See-through toaster concept uses graphene-lined sheets of glass to toast your bread slices in plain sight

Working partially like a toaster as well as a panini press, BKID’s Graphene Toaster grills your slices of bread but also lets you watch it in action. The horizontal format of the toaster means you can even use it to make grilled sandwiches, and potentially even use the flat top to heat beverages. If there ever was a clever idea, this would clearly be it!

Designer: BKID

“Graphene can reach up to 200 degrees Celsius in just 90 seconds”, says BongKyu Song, founder of BKID. This effectively allows the sheets of glass to work just as well as the coiled wire inside a toaster does, but in a manner that results in a much more evenly browned slice of toast without those burns and grill marks created by hot zones. It’s also an understated fascinating fact that the Graphene Toaster actually lets you watch the bread turn brown in real-time, so you know when to proverbially pull the plug. The clamshell format works wonderfully well for other food items like heating waffles, making grilled sandwiches, and even warming up a cold burrito. The only downside is that this toaster doesn’t ‘pop’ the bread out, but given how cool it is without this feature, I’d be absolutely willing to make that trade-off.

Would I recommend using the top of the toaster to cook bacon or pancakes while the bread grills underneath? Maybe not… but I’d definitely use it to warm up my cup of coffee while I’m waiting for some sourdough toast!

The post See-through toaster concept uses graphene-lined sheets of glass to toast your bread slices in plain sight first appeared on Yanko Design.

Metal lungs concept uses algae to suck in atmospheric carbon dioxide and replace it with oxygen

This conceptual piece called Super Lung uses algae to replace carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with oxygen. It explores both the power and vulnerability of mammals based on their lungs and the simple act of breathing which can be how a virus spreads or how you calm your mind.

The pandemic caused by various respiratory viral diseases originates from structural limitations in the form of exhalation and inhalation, which are mammalian breathing methods. By sending it out, the propagation power is increased.

However, the algae creates a one-way flow by differentiating the inhalation and exhalation organs through a respiratory organ called anterior air sacs (like the air that flows through the radiator grill of an internal combustion engine), and through this, carbon dioxide is replaced with oxygen. This is a function made to secure oxygen more efficiently at high altitudes, and it also serves to reduce the generation of active oxygen through efficient respiration.

Leaky lungs replace 100% of the air. This is said to reach 300% of the respiratory efficiency of normal mammals. This maximizes the efficiency in a hypoxic environment, and also serves to lower the frequency of exhalation, the main cause of infection, by exhaling less through small respiration.

Super Phe is an agglomeration of technologies for changing the breathing structure of these birds, increasing oxygen efficiency with less breathing, and even increasing the possibility of surviving with apnea in extreme conditions. Less breathing leads to less infection, and apnea is also an extreme prevention technique aimed at zero infection (zero infection).

And, if necessary, it is occasionally supplied with concentrated oxygen either through the skin or from the arteries. It will revolutionize the human respiratory system, which is currently vulnerable to infection, by replacing more than 25,000 breaths a day with just one breath, or by achieving the goal of oxygenation through apnea.

Designers: Bongkyu Song, Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho

The post Metal lungs concept uses algae to suck in atmospheric carbon dioxide and replace it with oxygen first appeared on Yanko Design.

The Wonder Washer

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This is utilitarianism at its finest! A simple bend in shape transforms a regular ‘ol washer into a versatile, multifunctional tool you can use anywhere for just about anything. Simply called “Washer 001,” this cleverly designed hardware is flipped slightly outward so it can serve as a knob, handle, hook, hanger or basic securer in nearly any situation whether it’s for fashion or use at home. Better yet, it comes in a myriad of cool colors so it can match your style no matter how you’re using it. It’s so simple, it makes us wonder we didn’t think of it first!

Designer: BKID

Click here to Buy Now

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YD Spotlight: The Delightful Designs of BKID

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BKID Co is the brainchild of BongKyu Song, an award-winning Korean Designer. It’s also one of the only design studios that boasts of having a design language unique to it. You can look at a BKID product and there’s something innately BKID-ish about it. Their human-centered, design-based approach is evident in the work that they do, and each product has a playful quality to it, projecting technology as more docile, rather than trying to look superior. The result is a product that looks inviting to people of all ages, and that looks friendly and ready-to-help, rather than cutting-edge and intimidating.


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The Retroduck by BKID for Wisekids is probably one of our favorite projects. It pays tribute to one of the earliest forms of entertainment, the Cathode Ray Tube Television. An iconic appliance found in almost every home in and around the 60-70s, the TV set looked bulky but beautiful, and who can forget those knobs for adjusting the channel and volume on the side?! Retroduck harnessed that nostalgia with its ability to dock the iPhone into its housing in a manner that turned the retina screen into a retro appliance. BKID’s design of the Retroduck employed a beautiful color palette of red and white, while also keeping things original with the brown and black combo. Soft curves dominated the design, and its plastic build gave it a more inviting appearance than the usual metallic, cold demeanor of the iPhone.

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The Fairy for SK Telecom probably most clearly outlines BKID’s approach to product design and how different it is from the others. Pit the Fairy against the Google Home, or the Amazon Echo Show, or even Apple’s Home Pod and you’ll realize that the Fairy was designed with a character, while the others just played along to the character the AI had assumed. What’s more, the Fairy, with its soft, red, almost plush-like design, looks much more approachable than its competitors, even though it’s just as advanced. Think of it as Wall-e and Eva’s love-child in 2017.

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The Samsung Mouse brings design thinking to something that’s essentially an accessory, and therefore, an afterthought. Mice are usually taken for granted until the minute you realize you don’t have one, or that the one you have isn’t working. BKIDs mouse design for Samsung brings a refreshingly different dynamic to mouse design, pointing out a pain-point that most people have with mice (they’re too bulky), and proposing a solution that is full of dynamism and playfulness, but at the same time doesn’t take away from the fact that the mouse is more than capable of being highly useful when needed. The mouse’s telescopic design feels like it would be the primary reason I’d buy it! The silver and blue color duo go together beautifully, and the arc the mouse forms when opened completely feels solid in one’s hand, allowing it to have mass when needed, and turn into a tiny, pocketable device when folded inwards.

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BKID’s products never isolate the user. In fact they play well to human’s ability to trust and adore things that look ‘cute’ and ‘friendly’. BongKyu Song does a marvelous job of using soft curves, rounded forms, and a vibrant, almost childish, color palette to make products look friendly as they solve problems, allowing humans to bond emotionally with them, and therefore always leaving the users with a smile on their faces… and ultimately, isn’t that what we all want??

When Retina and Retro Combine!

It’s lovely when new products pay homage to their predecessors. Take for instance the Elago W3 watch dock that makes the Apple watch look like a miniature Macintosh. There’s something both old and new about it, therefore appealing to our excitement for the future and its capabilities, as well as our love for the past, aka nostalgia. The Retroduck phone stand works on the same principle too, creating an unusually beautiful vintage CRT (cathode ray tube) inspired television out of your phone!

The Retroduck stand does something rather noteworthy. Phones are light, portable, and have a reputation of being multi-tasking devices. Televisions on the other hand are the exact opposite. When you dock your phone into the Retroduck, your perception of your phone instantly changes to that of a television, therefore allowing you to watch content on your phone’s screen with much more attention… as you would with a TV (rather than switching between apps, checking your social media, etc). The Retroduck works as a rather neat multimedia dock, with its beautiful vintage inspired design (even built with dummy controls and antennae!). Its thick/hollow design helps channel sound better, allowing sound from your phone’s speakers to resonate within the empty space, effectively making it louder/punchier, while evenly channeling the sound through both the front as well as the back of the dock.

Retroduck comes with a cute pair of legs to make the dock stand on a raised platform. The dock can however be used without the legs too. The dock also serves as a charging hub for the phone, allowing you to slip your lightning cable inside it, so when you slide your phone in, it instantly begins charging. The dock (or duck?) comes in three color variants, ranging from a vintage brown, to a minimalist white/grey, to the deliciously iconic orange! Built for iPhones 6 and up, the dock comes in two sizes to accommodate the regular and plus sized variants.

Retroduck is a beautiful and useful dock for any home. Even with its small size, it’s capable of becoming a center-point of attraction. The dock is perfect for people who want to watch TV content on their phone (Netflix and retro-chill!) while the Retroduck works wonders as an alarm too, with its sound amplifying capabilities. The Retroduck was envisioned in 2014 to help breathe life into spare phones, making them makeshift-multimedia centers. Today, the Retroduck can be used with your old or even your current phone to give you a unique yet familiar docking, charging, and media viewing experience that combines both the future of technology (your phone) with the one’s natural love/craving for nostalgia!

Designer: BKID for Wisekids

BUY NOW: $32.00 $45.00

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Retroduck can double up as a convenient charging dock or as an awesome desktop clock. To charge, just insert your lightning cable into Retroduck’s hidden cable guide for hassle-free charging. To transform your Retroduck into a bedside radio clock, simply download one of many radio clock apps available and your Retroduck will help you start a great day!

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Meet hundreds of different exclusive accessories for Retroduck. These accessories are not mass-produced but are custom-made with 3D printers. That’s why we are able to offer countless accessories. New accessories are being added as we speak, and anyone can download and print them.

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BUY NOW: $32.00 $45.00