Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

The kitchen scale inspired by interior design

Posted: 02 Jan 2018 12:00 PM PST

Lately, we’ve questioned the appearance of a lot of things. Shavers, IoT Devices, Air conditioners… or rather, we’ve asked the question “Why not make it look different?”. This deviation from a product’s ‘category code’ (or the need to homogenize designs of a certain category so users can identify them better) opens up a new world of design where a user’s experience remains unchanged or enhanced by a product that looks radically different in an attempt to break the mold.

Take for instance the Half-Half kitchen scale, which was designed in a way that can be best described as a parallel universe kitchen scale. Made out of glass and marble, the scale is designed to complement the kitchen beautifully (it uses its space and the space’s materials wonderfully as inspiration), rather than standing out as an appliance screaming for attention. Designed to be a perfect square when not in use, an elegant diagonal cut along one face gives the product its character while allowing for the glass receptacle to be moved upwards. Markings on the glass container allow you to gauge the weight of the items you place inside as the glass container lowers itself, the heavier it gets. I for one would love to have a Half Half scale in my kitchen, not because it does its job, but it does so with sheer panache!

Designer: Constantina Sfakianakis

A Whale of a Computer

Posted: 02 Jan 2018 11:06 AM PST

Would you ever change your computer’s hard drive? What about replacing the graphic card? Many people would answer a resounding NO! For us, the idea of tinkering around in the CPU sounds like performing surgery with the potential for costly mistakes. Designed with this in mind, Whale is a CPU concept that aims to make the idea of upgrading your obsolete components less scary and intimidating.

Whale simplifies the CPU customization process for those unfamiliar with assembling computers by employing an intuitive module opening and closing structure. When the user wants to upgrade the computer, it can easily replace the graphic card, hard disk, RAM card and more by opening the pull-out module on the front part of the unit. With its soft aesthetic, it’s also as friendly-looking as it is user-friendly!

Designer: Beom Sic Jeon

Furniture for the wanderlust

Posted: 02 Jan 2018 07:00 AM PST

You know what I love about moving? The new city, the new experiences, new friends… You know what I hate about moving? The moving. Martin Gschwandtl has moved 15 times in his life and he realized what a pain it was to move WITH your belongings. Furniture has never been designed with the intent to make moving easy. They’re either too big and bulky to be moved, or they’re the IKEA kinds, which are easy to pull out of a box and set up… but they aren’t designed to be disassembled and put back into the box. Martin decided to embark on a journey to make furniture that could be as nomadic as their owners, while not compromising on functionality. Out Of Necessity, Martin’s pet project, tackles that very problem with its first product, the nomadic coat rack.

Designed to compress down the wardrobe to its bare essentials, the coat-rack comes flat-packed, but the best part is that once assembled, it can be flat-packed again multiple times. Unlike IKEA’s DIY products that involve drilling screws into wood, making things permanent, Out Of Necessity uses metal threads and inserts, allowing screws to be removed in the event of disassembly without affecting the product’s lifespan. The shelf itself becomes the packaging unit when flipped over, allowing you to pack the columns and other parts into the shelf’s cavity.

Out Of Necessity’s coat rack also embodies a minimal aesthetic that doesn’t necessarily indicate a nomadic lifestyle, but allows you to embrace minimalism with ease, letting you travel light every time you need to shift base. What’s next on the Out Of Necessity’s agenda? A minimal, easy-to-move table, and hopefully even a bed!

Designer: Martin Gschwandtl

Your Digital Window for Workplace Wellness

Posted: 02 Jan 2018 03:00 AM PST

A little sunlight and fresh air can go a long way to prevent brain drain at work! However, sufficiently windowed offices (at home or work) are few are far between. In fact, they often tend to be dark and claustrophobic with little attention given to indoor air quality. All factors working against your creativity, efficiency and productiveness. If this describes you and your office, the Desk Window is for you.

Capable of being mounted on any wall or propped on a desk, its digital display provides you with the natural atmosphere of your choice. From cloudy skies to a view of the Eiffel tower, you can place yourself in the midst of whatever setting gets your creative juices flowing. Better yet, the unit emits full spectrum light to boost your mood and keep your energy levels high. Despite being incredibly compact, it also sports an integrated filtration system that recycles the air in your immediate work area so your productivity isn’t affected by indoor pollution. DO want!

Designer: Seohee Lee

Clean Up that Unwanted Desk Clutter

Posted: 02 Jan 2018 12:17 AM PST

The problem with being an industrial designer or any designer at that is the abundance of pens, markers and all sorts of drawings implements lying around the desk is that you struggle to find the ones you REALLY like to use. It becomes like a disease, leaving one pen out after another. Jonghwan Kim knows this first hand, so much so he’s managed to design an attachable pen holder for the bottom of the PC screen to hold only your favorite/most popular drawing tools.

A perfect size to hold only a select few, the pen holder is removable and ready to move with you when you need to. Attached by a reusable adhesive strip, the pen holder can be used on the edge of your workbench too if you so wish. Cost efficient and a funky addition to any workspace, these pen holders are a surefire way to ensure only the most necessary drawing tools are in sight, clearing up a lot of unnecessary wasted space.

Designer: Jonghwan Kim of Tale Studio

An exoskeleton built to keep you going

Posted: 01 Jan 2018 09:00 PM PST

Over 100 years ago, the moving assembly line, invented by Ford Motor Company under the leadership of Henry Ford, revolutionized automotive production. Even though a lot of the steps in this assembly line has been replaced by robotic arms, there are still an alarming amount of workers who must raise their arms in order to fix or add various elements to the vehicles. It’s said that some workers on the assembly line lift their arms an average of 4,600 times per day, or about 1 million times per year, increasing the possibility of fatigue or injury.

Due to the extensive overhead work required by each worker, the EksoVest will provide the user with 5-15lbs of lift assistance, ideal for any action required under the vehicle. Some of these activities might include pushing in fastener rivets, snapping fuel lines into place or simply using any drill or impact drivers or torque wrenches.

With a mixture of carbon fiber, steel tubing, and blue interaction point highlights, the EksoVest is a cool addition to the rugged labor-some lifestyle. Aware that the EksoVest is designed to prevent workplace injury, it goes without saying that this vest is amongst one of the more impressive looking exoskeletons I’ve seen in the recent months.

Designers: Ford & EksoWorks