Tag Archives: fold

Google Pixel Fold 2 leak hints at worrying changes, questionable design

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Just like with the Apple Vision Pro, Google’s entry into the foldable smartphone market has been a long time coming. Given how the Android maker itself has been rather slow on jumping on trends, there might have even been a chance that it would snub the form factor completely. After all, it showed tablets no true love, even if big Android slates have been around for years. For better or worse, Google did decide to join that bandwagon, which isn’t always an assurance that it will work on a second-gen device. Now it seems that a Pixel Fold 2 is indeed in the works, at least based on a blurry leak, but that small glimpse might be dashing some hopes, as word of Google’s big changes also comes with questions about its design goals.

Designer: Google (via Android Authority)

There are two distinctive elements of the Google Pixel Fold’s design. The most prominent is its camera bar, an approximation of the “visor” design that it uses on its Pixel phones. The other is the external or second screen’s wider aspect ratio, which meant that the unfolded device would also be wider and take on a horizontal or landscape form factor. It’s a design that was more conducive for wider content like videos as well as splitting the screen between two panels or two apps. More importantly, however, it meant that the folded phone was more comfortable to use and hold, almost like a regular phone.

A single leaked photo of the Pixel Fold 2 might be leaving some fans scratching their heads. The external display is noted to be narrower, as per the source, which inches it a bit closer to the awkwardness of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, though thankfully not yet on that level. This also means that, when unfolding the phone, you will be greeted with an internal screen that is more square than rectangular.

The biggest change, however, seems to be the camera, which moves away from the bar design to a bump that sits in a corner of the Pixel Fold 2’s back. It’s not the same square design as older Pixel phones, nor is it even similar to rectangular camera islands that run vertically down. Instead, it seems that this box will march across the width of the phone, taking up almost two-thirds of the space.

Granted, the photo is an alleged prototype only, so there is no guarantee that the final Pixel Fold 2 will take this form. If it does, however, Google might be facing a bit of a backlash for changing the design so drastically and in such an unappealing manner. It will be interesting to see how the Pixel Fold 2 will actually look like in the end, and we might not even see a shadow of it until Google I/O 2024, which should happen sometime in May or June.

The post Google Pixel Fold 2 leak hints at worrying changes, questionable design first appeared on Yanko Design.

Half-folded lamp brings back memories of paper toys and makeshift tents

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Who said lamps have to be tall structures or well-formed shapes that spread their light perfectly, either in all directions or in a single trajectory? Of course, more utilitarian lighting does need to follow certain requirements, but those that aim to set the mood have more freedom to express themselves in other, sometimes imperfect ways. This table lamp, for example, isn’t going to help you with your reading or your work, but will probably tickle your imagination or bring up sweet, playful memories thanks to its rather unusual shape that is reminiscent of the folded paper toys that we make in our childhood.

Designer: Jihoon Shim

At first glance, you’d probably not even think of this piece of folded aluminum as a lamp. It looks more like a sheet of metal that was haphazardly folded diagonally to create an incomplete pyramid that could topple over at any minute. Of course, the shape and fold of the design are carefully made to ensure a stable form, but it’s that visual sense of instability and misalignment that gives it a playful and whimsical character.

That becomes even more apparent once you turn on the lamp in a dark room. Most of the light naturally comes out from the large opening in front, but there are also a few rays that slip through the bottom gap produced by the uneven fold of the structure. If the shape of the lamp in the daytime reminds one of clumsily folded paper toys, the light at night might make some remember the makeshift tents they build indoors and the incandescent lights they turn on to read in the dark or scare their friends during those slumber parties.

The material chosen for the lamp also contributes to its unfinished appearance. Instead of hard stainless steel, anodized aluminum was chosen instead, giving it an almost industrial and raw appeal. It also diffuses the light in a unique way, making it bounce off rough surfaces rather than the shiny and almost perfect surface of stainless steel. The Half Lamp is an interesting way to add a special nighttime atmosphere to a room, generating not just light but also a bit of joy while you dream of happy childhood days.

The post Half-folded lamp brings back memories of paper toys and makeshift tents first appeared on Yanko Design.

This folding electric mosquito swatter expanding like a fan is the ultimate 2021 summer accessory!

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Despite what it may feel like, the warmer months are getting closer, which means so are the mosquitoes. Fortunately, there are plenty of designs out there to protect us from summertime bugs, like mosquito-killing lamps, DEET bug sprays, and citronella candles. However, when it comes to portable bug repellants for camping trips or long hikes, lamps can feel too bulky to pack, and sprays smell too much like chemicals. Ditching bulkiness for compactness and swapping chemicals for electric current, Sang Kun Park designed FOLD, a foldable electric mosquito net inspired by the traditional Korean fan.

A lot of us are going camping or spending more time outdoors these days, and when the bugs come out hunting, we need to be prepared. Sang Kun Park designed FOLD with Designer Dot so that when nature calls out our names, no amount of mosquitoes can get in the way of enjoying it. FOLD’s compact size is its primary appeal, fitting into even the most tightly packed knapsacks. Resembling the traditional Korean fan’s shape and folding apparatus, FOLD is a handheld, portable alternative to the heavy mosquito lamp that measures only two times the size of an average-sized smartphone when folded.

When fully extended, FOLD’s power buttons are revealed on the side of its handle, which charges up the swatter’s electrical current. In order to child-proof the electric mosquito net, whenever something touches the net’s electric current, a 0.5-second gap is applied before FOLD’s current revs back up again. In addition, when FOLD is not powered on but unfolded, the electric current will remain inactive in order to protect younger family members. When FOLD is expanded to its full length and width, 32 individual nets can be counted from left to right, and with additional LED lighting, not even one mosquito can get past this net.

Designers: Designer Dot x Sang Kun Park

With more people spending time outdoors, Sang Kun Park designed FOLD as a portable means of protection against mosquitoes.

When folded, FOLD measures at 250 x 70 x 36cm, and when fully expanded, FOLD doubles in size, reaching lengths of 420 x 235 x 36cm.

The fan itself is constructed from durable leather in order to remain an essential staple when packing for outdoor trips.

With 32 nets, no mosquito will get past FOLD.

LED lighting lets users spot mosquitoes even in the darkness of night.

With a rotational structure, FOLD expands seamlessly.

Both ends of FOLD’s fan meet and connect with a magnet to ensure constant operability.

Constructed forms stainless steel, FOLD’s power and LED switches securely click and lock into place.

This electric fly swatter takes a neat cue from the portable Folding Fan!

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Inspiration can come from unusual places, and when it does, it can help reinvent a product in a new kind of way. Take for instance the FOLD, an electric fly-swatter that instead of being a rigid racquet, models itself on the folding fan. The FOLD’s unique design allows it to fold down into the size of a baton that you can carry around with you (or even slip right into your duffle bag when you go camping or on an outdoor trip). When the cretins come a-knockin’, the FOLD is ready for swattin’! The two-part handle opens up and the swatter’s individual electric mesh surfaces align to turn into a racquet-shaped device that instantly zaps all sorts of bugs. Just switch the FOLD on and channel your inner Serena Williams!

The Fold’s battery pack lies inside its slim, two-part handle. A neat USB-C slot on the bottom lets you charge your swatter (in open or closed condition), so that you can keep the bugs away at any time of the day!

Designer: Park Sang-Gun for DesignerDot Academy

A folding iPhone that has the potential of being a phone, tablet, and even a laptop

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I often ask myself that if Apple did decide to make a folding phone, what would it look like? Would it follow the design of the iPad Pro? With a flat edge design? Would it look like a MacBook? With a machined aluminum body and a wedge-design at the edge? Or would Apple just make it look like the iPhone X with a hinge on the side? Semin Jun believes it to be the latter.

Designed as a conceptual direction for a conceptual phone (I highly doubt Apple wants to build a folding phone right now, especially when the technology is so nascent and problematic), Semin Jun’s iPhone Fold looks exactly like a regular iPhone when closed, except without a notch. When folded, the iPhone Fold isn’t radically different to look at, aside from some much needed changes. For starters, in Jun’s future, even folding phones don’t have bezels and notches. The iPhone Fold conveniently fits a camera BEHIND its outer screen, and even turns the 6.5 inch Super Retina display into a speaker/receiver using piezoelectric technology. Obviously there’s no TouchID, so the two cameras on the outside perform facial tracking tasks, unlocking the phone. However, that’s just half the experience, because the iPhone Fold, as its name suggests, opens to reveal a bigger, better, glorious flexible display on the inside. (And the outer screen instantly displays an illuminated Apple logo in what might be one of the most delightful tech Easter eggs ever!)

Open the iPhone Fold and you get access to the smartphone’s hottest feature, its full-sized 8.3 inch display, that can be used either flat, like a tablet, or folded at an angle, turning your smartphone into a miniature laptop. The iPhone Fold has a few other surprising tricks up its sleeve, including a 3-lens camera that can capture incredibly detailed 4K videos while rendering the background blur in real time, as well as, wait for it… Apple Pencil support! With a hinge that not only allows you to bend the phone in half, but also lets you magnetically snap an charge an Apple Pencil, the iPhone Fold has the body of an iPhone, the aspiration of being a MacBook, and the functionality and soul of an iPad Pro… and truth be told, who wouldn’t want to live to see that day?!

Oh, and don’t @ me to ask what a folding iPhone would cost. I’m honestly not going there.

Designer: Semin Jun