Yanko Design - Latest Posts

Don’t Call it a Bean Bag, SumoSac Review

Posted: 10 Nov 2008 03:50 PM CST

Around this time last year we reviewed the Sumo Omni Lounge. It’s still in the office and despite being subjected to people instinctually wanting to run and “cannonball” on it, it has held up well. We recently had a chance to try out Sumolounge’s new and expanded product line, namely the SumoSac. In short, everything has been vastly improved. Tho the original Sumo Omni used “beads” and retained a beanbag-like consistency, the SumoSac is totally different. It opts for batting. Hit the jump for our review.

The SumoSac is aptly name because that’s essentially what it is - a sac. I love the new squashed sphere shape because it naturally wants to cradle you. The slipcover is a super soft microsuede material - much easier to clean. Just toss it in the wash. Inside is a mountainous ball of batting. It’s furniture grade urethane foam. I’m not talking blocks here, its been shredded to voluminous proportions. Although there are expensive designer chairs and ergonomic seats all over the office, there’s something about a giant plush bag that invites people to plop down. The stuffing refuses to lose shape. Just fluff it up like a pillow and it’s back to normal.

Size wise it’s BIG. I mean you can literally sleep on it. It comes in four sizes, one for every type and budget ranging from the ‘Gamer’ ($199) to the massive ‘Giganator’ ($399). The SumoSacs are a bit heavy but no worries because Sumolounge offers free shipping.

What we liked:

It’s HUGE, plushy, and soft
The microsuede slipcover. Easy to care for. Looks less “college dorm room”
Sturdy zipper construction to remove slipcover
Comes in a range of colors and sizes
Stuffing is inside mesh shell so nothing falls out
Retains form
A lot softer than bean bags
Larger sizes could easily seat 2-3 people

What could be improved:

Packing - unrelated to the product but it comes stuffed in a box held together with freight plastic strips. Be careful when opening.

Designer: Sumolounge [ Buy it Here ]

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Wristlet Gets Young’ins Back in Time For Supper

Posted: 11 Nov 2008 08:57 AM CST

Until such time toddlers are given mobiles on their 5th birthdays, parents will have difficulty keeping them wrangled in and safe from danger. This Wristlet from Petr Hampl might be a useful solution in the mean time, allowing parents to send messages, alarms or graphic symbols to the solar powered display. Better hope they come in other colors, I don’t think pink would fly very well with boys.

Designer: Petr Hampl

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Kite Cars

Posted: 11 Nov 2008 03:47 AM CST

For the hyper-imaginative future fliers. This “Wind Light Vehicle” allows three methods of locomotion, two of which involve that giant wing on the hood there. There’s an electric motor in each of the three tires, for one. Then the wing can swing upright for the vehicle to become like a windsurfing board, or it can become detached for some amazing kite wind action!

While the functioning model of this fantastic machine is yet to be seen, flying about in kite-cars is rather Elf-futuristic. Perhaps a wookie-made skycar could be its selling platform? Keep crusin’.

Designer: Tsun-Ho Wang, Min-Gyu Jung & Sung-Je Do

Thin is Out, Odd is In

Posted: 11 Nov 2008 03:40 AM CST

Mobile phones are getting so thin, they’re almost ignoring every rule of handheld ergonomics. Designer Heikki Juvonen decided to backtrack and redesign a futuristic mobile complete with all modern accoutrements but with realistic ergonomics in mind. The end result is a phone he believes is perfectly balanced in the hand placing the heavy components towards the bottom. The unique profile shape also helps it sit better in the hand providing multiple surface areas to grip.

Designer: Heikki Juvonen

Heikki Juvonen

Hacks on the Radio

Posted: 11 Nov 2008 03:09 AM CST

How do you feel about participating in the manufacture of your next product purchase? Polish duo Maria Makowska & Piotr Stolarski from Gogo design have created the Log Radio and Clock from single lengths of raw pinewood with the intention of involving the user in the production process. When purchased, the lucky owner gets tossed a hand saw to hack their item from the log, creating a personal touch to the finished product. Pray that the person before you can cut straight!

Designer: Maria Makowska & Piotr Stolarski

Maria Makowska, Piotr Stolarski

All of Berlin in a Single Credenza

Posted: 11 Nov 2008 02:16 AM CST

Presenting the defining moment in Credenzoligy. This credenza is made to read like a novel, telling the story of the history of the structures that made up historical and modern East and West Berlin. Sounds like it could be rough. But with detail and subject matter as rich as this, learning can be at once elegant and
quite complicated.

Tina Roeder with the building of an art-chitectural idol:

Credenza or sideboard prototype inspired by the architectural history of East-West-Berlin, rich in visions and utopias. A collaboration with David Krings, 2008.

1,5MM Grey Cardboard and Chrome-Plated Steel
1800MM X 300MM X 1350MM

If this much time and effort were placed on half of the furniture that gets massively reproduced to fall apart in less than a years time, we’d be in a fantastic metropolis, rich with visions of our past and future, thriving in the literary and aesthetic jungle we’ve created for ourselves.

This item reflects one of the more simple and important goals of our modernism, and changes it to reflect a goal of educating students of history, science, and design. All of Berlin’s terrible and excellent history is here in one bit of furniture. One’s understanding of this subject is at once simplified and expanded, in all inspiring.

Designer: Tina Roeder and David Krings

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No Faster Way to Chop a Room Up

Posted: 11 Nov 2008 02:00 AM CST

Presenting that which is spreading the designer room sea apart. The Nomad shall intensely and in a cute manner allow you to split your rooms apart in a way that is both efficient and colorful, easy to store, and because of the form and materials, easy to replace and increase the quantity of. Slip, connect, clip, and surprise! It is wall time.

The designers at MIO bring a nice and neat solution to all your problems:

Made from recycled, double-wall cardboard, Nomad is a modular architectural system that can be assembled into free-standing, sculptural screens, temporary partitions, rooms or even displays without hardware, tools or damage to existing structures. Available in nine colors, Nomad can be arranged into open or closed configurations; creating private environments or light and airy dividers. The Nomad system can be configured to create entry-ways and corners, easily adjusting to any indoor space.

Measurements
24 Modules / Set
Module Length: 21 in / 53 cm
Module Width: 14 in / 35.5 cm
Module Thickness: 0.1875 in / 0.5 cm
*One 24 Module Set creates a 4.5 ft x 4.5ft section with the open configuration and a 3 ft x 4.5 ft section with the closed configuration.

What comes next is patterns. Connect with companies who deal in camouflage, designer wallpaper, and graffiti techniques. Limited edition artist sets and special 1 in 100 signed nomad panels. Special metal nomad panels for those houses that have no children, animals, or any other fleshy mammals to cut their faces open on. And we’re set!

Designers: Jaime Salm and Roger Allen with MIO

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Digital and Analog, Perfectly in Sync for the Clock Which has Captured My Heart

Posted: 11 Nov 2008 01:21 AM CST

OK show of hands: who is in the mood for the perfect wall-clock. One…two…ok everybody? Lets get to it: Masayoshi Suzuki of Pinto busts out the Digilog, a clock where the analog hand shows the minutes, while the digital number displayed at the top shows the hour. What else do you want? Fill up the apartment buildings, hotels, and the White House, because this is it! This is the future!

I get excited about design works. Some may say a little bit too excited. But I say: “ARE YOU LOOKING AT THIS CLOCK? IT’S PERFECT!” while they wipe the spit off their faces and say “lemme just look at it-OH HOLY CRAP YOU ARE RIGHT!”

Pinto sets it straight:

DIGILOG CLOCK
A digital-analog clock. It shows hour as a digital digit and minitue as a clock
hand. It realizes both readability and silent presence.
φ200×D45

Hour on top, hand shows minute. That’s it! Nothing else to be said! OH, besides Flava Flav. Flava Flav who should definitely endorse this clock. If there is anything to be said, it is to be said about that.

Designer: Masayoshi Suzuki [ Via: DesignBoom ]