The 2022 Design Intelligence Award is open and free for entry, with a massive $750,000 prize fund

Ask yourself. Is a design good if it won an award? Or is it good if it positively impacted people? The latter sounds like the most obvious option, right? Well, that’s the objective of China’s premier awards program, the Design Intelligence Award. Established in 2015 by the China Academy of Art, the DIA Award doesn’t just discover good design… It develops it. Working in part as an award program and in part as a product accelerator, the DIA Award celebrates innovation and entrepreneurial imagination. The free-to-enter award program has a two-round judging and evaluation process, with the aim to help develop products that uniquely benefit humanity. In doing so, the DIA Award also aims at creating a platform to accelerate international trade, increase connectivity, and open up commercial opportunities. After all, good design is only impactful when it reaches and benefits more people, right? To that end, the award program has even set up a prize fund worth ¥5 million RMB, or $750,000 USD to help incubate great ideas into great designs.

The Design Intelligence Award’s judging process occurs in two stages – a preliminary, and a more hands-on final one. During this time, an elite panel of 550 multidisciplinary design experts evaluates the entries based on three criteria/layers – 1) The fundamental layer emphasizes the “Principles of Design”, covering functionality, aesthetics, technicality, user experience, and sustainability. 2) The advanced layer emphasizes the “Direction of Design”, spanning contribution to humanity, industry, and the future. 3) The top layer emphasizes the “Impact of Design” in regard to social influence and industrial development.

Based on these criteria, the DIA Jury Panel selects 30 outstanding projects that are innovative and positively impactful. Winners get access to the DIA’s prize fund of ¥5 million RMB ($750,000 USD) with the winner alone getting ¥1 million RMB. Although that isn’t the end of it. All winners are invited to the DIA Award Ceremony to engage face-to-face with global representatives from various industries such as design, academic circles, media, etc. The award also organizes a set of expert lectures known as the D-WILL, sponsored by Zhejiang Modern Intelligent Manufacturing Promotion Center and Design Innovation Center of China Academy of Art, with the intent to spearhead innovation and connectivity. With “Meet design, Meet future” as its initial intention, the Lecture invites education experts, industry elites, and pioneers to share their achievements and insights in their personal research and careers with younger generations. Finally, winners get featured in the media as a part of a coordinated PR push to help get their work noticed by everybody. In fact, you can scroll down to see a few winners and honorable mentions from last year’s Design Intelligence Awards.

Have an innovative idea for a product or service? Want to win up to ¥1 million RMB ($147,000 USD) to help develop it into a tangible life-changing design? Click here to enroll for the 2022 Design Intelligence Awards FOR FREE!

X2 by HT Aerospace Technology Co.Ltd.

The X2 is an award-winning flying car, or what the designers like to call a ‘three dimensional transportation system’! With a cockpit no larger than your average automobile, the X2 sits two people and uses four propellers for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL). Its unique aesthetic is a combination of cyberpunk inspiration along with aerodynamism. The X2 takes on a teardrop shape for peak aerodynamic efficiency, but has an aesthetic that still puts it in somewhat car territory. If you’re wondering whether the X2 is also made from a bulletproof metal alloy like the Cybertruck, it isn’t. Instead, it uses a carbon-fiber interior and exterior to achieve that lightweight build needed to be an efficient ‘flying car’!

Tmall Genie Queen by Zhejiang Tmall Technology Co., Ltd

Designed to be a smart mirror, the Tmall Genie Queen isn’t just a mirror with a speaker attached. Instead, it’s an IoT-enabled grooming system that coaches you as you get ready, giving you grooming and makeup tips to help you look your best. The mirror comes equipped with Tmall’s voice AI, and even has a ring light built into the rim of the mirror that automatically illuminates to give you perfect lighting as you apply your makeup. Does it play music too? Well, obviously!

Carbon Fiber Violin by Jiang Mi

It isn’t a Stradivarius, but in the violin’s defence, makers of the Stradivarius probably didn’t have access to novel materials like carbon fiber. Carbon fiber, oddly enough, makes for a rather interesting material when it comes to acoustics. We’ve seen carbon fiber guitars and speakers in the past, although this might be the first carbon fiber violin we’ve ever laid our eyes upon. Designed with an incredibly sleek and streamlined body, this violin is a lot thinner than traditional violins, and lighter too. Designed using “injection molding methods” (although how one would do that for a hollow instrument is definitely puzzling), the violin comes with what looks like an entirely unibody design, making it much tougher than any other violin out there. It also means the violin can come in a host of different colors, bringing an entirely new appeal to the otherwise strictly traditional instrument.

ThinkPad X1 Fold by Lenovo

Designed to be the first ever folding-display laptop, the ThinkPad X1 Fold comes with a 13.3″ OLED display that folds in half, and a physical keyboard that attaches to the screen when you want to use it in laptop mode, and detaches to turn the X1 Fold into a folding tablet. This dramatically helps scale down the laptop’s original framework, making it mildly thicker, but smaller width-wise, thanks to the folding screen. Each X1 Folf also comes with a kickstand to prop the screen up, and a stylus that lets you experience the Windows-based tablet’s full potential.

Sadler Bike by AQL8 s.r.l.

If a folding tablet/laptop wasn’t enough, say hello to the Sadler – a folding hubless e-bike that crams down to the size of a trolley, making it the most compact folding e-bike in the world. The Sadler comes with a carbon fiber frame and a motor built into the rear hubless wheel. The bike’s minimalist design goes one step further thanks to its folding action, which makes it occupy less than half its original space. Designed in Italy, the Sadler bike weighs a nominal 15 kilograms, but can support nearly ten times its weight. The e-bike’s internal battery has a range of 90 kilometers, while the rear-wheel motor can hit speeds of up to 25 km/h, as specified by EU regulations.

Have an innovative idea for a product or service? Want to win up to ¥1 million RMB ($147,000 USD) to help develop it into a tangible life-changing design? Click here to enroll for the 2022 Design Intelligence Awards FOR FREE!

The post The 2022 Design Intelligence Award is open and free for entry, with a massive $750,000 prize fund first appeared on Yanko Design.

This sleek self-heating bento box looks like something Apple would create

If Steve Jobs were less of a tech enthusiast and more of a culinary specialist, maybe we’d be staring at a state-of-the-art culinary heating device instead of the M2 MacBook Air. Although that reality didn’t quite pan out, we still have the MEALZTIME, an incredibly slim, self-heating bento box that’s leak-proof, easy to clean, and works on a single-button interface.

Designer: Jimmy Fung

Click Here to Buy Now: $79 $139 (43% off). Hurry, for a limited time only.

MEALZTIME hopes to make the office microwave obsolete. Given the sheer number of people who use the microwave on a daily basis (and that occasional dimwit who heats up their tuna casserole in it, ruining it for everyone), MEALZTIME was designed as a personalized alternative that heats your food up to the right temperature for you, without you having to wait in line. All you do is press the power button on your bento box and MEALZTIME gets to work, automatically shutting down after your food’s been heated. It does so without needing to be plugged in too, so you could potentially grab a hot meal on the subway, in your car, in the outdoors, or even at work during a power cut.

One-Touch Heating

Armed with a 10,000 mAh battery, MEALZTIME lets you heat up to 4 meals on a single charge, so you really have to juice it up just about once or twice a week. Its thermal system provides a uniform heating experience, bringing the contents of your lunchbox up to a warm and toasty 149°F – heating your meals quickly without destroying the nutritional structures or flavors of the ingredients, and without burning the roof of your mouth. Unlike other self-heating boxes, MEALZTIME doesn’t use water either, making the overall process less messy.

Each MEALZTIME comes with a 900ml capacity, making it perfect for one healthy meal portion. The container is covered by a leakproof lid that ensures gravies, sauces, or oils don’t spill out, and just to prevent steam buildup, the lid also comes with a steam vent that relieves pressure inside your lunchbox. The MEALZTIME has one single open container, but can be separated by a divider that comes along with your kit, allowing you to store two types of food and add variety to your meals.

You’d think that a bento box with a heating element would be bulky and heavy but that’s where the Apple reference I made earlier comes in handy. MEALZTIME isn’t your average self-heating bento box. It weighs a paltry 784 grams (1.7 lbs) and measures 235mm in width, 144mm across, and 75mm vertically. The outer housing of the MEALZTIME is made from ABS plastic, while its inner container is made from food-grade stainless steel.

The inner container is removable, making washing up after meals really easy, or even storing leftovers in the fridge that you can pop into the MEALZTIME Heatbox and carry to work at moment’s notice. Each MEALZTIME comes with a USB-C port to charge your box, and even sports LED indicators that tell you how much juice your bento box’s battery has. For added convenience, the USB-C port has a rubber plug to ensure food doesn’t trickle into the port, and the base of the MEALZTIME is lined with 4 anti-slip feet that keep your lunchbox firmly on the table while you gobble up those delicious hot meals!

Click Here to Buy Now: $79 $139 (43% off). Hurry, for a limited time only. Raised over $170,000.

The post This sleek self-heating bento box looks like something Apple would create first appeared on Yanko Design.

This titanium stick transforms into the tool you wished you always in your pocket

Cutting through your tasks has never looked better.

There always comes a time in everyone’s life where they’re left shaking their heads, wishing they had a cutting tool right at that very moment. That usually happens when we receive mail or a package that needs to be opened right then and there, but it can also happen when we’re faced with tasks that require cutting, snipping, or even slicing. Carrying a box cutter or a pair of shears all the time is definitely out of the question, and even the most pocketable scissors or blades can still be inconvenient to stow. What if you had such a tool that’s small enough to share space with your keys? That’s exactly the proposition that the Titanium Transforming Pocket Blade is making, and it’s doing a grand job of convincing people with its dashing good looks as well.

Designers: Mahir Orak and Smart&Savior Designs

Click Here to Buy Now: $49. Hurry, only 31/50 left!

Pocket blades are one of those tools where you need to hit a sweet spot in size, or else things go south quickly. It has to be small, naturally, so that it would even fit in your pocket. At the same time, however, it has to also be big enough to give you a proper grip to avoid unsightly mishaps. There’s no size that fits all, at least not unless you can actually change the size of the object to check both boxes.

Building upon the success of six transforming pen campaigns, the Titanium Transforming Pocket Blade puts a slight twist on the story, both literally and figuratively. This cutting tool is laser-focused on delivering the precision, quality, and safety required for something that could cut both ways while still hiding a few tricks up its sleeves for good measure. And like all other multi-functional tools from Smart & Savior Designs, it still boasts of that hardened titanium body that will stand the test of time.

Open up shipping boxes.

Easily cut paper.

Peel vegetables.

Instead of the typical strong magnets, the Transform Pocket Blade uses a threaded locking mechanism and double o-rings to transform the small blade into a longer blade that you can handle with more ease and comfort. The machined spiral pattern on the handle’s surface doesn’t just make it visually interesting but also provides grooves that the skin on our fingers can bite into, improving the grip. Despite its small size, its construction and quality materials make short work of any cutting job, even slicing cucumbers. When titanium surfaces are subjected to light, it becomes more effective in repelling bacteria, so you don’t need to shy away from getting down and dirty in cutting tasks down to size.

An optional stylus nib turns the Transforming Pocket Blade into a useful tool even when not cutting things up. The fiber mesh material of that tip is more effective than the rubbery ones that cheap stylus offer. Even without the stylus tip, the titanium rod can still perform other tasks, like pushing buttons when you’re not sure if the surface is clean enough to touch with a bare finger.

The Titanium Transforming Pocket Blade’s innocent yet handsome appearance belies the powerful tool inside that’s just a twist away. Its durable titanium body, plus the fact that the blade can be removed and replaced, means that it’s going to be at your service for years to come. Designed to easily attach to carabiners, there is almost no reason why this shouldn’t be part of your EDC kit, ready to open up those surprise packages or slice up a quick snack, whenever and wherever.

Click Here to Buy Now: $49. Hurry, only 31/50 left!

The post This titanium stick transforms into the tool you wished you always in your pocket first appeared on Yanko Design.

This futuristic hoodie is weather adaptive, abrasion-proof, and comes with a set of modular accessories

Why carry a backpack on your shoulders when you could just snap a bag to your hoodie? The Ultra Hoodie quite literally does that, with a magnetic M-System plug that lets you quickly attach messenger bags, pouches, and other accessories directly to the hoodie, sort of like giving yourself extra pockets. If that wasn’t cool enough, the Ultra Hoodie is also water resistant with DWR and abrasion-proof, comes with dedicated pockets for your belongings, built-in AirPods holders, and a tiny window that lets you look at your smartwatch without having to lift your sleeves up. It’s also simultaneously breathable and stretchable, allowing you to be as comfortable and free as you would in a regular hoodie, and it comes in the most badass color on the planet – jet black.

Designer: William Chen

Click Here to Buy Now: $198 $280 (30% off). Hurry, less than 24 hours left!

The patent-pending Ultra Hoodie quite literally propels the most comfortable piece of clothing into the future. While most hoodies were designed for casual comfort, the Ultra Hoodie combines comfort with performance, versatility, and durability. At first glance, it might look just like a regular (albeit classy) hoodie, but look closer and you’ll realize how much there is to unpack.

The hoodie comes made from a high-gauge weaving structure with a dedicated internal membrane that makes it incredibly resilient to wind and rain, while still being up to 5 times more breathable than your average jacket. An inner fleece lining keeps you warm without making you sweaty, and creates a comfortable environment that only a hoodie can.

The Ultra Hoodie, however, isn’t just designed for comfort. Its fabric has 360° stretchability, making the Ultra Hoodie perfect for the great outdoors. It’s also abrasion-resistant, so you can wear it just about anywhere without worrying about it getting damaged, and has reflective strips on the back, increasing visibility and safety.

Hidden Card Slot

Phone Pocket

Watch Window

The Ultra Hoodie also comes with a few functional upgrades designed to help you effectively adapt to different situations. It has an abundance of pockets, including hidden slots on the sleeve to store your phone, cash, or cards. A water bottle pocket beside the ribs lets you easily carry a bottle or umbrella, and a towel loop on the back is perfect for storing a rolled-up napkin or sweat towel while working out.

The hoodie also has an adjustable hood with pull-strings that also double up as holders for AirPods. Want to wear your AirPods with your head covered? The hoodie comes with passthrough vents that let you fit in your earbuds THROUGH the hood.

Perhaps the most impressive feature the Ultra Hoodie sports is its versatile M-System modular design. The M-System is a magnetic modular interface that allows you to snap a host of extra modules and accessories to the hoodie. These accessories include the M-System Pack, a messenger-style waterproof bag that basically attaches to your torso, eliminating the need for straps.

The M-System Pack works almost like an extension of your hoodie, giving you an extra set of waterproof zippers to carry extra belongings, and just in case you want to use it without the hoodie, there is a detachable strap too that allows you to wear the pack as a side-sling or cross-body bag. Other accessories include a name-tag, which slips right into the base of the jacket right near your hip, where you’d attach your retractable lanyard anyway, and a polygonal hat, which just acts as a rather cool accessory when you’re trying to nail the Heisenberg look.

What the Ultra Hoodie really does is expand the capabilities of an otherwise rather commonplace piece of clothing that people usually wear for days at an end because it’s just comfortable. In its renewed avatar, the hoodie 2.0 if you will, the Ultra Hoodie becomes the kind of apparel you can wear everyday and everywhere, thanks to a series of rather functional upgrades. The stretchable, breathable, high-performance fabric is perfect for practically any demanding outdoor scenario, and the pockets, features, and accessories that accompany the Ultra Hoodie make it perfect for the everyday urban warrior!

Click Here to Buy Now: $198 $280 (30% off). Hurry, less than 24 hours left!

The post This futuristic hoodie is weather adaptive, abrasion-proof, and comes with a set of modular accessories first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Portable 7-in-1 Welding Station + Plasma Cutter Turns Your Garage into a Full Fledged Workshop

Designed to work as a versatile welding machine and even a high-power plasma cutter, the YesWelder Firstess CT2050 is a portable beast that lets you turn your humble garage into a full-fledged workshop.

The YesWelder CT2050 was designed as a successor to the MP200 5-in-1 portable welder that the company debuted in 2021. In its newest iteration, the portable welder comes with AC/DC TIG (Titanium Inert Gas) welding, AC/DC Pulse TIG Welding, Stick Welding, and Plasma Cutting abilities along with the potential to work with a wider range of materials, including steel, brass, and even aluminum alloys. While last year’s MP200 was made to be a portable entry-point device, the CT2050 satisfies the demands and needs of experts too.

Designer: YesWelder

Click Here to Buy Now: $999 $1999 (50% off). Hurry, only 35/450 left! Raised over $2.2 million.

The YesWelder Firstess CT2050 comes with an incredibly compact form that houses a built-in compact air-compressor, dual IGBT inverters, and a nifty on-board display that gives you power consumption stats and allows you to toggle between the CT2050’s different functions.

The AC/DC TIG feature instantly allows you to work with a whole catalog of materials. DC TIG provides the perfect environment for welding regular metals like stainless steel but proves to be tricky for Aluminum and Magnesium, causing overheating and blackening. That’s where AC TIG comes in, allowing you to work with softer metals that have oxides on them. This AC TIG feature was made achievable due to the presence of two inverters within the CT2050 that create a bi-directional current that simultaneously breaks the oxides and cuts the metal.

For working with thinner materials, or around corners and trickier spots, the CT2050 has a Pulse TIG setting too. Pulse TIG lets welders try their hands at more difficult projects, like processing extremely thin base metals. With both AC and DC settings, pulse also provides welders the flexibility needed for welding corners, pipes, and other hard-to-reach spots for a wide range of materials.

The CT2050 supports stick welding too, with hot start technology that makes striking an arc easy, even in damp or other challenging situations. The stick welding function also includes a Voltage Reduction Device (VRD) that keeps the welder/operator safe from electric shocks, even in adverse conditions.

VRD prevents electric shock.

PFC tech for smooth welding.

Wondering what settings to work with? The CT2050’s interface has a ‘Smart Mode’ available under TIG welding mode that allows the device to natively figure out the right settings for the job. Just input your material thickness and weld angle, and the CT2050 pretty much does the rest of the guesswork, figuring out the ideal voltage and amperage to give you clean, beautiful welding lines without ugly spatters.

Sure, you can weld metals together… but with the CT2050’s plasma cutter, you can cut metals too. With a higher output current than its previous iteration, the CT2050 can now cut metals as thick as an inch and travel at 20 inches per minute, allowing you to comfortably slice through sheets of metal like butter while also working faster. For higher precision cuts, the built-in air compressor means you can work without needing any external or extra appliances.

“The CT2050 can run a stunning 100% duty cycle at 45 amps and 220V under room temperature of 77℉ (25℃) in Plasma Cutting mode”, mentions the YesWelder team. This effectively means you can plasma-cut for 10 minutes straight without any pauses, letting you slice thin or thick metals with ease. If you can get buy with less power, the CT2050 can be pushed for even longer timelines.

Designed to be used practically anywhere, the CT2050 supports a voltage range of 96V-265V, allowing it to work in a number of different countries, while also saving electricity without compromising on quality or consistency. Dual high-speed fans with a ‘seven leaf design’ also work to keep your CT2050 cool on the inside. The machine also has built-in protections against overheating and overcurrent, ensuring that your CT2050 works for longer while also providing a safe working environment.

Perhaps the most understated feature, however, is the YesWelder Firstess CT2050’s portable design. The device is no larger than a cat-carrier (the only parallel I could think of given its shape and size), weighs 44lbs (20 kgs), and comes with a built-in handle on the top that lets you carry it around from one place to another. Starting at $999 (that’s a 50% discount on its MSRP), the CT2050 comes in a kit with everything you’d possibly need to get the job done, including a 10-inch ground clamp, a plasma cutting kit (torch + air tube), a TIG kit (torch + gas hose ), and an electrode holder for stick welding. As an add-on to the kit, you can even grab a foot pedal that lets you quickly adjust the amperage, and even an incredibly badass YesWelder welding mask that comes with an auto-darkening viewing panel that immediately turns heavily tinted the moment you strike an arc. Oh, and it also comes with an incredibly cool reptilian artwork around the edges!

Click Here to Buy Now: $999 $1999 (50% off). Hurry, only 35/450 left! Raised over $2.2 million.

The post This Portable 7-in-1 Welding Station + Plasma Cutter Turns Your Garage into a Full Fledged Workshop first appeared on Yanko Design.

Browsing TikTok while working? This NFC Tag lets you block distracting apps and notifications

Have you ever opened TikTok or Instagram, closed it, and just within a second later, opened it again? Social media addiction is involuntary, and you’ll be surprised to know that a lot of the behaviors on social media happen incredibly unconsciously. You might like a photo without actually observing it, or double tap on a TikTok or IG reel just out of habit without really registering the fact. It’s muscle memory… and the Unpluq Tag hopes to break it. The Unpluq Tag is a physical gatekeeper to your digital world – if you’re the kind of person (like I am) who checks IG 30-40 times a day, or spends hours on TikTok without actually realizing it, that’s where the Unpluq Tag comes in. Designed to be an NFC tag that sits around your keychain or somewhere on your table, the Unpluq App + Tag blocks addictive non-productive apps of your choice on your phone and only allows you to open them by actually tapping the NFC tag on your phone. How is it any different from manually locking certain apps on your phone and typing a keyword to unlock them? Well, there are a few clever differences…

Designers: Jorn Rigter & Tim Smits

Click Here to Buy Now: $44 $64 (31% off). Hurry, only 2 left!

The Unpluq Tag blocks non-essential apps and hides unimportant notifications, keeping distractions away while you work, play, meditate, or meet friends/family. However, since everyone benefits from periodic breaks and rewards after being productive, the Unpluq Tag gives you short bursts of access to your favorite apps, simply by tapping the NFC tag on your phone. The tag works almost like a hall pass, giving you a brief window of time to enjoy before you get back to work. When you physically tap the tag, it becomes a conscious decision as opposed to when people normally open social media unconsciously or subconsciously. This agency over your own decisions breaks one important aspect of the unhealthy cycle of social media addiction.

Decide which Apps distract you, and at what time.

Wait, how is this any different from just locking and unlocking your apps? Sure, you can manually lock apps that open only when you input a passcode. However, that’s more of an anti-snooping feature than a self-discipline feature… and typing out a passcode to unlock an app can become intuitive over time, basically defeating the purpose of having you off social media while working. Android and iOS even have ‘focus modes’ that allow you to automatically snooze non-essential notifications while working, but those features don’t block the apps. What the Unpluq Tag does is bundle them together into one singular device that actively makes sure you don’t slip into old patterns of behavior. The best part? You can hide your Unpluq Tag or give it to a friend or family member so that you aren’t tempted to unlock Instagram in the middle of working or studying. There’s no way to cheat your way out of the system.

The Unpluq team’s pitch isn’t new – the company also launched the Unpluq Key in 2020, which was an actual hardware device that you had to plug into your phone. In its newer avatar, the Unpluq Tag is smaller and doesn’t have a port. It works on NFC (near field communication) technology and the interaction is reduced to a simple tap. The device works in tandem with the Unpluq app which simultaneously blocks access to distracting apps and snoozes their notifications. You can set your apps to get locked whenever you want, and even program a schedule, so your distractions routinely disappear on their own during work hours. The Unpluq app can automatically detect which apps need blocking, although it also gives you the ability to pick and choose what apps you want to be restricted while you’re busy.

Roughly the size and shape (and color) of a Cheez-It cracker, the Unpluq Tag is designed to sit around your keychain, although you can pin it to a softboard, hook it to your backpack, or attach it to your lanyard. For $44, you can grab yourself a single Unpluq Tag, which also comes with a 1-year free subscription to the Unpluq app, which also gives you stats at the end of the day to show you how much time you saved. Go ahead, block all distractions, and unlock your mind’s true potential!

Click Here to Buy Now: $44 $64 (31% off). Hurry, only 2 left!

The post Browsing TikTok while working? This NFC Tag lets you block distracting apps and notifications first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Sourdough Starter Incubator uses a temperature-controlled chamber to keep your starter active

Here’s something you probably didn’t know. Just like pretty much any living being on this planet, your sourdough starter has an active temperature range. Too warm or too cool, and your starter isn’t at its most active state, which in turn affects the quality and oven spring of your bread (the oven spring basically determines how loose your crumb is and how large the air pockets in your bread are). After all, your sourdough starter IS a living thing! Baking enthusiast Erik Fabian figured this out too, after a series of ‘average’ sourdough loaves caused by the fact that he lived in a relatively cool part of the world. A deep dive eventually led him to realize that it wasn’t his fault – it was the weather. Fabian figured out that the natural yeasts in his sourdough starter are the most active between 75°F and 82°F. Anywhere outside that range and it’s much harder to get that beautiful ‘oven spring’ you’re looking for in your loaf of bread. After all, even humans get sluggish in environments that are too hot or too cold, right?!

Designer: Sourhouse (Erik Fabian & Jennifer Yoko Olson)

Click Here to Shop Now: $115 $152 (24% off). Hurry, less than 48 hours left!

Wanting to elevate his baking prowess, Fabian decided to try out a few internet hacks to make his starter more active. He chucked his starter in the oven, tried warming it with a mug of hot water in the microwave, and even tried keeping it in warmer areas of his house, eventually realizing that none of them provided consistent results. Moreover, heating up an entire oven just to activate a tiny mason jar of starter seemed like an incredible waste of electricity. Fabian eventually decided to take matters into his own hands – partnering with his friend and industrial designer Jennifer Yoko Olson, they created Goldie – a tiny thermoregulated chamber designed to create the perfect environment for their starter to grow and thrive. Shaped like a bell jar with space to hold your container of sourdough starter inside, and an LED to tell you what the temperature inside your Goldie is, this tiny contraption proved to be a much more consistent (and energy efficient) way to culture a perfectly healthy starter.

The fable of Goldilocks tells the story of a young girl who sneaks into the house of a family of three bears, only to discover that the baby bear’s bed, chair, and porridge are ‘just right’. As a hat-tip to that children’s bedtime story, the Goldie too, tries to create conditions that are ‘just right’ for the sourdough starter. All you do is place your starter on the Goldie’s platform, enclose it with the bell jar, and switch the gizmo on. The platform under your sourdough begins circulating temperature-controlled warm air inside the bell jar, creating the ideal warm environment for the starter. An LED at the bottom glows either red or blue if your starter is too warm or cool, and if it’s in the sweet spot, the LED glows golden.

Goldie’s LED indicator gives you an idea of how your starter is feeling. An auto-warming switch on the device lets it automatically power on when the LED glows blue, and switch off when the LED turns red. If by some coincidence your house becomes unnaturally warm because it’s summer or the thermostat’s broken, each Goldie comes with a cooling puck that you can place inside the device, on top of your starter jar to help cool the environment down. When not in use, all you need to do is store the cooling puck in your refrigerator to be used another day.

Ultimately, Fabian and Jenny envisioned the Goldie to be a compact, energy-efficient product that could be kept on your countertop without really eating too much counter space. The sourdough starter incubator measures 130mm (5.1 inches) in diameter, and 216mm (or 8.5 inches) in height, and can comfortably fit almost any standard pint-sized jar inside. If you’ve got a slightly larger quart-sized mason jar, Goldie can fit that in too, although there won’t be enough headroom for that cooling puck.

For the best sourdough starter cultivating experience, Fabian and Jenny designed their own Sourhouse pint and quart-sized jars that are perfectly sized to fit into your Goldie. The incubation chamber runs on incredibly low energy, and powers via USB, allowing you to hook Goldie to a wall outlet, a power bank, or even your laptop! Goldie ships internationally for a discounted price of $115 along with puck, pint, and quart. The Sourhouse glass jars are available as add-ons, and if you want extra cooling pucks, there’s a 3-pack available separately too (so you can rotate between pucks as they simultaneously cool down in your freezer).

Click Here to Shop Now: $115 $152 (24% off). Hurry, less than 48 hours left! Raised over $90,000.

The post This Sourdough Starter Incubator uses a temperature-controlled chamber to keep your starter active first appeared on Yanko Design.

Don’t Miss It! The Parmigiano Reggiano Design Challenge sponsored by Kartell and Alessi closes on May 6th!

May 6 is only a week away! Don’t miss the deadline.

The deadline for the Parmigiano Reggiano® Design Challenge is approaching fast, and we’re reminding professional designers and design students to enter their work! Launched in partnership with iconic Italian brands Kartell and Alessi, the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium has challenged creatives to “imagine Masterpieces for the Table inspired by food.”

Entries Are Free.

Click here to learn more about the Parmigiano Reggiano® Design Challenge. Hurry, entries close May 6th, 2022.

The brief?

To elevate the human experience through products inspired by dishes prepared by world-renowned chefs.

This year’s design brief calls for a close collaboration between design and the culinary arts. Spread across TWO categories: Cooking, and Eating, this year’s Parmigiano Reggiano Design Challenge includes inspiration in the form of dishes prepared by renowned Chef Michel Nischan, the recipient of four James Beard Awards, and by Chef Michele Casadei Massari, the US Brand Ambassador for Parmigiano Reggiano. Designers are required to visualize their creative masterpieces around these inspirational dishes. Participants can consider materials, technologies, functionality, and sustainability as part of their concepts. The entries can be submitted online as sketches, renderings, or photos of prototypes. Learn more here.

A chance to win a trip to Italy, awards, gifts, and visibility!

The Best of Show wins a week-long trip to Italy for two, including VIP tours of a Parmigiano Reggiano artisanal dairy and to the design museums of Alessi and Kartell, and MUCH more! The Design Challenge winners qualify for Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards in two categories, along with amazing gifts from the sponsors. The winners will be featured online and promoted through social media. Additionally, keep in mind that the entries will be reviewed by a stellar group of judges that include some of the most influential names in the design industry.

The judges and sponsors.

The 2022 Parmigiano Reggiano Design Challenge will be presided over by a jury panel of both esteemed designers and culinary professionals. This panel includes Mauro Porcini, the Chief Design Officer for PepsiCo, world-famous designers Karim Rashid and Fabio Novembre, respected restaurant designer Alessia Genova from Tihany Design, and Donald Strum, the head of the Michael Graves Design office. The jury also includes the winner of last year’s Best of Show Award, designer Qing Yan. Additionally, Chef Michele Casadei Massari and Chef Michel Nischan will also join the design industry judges and contribute a culinary perspective to the judging process. If that wasn’t enough, Alessi and Kartell – two of the top Italian design brands in the product and furniture categories are sponsoring the competition. The opportunity for contestants to be seen by influential industry leaders and top design brands is reason enough to enter your work!

Your entry will help fight nutrition insecurity!

Designers can also feel good that by simply entering their work they will help raise much-needed funds for Wholesome Wave, a non-profit organization working to make fruits and vegetables more accessible and affordable for those living with diet-related health risks and conditions, particularly those suffering from the impacts of racial, ethnic and income-based inequities. The sponsors have pledged to make a donation to Wholesome Wave based on the number of entries we receive.

HERE’S AN APPETIZING EXAMPLE!

A pasta bowl inspired by the region and the texture of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese!

Designed by Tomas Neumann and rendered using KeyShot, this pasta bowl sits at the very intersection of food and design. The color and unique uneven surface were inspired by the distinctive mountain-like texture of a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese when it is cracked for the first time – and is also a reference to the Apennine Mountains which run across Emilia Romagna, the area of origin of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Titled “Appennino Interiore” (or Apennine Within) the bowl not only celebrates the crystalline texture of the cheese, it is also made using sustainable materials. Neumann mentions that the bowl is made from a “food-grade biodegradable resin/linen composite that recycles cheesecloth from the cheese production” which is aligned with one of the Design Challenge’s themes – Zero Waste.

Learn more and submit your designs!

The Parmigiano Reggiano Design Challenge site includes all the details about the competition and the requirements for entry. But, hurry! The deadline is May 6…so you only have a few days to enter your work. Oh, and as they say in Italy, “Buona Fortuna!”

Visit the Parmigiano Reggiano Design Challenge site for complete details!

The post Don’t Miss It! The Parmigiano Reggiano Design Challenge sponsored by Kartell and Alessi closes on May 6th! first appeared on Yanko Design.

Meet ‘Box’, a decentralized cloud server that lets you own your data instead of Amazon or Google

Building on the same ethos as Bitcoin and Web3 is, Box wants to do to storage what Cryptocurrency did to banking – break the chain of command. Instead of the status quo, where Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft make you pay subscription fees to store your data on their servers, Box has a better alternative. Buy and run your own server and store data on it… but it goes one step ahead. Any extra storage you don’t use gets leased out to someone else, and you earn revenue for it.

Designer: Functionland Design

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $399 (25% off). Hurry, less than 24 hours left! Raised over $400,000.

Data stored on the Box is a lot like how information is encrypted on the blockchain. Your Box works in tandem with other Boxes scattered around the globe. Your data is encrypted and scattered across these Boxes in a way that only you can access them, making it practically impossible to hack. Simultaneously, your Box participates in this ‘boxchain’ of sorts, hosting multiple fragments of other people’s data and paying you for it.

Your photos, files and data are fully encrypted. Only you can access your data. Only you can share it.

What Box proposes is pretty unique, at least on paper. Instead of allowing big companies to store your data (and create profiles that they can sell to advertisers or governments), Box decentralizes it all, allowing people to store each other’s data. As simple as that was to explain, Box’s hardware reinforces that simplicity with an intuitive design that’s literally shaped like a box. Looking almost like a Rubik’s Cube from its top view, Box comes with a platform that lets you plug as many as 9 towers into it. A base-level Box offers one terabyte of cloud storage, and to expand it, all you do is either add towers to the platform or plug framework expansion cards into the towers to upgrade their capacity.

Box is stationary hardware that sits on your desk, syncs with your devices and provides all the advantages you’ve come to expect from cloud services.

Once assembled and switched on, your Box connects with other Boxes to form the secure, people-owned FULA network. Fula (short for Functionland) is a Blockchain-attached Storage Network developed by the folks at Box. It helps securely encrypt and scramble your data in a way that isn’t accessible to anyone else, and any storage you’re not using gets rented out to other people on the FULA network, allowing you to earn $FULA tokens in the process. It’s worth noting that your Box isn’t mining coins, it’s just issuing rewards based on its signature Proof-of-Resource (PoR) consensus. $FULA tokens have an intrinsic value that rises and falls over time too, just like any currency, and can be sold on compatible exchanges.

Fotos is a polished, forever-free app that provides swift, seamless, easy access to and sharing of your photos from anywhere, across any device.

All that jargon aside, at its core, Box really acts as your own personal cloud storage in a way that’s cheaper and more secure than the ones currently being offered by giants like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google. For starters, Box doesn’t levy a subscription price – all you really pay once for is the hardware and Box makes their money off the FULA network while simultaneously allowing you to cash in too by leasing your extra storage to other people. On launch, Box will come with its own photo storage and backup app called Fotos (which they say is free to use forever), and the company is encouraging developers and designers to make an ecosystem of apps for its users, promising rewards for them too.

When you start using Box, you start saving as much as $24+ per month, and earning $FULA tokens too.

Box’s hardware and software are both open-source, to that end… and for people worrying about the gas bills and electricity costs for blockchain-based data storage, Box’s makers say that the device is built on an energy-efficient framework, with electricity bills coming to a projected $15 per year.

Box is powered by Raspberry Pi 4, which consists of a high-performance 64-bit quad-core processor. It offers up to 8 GB of RAM, dual-band 2.4/5.0 GHz wireless LAN, Bluetooth 5.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and USB 3.0. Box has multiple, expandable USB3 ports that serve to extend Box’s functions with more towers, or to enable it to act as a docking station.

So, is it worth investing in something like the Box? Well, it really makes sense for people who understand the technology to be early adopters first. Like with every nascent technology, this will help work out any potential kinks and allow other consumers to eventually come on board. As its community grows, Box’s network will become more reliable and more secure. Financially though, it’s really a no-brainer. On the one hand, you’ve got companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple charging an average of $200 USD per household per year for cloud storage (while simultaneously benefitting from your data).

Box, on the other hand, is just $299 for its Lite version, which is a single tower that provides a terabyte of storage. For that price, you own the cloud drive in perpetuity, and can expand as and when you choose. Moreover, you even stand to make money from your Box by renting out the storage to other people. Why pay for cloud storage when your cloud storage could pay you, eh?

Click Here to Buy Now: $299 $399 (25% off). Hurry, less than 24 hours left! Raised over $400,000.

The post Meet ‘Box’, a decentralized cloud server that lets you own your data instead of Amazon or Google first appeared on Yanko Design.

The 2022 Goldreed Industrial Design Award is looking for designs that capture innovation, sustainability, and harmony

Designed with a vision towards the future yet rooted firmly in tradition, the Goldreed Industrial Design Award is an international design prize driven by globalization, specialization, and market orientation. Based out of Xiongan New Area of China, the award was originally created to discover the future of design, inspire the quality of future living and empower the design of future cities by exploring the Chinese concept of “harmony”.

The award, which is free to participate in, is targeted towards designers, design teams, design studios, companies, universities, and institutes from all countries and creative fields. Entries can either be real products or conceptual in nature, while aligning with the Goldreed Industrial Design Award (GIDA) mission to help lead a better lifestyle, upgrade industries, and balance the city life with nature.

The Goldreed Industrial Design Award is spread across 8 different categories – Manufacturing Equipment, Transportation Means, Home Life, Culture & Creativity, Sports and Healthcare, Public Facilities, Information Processing, and Communication Design. Among the entries, the jury nominates 100 designs for winning the GIDA, of which only a select few win the Good Design Award, the Future Star Award, and the Gold Award, with one sole entry winning the Best of the Best Award. Winners of the awards win a grand total of 4,500,000 RMB ($706,680), with the Best of the Best winner getting 1,000,000 RMB ($157,040) as a cash prize.

Winners are presented with their award at the GIDA Award Ceremony held during the Hebei International Industrial Design Week in September. The award ceremony is attended by media personnel, industry personnel, and even venture capitalists. Aside from the cash prize and trophy/certificate, GIDA winners are also given exclusive opportunities to connect with potential clients, business partners, and the media. Winning designs are additionally displayed at both virtual and physical exhibitions for the duration of the year. Here are a few select winners from the 2021 Goldreed Industrial Design Award!

Click Here to visit the GIDA website and participate for free!

High-privacy Forward Layout Sleeper EMU (Best of the Best)

In order to adapt to the complex operating environment of China’s high-speed railway and the needs of long-distance routing operation, Mr. Huang Junhui and his team pioneered the design of a new type of large capacity and high privacy longitudinal sleeper EMU. This new sleeper holds a capacity of 60 passengers, a 50% increase from the previous 40 passenger capacity. Additionally, it also provides extra comfort, while giving each group of passengers their own private quarters, reminiscent of the pod hotels found in Japan!

Uphold Cup (Good Product Design Award)

Designed on the principles of Origami, the Uphold Cup is a foldable, portable travel cup that goes from tumbler to a flat-packed disc when not in use. The cup’s materials are food-grade, BPA-free, and can carry beverages of up to 100°C in temperature. The Uphold Cup uses polymer Polypropylene (PP) as its body material which is relative stiff, while also providing the ability to fold multiple times (live hinging) without breaking.

Island (Future Star Award)

Island is a conceptual double-decker driverless tram designed for the city of Hong Kong to be used in the post-pandemic era. Island is an exemplary blend of industrial design, transportation design, public design, urban mobility, and sustainability. Using public transport is crucial to keep pollution levels low especially when the virus going around attacks your respiratory system first. Making sure that public transport facilitates social distancing was also given the utmost importance during the design process. “We wanted to reimagine public transport in the post-COVID era from a prevention perspective. Especially in the densely populated city of Hong Kong, where social distancing is hard to achieve.

De-Noising Pillow (Future Star Award)

Designed to work not just as a neck pillow, but also as earmuffs, the De-Noising Pillow is perhaps the ideal travel accessory. It gives you the ability to cushion your neck, while also covering your ears in case you’re in a particularly noisy environment. Moreover, the pillow can merely be rotated to be used as a forehead pillow so you can rest your head on a table. Multiple birds with one stone, eh!

X-ferry Bus (Future Star Award)

This innovative vehicle bridges the gap between ferry-buses and aerobridges. Given that not every airport is large enough to provide a skybridge for all flights, the X-ferry Bus conveniently offers a nifty alternative with its massive hydraulic cabin. The bus looks and functions like a normal ferrying vehicle. It carries passengers from the gate all the way to their flight, but instead of getting them to deboard and climb up the stairs to the plane’s entrance, the X-ferry’s entire passenger cabin lifts upwards, docking into the plane’s entrance! Passengers can climb out of the bus and directly into the plane – a feature that’s convenient for passengers, especially disabled ones, and even more so in bad weather conditions!

Pop-Up Booster (Good Product Design Award)

The Pop-Up Booster is a portable, foldable booster seat that relies on origami folding patterns to become a strong, sturdy seat when opened, and fold down to a flat profile when you’re done using it. The super-strong origami structure is designed to withstand as many as 20,000 impacts of up to 75kg. It’s also designed to securely hold your baby using its 5-band harness, fits most chairs, and is perfect for on-the-go families and hospitality spaces.

AIREADER (Good Concept Design Award)

Although the AIREADER looks a lot like a fancy successor to the Google Glas HUD display, it is, in fact, a wearable for the visually impaired, acting as a pair of eyes for them as they navigate the world. Studies have shown that about 80% of blind people actually retain vision and still respond to light. AIREADER is a future blind reading device based on user experience design and AI algorithm. It uses the remaining light sense of blind people to propose the design concept of “light signal prompt”. A scanner sitting on the front of the device observes the world, relaying it to the wearer using powerful light signals that flash directly into the wearer’s eyes. This allows them to rely on a sense that was once dormant, alleviating the load on other senses like their sense of touch or hearing. With the support of AI algorithms such as text recognition, item recognition, and gesture recognition, it’s possible to give blind people the ability to achieve reading, object recognition, and road signal recognition.

NEOLIX X3 (Gold Award for Best Smart Design)

NEOLIX X3 is the world’s first commercially available unmanned vehicle for commercial use. Equipped with Level-4 autonomy, NEOLIX X3 has the ability to autopilot in all scenarios and at all times, allowing it to meet the needs of different operational scenarios: logistics, distribution, retail, security and sanitation, etc. Aside from being autonomous, capable, and versatile, the NEOLIX X3 can hypothetically work 24×7, thanks to its battery-swap technology that lets you easily swap out an old battery for a new one, reducing down-time during recharging.

Click Here to visit the GIDA website and participate for free!

The post The 2022 Goldreed Industrial Design Award is looking for designs that capture innovation, sustainability, and harmony first appeared on Yanko Design.