Top 10 eco-friendly design trends of 2022

Posted on 17/02/2022 by Srishti Mitra

Our unhealthy practices and way of living are truly harmful to the environment and have been slowly leading to its deterioration. And the world has been changing (for the worse) because of this. Hence, it is extremely important to live sustainably and consciously and to take care of the environment. Integrating sustainability into our day-to-day lives has become crucial! And we can do this in various ways. Designers and creators are coming up with eco-friendly alternatives for almost everything! Every product that is necessary and utilized by us in our everyday routine has an eco-friendly alternative to it. Replacing our usual mass-produced designs with these greener options will make a huge difference to the environment and Mother Earth! From a bamboo cooling device that combats climate change to products powered by solar energy – we’ve curated a whole collection of sustainable + eco-friendly product designs to help you go green!

1. Cork-based products

Cork has been gaining some real momentum and recognition in the design world (though it is being used for more than 5000 years), and it deserves every bit of it. It is biodegradable, sustainable, and not to mention super versatile. It’s an amazing sustainable alternative that drastically reduces plastic consumption. You can create almost anything from cork – whether furniture or headphones!

This intriguing concept for a vacuum cleaner is not only multipurpose in design, it is also sustainable in construction. The storage section of the vac is made from cork, which is biodegradable and has a warm ambiance to it. The vacuum pipes and other parts are designed in a manner to be stored within the cork shell that then neatly covers using a lid. The possibility of concealing the entire appliance from sight saves valuable space at home and leaves the vacuum to still be used in the open with a different purpose.

2. Sustainable Kitchen Appliances

It’s extremely important that we integrate sustainability into every aspect of our lives! And, our kitchen shouldn’t be an exception. Sustainability is now being extended to products and appliances in the kitchen as well! From a glass recycling bin that is interactive and educational to a food appliance that helps you grow your own meat – the list of kitchen equipment that is eco-friendly is growing by the day. It’s time to go green in our kitchens as well!

The Guangjing glass recycling station was designed to be an interactive product that played on the meaningful habit of recycling as well as the circular economy. The project aims to achieve an infinite circulation of glass and allows the public to participate in it which not only educates them but helps them associate the good habit with a positive emotion rather than as a chore. It uses the texture and reflectivity of glass as a material to create a two-way interaction between people and recycling – is not only a recycle bin but an aesthetic and educational public installation. The recycling station can be set up anywhere – it would be a great sustainable and eco-friendly addition to your kitchen!

3. Bamboo Products

Bamboo is turning out to be one of the most popular materials being used by designers today. It’s an easy-to-use and sustainable material that creates products that are eco-friendly, renewable, and non-harmful to the planet. Not to mention, it’s also super strong – even stronger than steel! The tensile strength of steel is 23,000 PSI, while the tensile strength of bamboo is 28,000 PSI. How cool is that?

Following cues from the Seoul Architecture and Urbanism Biennale 2021 “building the resilient city,” French multi-disciplinary firm AREP designed an alternative, energy-efficient cooling device for a sustainable, low-tech, and affordable solution to combatting the climate crisis. Forming a hyperboloid shape for structural stability, the cooling device stands as a bamboo tower that naturally cools air through the adiabatic principle by using, “the natural freshness of water.” Explaining the cooling process, architects behind the bamboo tower describe, “To evaporate, water needs energy, which is ‘absorbed’ from the heat of the ambient air, thus generating the cooling effect.” More simply, the firm reasons that the process can be compared to moving closer to an open-air pool on a summer day–the closer you get, the cooler the air feels.

4. Sustainable Automotives

We’ve been seeing an influx of some cutthroat and drool-worthy automotive designs at Yanko Design. But a genre that really and truly piqued my interest was – sustainable and eco-friendly automotives! In a world, where the pandemic transformed our way of life and truly instilled the importance of living consciously and carefully within us, it’s time that we apply the same principles to Automotives. In fact, half of the world’s air pollution comes from passenger vehicles!

This sports car will be a fully electric vehicle with the battery pack right in the middle of the chassis under the interior cabin, and to keep the overall weight down a carbon fiber frame is used. On the inside, this electric Lamborghini gets the single-seater configuration – just like the ones on the fighter jet planes or racing prototypes. The steering on this concept gets a futuristic vibe with its dynamic shape, and the HUD is integrated right behind it. The paddle shifters look so inviting – I virtually want to try them out. To charge up the powerful ride, all one has to do is plug in the charging hose into the retracting portal located at this Lamborghini concept’s front left-hand side – just behind the front wheel. Like some other concepts or even prototype vehicles having an all-glass windshield that runs to the rear, this one has a body-colored perforated film. How that’s going to affect the visibility is anybody’s guess.

5. Sustainable Furniture

2020 was a life-altering and drastic year, and 2022 is our chance to redeem all our careless mistakes of the past and to start living more consciously and sustainably. We cannot ignore the needs of our planet anymore, we need to take the environment into consideration, and what better way to start doing that than from our own homes? Sustainable furniture is taking the design industry by storm, they’re a step towards making our homes and our daily lives more eco-friendly and sustainable. They’re an attempt to cast aside toxic materials, and instead, add furniture designs to our home that won’t rot away on Earth for years once we’re done with them.

Rattan is an eco-friendly natural material that is usually used in the creation of baskets or furniture, especially chairs. It is sustainable and resilient which makes it an exceptional wood that renews in just 5-7 years. Designers love rattan for creating furniture because the manufacturing is low-tech and the production process usually involves crafting by hand or using facilities that do not negatively impact the environment. Rattan is also an easy material to mold physically and creatively to fit your idea, it accepts paints and it can be worked into many styles. Moreover, the inner core can be separated and worked into wicker – talk about reducing waste! This stool explores the malleability of rattan as a material in furniture design.

6. Mushroom-based designs

Mushroom has recently gained immense popularity as a sustainable and economical material for building almost everything – from housing structures to even lamps! Or more specifically, the vegetative part of mushroom called ‘Mycelium‘ has. It is the thread-like main body of a fungus–of certain mushroom-producing fungi on agricultural wastes, and it’s vegan as well! Biodegradable and low-cost this delightful material can be used to design and produce a whole range of objects!

Teaming up with researcher Ninela Ivanova, British designer Sebastian Cox’s “Mycelium + Timber” examines the viability of mycelium as a potential material in commercial furniture design. The mycelium fibers are bound to scrap strips of willow wood, which provides the base and fodder for the fungus to grow. The result is the absolute antithesis of mass production. Designed in part by nature, each lamp is unique, has its own aesthetic, and is beautiful in its imperfections.

7. Cardboard-based products

Cardboard is great for building sustainable products, as these designs tend to leave a minimal carbon footprint, and are recyclable and biodegradable as well! Not to mention product designs crafted from cardboard tend to be light, portable, and also easy to assemble. Cardboard is a great and refreshing alternative to the typical traditional materials that are generally used – such as metal or plastic.

Every piece of furniture that Kibardin makes is one of a kind, there is no mold and he shapes them all himself. We are now moving towards a sustainable lifestyle but Kibardin has been doing this for over 25 years – he has successfully recycled 2000 pounds of cardboard which is equivalent to saving 17 trees into sustainable furniture. To put it into perspective, 17 trees absorb 250 pounds of carbon dioxide each year and we need to ramp up the materials we use in design so that they serve a functional purpose while also contributing to slowing down the climate crisis. Using sustainable construction materials like paper and turning it into furniture that is stylish, modern, and eco-conscious is the future of long-lasting interior design.

8. Eco-friendly Food Packaging

When it comes to food packaging designs, there are certain criteria that have to be met, especially in the case of takeaway boxes. A good takeout box must store the food carefully without anything spilling or leaking over, must keep it warm, and not to mention must be easy and ergonomic enough to carry or transport around. And in this eclectic mix of requirements, if you can manage to throw in an appealing aesthetic and good looks, you have a hit on your hands! Another criterion that is being focused on a lot these days is Sustainability! Sustainable and eco-friendly designs really seal the deal, as ignoring and paying no heed to the needs of the environment is no more an option.

Styrofoam has a 24-hour lifespan but it is formed with materials that can last for 500 years, can you imagine the landfills at the rate we consume this product? “We need to stop and think about the environmental costs of our lifestyle,” says Dungan when talking about the notoriously single-use packaging that has been adopted worldwide. The box itself is so widely recognized that it has transcended continents and languages, so Dungan’s design aims to leverage its easy recall value while delivering a stronger message on sustainable living. The product is rightly called Leftovers and hopes to be a design that disrupts the normalization of polystyrene before it can become a mass-scale direct solution to the problem, the first step is to educate. For convenience and functionality, it is also dishwasher safe and recyclable. The redesigned box has a stainless steel body that enhances its functionality as a reusable food container while also bringing attention to how one small change can reduce the amount in our trash can.

9. Sustainable DIY designs

DIY designs have been taking the design world by storm! Especially with COVID-19 restricting us to our homes, building things purely with our hands, putting our sweat and grit into it, and watching a design roar to life in front of our eyes, has become the new pass time for many of us. But these DIY designs are more than just your run-of-the-mill products made using discarded water bottles, and paper! These are innovative, complex, and highly functional product designs that cater to a variety of our needs, but are also really simple to put together. It’s the best of both worlds. Add sustainability to the mix, and you have a product that is self-built + eco-friendly!

This mushroom helmet will grow on you as it grows. Yes, read this slowly and carefully: this mushroom helmet will grow on you as it grows. “What do you mean?!” you say and I assure you that statement is not wrong, there is an explanation for it. The Grow It Yourself Helmet is a sustainable product made from mycelium which is the vegetative part of a fungus. Mycelium is the thready hyphae that are tightly woven into mass branch-like networks making it a strong sustainable material. The network of filaments are natural binders and they also are self-adhesive to the surface they grow on. The entire process is based on biological elements that help in upcycling waste. The process of making this helmet also gets the kids involved in a meaningful activity that teaches them about sustainability and safety.

10. Solar-powered products

It’s 2022 and we need to get as eco-friendly as we can! We can no more continue living the way we always have, ignoring the needs of the environment and being insensitive to Mother Earth. Living a more conscious life also includes taking into consideration our energy sources. Curbing fossil fuel consumption has now become a priority, and we have a more positive energy source in mind as an alternative – the Sun! Solar power is taking the world by storm. Designers and architects are coming up with solar-powered products, homes, hotels, offices, and automobiles! Solar energy can be used to power almost every object we use in our day-to-day lives.

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. Recharging the HomePower 2 can happen in multiple ways. The backup battery kit comes with an optional set of solar panels that can be set up anywhere, replenishing your HomePower 2 in hours… or you could just traditionally plug the generator into a socket in your house and juice it up for a rainy day. Once recharged, the HomePower 2 can hold onto all that energy for an entire year, making it much more affordable and easy to maintain in the long run.

The post Top 10 eco-friendly design trends of 2022 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Top 10 home gym trends of 2022

Posted on 15/02/2022 by Srishti Mitra

We’re almost a month and a half into 2022, which makes me wonder, how’s everyone fairing with their New Year fitness resolutions? Are you still on track to achieving your fitness goals, or did you give up somewhere in mid-Jan and turned to carbs for consolation? In all honesty, I’ve really surprised myself. I’ve been maintaining my efforts to work out regularly, eat cleaner, hydrate abundantly, and move my body about as much as I can. COVID-19 has made hitting the gym nearly impossible, so I’ve been turning towards home workouts, and they definitely do wonders. Home gyms are an amazing way of sticking to your fitness resolutions and getting in your daily dose of cardio. But picking the right kind of equipment to meet your workout needs is imperative! This prevents injuries and ensures we work out in the correct and safe manner, without pushing or damaging our bodies. In an attempt to motivate you to follow through and not give up on your fitness resolutions for 2022, we’ve curated a collection of home gyms to ensure you don’t skip out on any leg days!

1. The Olympus Grips

The Olympus Grips are built to accommodate even the toughest workouts. They sport a reinforced steel frame capable of taking up to 500 lbs of weight per handle, a rubberized base for high friction, and silicone handles for comfortable gripping. The grips sport a proprietary connecting mechanism called SR 360 Connect that allows them to connect to each other. The 360 connection allows the grips to stay connected but still swivel on the same axis, letting you perform a whole range of Self-Resistance exercises with an expanded range of movement that lets you comfortably move your arms while exercising or switch arm positions. Along with letting you do conventional exercises like pushups, handstands, and lunges, the grips are even equipped with swivel eyebolts on each side to let you attach resistance bands, nylon straps, etc. to help expand your exercise arsenal and work out your arms, core, and even legs.

2. Peleton Vibe

Peloton Vibe caters to every sense and muscle from start to finish, it is truly a whole vibe. The bench has a unique multi-position arm that can be moved to work with a variety of exercises. The lower portion stores a set of dumbbells that help expand to a larger range of guided workouts by the Peloton App service. Once you complete your workout, the bench seat and arm surface seamlessly transform into a massage experience. It utilizes built-in massage balls that can rotate and heat up based on your preferences. At-home gym equipment AND at-home spa? I would work out more often simply so I can make the most of the heated massage feature.

3. Walkolution Treadmill Desks

Walkolution Treadmill Walk and Work

Walking is perhaps the easiest and most economical thing to do. You can start with it but what happens when working from home and staying at home are becoming the norm. One can’t just go around the neighborhood, at least, in some parts of the world due to fear of Covid. A treadmill is an answer. There are plenty of portable and smaller models available in the market that you don’t have any reason not to buy. But for those multitaskers, you can consider this desk treadmill from Walkolution. The most affordable model, the MT300 NEW WORK, is very compact and is a silent treadmill. It doesn’t have a desk but you can place it anywhere a standing desk. You can choose to get a handrail and standing aid. The other two models, the MTD700R WANDERLUST and the MTD800R ÄRA, are also compact and come with a silent treadmill workspace with an integrated desk and a free-standing premium lift desk, respectively. Both offer ergonomic standing aid and hand-rail. The standing desk on each model is adjustable.

4. The Stoyka

Merging the home gym with storage capabilities, the Stoyka from product design studio Dydykin is a power rack for the modern home designed to look like high-end furniture. Since physical fitness has become integral to our daily routines, the purpose behind Stoyka aims to strike a balance in using living spaces as fitness studios. In finding that harmony, the designers behind Stoyka integrated a storage system into the power rack, which slides out from behind the power rack’s rear wall. These sliding racks carry enough room to store the power rack’s barbells, round weighted plates, as well as rack accessories like support beams and spotter’s arms.

5. Kondition

Oliver Perretta’s Kondition was inspired by a piece of furniture that actually resembles a standard workout bench, IKEA’s BEKANT series. Both IKEA’s BEKANT and Perretta’s Kondition have similar personalities. They appear as modest, simple furniture designs whose true essence shines through in their ability to blend into any given room. At first, an unassuming side bench or low-rise table during living room hours, and then an adjustable home workout with a sliding bench come gym time. Perretta was certain to make bullnose corners for Kondition’s workout station to enhance both the piece’s adaptive nature and its approachability in its inherent baby-proof design. Additionally, Perretta plans to utilize aluminum extrusion in any eventual construction process to ensure a high strength to weight ratio for more intense workouts. Stamped panels also make for easy and deep cleaning so that job won’t ever feel stressful after a good sweat.

6. The-O

Meet “The-O” exercise bike designed to be minimalistic, sans all the fancy features you’ll never end up using in your daily fitness routine. The fitness accessory is designed keeping in mind the quirks of owning one. First up is the space requirement and the non-flexibility of usage. Then there is the complexity of use which mars the whole purpose of a simple fitness regime. The-O has none of them, and it doubles as a functional piece of furniture when your fitness is kept on hold for some days or even weeks. Use it as a seat for your casual work regime or turn it into a bar chair for parties – the options are endless. You can even turn it into a base for keeping indoor plants.

7. Floe

Recognized by Good Design for 2021’s Sport and Lifestyle category, Floe appears as a simple, backless bench, but hidden storage compartments reveal much more. Stocked with everything you might need in the gym, including a yoga mat, foam roller, kettlebell, and medicine ball, Floe even comes with a virtual coaching feature similar to the services found on Peloton. Equipped with an extendable viewing stand and iPad, Floe users can follow along with programmed workouts in the comfort of their own homes. From yoga to weight training, Floe offers it all and transforms back into an inconspicuous entryway bench once the sweat session ends.

8. The TechnoGym Bench

The TechnoGym Bench is your perfect alibi towards the goal of a healthy lifestyle without any unnecessary frills. This sleek and versatile bench holds all your workout tools and doubles as a workout leverage point for many different exercises. Thus, satisfying your need for a complete workout from the confines of your home if you are skeptical about heading to the gym amidst the ongoing pandemic. The functional training kit includes a myriad of over 200 body workouts. There are tools such as elastic bands, hexagon dumbbells, weighted knuckles, and a training mat – in a compact footprint to cater to all your workout needs. Perfect for small apartments or urban spaces where space is at a premium.

9. FUORIPISTA

Whilst gym equipment may look right at home in… well, a gym, it does clash with the décor of most domestic settings. Seeing as we certainly don’t need another excuse not to exercise, it’s about time we have a more desirable alternative to all that clunky equipment! The solution is FUORIPISTA, a piece of fitness equipment that is undoubtedly an aesthetically pleasing object while meeting our functional demands. FUORIPISTA’s transparent legs achieve a visually light design so it can sit unobtrusively within the room. These legs have been paired with a wooden body that makes up the frame of the bicycle; with the design being treated in a manner that complements the existing furniture within the room instead of standing out and creating disharmony.

10. The CLMBR

Meet the CLMBR, it’s a combination of an elliptical trainer, a bench-press, a stationary cycle, and has elements of cardio dancing, HIIT training, and even rock-climbing in it. Designed to give every single muscle in your body an intense workout, the CLMBR helps 60% more calories than running, rowing & bike workouts… and its vertical design allows it to fit into the smallest of homes and rooms. On the floor, the CLMBR occupies roughly 3×3 feet of space or about as much as two doormats. Most of the CLMBR’s gear is oriented vertically, which allows it to do two things – A. Occupy a fraction of the space of a home-gym yet give you all of it, and B. Use gravity to its advantage to make your workouts more intense and effective.

The post Top 10 home gym trends of 2022 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Top 10 office gadget trends of 2022

Posted on 14/02/2022 by Srishti Mitra

Most of us are slowly moving out of our home offices, and into actual workspaces. The transition can be a complex and daunting one, especially since we grew so accustomed to working from the comforts of our homes. We’re back to dealing with stuffy office spaces, nosy coworkers, office politics, and tedious commutes. Keeping our morale high, and motivation pumped up through an entire week can often be exhausting. But, I do believe the right collection of work gadgets can boost your daily productivity, irrespective of whether you’re working at home or in a corporate office. Whether it’s an ergonomic mouse design to protect your wrist and help you work comfortably, or a sleek laptop stand to eliminate bad posture – each of these designs adds a little spark to our daily work routine, combining fun and functionality and leading to a fulfilling day. Just like this setup by Tom Lee Parsons, the designs showcased here will make you look forward to work every morning, and you’ll be jumping out of bed, excited to get started!

1. Monitor Lights

BenQ ScreenBar Plus monitor light bar desk lamp for office.

Monitor light bar best lighting for your workspace.

Space saving monitor light bar avoids reflective glare.

When putting together the perfect desk setup, we focus on a lot of things. An impressive monitor accompanied by a wireless mouse and keyboard, a charging dock to juice up our priceless gadgets, and we might even throw an ergonomic chair into the mix! But how often do we pay attention to an effective lighting design? Our office spaces aren’t as efficiently lit up, as we may think they are. We often take lighting solutions for granted, although in all honesty, we shouldn’t. Inadequate lighting can cause a strain on our eyes, and can often be quite annoying to work in.

I’ll admit I’ve never heard of a Monitor Light before, but BenQ’s ScreenBar Plus really does a good job of being a pretty darn amazing workspace light (it’s also a product that was first invented by BenQ). Instead of occupying actual table space, the ScreenBar Plus sits on top of your monitor. Its universal clipping mechanism can attach to any monitor type, and the long strip of LEDs help illuminate your entire workspace efficiently, without casting any shadows or leaving any blind spots. The way the lamp’s design is rather clever. Its optically asymmetric design casts light onto your desk without casting any light on your monitor. This way, it efficiently and consistently illuminates your space without creating any reflections or glare on your screen, something that cheaper knockoff versions of the ScreenBar Plus don’t manage to achieve.

2. Super fast SSDs

SSDs are pretty much becoming the future of storage! SSDs have shoved flash drives, thumb drives, clunky hard disks, and even expensive cloud storage into near extinction. An SSD provides everything they did, except it’s impressively faster, more compact, and convenient, and promises larger capacities. However, a typical SSD design doesn’t raise many eyebrows anymore, hence they’re getting more innovative, unique, and efficient by the day! And a truly innovative one can add manifolds to your office setup!

Occupying about the same amount of space as a Snickers bar, the AIRmini packs up to a whopping 4 terabytes of storage in its waterproof, dustproof, rugged outer body. With its high-storage capacity and wireless design, however, the AIRmini offers a unique alternative to cloud-based storage. Unlike a cloud server that exists in a remote location and needs an internet connection to be accessed, AIRmini is a portable storage device that you own (in perpetuity too, unlike cloud storage and its pesky annual fees) and can access without an active internet connection. The tiny SSD runs on WiFi 6, creating a high-speed connection that lets you transfer files in mere seconds, and a Thunderbolt 3-powered USB-C port on the SSD pushes transfer speeds to the absolute maximum, letting you backup your entire 128GB phone in under a minute.

3. Sleek USB-C Hubs

We spend most of our day working on laptops and PCs, and maintaining a consistently high level of productivity and efficiency is extremely integral for our work routines. Hence, adopting and making use of nifty gadgets that amp up our productivity can be quite helpful. A USB-C Hub is one such accessory that promises to function as the ultimate sidekick to your laptop or any other monitor setup of choice! However, hubs aren’t what they used to be! Designers have elevated and innovated hubs to a whole new level altogether. These handy tech gadgets are a game-changer for our productivity!

Industrial designer Cheon Ryong Choi has the simplest and smart solution in the form of the Save USB SSD Hub. The hybrid accessory slots in most M.2 SSD in the given slot while leaving enough room for a USB hub with USB-C-type, MagSafe connecter, and two USB ports. That’s enough meat to satiate geeky users’ requirements for a port-starved laptop. Drawing inspiration presumably from the design philosophy of Nothing, the hybrid hard drive gets a transparent back panel that exposes all the hardware components which personally I find too cool.

4. Ergonomic Mouse Designs

The humble mouse is often overlooked especially when it comes to innovating or upgrading them. Most of us are used to the same old conventional mouse designs, and we’re pretty content with them as well. They do their job, and we’re happy. However, nowadays designers have been extending creativity and innovation to mouses, especially regarding their visuals, aesthetics, and ergonomics. It’s important to use a mouse that is ergonomically designed and doesn’t strain our wrists extensively, especially considering the long hours we spend working. Carpal tunnel syndrome is just one troublesome side effect of a badly designed mouse!

This concept, which the designer dubs the XIN N01, is truly unorthodox in its appearance and design. Its ergonomics try to use the natural vertical position of the hand to avoid straining the wrist, while the flowing lines of the structure provide not only points of visual interest but also ergonomic support for the hand. That said, it’s a concept that probably needs proper clinical testing to verify its ergonomic value, though, at this point, it can hardly be called a mouse anymore.

5. Sleek Laptop Stands

To be honest, I could not survive without my laptop! It stores almost everything I hold sacred, and I need it for various purposes – from work to leisure. And most of us do spend the majority of our day working on laptops, and hence maintaining a consistently high level of productivity and efficiency is extremely integral for our work routines. However, spending hours on our laptops can cause immense strain to our hands and neck. And this is where laptop stands come in! The right laptop stand offers ergonomic angle adjustments and helps us work in a posture that does not cause physical pain and strain on our bodies.

The MOFT Z was designed keeping the original MOFT brief in mind but was made to push limits. It does come with the ability to prop your laptop at three angles, but that’s not all. The MOFT Z even transforms your sitting setup into a standing one, elevating your laptop up by as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters). The MOFT Z does this using an innovative Z-shaped folding system along with its signature PU and fiberglass material which allows the laptop stand to have a high strength to weight ratio while being thin enough to slide right into a Manila envelope. The MOFT Z was designed to be used independently, without being stuck to the back of your laptop (like the original MOFT). Slightly larger than a sheet of A4 paper and at nearly half an inch thick, the MOFT Z can be kept on your desk, stored in a drawer, or a shelf, among folders.

6. Data Protection Devices

In an age where privacy is now considered a luxury, and not a necessity, where apps are constantly tracking your activities, and Alexa and Siri are third party eavesdroppers in your day to day conversations, it’s become increasingly important for all of us to pay more attention to data privacy and protection. I don’t know about you, but I’m amply creeped out and fed up with my Google searches turning up in the ad section of every social media application I open! But thankfully, designers have been coming up with innovative and tactful gadgets that help us slip out of the fingers of major tech giants!

Designed as a mysterious pristine-looking silver box (courtesy Winston Privacy’s partnership with design studio MNML), Winston has the demeanor of a trustworthy, robust, no-nonsense device. Working with Winston’s software, the box connects directly to your Wi-Fi router, providing you a secure internet across all your devices. Winston doesn’t just prevent apps and smart devices from stealing your data. It blocks ISPs from snooping on you, blocks ads, pop-ups, and periodically deletes cookies. Ridding your internet connection of all this excess baggage, Winston allows you to browse the internet faster and even cuts down on your data usage. Besides, it blocks hackers from being able to tap into your webcam, doorbell, or your Wi-fi router, giving complete access to a truly private internet experience that’s absolutely within YOUR control.

7. Ergonomic Keyboard Designs

Keyboards are an integral part of our daily work routine, I mean we literally need them to….type. And with work from home being adopted as a new way of life, our workday can be a bore by itself. So why not cast aside the traditional boring old keyboards, and brighten up our day with some innovative and unique ones? The design industry wholeheartedly agrees, because designers have been coming up with new and improved keyboard designs, that are sure to liven up your work desk and get you all excited to type up some mails. They’re ergonomically designed to boost your everyday productivity!

Named after the fact that it’s inspired by a pair of gloves, the Glove80 is a split keyboard with an ergonomic design and layout that literally follows the shape of human hands. Designed over a period of 6 years, with over 500 comparative A/B tests, the overall form of the Glove80 effectively puts every key within the span of your fingertips, achieving a level of comfort that the EarPods did with their ear canal-inspired design. The Glove80, as its name suggests, comes with 80 keys laid out in the shape of a pair of gloves (with 40 on each side), complete with palm rests and adjustable feet for the most customizable experience. Its split-keyboard design allows your wrists, forearms, and shoulders to assume their most natural position, eliminating fatigue over time, and the unique layout lets you type without lifting your wrists or stretching your fingers, giving you a comfortable typing experience, without the risk of a carpal tunnel flareup.

8. Headphones

Adding a headphone to your office desk, may not be the most conventional idea, but sometimes it’s needed! Especially, when the office environment can get a bit too chaotic. Once my headphones are in, the rest of the world is out. I scroll through my playlist and deep dive into my favorite musical tunes. And then I’m in my own little audio world, where everything is peaceful, my favorite singers are my best friends, and they just know the right things to say. You’re able to tune out your coworkers whenever necessary! If you’re a music fanatic as well, you know how important and sacred your personal music time can be, and how holy your relationship with your headphones is.

Coming from a company that has a reputation for making ‘serious’ audio equipment for serious musicians and audio professionals, the Yamaha L700A looks to treat a balance between being pro-gear and consumer-worthy. It sports a gray design, finished with fabric trims on the headband as well as on the earpieces themselves, making them look like condenser microphones from afar. The wireless headphones fold flat like the AirPods Max, for easy traveling, and instead of touch-sensitive panels or rotary knobs, the earphones actually come with buttons on the right earpiece for that reliable tactile experience.

9. MagSafe Accessories

There is a great sense of satisfaction, in my opinion, to have things just stick to your phone. Be it a pair of earphones (maybe that’ll be the next generation of AirPods) or have your phone just conveniently stick to a charging pad – it’s almost like magic! The reintroduction of the MagSafe led to a whole new world of accessories being unleashed! Designers and creatives were racing to create a whole range of products for the repurposed MagSafe. And we’ve been loving every bit of it.

For geeks who want more than just a standard MagSafe charger for their den, the UFO MagSafe Wireless Charger will be the preferred choice. This cute-looking accessory for the Apple ecosystem is currently just a concept design, but we want to see it make it to the shelves. It’s like a UFO riding on the back of your iPhone 13 minus, all the shenanigans of gimmicky gadgets. The accessory is minimalistic in form and doesn’t go overboard with the spaceship design. UFO MagSafe strikes on first look and doesn’t fade away like other flashy accessories. In fact, it grows on me every time I have a glance at the realistic renders to churn out this write-up. This one adds an adorable sci-fi touch to your desk!

10. Charging Docks

An all-in-one charging dock is probably one of the most useful gadgets you can have on your desk. Ensuring that all our gadgets are juiced up at all times is probably one of the most tedious tasks there is. Hence, having a charging dock that can power up all your priceless devices in one go is an absolute Godsend. And truth be told there are quite a few in the market these days!

However, amidst the sea of wireless chargers, the Air Omni stands out as perhaps the one true product that Apple hopes it had tried to push out. The Air Omni charges your iPhone, Watch, Airpods, and even your iPad. Apart from juicing the batteries of your favorite devices, it props them up too, acting as a stand for your iPhone/iPad so you can charge your devices while using them. With its virtually perfect desk-friendly size, the Air Omni fits seamlessly into your workspace and can slide right into your laptop bag too, so you don’t need to have it just at your office. You can carry it back home, use it at cafés, or even at the airport, as a quick charging hub and workspace alternative. Just dock your devices, prop up your iPad, connect a wireless keyboard, and your charging hub becomes your makeshift office space. As I said, the AirPower mat wishes it were the Air Omni.

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Top 10 WFH design trends of 2022

Posted on 13/02/2022 by Srishti Mitra

In 2020 our lives changed completely changed. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed what was considered the ‘norm’, and created new norms that molded the way we lived. One of these new norms was the work from home culture, and two years later, it has continued well into 2022. We’ve been working from our homes for a WHILE now, and although we have adapted to it and pretty much-reached pro status, it can still be quite a bore at times. I, for one, am always looking out for various ways to spice up my work-from-home routine. And I’ve found that adding new products, giving my home office a makeover, or looking for quirky designs to amp up my productivity really does help! Hence, here’s a collection of interesting, super functional, and productivity-enhancing designs that promise to be the best work from home investments of 2022. From a Logitech-inspired mouse designed to save your wrist to a multifunctional wall organizer with modular planters – these innovative WFH designs are what your home office truly needs!

1. The XIN N01

Designer Jason Wong went back to the drawing board to reimagine what an ergonomic mouse would look and feel like without being limited to the traditional concept of a mouse. He started out with something that looked a lot like many ergonomic mice, with cutouts and flaps for supporting the fingers. From there, however, things took on a rather strange turn that led to something that is both from the past and the future. After testing out what looks like a mouse on a stand, Wong ended up with what he describes as a vertical mouse joystick design. Unlike a typical joystick, which predates the mouse, the person won’t need to keep a grip on the device and simply lay their hand on the supporting structure. There is even wrist support to help keep your arm from getting strained while in the position.

2. D-Tach

Industrial design student Andrew Chang decided to create a chair that fits the bill. D-Tach is a modular stool design that functions as a traditional office chair, only to disassemble into parts that provide a small working space on the go.In its initial form, D-Tach comes as a fully intact stool, complete with leather cushions and a backrest. When designing D-Tach, Chang changed the traditional shape of a stool to better fit his stool’s dual function. Describing this choice, Chang explains, “I changed the traditional stool stand into a circular [shaped] stand. This gives the feet more room when using the stand as a table.”

3. Kosumi’s Wall Organizer and Mess-Free Planter

No matter the size of your living space, multi-use furniture helps to keep both the floor and our minds free from clutter. Adding his own multi-functional, organizational WFH design to the mix, Fahredin Kosumi created a Wall Organizer and Mess-Free Planter to form a magnetic, modular garden to mount on any vertical surface. Defined by an assembly system close to LEGO building blocks, Kosumi’s Wall Organizer and Mess-Free Planter come with base grids that attach to walls with 3M strips, requiring no hardware or tools in the process. Once users form their base grid on their chosen vertical surface, the fun begins. Stocked with over 20 different modules, Kosumi’s Wall Organizer and Mess-Free Planter come with hangers, magnetic clips, transparent storage containers, planters, and cubbies.

4. The MOFT Z

5. The azbi Chair

The azbi Chair is a setup that’ll get you instantly excited for its unique seating position which always keeps the screen at the optimum distance for dramatically reduced body and eye strain. According to the designer, the mouse and keyboard stay just where you want them to be, bringing a never-before-seen ergonomic setup for people who have to work for long hours on their PC. Wooden make of the hamster wheel-like chair setup doesn’t promote fitness in any way, but it sure does give laid-back work a whole new meaning. I can imagine myself lying flat on the azbi Chair with music plugged in. Man! that would be pure bliss to enhance creative work skills. Definitely, this will require space – perhaps a dedicated corner in the living room or an expansive bedroom. If you’ve got enough room to spare, this is one thing made for a geek’s den.

6. The Bold Desk

The Bold Desk concept is bold in two ways. The designer’s expressed intent is to make the desk inspire boldness in facing the unknown of new work from home arrangements. Intentionally or not, the desk is also bold for eschewing complex features and gimmicks to present something immediately familiar and comfortable. Nothing says familiar better than a wooden desk, and the Bold Desk’s choice of material scores points for both sustainability and design. It offers an immediate connection between the desk and the user, and its organic origin evokes feelings of warmth and life compared even to wood that’s been painted over with unnatural hues. The drawer and the bottom side also have a soothing effect, thanks to their curved edges.

7. The Kiya Pro webcam

Razer Kiyo Pro HD Webcam

The Kiyo Pro webcam comes with a wide-angle lens and an adjustable FOV, giving you the freedom to decide whether you want the camera to focus just on your face, or capture a wider view to show everyone the rest of your room/studio. It’s pretty clear that Razer designed the Kiyo Pro from the ground up, focusing on creating a webcam that works just as well for gamers and content creators as it does for office-goers. The webcam can be configured within the Razer Synapse software, allowing you to adjust the FOV (with three settings – 103°, 90°, and 80°), toggle AutoFocus, tinker with brightness/contrast/saturation, and even switch on/off the HDR feature. It’s worth noting that with the HDR on, the Kiyo Pro’s video output drops from 1080p@60fps to 1080p@30fps.

8. The Logi Dock

Logitech Logi Dock WFH Setup

Designed to act as the makeshift IT guy who sets up your workspace you can easily get to work without fiddling with wires, peripherals, and ports, the Logi Dock comes with all the ports you need at the back, effectively shifting the mess of cables off your desk and to its rear. It supports up to five USB peripherals and up to two monitors — while charging your laptop up to 100W and even giving you the ability to juice your phone/tablet. Once you’ve set your workspace up, the Logi Dock’s buttons make it a breeze to enter and exit meetings, toggle your webcam (without interacting with the video-conferencing app’s interface), and if you’ve got a headset, you can either use the buttons on the Logi Dock to switch the mic on or off or use the Dock’s advanced speakerphone system to attend meetings without using headphones.

9. The Brewster DCM5000

Designed especially for those of us who work from home, the Brewster DCM5000 is compact and highly technical to limit the mess of making coffee and make it easier to use. The team of India-based designers conceptualized the Brewster DCM5000 as a coffee maker that could be placed on a desk without taking up too much space. Downsized to fit in any workspace, the Brewster DCM5000’s bulkiest part is the 250ml water tank. Even so, the Brewster DCM5000 features a rear cavity that holds the water tank in place, cutting its width in half. In addition to its compact size, the designers wanted to ensure that users could select the number of cups they’d like brewed, the strength of their coffee, and enjoy an automatic circular pour-over mechanism.

10. Flora

Flora is a WFH wall accessory that combines an organizational cork pinboard with hanging planters molded from jesmonite. Molded from jesmonite, Flora features specks of color for a modern take on terrazzo, a form of composite material originating in 16th-century Italy. Conceived as a passion project during the lockdown, the designers at Préssec Design first made Floria from concrete casting. Once they achieved their desired look for Flora, they turned it up a notch and gave jesmonite a try. The team of designers chose to work with jesmonite to give the wall garden system a seamless look like each planter was bulging from the corkboard.

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Top 10 Japanese architecture trends of 2022

Posted on 10/02/2022 by Srishti Mitra

There’s something about Japanese-inspired architecture that instantly soothes your soul, and envelops you in a warm and fuzzy feeling. Maybe it’s the unique minimalism, the timeless elegance, the artful usage of wood, or simply the zen-like essence of the structures. Whatever it may be, whenever I come across a Japanese-inspired building, I instantly feel like making it my home, or else I feel like Marie Kondo-ing my own home and giving it a makeover, hoping to integrate some of the clean and clear Japan design philosophy I just encountered. In this spirit of admiration for Japanese architecture, we’ve curated a collection of simple, tasteful, and heartwarming designs that’ll add a bit of Japanese zen to your otherwise hectic workday! From Japanese tiny homes that feature a honeycomb frame to a Japanese A-frame structure that looks like it jumped straight out of a cozy Ghibli movie – these intricate structures promise to be the epitome of Japanese warmth and minimalism.

1. 2nd Home

2nd Home is a series of tiny homes planned and built by Japanese startup SANU with minimal building material to immerse travelers in the wonder of nature for a quick respite from the hustle of city living. In planning and constructing the collection of honeycomb timber cabins, SANU ensured a lightweight, replicable design using only a small number of building materials to get the job done. Each 2nd Home cabin is built prefabricated from 100% Japanese cedar and fastened to the site by six piles, which hardly impact the preexisting landscape. Considering the cabin’s easy assembly system, SANU built 2nd Home to be easily dismantled as well, allowing the building materials to be reused for future projects.

2. Hara Hara

The Japanese studio Takeru Shoji Architects created a tent-shaped home named Hara Hara in an agricultural village in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture. Designed to look like a tent, the home was created with multiple openings, inculcating a direct connection with the neighborhood and surroundings, allowing neighbors to stop by and have a quick chat in ease. The client wanted an open and welcoming home, that encouraged free-flowing communication with the surrounding buildings. Hara Hara is a simple and minimal two-story home built from timber, with a sloping triangular roof, adding to the tent-like impression of the home. Workshops, events, meetings and other gatherings held in the home can easily extend beyond the house as well, creating an extensive, engaging, and communal space where people can conveniently meet, connect and interact.

3. Minima

Minima is a 215-square-foot (20-square-meter) prefab module designed to be a flexible structure to serve as a standalone tiny home or as an additional unit in the backyard that can be used as a home office or spacious guest house. It is constructed with CLT (cross-laminated timber) which is a sustainable material and cuts down on the carbon emissions that concrete produces. The modern micro-home is giving me major Japandi vibes! The boxy exterior is clad with a skin of cypress battens and a steel roof which maintains its minimal look. The unit has a streamlined, modern profile that still feels warm and human-centric.

4. The Nook

Brimming with artisanal goods and artwork of local craftsmen and artists, The Nook was designed to bring the handcrafted touch of the old world into the modern era. Described as a “collection of stories,” Belleme designed The Nook to link his personal history to the surrounding forest and architecture of the cabin. The tiny cabin is constructed from a collection of locally felled trees that Belleme memorized during a five-year stint spent in the Appalachian woods, during which he learned primitive building skills like creating a path of hand-split logs that leads to The Nook’s front entrance. The timber that gives rise to The Nook varies between white oak, red oak, black walnut, and black locust all to mirror the trees that surround the tiny cabin.

5. The House in Akashi

Designed by Arbol, The House in Akashi is a minimal bungalow created from timber, placed in a quaint neighborhood. The home’s most intriguing feature are the three artfully hidden interior courtyards, which can be used for growing food and drying laundry. The courtyards form the central section of the home, with the remaining space and rooms facing towards them. Subtle openings and slits in the wooden facade allow one to look out into the street, and also bring in natural ventilation and lighting into the home. The entire home seems to be lacking doors, with each space flowing freely into another, with only small steps or changes in the floor finishing to create a differentiation between them.

6. Four Leaves Villa

Four Leaves Villa designed by Kentaro Ishida Architects Studio (KIAS) is a form of organic architecture with a gently twisted, multi-tiered roof that mimics the sloping curve of fallen leaves and a central garden courtyard, the home’s concealed centerpiece. Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture with a primary goal of harmonizing human habitation with nature. Following the philosophy of organic architecture, the varying orientations of Four Leaves Villa’s living and dining spaces were specifically chosen with consideration to the use of each space and the amount of natural sunlight that might benefit each room’s function.

7. Goan

Japanese architect and architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori is known for his quirky teahouses and fondness for unusual city structures. His latest tea house transports an elf’s cottage from the pages of a fairytale to the concrete of Tokyo. Featuring grassy facades, timber treated with yakisugi, and a lofty vista point, the teahouse, called Goan, is sightly positioned in front of the new National Stadium of Tokyo where it remained until 5 September 2021 in celebration of the 2020 Summer Olympics. Poking out from the corner of one facade, visitors can crawl through a circular hole, traditionally known as a ‘Nijiriguchi,’ to gain entry to the tea room’s interior. Moving inside, visitors pass through the grassy exterior and are welcomed by an entirely unstained wooden first floor. Functioning as a reinterpretation of ‘Nijiriguchi,’ a small wooden staircase and ladder connects the bottom floor with the upper tea room.

8. The Cardboard Sleep Capsule

The Cardboard Sleep Capsule was designed for those experiencing displacement from natural disasters like earthquakes or medical emergencies, including those related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Atelier OPA constructed the Cardboard Sleep Capsule to unfold into two floors, containing two sleeping areas, a set of stairs, and a separate working space equipped with a desk and chair. The capsule shelter comes prefabricated with a foldable design, comprising a compact shipping size when folded, shrinking down to ¼ the size of its unfolded dimensions. Carrying such a small folded size, the Cardboard Sleep Capsule has been received positively by international governments, who have thought of storing the cardboard castles away before use in public gymnasiums and emergency arenas.

9. Kengo Kuma’s Pavilion

The designers behind Harumi’s temporary pavilion used a steel frame as the structure’s base, over which CLT panels were overlaid to create a multi-paneled facade that spirals and crests towards the open sky. CLT panels, or Cross-Laminated Timber, are appealing for their prefabricated, lightweight yet durable quality and their neat installation process which has a low overall environmental impact. While the CLT panels form a zig-zag pattern and overlap one another from their orthogonal gluing process, exposed gaps of open-air needed covering. Preparing for fits of bad weather, KKAA bordered the gaps of air with transparent pieces of copolymer film called, TEFKA.

10. Iam Sauna

Iam Sauna is a lovely tent-style sauna provided with a wood-burning stove that allows people to enjoy the outdoors even in the cold weather to regain the lost energy after a long day. A Japanese-style sauna tent is extremely portable; you can carry it along whether you’re biking it up or driving for a picnic with your family. In addition to portable design, the sauna tent is effortless to set up. A single person can install the tent in under a minute. One will be required to stretch out the pull tabs on all four sides and instantly, a stable and usable tent is ready. Heat up the wood-burning stove and in minutes you have your personal sauna ready. Whether you’re tired after a hike or simply want to experience a sauna by the lake, Iam Sauna can let you do that.

The post Top 10 Japanese architecture trends of 2022 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Top 10 3D printed design trends of 2022

Posted on 07/02/2022 by Srishti Mitra

3D Printing is gaining more momentum and popularity than ever! Designers and architects all over the world are now adopting 3D Printing for the creation of almost all types of products and structures. It’s a technique that is being widely utilized in product design, owing to its simple and innovative nature. But designers aren’t employing 3D printing only to create basic models, they’re utilizing this technique in mind-blowing ways as well! From a 3D printed portable toilet to a wireless mouse with a soft 3D printed mesh design, the scope of this dependable technique is unlimited! Dive into this collection of humble yet groundbreaking 3D printed designs!

1. The Parametriks Print 001 sneaker

The Parametriks Print 001 sneaker makes clever use of design and material sciences to create a sneaker that’s comfortable, stylish, and easy to manufacture. Sort of like how crocks just use one material that’s injection-molded into the shape of a shoe, the Print 001 relies on 3D printing to fabricate its design… which was arrived at by using parametric algorithms. The shoe/sneaker uses a rather intriguing triangular mesh matrix that warps right around the wearer’s foot, fitting it perfectly thanks to the shoe’s bespoke design. Made from TPU, the shoe is about as flexible as a pair of Crocs, while looking infinitely cooler and offering a level of breathability and flexibility that’s unmatched. Sure, the holes on the shoe’s sole open you up to pebbles, thorns, and water, but then again, this piece of footwear is purely experimental as it hopes to explore what a parametric piece of footwear can look like. I’d say I’m pretty happy with the visual results!

2. The Throne

This sustainable toilet is designed to compost solid waste while also tackling the sanitation crisis – using design and technology to do good sh*t! It is a solution that eradicates plastic waste and turns it into a construction material that reduces the load on landfills. The portable toilet is also absolutely beautiful with its white aesthetic and cocoon form! The first 3D printed prototype was produced by an advanced seven-axis robotic printer and is being tested on a construction site in the Swiss Alps. Created by Spanish design studio Nagami and To: it has been dubbed The Throne and it comprises three parts – a teardrop-shaped body, a dramatic, double-curved sliding door, and a bucket for solid waste. All the parts were printed within three days, including the base and some smaller accessories that were either injection-molded or ordered. It also includes an off-the-shelf separation toilet seat to separate urine from solids for composting.

3. The Flamträd Collection

IKEA Flamträd 3D Printed Home Decor

The Flamträd collection marks a pretty huge deviation from IKEA’s signature style. Not only does it move away from IKEA’s very model of DIY flat-packed furniture/accessories, but it also makes use of 3D printing, a manufacturing method that’s still quite new to IKEA. The collection comprises a set of human-inspired decor, printed life-size, and intricate detailing that can only be achieved through 3D printing. The Flamträd collection features multiple posed hands, faces, and heads that can either be placed on tabletop surfaces or mounted on walls. There’s really no function ascribed to the collection, and it’s all really up to how each user interprets them. They can either be used as quirky accent pieces and motifs or hold items like hats and headphones (on the head-shaped unit) or fashion accessories like necklaces, rings, etc. (on the various hand-shaped units).

4. The Squishy Mouse

Arguably enough, what the Squishy Mouse does is look at ergonomics from a broader perspective by considering other products like ergonomic chairs and ergonomic shoes. An ergonomic chair or shoe isn’t just curvaceous, it’s soft and breathable too, and the Squishy Mouse makes the case that mice should essentially follow that same logic. Rejecting the notion that curved hard surfaces are all that an ergonomic mouse really needs, the Squishy Mouse sports a curved lattice mesh body that’s soft and reminiscent of the 3D printed soles seen on Adidas’ AlphaEdge and Futurecraft 3D running shoes. The purpose of this isn’t just to conform to the shape of a human hand but to actually promote comfort and breathability. With about the same soft experience of a stress ball, the Squishy Mouse lets you firmly grip it during use, and ensures that its mesh surface never gets your palms sweaty, even with hours of constant use.

5. Puddy

Puddy makes up for its minimal design with an incredibly interactive experience and an expressive design that reminds one of Pixar’s own Luxo Jr. Modeled to look quite like a tiny little human in a robe and a hat, Puddy makes for a great addition to any work surface. The little lamp is designed to be entirely wireless and can be carried around with you, conveniently parking wherever you want it to. The bright little chap (no pun intended) comes with an adjustable head that lets you face it (I did it again) upwards, while the lampshade helps guide the light based on its angle. For brighter light, just make Puddy look up, and for more ambient lighting, face Puddy downwards so the lampshade cuts out any direct light. While Puddy’s aesthetic is a combination of traditional and modern, its production is too. The lamp comes entirely 3D printed out of a 6:4 composite of PLA and recycled wood particles.

6. Printthinks’ 3D Printed Prosthesis

Inspired by a dog who couldn’t run for over seven years due to a missing leg, Printthinks committed to research and design study periods that led to the creation of their 3D-printed prosthesis prototype. Printed from a material called PETG and solely recycled materials, Printthinks created a solution that’s both eco-conscious and pet-friendly. The sole, for instance, is cut and printed from a recycled bicycle wheel, guaranteeing maximum grip and secure footing. Describing the print process and the materials used during it, Printthinks notes, “The piece is printed on an Ultimate3 at a layer height of 0.3 mm and the other materials are nylon, rubber, and sewing thread.”

7. Konvergence

Designing their own interpretation of the classic lounge chair called Konvergence, Paris-based designer and maker, Emmanuel Hugnot turned to 3D printing to produce a central knot that eight wooden slats protrude from to define and support the shape of a fully-formed chair. The central knot of Konvergence resembles the shape of a ball-and-socket connector piece from LEGO kits. Keeping a total of eight end sockets, the central knot functions as the chair’s cornerstone, providing the bridge for all of Konvergence’s additional components to connect. Taking to common beech to produce the eight wooden slats, Hugnot went with the brightly textured timber for its rigidity and current abundancy in Europe’s forests. Once connected to the central knot, the wooden slats form the skeletal frame of Konvergence, leaving space for blankets of fabric to cover the slats to follow Konvergence through to its final form.

8. The Kobble Collection

Inspired by the soft form of cobblestones, the Kobble collection features a Floor, Table, Task, and Wall Light. Each lamp in the collection explores a different silhouette, drawing from the fact that various pebbles and cobblestones look like a part of the same family, but are visually unique in their own way. The task light from the Kobble collection is easily the most memorable and distinctly Karim-esque of the lot, with an alien-blob aesthetic that gives it an immensely strong character when placed on a desk or table. Its purity of form comes from how seamless the design is (something that Gantri’s made massive leaps and bounds with) and the fact that the switch exists on the cord and not on the lamp itself.

9. Dennis Johann Mueller’s sustainable basketball sneaker

This sustainable basketball sneaker is conceptualized by Dennis Johann Mueller. It has been through a lot of back and forthright from the drawing table to the prototype but the final outcome in images is by and large a concept that deserves to see the light of day with subtle commercial tweaks of course. The silhouette for me is primarily a rage for its reparability quotient, much like the good conscience Fairphone. The shoe is designed in detachable parts; for instance, the upper, shankplate, midsole, and outsole are all separately created to finally form a cohesive unit that can be worn to the hardwood court. This design basically offers users the freedom to adjust different shoe parts to their varying comfort and playing needs, and when they begin to wear out, only have the affected part recreated and replaced so the shoe can be worn as new.

10. 3D printed terra-cotta tiles

Hong Kong saw an 80% decline in the coral population in Double Island, Sai Kung, over the past decade and that drove the team to come up with a solution that would not only help that region but also the rest of the world that was blessed with corals. The team from Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and its Robotic Fabrication Lab of the faculty of architecture worked together to 3D print terra-cotta tiles that will act as artificial reefs. The result is a mesmerizing, organic swirl of line and negative space that reads like a burnt orange topographic map—and mimics the natural patterns of the coral itself. Why terra-cotta? It’s highly porous with “nice surface micro-texture” for marine organisms to latch on to, says team member Dave Baker, and an eco-friendly alternative to conventional materials such as cement or metal, the HKU team says.

The post Top 10 3D printed design trends of 2022 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Top 10 architecture trends of 2022

Posted on 05/02/2022 by Srishti Mitra

The field of architecture is honestly so expansive and creative that it boggles my mind! Innovation is a norm, and architects are always trying to outdo their own ideas, resulting in architectural structures that are fresh, inventive, and interesting. The start of a new year is always an exciting time, since groundbreaking ideas are at their inception, and are slowly transforming into trends. These trends are often revised and enhanced versions of pre-existing architectural ideas, or completely new ones that take over the whole industry by storm! And, we’ve curated a collection of intriguing architecture trends that we feel are truly making waves in 2022 and could continue to dominate in the coming years. From sustainable and minimal tiny homes to architectural designs that literally float on water – these futuristic trends look like they are here to stay!

1. Tiny Homes

Ever since the pandemic shook up our world, we’re trying to incorporate sustainability into every aspect of our life, including our homes! And, with everyone aspiring toward’s eco-friendly and mindful ways of living, tiny homes have completely taken over the world of architecture and cemented their place as sustainable, minimal, and economical micro-living setups. What started off as a cute little trend is now turning into a serious option for home spaces. They are a space-saving and eco-friendly living solution that reduces the load on Mother Earth! They’re simple and minimal alternatives to the imposing and materialistic homes that seem to have taken over.

Nido is a tiny cabin with a 100-square-foot floor plan to meet Finland’s zoning laws that do not require a building permit for houses with a floor plan between 96 and 128 square feet. The cabin comprises two levels and keeps a low profile exterior, with unstained wooden siding and white painted frame elements that tie the cabin together with a touch of elegant simplicity. A bare ramp walkway composed of wooden planks leads to the tiny cabin’s entrance and connects to the cabin’s side deck. Inside, angled, expansive windows drench both floors with natural sunlight and compliment the home’s natural wooden interior and soft hues of the Nordic-inspired color scheme found throughout the cabin.

2. Prefabricated Architecture

Prefabricated architecture has been gaining a lot of popularity and momentum recently! It basically involves making buildings or building various components at a particular location, one that is better suited for construction, and then once completed, transporting it to the final site or location. Prefab architectural designs have a multitude of benefits – they keep costs down, ensure projects are more sustainable and efficient, and they also prioritize and pay attention to simplicity and modularity.

Meet ARCspace, a modular architecture firm that is constantly creating innovative designs and material development to do its part in curbing the emissions for their industry using sustainable, affordable, prefabricated homes. All structures are prefabricated for highly efficient and quick builds which reduce emissions and minimizes waste. ARCspace reports the buildings are “spec-built from the ground up in 40-60% less time and cost than traditional construction.” Residents can fully customize their tiny homes or even scale up to the size of traditional homes and have a huge range of interior design details to choose from including optional elements that provide off-grid power and water. Some homes feature self-contained atmospheric water generators called Hydropanels that are grid-independent and pull a few liters of drinking water out of the air each day.

3. DIY Architecture

There’s a new trend in architecture, and honestly, we completely approve of it – it’s DIY! Imagine building up and creating your own home or holiday cabin! How awesome would it be to lounge about and live in the fruit of your own efforts? And don’t worry these architectural designs don’t require too much of an effort either! These simple DIY structures are often flat-packed or come with a complete kit that helps you with the entire step-by-step process. DIY architecture proves not only how simple and economical this technique is, but also how much construction waste and unnecessary materials it cuts down on!

Lola is a tiny home on wheels that’s part of designer Mariah Hoffman’s larger multi-disciplinary design studio and brand Micro Modula, one that explores “home, place, and the self.” Over the span of five years, Hoffman gradually transformed an old utility trailer into a 156-square-foot mobile tiny home. Born out of a daydream to build her own home, Hoffman built Lola to “learn all the necessary skills for [her] personal and creative survival.” Particularly spurred by the essentialist edge of desert modernism, Hoffman turned to construction materials that aesthetically met the bill and also provided some functional elements for the home to brace the seasons as well as the local critters.

4. Sustainable Architecture

With the world turning topsy turvy since the pandemic hit us, living in a sustainable, conscious, and smart manner has never been more imperative. Our homes should seamlessly integrate with, and nourish the planet, not drain her resources and reduce her lifespan. Being at one with Planet Earth, while taking rigorous care of her has never been more of a priority. In an effort to encourage an eco-friendly way of life, sustainable architecture has been gaining immense popularity among architects! They have been designing sustainable homes. These homes aim to harmoniously merge with nature, co-existing with it in peace, and allowing us to live in equilibrium with the environment. They reduce their carbon footprint and encourage a sustainable and clean lifestyle

Designed by Mexico-based Sanzpont Arquitectura, ‘Living In The Noom’ puts you in the lap of nature and luxury. Its sanctuary-esque design focuses on three broad pillars – Wellness, Sustainability, and Flexibility. The community features multiple 4-storeyed houses with a uniquely alluring triangular shape, characterized by vertical bamboo channels and a vertical forest growing on the outer facade of the building. Finally, the structure culminates in a terrace on the fifth floor that has solar panels for harvesting energy, and an urban garden where the residents can grow their own food. The project integrates bioclimatic and sustainable strategies such as rainwater harvesting, wastewater separation, wetland for greywater treatment, biodigesters, compost area, and more notably the vertical forest on the outside of each building, which aside from providing a touch of greenery, also filters/purifies the air coming through into the house, and helps reduce the temperature of homes – a phenomenon more commonly known as the Heat Island Effect.

5. 3D Printed Architecture

Nowadays almost everything is being 3D printed, so why should architecture be an exception? Many architectural firms are adopting 3D printing as their preferred technique to build structures. And 3D printed architecture is slowly but surely gaining a lot of popularity and momentum. This emerging trend is paving a path for itself in modern architecture. And I mean, no wonder, it has a ton of benefits! It’s a simple, efficient, and innovative technique that lowers the risks of errors, and also manages to save on time. 3D printing eradicates a lot of tedious steps during the construction process and simplifies it. It is being used to build homes, habitats on Mars, and even floating islands! The potential and possibilities of 3D printing in architecture are endless and mind-blowing.

ICON 3D printed a 500 square foot structure which only took 27 hours of labor to construct. It will function as a welcome center at Austin’s Community First! Village – which will serve as affordable housing for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. Six more 3D printed homes will be added to the development by ICON! The homes will be built using a proprietary concrete called Lavacrete, alongside the use of automated machinery and advanced software. The newly printed house features accents of black, white, and natural wood, creating a clean and minimal space that is aesthetic to live in!

6. Solar-powered Architecture

Solar power is an amazing source of energy and a sustainable and cleaner alternative to fossil fuels. Today solar energy is being used to power almost everything – from tiny battery packs to whole houses! There are no exceptions. And solar-powered architecture seems to be the new craze these days and a very green one too! From holiday cabins to tiny homes, solar energy is being used to power and support all kinds of architectural structures. These structures coexist in harmony with their surroundings and do not drain but in fact, respect the natural environment around them!

E-glamp is a product/service that has been designed to boost economic and tourist development in rural areas. Think of it as an Airbnb-style tiny house merged with a biking network like Bird or Lime. It is an integrated system of modern cabins that are all independently powered by solar panels. These tiny homes are also fitted with smart tech and are connected to the e-bike system which encourages carbon-neutral exploration of the landscape. Biking not only helps to maintain the pristine air quality of the rural area but also helps in getting an enjoyable workout in. All the E-glamp houses are modular, movable, and constructed with sustainable materials like timber. Along with solar panels, it will be interesting to see how the design is able to also repurpose and reuse rainwater for the guest’s needs.

7. Scandinavian Architecture

Scandinavian designs always manage to be minimal, quaint, and awe-spiring, whether it’s a product design, interiors, or especially their architectural designs. The Scandinavian architecture will always leave you with a warm feeling in your heart, and intense admiration for the attention to detail, and the delicate touches each structure consists of. Scandinavian-inspired cabins are my all-time favorite, every time I come across one, I feel like tossing everything aside and embarking on a cabin vacation! But Scandinavian architecture extends beyond these cabins and encapsulates much more. However, the quintessential usage of dark wood, the minimal vibe, and an eco-friendly and sustainable attitude while building something, remain common in most of their designs.

Poland-based Redukt, a tiny mobile home company, found sophistication and an open-plan layout through simplistic and versatile design for their off-grid-prepared tiny home on wheels. Prepared for all elements, Redukt’s tiny home on wheels is thermalized with oiled pine boards that give the home a tidy, yet natural personality. Dissolving the barrier between the outdoors and interior space, the tiny home comes with twin glass doors that are just short of reaching floor-to-ceiling heights.

8. Floating Architecture

Global warming is no joke, and with climate change becoming a reality, and sea levels steadily rising, there may come a time when floating structures may be the only kind of architecture that can exist. We will have to make the shift from land to water, but hopefully not anytime soon. And architects are taking this task extremely seriously! They’re getting even more creative and inventive with floating architecture! Hotels, cinemas, man-made islands, and even greenhouses can be seen idly floating on water bodies all over the world. And I do believe there is something truly extraordinary about a structure seamlessly floating on the water without any real support. It’s a mystery to me, and I’m always trying to dive into the science of it.

The idea of the Ocean Community vessel is to extend a city’s coastline. By existing not more than 800 meters from the coast of a city, the dwellers of the Ocean Community can easily make their way to the city to access facilities and enjoy a normal city life before heading back to their sea-based home. “The creation of these new structures will serve as fully functional living spaces connected with existing land infrastructure so that new ocean communities become a natural extension of coastal cities,” says Morsztyn, designer of the Ocean Community concept. The vessels will also rely on the abundance of sun, water, and wind to harness the energy, helping them live off the coast but also off the electric grid.

9. Minimal Architecture

There’s something about Minimalism that simply never goes out of style! And, minimal architecture just has a soft spot in my heart! Minimal architectural designs will always leave you with a warm feeling in your heart, an intense admiration for the attention to detail, and the delicate touches each structure consists of. They’re simple but smartly designed spaces that radiate an aura of warmth and calmness.

Hara House is built out of 5-inch square timbers set 6 feet apart. A tent-like white steel rooftop the home mixes private spaces with a semipublic, open-air living and dining area – a stiff, yet giving structure that assimilates all human behaviors. “The estate already contained an assemblage of buildings and farmland that depended on one another. Our design direction was to create a home that revitalized these on-site structures and had the potential to adapt to new functions as the need or mood changed,” explains architect Takayuki Shimada.

10. Cabins

Cabins have been a relaxing and quintessential getaway option for everyone for ages galore. They’re the ultimate safe haven in the midst of nature, if you simply want to get away from your hectic city lives, and unwind. If you want a simple and minimal vacation, that lets you truly connect with nature, without any of the materialistic luxuries most of us have gotten accustomed to, then a cabin retreat is the answer for you!

Calling the bookworm’s oasis Hemmelig Room, or ‘secret room’ in Norwegian, Studio Padron built the entire tiny cabin from disused mature oak trees that were felled during the main home’s construction. From the outside, Hemmelig Room finds a geometric structure clad in blackened timber. Following the main home’s construction process, the felled oak trees were cut into large, rectangular log sections that were left to dry over several years before building Hemmelig Room. Inside, the blackened timber reveals the oak tree’s raw, polished form. From top to bottom, Studio Padron outfitted Hemmelig Room’s interior in nonuniform timber panels that merge with cavities to create bookshelves.

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Top 10 Apple-inspired design trends of 2022

Posted on 04/02/2022 by Srishti Mitra

Since its foundation in 1976, Apple has been always been at the peak of modern innovation! And let’s take a moment to appreciate all the awesome products and inspiration Apple has provided us with. The groundbreaking tech giant never fails to surprise us, we always find ourselves biting our nails and squirming with curiosity, whenever Apple announces a new product launch! Their ingenious and mesmerizing designs and design philosophy have inspired and influenced designers all over the world, resulting in some pretty unique Apple-inspired designs! From an Apple iCam Action Pro camera that is perfect for content creators to a power-packed workstation that is an iMac knockoff for Windows users – these mind-blowing designs are the best of the lot and a dream for every Apple lover. Although we’re pretty satisfied with Apple’s latest launches, we can’t help but just hope that Apple converts these into a reality soon as well!

1. Drop

Taiseer created Drop to make file transferring and storage between Apple devices even easier. Drop operates as a wireless USB Type C and offline external flash drive and an AirDrop file transfer and Thunderbolt 3 data transfer device. Drop is a standalone Apple-inspired device that operates as a flash drive, storage device, and file transfer cable. Users can AirDrop files from their iPhones or MacBooks to Drop where the files can be stored or transferred to another, Apple or non-Apple, device. When users have a file they’d like to transfer to and store with Drop, they can AirDrop the file the same way they’d AirDrop media from one iPhone to another. With the file stored on Drop, the user can either keep it for safe storage or plug it into their MacBook’s USB Type C port to open the file on their laptops. Alternatively, users can store files offline using DropDrive, a feature that creates a folder on the user’s iPhone to store media files, where the files remain until Drop is brought back online.

2. The iCam Pro

The iCam Pro conceptualized by Diego Valdés (aka. Diego Valoro Design) is a miniaturized version of the iPhone 13 – of course with a slightly different utility of documenting extreme experiences. The triple-camera module setup is a detour from the convention of a single potent camera on such sports cameras. This could be a USP for a brand like Apple who’ll foray into a very competitive space dominated mostly by GoPro. The slimmer, more rectangular shape of the action camera will give prospect users the freedom to carry it in the pocket of their jeans without getting uncomfortable. The choice of colors and materials will also play a part in the success of iCam Pro, if we happen to ever see one in real life.

3. Mini AirPods Pro concept

Inspired by the iconic design language of Apple, 3D artist, and graphic designer Zarruck Taiseer conceptualized a pair of AirPods Pro that scale down the current model to the size of a bean. From its charging case to its silicone earbud covers, everything about Taiseer’s mini AirPods Pro concept is sleek in stainless steel and Polly Pocket-sized. One problem this concept does fix about the current model of AirPods on the market is the bulkiness of its charging case. While the AirPods’ current charging case takes up no more room in your pocket than a small rock might, the girth and length of the charging case make up more bulk in our pockets than we might like. Taiseer’s mini AirPods Pro concept slims down the charging case to match the side of a half-finished stack of mini Post-Its.

4. Deskpod

Deskpod was born out of a one-hour study of Apple design language, taking to the iconic brand’s most modern designs to create a sleek, yet bold speakers concept. Stretching the speaker’s fabric around its curved frame, Waxman warped the fabric into a parabolic shape to maximize audio output. The unique design would pair nicely with most Apple products and bring a bold pop of color to every home office. Speaking on the design, Waxman describes, “The bold colors and simple geometry make the speakers pop off the background. The simplicity and high contrast of the speakers make them a bold addition to any space.”

5. The G4 Charger

The G4 charger is a wonderful throwback accessory that reminds me of that Elago charger that turned the Apple Watch into the Macintosh. Its design, however, doesn’t seem to have aged the way the Macintosh has. Even by today’s standards, the iMac G4 is an incredibly eye-catching device that you’re sure to be amazed by. The charger condenses that beauty down into a small device that is equally good at drawing your attention to the iPhone that sits on it. The iPhone, however, can be mounted in landscape as well as portrait modes, while the dual joint system on the back of the charger lets you angle and position your phone however you please. A USB-C port on the back of the G4 lets you connect the charger to a power source, and a nifty light within its domed front lights up when your phone begins charging!

6. The Campo

The Campo, inspired by the curves of an Apple Watch and the concept of a portable EV battery, is made in nature-friendly colors. Its helmet-like design, where the visor (the lid in this case) can be rolled up with a handle. Inside you have a magnetically fastened plate, over which you can keep the item you want to cook or heat and set the timer (which is displayed on the handle you can roll back down to start the microwave). The ease of portability is ensured by a locking mechanism on the side of the unit, which locks in place when the handle is rolled up or pushed down flat. Given its appealing shape and design, the Campo could easily fit in the center console of your vehicle, so you can even enjoy a piping hot cup of joe while driving. In addition to its application in the outdoors, a microwave of this sort can come in handy during unexpected power outages or an uncalled backyard party, which turns a normal day into a surprising camping event.

7. The WS1 Workstation

Meet the WS1 Workstation concept designed by industrial design expert Chris Granneberg. This desktop inspired by the Sonos’ unique form is a power-packed computer to run software applications like SolidWorks, KeyShot, or the odd gaming session on the weekends. Just like an all-in-one iMac workstation, this Windows 11 PC has a very clean geometry and cool military green color, The 27-inch monitor is positioned adjacent to the rig holding the powerful hardware inside and the ports are placed to the side. The idea of a peppy desktop is something akin to the Xbox S-inspired all-in-one mini Windows PC. The all-in-one PC has a height-adjustable screen to get just the right ergonomic as well as eye comfort for stress-free working for long hours too. The designer promises to add more ports and connectivity options to the PC in future iterations.

8. The Apple iLine

Called the Apple iLine, it comes in two versions – the Apple iLine and the Apple iLine mini which is smaller than your MacBook. The iLine normal version has a detachable pole that attaches to the footboard when you need to head to the grocery store in a jiffy. The iLine mini only has a footboard and three wheels. The future-proof commuter keeps up with Apple’s design philosophy, as the designer incorporates the Apple button shape on top of the pole to switch On/Off the personal commuter. This button also doubles as the user identification tool, as the user touches the middle of the touch screen controller to authenticate. The liner shape on the front and back has the backlight for nighttime commuting.

9. The Igiene

With design cues that definitely remind me of the first-generation Mac Pro, the Igiene is a cuboidal gizmo with a hollow base that’s indicative of where to place your hand. A screen on the front displays a welcome message, and once your hand gets placed in the appropriate spot, Igiene reads your body temperature and shines either a red light and a buzzer if it detects a candidate who could potentially have a fever, or shines a green light and dispenses on your some sanitizer, effectively giving you the go-ahead to enter any premises. The small, sleek device can be mounted on a wall or placed on a tabletop and uses a slew of sensors to detect your palm, capture your body temperature, and spray sanitizer on your hand.

10. The iPod Nano

Apple iPod Nano Circular Concept by Andrea Copellino

The new iPod Nano paves its own path forward with a fresh new design that’s instantly distinguishable from the iPhone. It sports a circular UI that Copellino designed from scratch too, borrowing elements from the Apple Watch. It also comes with a circular display that looks just marginally smaller than the one used on the HomePod Mini. What I really enjoy about the new iPod Nano is that it looks different but feels the same. Classic iPods came with round jog-wheels that established a circular interaction, and the new iPod Nano’s circular display just carries that forward. Its puck-like design is comfortable to hold and comes with a clip on the back that makes it easy to secure your music player around your pocket.

The post Top 10 Apple-inspired design trends of 2022 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Top 10 DIY product design trends of 2022

Posted on 03/02/2022 by Srishti Mitra

DIY designs have been taking the design world by storm! Especially with COVID-19 restricting us to our homes, building things purely with our hands, putting our sweat and grit into it, and watching a design roar to life in front of our eyes, has become the new pass time for many of us. But these DIY designs are more than just your run-of-the-mill products made using discarded water bottles, and paper! These are innovative, complex, and highly functional product designs that cater to a variety of our needs, but are also really simple to put together. It’s the best of both worlds. From a sustainable helmet made from mushroom to a DIY wooden bicycle – each of these nifty designs will get your creative juices flowing, your hands moving, as well as definitely add some value to your life. Which of these unique DIY designs would you try building at home?!

1. NASA-inspired airless bike tires

Popular DIY and science YouTube channel, The Q took his viewers through the process of replacing his bicycle’s traditional rubber tires with a set of airless ones put together with an old PVC pipe and some nuts and bolts. Before constructing his airless tires, The Q was sure to pick a PVC pipe that had enough density to support a rider and ride well on different terrain. Settling on a ½” thick PVC pipe, The Q then sliced the PVC pipe into two-inch wide rings. From there, the DIY YouTuber connected all of the rings into a single link after drilling three holes into each and joining them together with nuts and bolts.

2. The Grow It Yourself Helmet

3. James Webb Space Telescope DIY Model

Etsy maker Houha Designs created an incredibly detailed scaled-down model of the James Webb Space telescope that you can buy and build from scratch! The entire model comes flat-packed and is laser-cut from sheets of Mat board (or metal-lined paper board) that need to be glued together. The skill level for assembling the telescope is rated between intermediate to advanced, and suitable for ages 14 and up. When completed, the telescope and its oblong hexagonal base will measure 8x5x5 inches overall.

4. Planterior

Countless indoor garden designs have also emerged to help enliven our WFH spaces and make them more intimate. One of the latest, a LEGO-inspired indoor garden called Planterior by designer Dasol Jeong merges LEGO’s building blocks with the frame of a bulletin board to create a unique, modular garden system for any WFH space. Planterior keeps the shape and size of a traditional bulletin board and integrates a gardening system into its structure to bring greenery to any workspace. Describing Planterior’s inspiration in their own words, Dasol notes, “Due to the influence of fine dust and COVID-19, people, who do not have the opportunity to access plants outdoors, are increasingly putting plants into their homes…Home gardening and plant territories are gaining vitality [as a result].”

5. The Stair Cubby

The Stair Cubby, as it was christened, can be assembled without the use of tools, with tabs simply going into slots and held down with pegs. The cubby is designed to sit on two steps of stairs, but the panel on the back can slide up and down to adjust to different stair heights. The storage has five open-access cubbies for shoes, books, and any other item that can fit inside, keeping things organized and out of harm’s way. The choice of wood ensures that it will have enough rigidity to support heavier objects while still looking stylish on top of any staircase design. According to the designers, a single 1/3 sheet of 4×8 plywood is enough to make three units, so there isn’t a lot of wasted material.

6. Openbike

This bicycle made of plywood was created with an intent to get more people to focus on sustainability. The open-source design is called ‘Openbike’ and despite the obvious problems that come with a bike made from plywood, it is still an affordable and lightweight alternative to those who want to live on a budget but are also eco-conscious. The multidisciplinary Spanish design studio wants to reduce carbon emissions in cities by empowering people with technology which is why they made Openbike so that the files can be downloaded and fabricated by anyone in the world.

7. Kikkerland Design’s Make Your Own Music Box Kit

Kikkerland Design’s Make Your Own Music Box Kit comes with everything you might need to compose your own tune and listen back to it. Complete with strips of lined music paper, each user has the opportunity to make their own music by hole punching the music paper with melodies and harmonies for the music box to capture and reproduce. Describing the process, Kikkerland design notes, “The easy to use Music Box hole puncher allows you to create your own melodies on lined paper strips and play them on the mechanism provided.”

8. Woodsum

Woodsum DIY Retro Wooden Camera

Meet Woodsum, a camera that champions this very simplicity. Designed to work without batteries, the Woodsum camera captures images on a 35mm reel of film. It uses a pinhole lens instead of those fragile glass lenses… and it’s a device so simple, you could literally build it yourself. In fact, Woodsum comes absolutely unassembled and your first photography project is, in fact, to build the camera! Entirely made from laser-cut pieces of wood that you assemble together, the camera comes complete with a pinhole lens, shutter, viewfinder, film-holder and winder, camera grip, a tripod mount, and even an eyelet to tie your camera-hanging leash around! It uses no lenses (thanks to the pinhole construction) and works completely without batteries or electrical components.

9. The MagnetCube

Using a transparent framework of pillars and beams held in place by magnets, MagnetCube gives you the joy of building first, and then of playing. The cube format lends itself to two different games – a multiplayer game called CubeClimbers, or a rollercoaster-building game called Liftpack. CubeClimbers is all about ascent and starts by building a tall multi-level structure by snapping the cubes together to make a pixelated mountain with steep ascents and drops. The mountain is then explored by small plastic climbers, who either climb up or fall down based on what the roll of the die says.

10. That Stool

Developed by Alondra Elizalde, That Stool is a flatpack DIY small stool designed with easy assembly to provide a practical means of having a stool anywhere, at any time. That Stool is comprised of only a few parts: a seat rest, five legs, a couple of star-shaped spindles, and some connecting nuts and bolts. All contained within a flatpack corrugated cardboard box, the parts of That Stool are easy to assemble with no additional hardware required. Following the imprinted instructions on the underside of That Stool’s top cover, users will first attach each leg to the corresponding screws on the star-shaped spindles. From there, connecting fasteners secure the legs and spindles in place, providing a sturdy bolster for the seat rest to mount.

The post Top 10 DIY product design trends of 2022 first appeared on Yanko Design.

Top 10 furniture trends of 2022

Posted on 02/02/2022 by Srishti Mitra

What truly makes or breaks a home at the end of the day is the furniture that’s placed in it. The right kind of furniture design can create the essence and soul of a home. And I do feel it’s essential that the soul of our home is a reflection of our own soul. Hence picking furniture pieces that bring out the best in our homes, while authentically representing our personality is a must. There are certain types of furniture that have gained enough popularity to be deemed as trends! These furniture trends are fun, sophisticated, and functional. They add an extra spark to your home, without compromising on utility in the least. From furniture designs that transform and save space to sustainable furniture created from cardboard – these intriguing furniture trends are definitely here to stay.

1. Transforming Furniture

Finding a spacious apartment in our urban cities is a rarity! And if you’ve managed to scrounge one up, then you’re an exception and a very lucky one that is! Because let’s be honest, our modern apartments can be pretty cramped. Space constraint is a major issue, and we often find ourselves squeezing through our own belongings. It’s the ultimate test of our maneuvering skills. However, transforming furniture designs are an ingenious solution to this issue of space restraints.

Sustainable furniture design studio Ori adds a WFH apparatus called the Cloud Bed to the mix, merging an office and desk setup with a cantilevered lofted bed that descends to the floor to really hone in the mutability of working from home. In its initial form, the Cloud Bed features a working desk and table beneath a lofted bed. Built for hospitality interiors and personal spaces, this space-saving work from home solution was designed to cover a small footprint inside the home. UL certified to ensure the bed remains lofted and close to the ceiling during working hours, the desk area folds into itself, merging with the floor as the bed descends from its raised position. While it might be tempting to hop up to the top of the bunk bed and sleep from such a high height, the Cloud Bed, Table Edition comes equipped with an internal mechanism that lowers the bed to the floor once the workday is done. With the push of a button, the mattress and wooden bed frame lower down from its elevated post in time with the desk folding inwards toward the floor.

2. Multifunctional Furniture

There’s just something about a multifunctional piece of furniture that ticks all the checkboxes for me! Imagine a product that’s been designed to work as a clothing rack and a treadmill?! Or a side table that transforms into a chair! Space-saving goals much? That’s the magic of a multifunctional furniture design. It looks like a single product, but functions as more than one! They’re a smart option for our modern urban homes, which tend to be pretty cramped, hence adding multiple bulky and cumbersome furniture designs to them isn’t really an option. But multifunctional pieces that serve a variety of purposes, and solve a bunch of unique problems can be a lifesaver in such situations.

Inspired by the blurring of work and play in WFH spaces, Juwon Kim, Jiwon Song, and Eunsang Lee framed Layout with a translucent, corrugated exterior finish that immediately catches the eye. Wrapped in sea green, the Layout desk is modular by design to incorporate a plethora of different work and entertainment features. The Layout desk is topped off with an upper cover that’s designed to conceal the workspace after the workday’s done.

3. Sustainable Furniture

In 2022, we cannot ignore the needs of our planet anymore, we need to take the environment into consideration, and what better way to start doing that than from our own homes? Sustainable furniture is taking the design industry by storm, they’re a step towards making our homes and our daily lives more eco-friendly and sustainable. They’re an attempt to cast aside toxic materials, and instead, add furniture designs to our home that won’t rot away on Earth for years once we’re done with them.

4. Smart Furniture

As pleasing as aesthetic and visually intriguing furniture designs can be, people are now shifting towards furniture designs that are more focused on function and utility (that simply put make our lives a whole lot easier) and one such interesting genre is Smart Furniture! Tech-enhanced furniture is a whole new ballgame, catering to our multiple needs, and making our daily lives more comfortable.

The Hariana Tech Smart Ultimate Bed is one such example. It was designed to have everything you will need to relax within your bed frame. It has an integrated reclining massage chair with a remote, a built-in Bluetooth speaker, a bookshelf, a reading lamp, an air cleaning system, an area to plug in and charges your devices, a foot-stool that opens up for extra storage, and a pop-up desk for the ultimate WFH setup, Netflix marathon or cozy reading hours. The sound system also features an SD card slot, an auxiliary port, and a USB port.

5. Pet-friendly Furniture

Ensuring your pet feels safe, secure, and comfortable at home is every pet owner’s priority. We want to make sure they always feel loved and truly at home! It’s important to create an environment where they feel completely safe to let their guard down, while also managing to stay active and playful. And, pet-friendly furniture designs are one way to help your pet feel completely at home! It allows them to truly integrate and feel at one with your living space.

The Playground is a doghouse that also alternates as a modular sofa! The various modules of the sofa can be arranged creating not only different sofa designs but also fun spaces wherein your doggo can hop, bounce, and play about! The wooden doghouse on one side of the furniture piece seems super comfy and adorable! A little hole on its roof, allows your dog to pop his head out of the doghouse, and connect/interact with you while you lounge about on the sofa. It’s the perfect way to spend quality time! Xiao designed Playground, especially for millennial pet owners. The designer kept in mind that the homes of millennials often have space constraints, and nor do they have much free time on their hand. Hence, Playground is extremely easy to put together, and will not occupy much space in our modern-day cramped apartments. Since Playground was created for young target customers, Xiao tried to give it a trendy and cool appearance! Bright colors, minimal woodwork, and a little plant give the furniture design a modern appeal.

6. Floating Beds

The most important and sacred space in our home is our bedroom! It’s our happy place, a space where we can simply sprawl on our bed and de-stress after a long day of adulting. I believe doing up your bedroom in the right manner is extremely essential to a peaceful mindset, and of course, the core focus on any bedroom is its bed. Floating beds have somehow crept into a lot of bedrooms these days. These beds quite literally float above the floor of the room, creating an open and airy effect, and making the bedroom seem much more spacious than it actually is.

Designed by Anna Kireeva, this bedroom in a house called ‘In The Woods’, is truly placed right in the middle of a forest! A floating bed is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, that provide access to the woods around it, creating a space that feels large and open.

7. Flat-packed Furniture

Flat-packed designs are really quite intriguing! They’re portable, easy to put together and occupy minimum space. And, this innovative technology is now being introduced to almost all kinds of product designs…including furniture! From foldable chairs to pet houses, there’s nothing that cannot be flat-packed. These designs, not only rate high on space efficiency, but also eliminate the usage of heavier space-consuming designs. They are definitely functionally and ergonomically beneficial, but they also possess minimal and clean aesthetics, that allow them to harmoniously blend with any living space. Flat-packed furniture is also a major boon when you’re moving houses. You can easily ship all your furniture from one home to another, without having to do any heavy lifting and carrying. Flat-packed furniture designs are truly the future!

In the unfolded position, FLUP works like a conventional mat or rug on which we can sit or step without interrupting the movement of people through the space. It transforms from plane to volume, from floor to space while changing the function with its shape. In the folded position, it works as a piece of minimal furniture – it can be used as a pouf, an auxiliary seat, a footrest, a nightstand, etc. It is a perfect example of space-saving furniture. What makes it better is that there is no assembly required, it is a singular element that transforms with folds into another object like origami.

8. Minimal Furniture

I absolutely love minimal furniture designs! A subtle and simple piece of furniture can truly complete a room. It can be the final piece that makes a space come full circle, building a comfortable and cohesive haven, rather than a random area. Furniture pieces make or break a home, they add to the essence or soul of a home, hence one needs to be extremely picky while choosing a furniture design. The design should be a reflection of you, and what you want your home to be. When you place a piece of furniture in a room, it should instantly integrate with the space, creating a wholesome and organic environment. And I believe minimal furniture designs do exactly that!

The Piano desk gives that traditional piano design a nod by incorporating it into your familiar wooden desk with some additional inspiration from the Standard chair by Jean Prouvé that elevates the minimal piece. The Piano desk created so the designer could experiment with a hybrid material selection and play with interesting visual contrasts. On the one hand, we have metal which is a cold material that is beautifully balanced by the warmer wood. On the other hand, the same metal which allows for a slimmer silhouette is given the sturdiness with the addition of wood. The key factor in the briefing was to design a product with a democratic approach. That is how the minimal desk without any complex production processes was born while still featuring a small design element that other minimal desks didn’t have – the dipped shelf!

9. Furniture with Hidden Details

Designed with extreme attention to detail, overflowing with love and care, and not only aesthetically but functionally pleasing, furniture designs with hidden details are an invaluable addition to your living space, making you feel truly at home. These furniture designs not only feel like pieces of art but also touch your heart. Once you settle on to them, or place your favorite book upon them, or simply brush past them, you instantly feel “Ah, I’m home!”

Designed by Casey Johnson Studio, the Billow Desk is a majestic wooden desk. Its most intriguing detail would be the shelving space, below the tabletop, which is billowed out from the front. It’s a storage unit that instantly calls for attention, and is at a distinction from the usual storage designs.

10. Cardboard Furniture

We always associate furniture with being built from traditional materials such as metal, wood, or plastic. And, although these materials create fantastic products, I do wonder if they are the most sustainable and efficient option out there. A material that furniture designers have been recently venturing into is…cardboard. Cardboard is great for building sustainable furniture, as these designs tend to leave a minimal carbon footprint, and are recyclable and biodegradable as well! Not to mention product designs crafted from cardboard tend to be light, portable, and also easy to assemble.

The post Top 10 furniture trends of 2022 first appeared on Yanko Design.