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Best of March 2009

Posted: 27 Mar 2009 03:58 AM PDT

Every month we take a look around and select some of the most interesting designs that was showcased here. Below you'll find the most popular designs we've tracked over the last 30 days - an overview of designs you shouldn't have missed in March 2009.

10) Hood Speakers by Leo Chao. Permalink Hits: 9300

9) Augmented Reality Toys by Frantz Lasorne. Pemalink Hits: 9327

8 ) eXtreme Compact Digital Camera by Camillo Vanacore. Permalink Hits: 9568

7) Mac Book Mini by Isamu Sanada. Permalink Hits: 11253

6) Wake Up Alarm by De Dietrich. Permalink Hits: 11491

5) Bamboo Speakers by Jocko Chan. Permalink Hits: 19943

4) Finger USB by Alberto Villarreal. Permalink Hits: 26050

3) Dynamically Augmenting Wheel System by Charles Pyott. Permalink Hits: 35879

2) Fountain Tab Faucet by Jinsun Park & Byungmin Woo. Permalink Hits: 41667

1) Mobile Mini House by Stephanie Bellanger. Permalink Hits: 130865

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Foldable Bicycles: How Real Today?

Posted: 27 Mar 2009 12:26 AM PDT

Perhaps you’d enjoy such a thing? Consider the following: not from the Twilight Zone, but for your approval: folding bikes. Seen any lately? At Yanko, we’ve had several. Lots of them have parallel features, the most common being the amount of collapsing the bike does. With this most recent inception into the folding hall, the “Antares Lift,” we get front stem, handle bars, seat, and back wheel, all folding up into the bike.

Above: “Antares Lift” by Hideki Kawata. It’s folded shape is inspired by a tear drop and an orchid leaf. Single-speed drive, LED lights. To fold the bike: lift up center latch and let the wheels roll together to click.

Entered and logged…

In no particular order, the Yanko Bike Folding Archive!

GrassHopper The Folding Recumbent Bike : 96 x 60 x 70 cm at it’s smallest size. GrassHopper The Folding Recumbent Bike

A-Bike : Weight: 5.5 kg, folding time: 10 seconds, enclosed chain system (it’s like a secret bonus!) : A-Bike - Folding Bicycle by Daka Design

GrassHopper (electric) : This version is an electric bike that can be folded down as well as charged, for those times when pedaling is crappy : This Grasshopper Folds and Generates Electricity

One : Statisticless but rendered in a way that makes the bike appear (basically) intuitive : maybe the lightest of the bunch? : 'One' - Folding Bicycle by Thomas Owen

Fold much? How close are any of these to a functional design that you’d be unable to resist? What do you look for in a folding bike? Is it really necessary to fold a bike in an environment that’s been built to cater to bikes nearly everywhere? Where will I put my folded bike once I’ve brought it into the office?

All these questions for the folded few. Bike on.

Designer: Multiple Designers. Click each picture for more info.

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Mini Kitchen That LT Would Love!

Posted: 27 Mar 2009 12:25 AM PDT

LT and I have many things in common, we both are here at YD; we share the same star sign; both are vegetarians and share the same passion for cooking. I wonder what his views (and of course you YDers) will be on this Electrolux Personal Mini Kitchen. Personally, I really like the concept but I have a large family and this one's a small, one-unit thing that caters to individuals or couples at the most. The compact kitchen is a marriage of both cooling and heating elements coz it features a pull-out silicon cooking mat and chill boxes.

It comes with a combo of a touchscreen Internet ready tablet that features a webcam for IM. Chat, Cook, Browse Recipes and Eat with virtual friends!

Speaking of the fridge section, the chill boxes includes a drink cooler, a raw food store and a semi-cooked store section. Super!

As for the cooking mat, it's an electric heated silicon mat that can be rolled up and stored under the box. Each area on the mat serves a specific cooking function like boiling, frying, heating and has corresponding tab on the side.

The icing on the cake is the Black Box, a simple functional utensil kit that one can use for cooking and serving the meal. I like this…do you?

Designer: Kai Yu

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Sittin’ on a Pole with Cold Cathode

Posted: 27 Mar 2009 12:01 AM PDT

This thang is called the “Plof.” It’s a self-bearing structure (a sort of relaxed pole snake) with a 30mm diameter methacrylate tube containing a cold cathode lamp. The cold cathode light emits no heat, lives for 45,000 hours (aka 10 years,) and does not exceed 1000 Volts. You know what that means: big-time low volt party! Everyone party around the Plof!

The lamp is 183cm tall, 63cm wide, with a cord running out the back. Steel tube, methacrylate, and cold cathode light. The cord and the bulb disconnect from the tube for easy transport.

Designer: Yonoh

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S Is For SuperDuper!

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 11:17 AM PDT

No you are not looking at the new Jaguar XF or the Aston Martin Rapide. This is actually the new all-electric Model “S” sedan from often beleaguered Tesla Motors. It is the follow up to the much hyped and groundbreaking Tesla Roadster. This sexy four-door sedan comes loaded with the latest touch-screen technology, sleek styling and enough green karma to choke the Dali Lama. Did we mention it’s entirely electric and not a concept?

UPDATE: Jalopnik just got all the live details on it.

Designer: Tesla [ Via: Jalopnik ]

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Are You Stressed? Break It!

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 09:00 AM PDT

We all need stress relief. Some people internalize it. Some people lash out. You could pick up meditation or try to keep yourself busy but sometimes hitting something really hard is the quick (best) way to release all that tension. Break It is a body and mind relaxation kit - a meditation CD, some herb tea aren’t exactly new but in order to get to it, you have to “break it.” Pretend you’re a master martial artist and smash that sh*t open. Don’t worry, it’s made of potato starch.

Designer: Mi-Rae Kim

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Shop Laboratory, Good For Business?

Posted: 26 Mar 2009 08:53 AM PDT

During their scholarship year at the Designlabor Bremerhaven in 2008 an interdisciplinary design team devised temporary usage concepts as part of a strategy to counter the number of unoccupied shop premises in Bremerhaven. These innovative concepts were tested in a vacant shop under experimental conditions. This was in turn transformed into a gallery, a media café and finally an outlet offering its own design products called the Shop Laboratory.

Social, cultural and commercial uses were interactively linked in different ways, generating ideas for business concepts and urban development. The aim of this cost-conscious design was to attract a lot of attention and to provide flexibility.

Interesting way for retails to “try before we sell” to consumers - especially in this unsure economy.

Designers: Silke Heimberg, Sybille Neumeyer, Thomas Rodemeier, Eva Rudolf & Karsten Willmann for Designlabor Bremerhaven