Friday, December 19, 2008

Yanko Design - Latest Posts

Yanko Design - Latest Posts

Link to Yanko Design

A Danish Super Car?

Posted: 19 Dec 2008 04:53 AM PST

Oh snap! It’s a Danish super car. Somehow those two words don’t go together in my head. When I think super car, I think Japan, America, Italy, Germany, maybe even France and England - but Denmark? It’s true, the Zenvo ST1 is a real Danish supercar with excessive power; a V8 1,104 pony galloping engine to be exact. The turbocharged 7.0 liter 6 speed manual tranny pushes the Zenvo ST1 from 0-60 in just 3 seconds. For safety and legal reasons, the car is electronically limited to 232 mph.

A car that fast needs major brakes to stop it and this baby uses a set of ventilates 380 mm disc brakes and 6 piston calipers up front, 355 mm discs gripped by 6 piston calipers at the rear. Made entirely of a steel frame wrapped in a carbon fiber body, the styling is striking and contemporary. Personally I think it’s a little contrived (angry blowfish?) but a head turner for sure and pretty much unlike any other recognizable super car on the road.

The interior is a different story. It’s pure luxury - strange for a super car. The alcantara leather trimmed interior hosts a bevy of high-tech niceties like dual zone climate control, full set of airbags, cruise control (at 232 mph no less), keyless entry, racing seats, and a G-force meter for all you gear heads.

How much is it gonna cost? I’m not sure but only 15 will be made so you can bet your bottom dollar only 3% of the world’s population can afford it.

Designer: Zenvo

I’ll Just Take Drawer 2 & 3 Home With Me

Posted: 19 Dec 2008 04:38 AM PST

I’m sure you can surmise what this is and how it works just from the pictures. “A Draw Bag” (I know, the name doesn’t quite make sense) has two functions. When it’s in its desk, it operates like an ordinary desk drawer, that is until you have to pull it all the way out to even open it. A little inconvenient yes, but at least you don’t have to waste 5 minutes packing up at the end of every work day. Just grab a drawer and go. Monkey see monkey do. Tit for tat. La de day, la de dah. Okay, I’m totally not making sense here. It’s late!

Designer: Jung-Ah Kim

Lamp Under Lock & Key

Posted: 19 Dec 2008 04:33 AM PST

Designer Hyun-Woo Sim likens life’s precious moment’s to a lock that only you have a key to. The Key Lamp follows that premise. To turn it on a key has to be used to move the switch to the on position, and vice versa. Novel as it is, I want one just for the sheer enjoyment of watching my partner drive himself mad trying to turn the damn thing off. Haha, if you want the key, come and get it. I love that game, don’t you? ^_^

Designer: Hyun-Woo Sim

Hot Pebbles for Cold Fish

Posted: 19 Dec 2008 12:59 AM PST

Use the ancient power of water-smoothed rocks with the stone-grill concept “Pebbles.” It will make your healthy fish-devouring ways a cinch! Just unroll the Pebbles grill, locate the knob which switches the grill on, use it once again to turn the temperature to the correct level, wait a bit, just a bit!, and take them fish outta there. Turn the pebbles off and eat them fishes!

As you can see, the body of the grill is flexible and easy to clean. Small so it’s portable, suited to indoor or outdoor use. It produces no harmful by-products, and is easy to operate.

The pebble for activation and temperature also lights the rest of the pebbles showing that the heat is activated. Once the grilling is done, just give the control pebble a “tug” -and it’s done!

Designers: Yongju Kwak, Dongbin Shin, Kukil Han & Young-Seok Kim

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Fold Your Phone Like Never Before!

Posted: 19 Dec 2008 12:05 AM PST

With “WILD FOLD.” Yes, it is the Mac Attack. Who else would go so wild? I ask you that. Here Mac Funamizu takes the idea of the Samsung Flexible OLED and applies it to several conceptual phones. How small is too small? Certainly we’ve tested the limits with certain fruit-related-mp3-players of late, correct? And how much fold is really necessary? With Mac, we will always know how far is too far!

Peek at the several concepts below, and view the video that is Mr. Funamizu’s source of inspiration. I love it when a new bit of technology comes out and people RUSH to bust it all apart with ideas!

Creation is progress!

Video is of the Samsung Flexible OLED at the 2008 FPD International.

Designer: Mac Funamizu

Look Ma No Paper! Wacom Cintiq 12WX Review

Posted: 18 Dec 2008 11:11 AM PST

Wacom graphics tablets have always been in a league of their own. If you are looking for a professional tablet it's not a question of what brand to buy, only what model. The Intuos range has been a solid choice for many years offering the portability the Cintiq 21 couldn't. The Cintiq 12WX however created waves on its release as it made the Cintiq 21 technology portable for the 1st time and did so at an impressive price. Here at Yanko we have been reviewing the Cintiq 12WX for over 6 months and have become quite fond of it to say the least.

Function:

On initially installing and plugging in the Cintiq 12WX on Windows XP, things were a bit of a battle. Windows didn't seem to like the new peripheral too much, and toggling between displays was a bit awkward and not as intuitive as a simple 2 monitor set-up. Thankfully though once all the settings had been optimised things ran well. Using it on a Mac was a impressive, with setup virtually non existent and the two displays working in perfect co-operation. (If you are using a Mac you will need to buy a mini DVI converter).

In use there is a slight gap between the tip and the pen and the display when you draw, which allows for parallax error. Due to this you need to calibrate the Cintiq 12WX to your drawing style and the position that you hold your head so your lines appear where they should. Once this is done there are really no problems, the gap becomes more or less negligible.
The Cintiq 12WX has impressive tech specs and features nice resolution for a 12" and sharp display. There is no lag between pen tip and screen even when drawing at insanely fast speeds at high resolution.
The list of applications that support Wacom tablets is impressive and ever growing, though my personal favourite is the humble Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, which is what I'm referring to for the majority of this review. It is of course functional in all situations, and applications that feature streamlined keyboard shortcuts such as Bunkspeed's Hypershot.

Once you start drawing the benefits of a tablet display are clear to see. The feel and experience is second to none, and productivity increases markedly. There really is no point in comparing it to an Intuos or an RSI inducing brick mouse. Plastic rulers and drawing templates can be used directly on the screen without fear of scratching or damaging the glass surface and the touch strip/buttons are a productivity enhancing joy. Cintiq tablets include an additional shortcut button for toggling between screens which makes it easy to arrange tools and palates on your main monitor and use the full 12 inches of real estate for your canvas. The only function I miss is the chisel tipped pen nib you get with markers. Wacom does make an "Art Pen" which is designed to take care of this. My Copic markers seem resigned to their fate. If you prefer the upright position of the tablet for general use, the stand will allow you to change to and from the 2 positions during use with minimal disruption making it possible to reap the benefits of rotating the tablet even if you prefer this upright position.

Build Quality and Design:

When the tablet 1st arrived I was instantly underwhelmed by the rotation mechanism on the underside of the tablet. I had envisaged a small separate base with integrated cable that the display would rotate on. What I saw was a rather rudimentary hemispherical foot in the centre that simply provided a pivot point for everything to rotate on. This I thought presented the following issues;

  1. The cord would rotate with the Cintiq 12WX and possibly get in the way of general use.
  2. The solid pivot would make the unit unstable in the flat position causing it to rock as you draw.
  3. The unit can only be rotated in the flat position.

On using the Cintiq 12WX these fears were mostly allayed. However it is still true that rotation can only be done in the flat position, and that the cord occasionally gets in the way if you rotate the tablet frequently. On that note, the cord itself is rather thick and rigid, no doubt due to the number of cables running through it. Though it is much more desirable than having several thinner cords to accomplish the same task.
The stand appears to be a solid aluminium pressure die-casting, has a lovely feel and is rock solid in the upright position with all the parts finely toleranced resulting in a beautiful fit and finish. Part lines are small and more importantly placed off the front face so your hand wont catch in them during use.

Portability:

The Cintiq 12WX is essentially an LCD monitor with a built-in Intuos 3, so you could expect it to be a little more cumbersome than an Intuos to transport to and from the office on a regular basis. However I was surprised to find I could fit everything in a standard laptop bag with room to spare. If you look at the technical specs you will see that at 1.8 kg and 17mm thick it is both thinner and lighter than a 13" Macbook. There is however a standard power brick as well as a plastic box which is presumably related to the display. The result is a bit of a wiring mess that somewhat reduces portability.

In short the Cintin 12WX is a serious tool with some serious benefits. For the professional designer the pay off period is very short and the question of whether to purchase is a no brainer. For the student it is a good investment for the future and will certainly prove its worth ($999 USD).

What we liked:

  • Unparalleled digital drawing experience
  • Excellent build quality
  • Top quality display
  • Excellent Portability
  • Low Price Point
  • 1280 x 800 resolution

What could be improved:

  • Cord can become annoying while rotating the tablet

Designer: Wacom [ Buy it Here ]

Ring of Power, Except it Snitches on You

Posted: 18 Dec 2008 10:09 AM PST

MHS Electronics has created the UV rays detector to measure and keep information about the time people spend under the sun to prevent skin and eyes diseases such as melanoma. If you think you can cheat, think again. All the information gets linked up with your doctor. The device comes in a ring form factor for easy wearability and because hands are the most exposed body part to the sun. To keep information synced and the ring charge, just place it on top of its USB powered dock.

Designers: Julien Bergignat & Laurence Charron-Huysecom

Leaky leaky? Sparky Sparky

Posted: 18 Dec 2008 10:01 AM PST

Say you are on a jolly walk around the block, or maybe a jolly walk through the inside of your own home. You glance to your left and see, what’s that, a tap leaking water! What a waste! You’d go right over and “shore it up.” Wouldn’t want to let that water go to waste, right? What the ECord does is make that situation a reality for electricity. You wanna save energy, right?

The ECord has a composition on its PVC covering that turns colors when a specific (low 1 to 15W) range of current passes through, same story for if there’s a loss of current due to any reserve power kicking in.

Lufdesign provides:

ECord makes users aware of their standby power waste by display current flow, and therefore helps them to cut down the leak.

Best way to go about it?

Designer: Lufdesign

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