on site.

The Skyshelter.zip is literally the physical manifestation of a zip file. The compressed building gets transported via helicopters to disaster-zones. The zip is as wide as a building, but remains vertically compressed until it’s ready to expand. This compressed building is tethered to the ground to make it secure, and then a load-bearing helium balloon on the top of the building rises upwards, expanding the building like a bellow expands with air. As the balloon rises and the building increases in height, fabric panels used to create the external and internal walls would unfurl rapidly, and 3D printed plates would be lifted in succession by the balloon, creating floors and different zones. Depending on how tall you want the building, you’d fill more gas into the balloon and add more floors.

The Skyshelter would come with a lobby, first-aid bays, temporary housing, a storage unit, and even a vertical farm. What’s incredibly interesting is that while it’s easy and quick to deploy, it can be compressed back too, making it perfect for temporary use on sites that need rehabilitation, and moving on once the job is done!

Designers: Damian Granosik, Jakub Kulisa & Piotr Pańczyk.

This calendar literally makes your days colorful & vibrant

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 02:58 PM PDT

Yoni Alter’s Perpetual Calendar is pretty simple. It lasts forever, allowing you to simply rearrange the dates, days, and months periodically… and it’s just simply beautiful to look at. Natural ash plywood and wooden dowels make up the base for the calendar, while individual brightly colored plastic cards with cutouts hang themselves on the dowels. What you see through the cutouts are the cards behind them, getting this overwhelming collage of color, while text is usually extremely legible, thanks to the big bold stencil font used on the cards.

Just change the day and date every 24 hours, taking cards off from the front and putting them at the back, and switch the month card every time a new month begins. The calendar lasts forever, working year after year… bringing joy, color, and vibrancy to your life and your day!

Designer: Yoni Alter

Click Here to Buy Now

Click Here to Buy Now

Why autonomous cars must look different from regular cars

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 01:00 PM PDT

Daniel Czyszczoń makes an astute observation while presenting his concept that secured the Renault Passion for Design & Innovation award. Cars are designed to fit a brief. When you’re driving a car, the exterior plays an important role because the car is an extension of the driver’s personality and sometimes temperament. However, when you’re riding a car, the exterior doesn’t matter as much as the interior. Take a bus for example. You wouldn’t care much about how the bus looks, but you would be concerned with things like safety, comfort, leg-room, etc.

With self-driving cars, the space takes the “front seat” (pardon me), while the car’s styling becomes a secondary concern. Daniel’s Renault Avame explores the space-focused styling, with a car that feels more like a shrunken bus. A complete deviation from the car shaped outline, the Avame is literally boxy, giving its passengers more than enough space on the inside, as it drives them to their destination. It removes windows, giving you a sense of privacy, while the windshield itself isn’t really necessary. What it does include though, is an arched skylight that allows passengers to look outside and get a sense of where they are, while not feeling claustrophobic. Lastly, a bit of flair as the doors to the Avame very cleverly incorporate the company’s logo into their design.

Designer: Daniel Czyszczoń