August was an exciting month at Yanko Design. We came across innovative and intriguing designs that left a lasting impression on our minds. 2021 ends in a couple of months, and the design industry hasn’t disappointed a bit this year! Our curiosity and interest are piqued – what will the remainder of the year bring us? Are new horizons going to be discovered and boundaries pushed in the design world? And what will these experiments in creativity eventually lead to? As we keep our fingers crossed, and hope to be thoroughly impressed, let’s appreciate the best designs that we have come across till now! Here’s a collection of the designs we absolutely loved in the month of August. Each of these designs touched a chord within us. From a sleek quiet solar generator to keep your home appliances running during a power outage to a portable laser engraver that lets you customize almost anything – not only do these innovative product designs address unique problems but also promise to make our daily lives a little better. We hope you enjoy them as well!
Portable EV chargers have caught pace in the last few years, and the A-monite, a concept for a portable electric vehicle fast charger is one fine example of how the intention is altering and is revolutionizing the way people think of electric vehicle ownership. A portable charger like the A-monite removes the question of where, when, and how out of actually charging the electric vehicle. It taps into the lack of charging infrastructure so that a vehicle does not have to be towed to a charging station – if it’s stranded on the highway. Instead, it can be powered up, right there and then with a portable charger in the boot of the car. It is an interesting alternative to the fixed stands installed in the parking lots, buildings, and in outdoors.
The Generark HomePower 2 is a backup battery for your home that’s cheaper than setting up a generator or shelling $12,000 on a Tesla Powerwall, it’s also classier and less noisy than those gas-powered generators that definitely seem archaic. Standing at roughly 2 feet tall and weighing a pretty commendable 45 pounds (20 kilos), the Generark HomePower 2 comes with an electric-vehicle-grade high-performance Lithium-ion NMC battery that can power 99% of your home appliances (even the heavy-duty ones). It doesn’t require installation or even a permit and can be carried or wheeled around the house depending on where you need it. Each Generark comes with 4 AC outlets, 2 USB-A ports, 2 USB-C ports, and a 12V/10A car outlet to power a host of devices.
Dim the lights and switch the Gingko Smart Moon Lamp on and it quite literally looks like you’ve got a supermoon inside your home! Its gravity-defying levitating design completes the illusion, creating a pretty remarkable-looking prop that’s great for decor as well as photography! The floating moon comes 3D printed from translucent PLA, complete with craters and undulating surface details to make it look like the real thing, and it floats on its base too, gently rotating as a planetary object would. 140mm (5.5 inches) in diameter, the moon floats on a wooden base made of dark walnut or light ash wood, suspended in place by a strong rare-earth magnet.
Designed by Acasso, this wireless charging pad features a beautiful suede leather pillow! A machined aluminum base is accentuated by a soft suede pillow, creating a mesmerizing contrast. It’s an aesthetic twist on the sleek and techy-looking charging pads we’ve grown so accustomed to. It’s the perfect design for those who want their smartphone accessories to not only do the job but also look mighty fine while doing it! The charger is available in two subtle colors – mint and lavender. Wouldnt this be the ideal companion for the newly launched iPhone 13 family and their exciting range of colors?!
RA Laser Z3 is a compact and portable laser engraving tool with an open base design so that anyone can laser engrave their products from anywhere for any reason. Before use, the RA Laser Z3 folds down to the height of a closed book. When users unfold the RA Laser Z3 to engrave an item, the bulk of the laser opens up just like a book as the engraving module swings out to form an L-shape. From there, users position the products they’d like to engrave beneath the bottom rectangular frame. Designed with an open base, the RA Laser Z3 is prepared for users to engrave products of any size, from iPhones to dog tags.
Designed by industrial design team KIWI DESIGN, the portable washer employs a quick sanitization technology to do the dirty job of cleaning your messy underwear, vest, and socks in a jiffy. Anything that fits the small dryer and washer is good to go –handkerchiefs, masks, or gloves being one. The bottom section of the portable machine made from super-elastic nickel-titanium alloy expands to the shape of an inverted lampshade to support the drying bag. Since sanitation is an integral part of our current lifestyle, the portable dryer gets rid of any bacterial or fungal build-up in the undergarments thanks to the high-temperature sanitization. This in fact doubles as a dryer for the clothing in the consequent step. In just 15-30 minutes the gadget readies you for a fresh start to the day.
Remember CDs? They pretty much dominated the early 2000s, and though most of us have abandoned them, they’re still a few nostalgia lovers out there who manage to find some use for CDs! And this CD case by Bratus Agency for GBOX Studios is a pretty unique one. The origami-inspired CD case is not only interesting to use, but also interesting to make! You could try creating it at home with some stationery paper. It’s also sustainable and recyclable!
The tiny measuring device comes with a design and form factor that’s highly reminiscent of the rather iconic Motorola Aura from 2008. Its distinctly familiar design aside, the MEAZOR is an incredibly powerful measuring device, capable of accurately scanning floor plans, measuring small and large distances (even on curved paths), working as a contour gauge and saving all your metrics to your phone. Its curved design sports a wheel on one side (that lets you measure distances by rolling on surfaces), and a laser gauge on the other side (working as an accurate 2D scanner and laser measurer). Sitting between them is a circular multi-touch display, and a single button interface that allows you to measure distances, save the metrics, and share them to your phone.
Partnering with Japan-based startup ViXion, Nendo has unveiled an eponymously named mixed-reality headset that’s designed specifically for people with reduced visibility. ViXion is a sleek headset that helps the legally blind (or people suffering from night blindness) see around them. The headset comes with a camera that captures the world ahead of the wearer, while an internal processor increases the visibility of the footage by amping up the brightness and the contrast, and projects the images onto the wearer’s eyes, allowing them to see better.
Named after its inspiration, the Kero from Gantri is a lamp that’s equal parts retro and modern. The origins of its design come from the antique kerosene-based lamps used popularly in the 1800s, while its modern element is ostensibly its minimal design (created by Elvin Chu of studio noun), and the fact that the lamp runs on modern LEDs instead of burning kerosene. Manufactured by Gantri, the lamp’s body is 3D printed too (out of the proprietary Gantri Plant Polymers) and comes in either black, sand, or the iconic red.
