Yanko Design - Latest Posts |  |
- 10 Unique And Creative MP3 Players
- Buried Treasure For Real
- Richard Serra Sculpture Redux
- The Great Escape Pod
- Salad Served Fresh And Cold
- Natural Tree Chair
- IDSA Mideast Conference: Barbecues, Arthritic Murder and an Argyle Lamb
| 10 Unique And Creative MP3 Players Posted: 27 May 2009 03:57 AM PDT The wires are abuzz with the Zune HD News, and many are wondering what Jobs has in store for the iPod this summer. However, the thread that ties both these MP3 players together is their form. Besides the obvious rectangle shape, very few people like Sony have ventured into a daring cylindrical shape for the MP3. Here's a look at the adventurous folks who broke away from the mold and gave us Unique And Creative MP3 Players 10) Ladybug MP3 Player For Children by Mark Honschke Cute little Ladybug! Resembling the pull-along-toy that we get our kids, the reassuring design of this player is apt for tots. Spare wings in colorful designs can be swapped to customize the player for each individual user. 9) Rubik Cube Mp3 Player by Hee Yong Creative genius? I think not, coz the Rubik Cube design has been abused many a times in the past. Innovative…yes! Coz I think it's the first time it's being used for an MP3 player in an intelligent way. The only way to activate the player is by solving the puzzle; by solving each layer has a specific function such as play, pause, forward or back. And of course the only way to turn it off is by completing it. Wicked! 8 ) MP3 Pebble Object by Branko Ludovic The Pebble was solely developed to explore variations in a single design. Imagine churning out MP3 players with same exact specs but with contours as diverse as pebbles. A manufacturers' nightmare I guess! 7) Wrist MP3 Player by Nathan Davis This player is best suited for those who need music while workingout. It slaps onto the wrist and uses a Bluetooth headphone for convenience. 6) Tie Clip MP3 Player by Jin Woo Han Yeah, ditch your diamond studded tie-clip for this MP3 player. Shy-guys can use it to flash intro messages like "Hello, my name is. . . " 5) Tok Tak Plug MP3 by Tae-wan Kim This one is a pretty basic and probably the smallest MP3 player concepts we've seen. Resembling a standard audio jack, the player dangles from your earphones when used on the go. 4) Sony Project Red Zik MP3 Player by Harold Terosier Ok, Sony does not support Project RED, so this is kinda weird. And it's also weird that this player is fashioned like a tear drop pendant. 3) Zero by Francesco Cugusi & Roberto Strippoli Adding a twist to the retro era, Zero is actually a CD Player serenading as a LP Player. In its defense for being in the list, it does support MP3, MP4 and WAV files. 2) Music Flow by Min-Kyung Kang, Tae-Seung Kim, & Jeong-Min Og Of all the things, it's a TAP! Like the flow of water, this one pours out your music. I really think it's an innovative approach to design. The set includes earphones, a faucet along with a controlling knob and a remote control. Ironically, "Not water-resistant!" The host of designers did not spoil this broth, coz I think it's one of the best representation of a blast from the past. You can get more modern and retro in the same breath as this. The tape is an MP3 player that follows the 45/60/90 minutes norm, holding 10/15/20 select songs in digital format. No Tags       |
| Posted: 27 May 2009 12:22 AM PDT One sorry soul has to always stay back ashore to take care of our belongings, while rest of the family is out there having fun on the surf and sand. Beach thefts are a reality and it's not just about losing your valuables, but about the violation of trust in mankind. Gigga Clam is a water proof safe that kinds tries to ease your day on the beach. Ergonomically designed, the Clam is meant to be pushed under the sand's surface for safekeeping and has some pretty cool high-tech features. It's roomy enough to store a large pair of sunglasses, phone, wallet, mp3 player, and keys. Gigga Clam combines the locking mechanism and GPS tracking. Once you push the safe under the sand, a light sensor mechanism gets activated via the interactive waterproof wristband that you need to wear. Essentially this means that if someone manages to unearth your treasure trove, then the safety features kick start. First you get a repeated vibrating notification via the wristband and once you confirm the theft, it converts into a tracking device that beeps you the exact location of your Clam. Construction-wise the safe's casing and hinges are made of Polycarbonate plastic and the transparent windows are made of Thermoplastic Polyurethane. The interior is fitted with Foamed Polyurethane Resin cushions that are sealed with cotton. Although you can play with a palette of colors for the exterior, it's best to leave it at an earthy-sandy color so that it blends in when you bury it. Designer: Chris Stratton     |
| Posted: 27 May 2009 12:08 AM PDT You know the giant metal sculptures of the world-renound sculptor artist Richard Serra? Well get on that! Read and roll! Then come back and see this direct homage (NOT DIRECTLY AFFILIATED) to Serra through room dividing walls. Hangers and all kinds of stuff too! Don’t put these on carpeting or clay. That would just plain spell disaster. Also be wary of hanging any long artwork. A personal moment with me, Chris Burns, your humble narrator for this and many other posts:
Incidentally, Serra wasn’t conceived or built anywhere near Minneapolis. The 2-B-2 Architecture group is Russian. And these walls were built on Russian soil. Be sure to check out the rest of the work by 2-B-2 available here at Yanko Design. They are totally amazing and splendiferous. And lest we forget: Can you imagine such a setup in your living room? Designer: 2-B-2 Architecture     |
| Posted: 27 May 2009 12:05 AM PDT Escape pods are nothing new to our collective consciousness. Hollywood writers have used this concept to save presidents from crashing planes to landing R2-D2 and C-3PO on Tatooine. Now designer Alp Germaner(coolest name today) has dreamed up an escape pod that may not take you off planet but will certainly take you off road like never before. The “Peugeot Capsule” is a one person, off-road, electric vehicle inspired by the KLR 650 motorcycle. Complete with integrated GPS, LCD screens that double as rear-view mirrors, full time internet connectivity(for jungle porn of course) and comes with enough luggage space to make a weekend of it. Master Chief not included. Designer: Alp Germaner     |
| Posted: 27 May 2009 12:02 AM PDT The "Outdoor Party Platter" is quite modest in terms of design and presentation, but that doesn’t come in its way of it being a winner concept. It’s a dish-in-dish design, with the bottom insulated part made from cork and the upper platter part made from bamboo. Place sufficient ice in the bottom half and serve cold cuts or salads from the top platter. The thoughtful (optional) inserts allow you to serve more than one food item at a time, without them running into each other. A handy-dandy for those who like to plan picnics and outdoor parties. Designer: Vicki Runnegar     |
| Posted: 27 May 2009 12:01 AM PDT Oh, the Swiss. Look at what Michel Bussien’s made. It’s called the “Growing Chair” and it’s potted just for you! Sit on your favorite tree and think about how elvish you are. You can see it growing like it’s an ant-farm! Potted and on rollers here, but if you plant it with the right elements in nature, remove the box and the plant is treeish! It’s an experiment in naturetoligy. Or naturalism. Or un-naturalism? In any case, Bussien wants us to get back to our roots, literally, etc. In his manifesto below, explore the greener side of things for great justice!
Generally trees are pretty comfortable to sit in. They are made that way for monkeys. Monkeys sit in trees and just hang out because trees were made for monkeys to hang out in. Because we humans were never meant to climb tall trees to sit in, the seat portion of the tree is generally higher than most people can reach. That’s where this chair comes in! Bend nature to your will! Or do what Michel Bussien suggests: re-root! Designer: Michel Bussien     |
| IDSA Mideast Conference: Barbecues, Arthritic Murder and an Argyle Lamb Posted: 26 May 2009 07:37 AM PDT As some of you may know, the Industrial Designers Society of America plays host to a collection of conferences every spring, and this year Long, our magnanimous editor, saw fit to send me off to the mid-east conference in Pittsburgh to report back to you all. The long and short of it? If you don’t have a job, don’t worry, nobody else does either. If you have a job, buckle up for extra hours and responsibility, because you’re gonna have to justify that pittance we designers make. And worse comes to worst, move to china, apparently they have some jobs. Hit the jump if you wanna see what a $300 weekend on YD’s tab looks like. Conference: IDSA
Stopping off at the Carnegie Mellon School of Design for a tour from one of its students Nadeem Haidary (top right), I glommed onto a group from the University of Cincinnati and enjoyed some barbecue. Captive to a mostly absent trolley, we eventually found our way to Daedalus Excel for an open house of its facilities and some good cheese, crackers and discussion of its philosophy and methods. The next morning brought a talk on design patent litigation and Gorham’s Ordinary Observer test from Cooper Woodring followed by Tucker Viemeister’s presentation of his Design Manifesto. In it he brings up both the uneasy relationship design has with the economy as well as how his own OXO Good Grips pairing knife for arthritic hands ended up as a murder weapon in Madison. The day moved onto the delightful Student Merit presentations from Will Oltman, Tylan Tschopp, Justin Ezell, Matt Betteker, Dan T Rowe, Kevin Yang, Hannah May, and Nadeem Haidary (last four pictured below, left to right). My personal pick would have been Nadeem Haidary for some of his mind-blowing projects which you can catch over on his site. Just as energy was running low and people around me started errantly sketching objects on their notepads, Jon Kolko of Frog Design took the mic and delivered a much needed kick to the pants. Highlighting the impending threat China poses to not just our form giving responsibilities, but research and broader-scope roles, he advised the conference to look around and find the intrinsic, deeply buried insights in our culture, hidden behind things as random and odd as a piece of argyle lamb grafitti, that allow our research and design work to remain relevant. Check out the presentations’ deck here and keep your eyes peeled tomorrow for an in-depth interview with Kolko himself. Winning the Student Merit Award was Dan T. Rowe (above middle) at the nearby Bossa Nova Navarro room followed by much wine, beer and good cheer, provided you had a green bracelet and some drink tickets. And kudos to the underaged lush who thought fast enough to snag a stranger’s badge and driver’s license to partake in the joviality herself. Those stumbling back to the hotel at just the right time were also treated to a lovely fireworks display which was rather more impressive than the small fire that broke out in the restaurant earlier thanks to some poorly placed candles. Wrapping up the conference was the groggily attended portfolio review which put a lot of students under the harsh but helpful light of professional opinion. The most common advice I heard was to build a story, utilize scope and sell yourself (metaphorically). Below, Will Koehler (top right) shows off some work while Erin Hamilton (bottom left) of Lextant helps out a student. That’s about it. Look out for some interviews with Both Jon Kolko and Tucker Viemeister, legendary co-founder of Smart Design, Frog NY and many others. No Tags     |
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