Friday, December 5, 2008

Yanko Design - Latest Posts

Yanko Design - Latest Posts

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Holiday “DO WANT!” Gift Guide 2008

Posted: 05 Dec 2008 03:32 AM PST

The holidays are right around the corner so there’s no time like the present to make out your shopping list. Having trouble thinking of something for that family or friend really into modern design? Or perhaps you feel like treating yourself to something special for being extra good this year. Check out our DO WANT! Holiday Gift Guide after the jump. There’s a little something for everyone. Check back often as we continue to add more items. Have a suggestion? Leave a comment!

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This Grasshopper Folds and Generates Electricity

Posted: 05 Dec 2008 04:13 AM PST

Grasshopper is a foldable electric bicycle that turns into a trolley for easy transport. The use of composite materials provide rigidity and strength. The aim of the design is to satisfy those who like to bicycle in normal everyday life but live in places/cities where the configuration of the terrain is too severe (cough: hills). The target market is mainly composed of active people with environmental concerns and health concerns who live in urban centres, plus people who live nomadic lifestyles.

The  battery charges thru regenerative braking and thru stationary bicycling. Yes you read right, this bike can turn into a stationary exercise bike. Designer David Goncalves entered his design in the 2008 12th International Bicycle Design Competition winning a Merit Prize.

Designer: David Gonçalves

Screw Money

Posted: 05 Dec 2008 03:58 AM PST

Rob Maslin had the clever idea to redesign bolt and screw heads that can be tightened and loosened with ordinary coins. Of course if this works as well as he thinks, I doubt all the hardware tool makers would sit idly by watching their profits sink.

Designer: Rob Maslin

Praise God and Pass the Wall Tiles

Posted: 05 Dec 2008 02:00 AM PST

Who loves non-traditional wall coverings? Raise you hand! Then raise your other hand an pray! Because here’s the Porcelain Enshrinement Tile! Start a collection and built up, or just use a few! No need for a shelf or hook, each tile creates a shrine for your tiny items (and coats and photos too.) Check em out, then click through to the whole Yanko wall covering collection.

Chris Kirby and Alexandra Campbell collaborate on this one:

A wall tile that lets you enshrine your personal artifacts. The modular tiles can be arranged as you see fit to create niches, shelves, hooks, and canopies to display your cherished items.

Follow your heart to a whole assortment of wild and helpful wall coverings: [Paperforms Flow], [Nomad], [Remote Context Communicator], [Torn Lighting], [Magnetic Curtains], [Picturetable], [The Cave Bookshelf], and [Wall Cleat].

Gotta wall ‘em all!

Designers: Chris Kirby & Alexandra Campbell

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More Disturbing Machinations from Isolation Unit

Posted: 05 Dec 2008 01:11 AM PST

When I make my own studio, I’m going to call it Friends Party. And we will do battle with Isolation Unit, the studio of Teruhiro Yanagihara- the designer of this fantastic little flower pot creation. To activate the pot, all you have to do is follow the instructions given by the nice lady in the preview picture: open, expand over cup, look approvingly, and insert flower!

Teruhiro Yanagihara is simple and powerful. His studio name is Isolation Unit. He creates things like this, the “Cover It” flower vase. I forgot to mention above that you’ll need water in the cup, too.

Doesn’t it make for a happy little container?

Designer: Teruhiro Yanagihara at Isolation Unit

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Better Bottle for Baby, Adiri Natural Nurser Review

Posted: 04 Dec 2008 11:34 AM PST

If you’ve ever been to a store that caters to mothers and newborns, you were probably overwhelmed at the selection. The number of bottle choices alone are staggering! One of the latest contenders is the accolade laden Adiri Natural Nurser. Designed by Whipsaw Inc. to simulate a mother’s breast and nipple using BPF FREE materials, it’s a baby bottle simplified in design but as it turns out may be better than the generic bottles flooding the market.

With the help of doctors and mothers, Whipsaw Inc. made the Adiri soft, safe and simple. It’s bottom loaded and dishwasher safe. The bottle is very grippy and tactile, not smooth like other bottles. The side is clearly labeled with volume markers and since the nipple is integrated into the bottle there’s only 2 pieces (aside from the cap).

I’m no mommy nor do I have any kids so outside of the usual product inspection, this was best reviewed by someone with a newborn. I lent the bottles (colors correspond to life stages) to my friend and her baby. Her main concerns were about nipples crumbling into small rubber baby might ingest, easy to clean and sanitize, and air swallowing.

After a month, she’s has mostly positive feedback; loves the bottom loading design because it makes it much easier to refill but grew to dislike it, more on that later. Loves the soft material and the nipple is still completely intact. Depending on who you ask, the general consensus is a bottle’s nipple design is extremely important because it determines how air-tight a baby’s latch is. Because the Adiri is shaped like a woman’s breast and nipple, the assumption is baby’s latch will be as air-tight as the real thing.

On to the cons. The bottom loading design tho convenient ends up being more trouble than traditional bottles. You have to place the cap on, invert and pour and pour fast because the nipple almost immediately beings to drip into the cap. After some trial and error we found out you have to correctly and squarely place the cap on to prevent dripping. The other thing she hates is not being able to use it with bottle warmers. The bottom is simply too thick to conduct heat well enough and the whole ordeal ends up take more time and hungry babies in waiting means more stress for mommy.

What we liked:

  • BPA-FREE
  • Soft natural squishy shape, really easy to handle
  • Super easy to clean being dishwasher safe
  • Nipple design and “Petal” design simulate a mother’s nipple and areola
  • Various colors to represent baby’s life stages
  • Great modern design

What could be improved:

  • Bottom loading causes dripping unless you place the cap squarely on
  • A complete set of 3 is $27, twice as much as other sets

Mothers are extremely picky about what their babies use and at the end of the day $27 means nothing if baby loves it. My friend has since switched from the Playtex Drop-In bottles to the Adiri. Bottle warming is still a chore but she’s managed to reschedule her routine so the bottle is able to sit on the warmer for much longer before feeding time. She loves the design but the main driving factor behind her decision was the bottle’s BPA-FREE source and easy to clean design. It’s much easier for water to enter from a wide opening at the bottom than a narrow one at the top. She whole-heartedly recommends the Adiri system.

Designer: Whipsaw Inc. [ Buy it Here ]

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Paranoid About Privacy? Put a Lid on it

Posted: 04 Dec 2008 10:36 AM PST

Nicolas Lehotzky notice a niche trend among Mac users with built-in webcams Many cover it with post-it notes out of privacy concerns even tho there’s no way to turn it on without actively doing so. He created a little “lid” accessory if you will, that slides across the top of the screen bezel. If ever you feel like you’re being watched, just slide the cover over that tiny webcam lens and rest assured, even the best hackers aren’t going to be able to see what you do home alone.

Designer: Nicolas Lehotzky

Headphones Kinda Neon Evangelion w/ Built-in Webcam

Posted: 04 Dec 2008 10:32 AM PST

This unnamed design by Andy Kurovets and Kris Dekeijser is a headphone that doubles as a webcam. That giant crystal on the side is actually a cover hiding the lens. The idea is no matter where you’re listening to music, seeing your friends is just a crystal popping moment away. Would be amazing if someone could write software to see the world as only the side of your head could while listening to music. OR this could just be the next best thing to that Neon Genesis Evangelion costume you’ve been secretly toiling away at in your garage. Don’t lie!

Designer: Andy Kurovets & Kris Dekeijser

Model: Lena Nomerovchenko

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