Author Archives: Shawn McNulty-Kowal

This wooden desk organizer has a modular design to fit all of your stationery items

Posted on by

Nick is a wooden desk organizer defined by a modular design that allows users to configure its structure to meet their needs.

When our stationery isn’t organized, our desks feel less like workspaces and more like minefields. One wrong move and those stacks of paper are going down along with the cups you filled with paperclips and thumbtacks. Before you know it, there’s hardly room to get any work done. Desk organizers help take care of the clutter and even add a bit of personality to your workspace. Furniture designer Deniz Aktay designed his own modular desk organizer called Nick that’s carved from wood for a simple and functional workspace accessory.

Designer: Deniz Aktay

Nick finds its organizational scheme through a system of carved-out slots that provide holding spaces for our stationery items. Carving out the product’s grooves, Aktay created a built-in rail system that additional wooden modules can slide onto to form a multi-level organizer. Defined by its modular design, the components that come with Nick have different sizes for users to configure the overall structure to fit their organizational needs. Nick’s lengthier wooden modules provide a stable foundation for the shorter modules to latch onto, creating individual slots that are just the right size for different stationery items like writing utensils and short erasers.

Modular designs offer a lot of flexibility when it comes to adapting to our different needs. Similar to how a closet organizer offers storage compartments sized to fit specific clothing items, like shoes and pants, Nick allows users to configure their own desk organizer to accommodate their unique collection of stationery. Lengthy wooden modules provide the ideal slot for pencils and pens while the shorter modules stacked on top can hold your erasers and paperclips.

The post This wooden desk organizer has a modular design to fit all of your stationery items first appeared on Yanko Design.

This multipurpose tiny office was digitally fabricated for self assembly from a flat pack design

Posted on by

‘A Room In The Garden’ is a digitally fabricated tiny home office that can be self-assembled from a flatpack design.

Oh, to spend the day in the garden. While we’ve all gotten used to working from home and our little routines to get us through the workday, many of us are growing restless from being in the same spot and building at all hours of the day. While home reno projects do a lot to make our home offices feel fresh and comfortable, it’s normal to want to ditch our routines and get outside for the day. Studio Ben Allen designed ‘A Room In The Garden’ for those sorts of moments.

Designer: Studio Ben Allen

‘A Room In The Garden’ is “part garden folly, part ‘other space,’” as the architects for Studio Ben Allen describe it. Inspired by the playfulness of 18th-century folly architecture, known in Scotland as the Dunmore Pineapple, ‘A Room In The Garden’ keeps a whimsical outer display and a more subdued interior space.

Outside, the patterned green cladding is meant to camouflage the structure in plain sight, merging together an air of whimsical surrealism with practicality. Inside, exposed timber framing gives the structure a mood of seriousness, ideal for working.

As a result of working from home, a lot of us are searching for quiet, cozy corners of the world to call ours for the workday. Designed for the modern family, ‘A Room In The Garden’ provides a working sanctuary for parents in urban areas to get away from the hustle and bustle of city streets and their children. The floor-to-ceiling window even offers a clever vista point for parents to supervise their children’s playtime while still having their own quiet space.

Considering the project’s design and construction process, Studio Ben Allen’s architects put themselves back in the driver’s seat thanks to modern technologies like digital fabrication and CNC milling. Using digital fabrication in the form of 2D flatbed CNC cutting technology, the architects ensured that the building process was affordable and readily accessible to most city residents.

Optimizing the assembly process, digital fabrication allowed for all elements of the structure to be “cut and notched to interlock,” Studio Ben Allen suggests, “This has the advantage that it maximizes the structural performance of the timber and avoids the need for measuring on-site.”

As the architects go on to describe, each element is numbered and slots into the next, keeping the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced during the process to a minimum. With the combination of clean assembly, technically advanced digital fabrication and minimal, recyclable building materials, Studio Ben Allen constructed a tiny remote sanctuary that embraces sensible craft and tasteful aesthetics.

The post This multipurpose tiny office was digitally fabricated for self assembly from a flat pack design first appeared on Yanko Design.

This IKEA-inspired modular kitchen system is designed for digital nomads

Posted on by

Rëkoøk is a modular kitchen system designed for the digital nomads of today to bring their kitchen with them anywhere work takes them.

IKEA is one of the most iconic furniture brands of all time–it’s no wonder designers find endless inspiration from the multinational, Swedish-founded conglomerate. While IKEA has always been a primary source of furniture for economical buyers hoping to bring a touch of Scandinavian design into their homes, the digital nomad era of today makes the flatpack designs and easy-to-assemble pieces from IKEA that much more relevant. Merging the design language of IKEA with a modular and interchangeable build, Rëkoøk is a portable kitchen concept designed for the digital nomads of today to feel at home wherever work takes them.

Designer: Edoardo Gouffran

Constructing Rëkoøk, product designer Edoardo Gouffran hoped to build a flatpack kitchen system that allowed digital nomads to bring their kitchen with them as they move from one space to another. Depending on the space they move into, digital nomads can configure Rëkoøk to fit their culinary and spatial needs.

The idea behind Rëkoøk was to “create a kitchen that respected the rule of the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle and [one] that was easy and quick to assemble.” Users will need only to attach the kitchen sink to a water supply system for operation.

As a result, Rëkoøk is comprised of modules that users can easily fasten together with included hardware and tools for ultimate customization. Smaller spaces might require a more vertical kitchen, so users can adjust Rëkoøk’s build to fit that space.

Then, larger spaces might allow for more counter space, allowing users to elongate the kitchen system and spread out a bit. Just like IKEA’s furniture pieces, users can assemble Rëkoøk through an easy-to-follow set of instructions that come with each package. An accompanying app also supplies buyers with food recipes and assembly instructions.

The post This IKEA-inspired modular kitchen system is designed for digital nomads first appeared on Yanko Design.

Technics launches a 50th-anniversary edition of their legendary SL-1200 turntable

Posted on by

Technics launches a 50th-anniversary edition of their iconic SL-1200 turntable, available in seven colors.

Known around the world as the best turntable you can get for under a grand, the Technics SL-1200 is a series of direct-drive turntables. While many professional DJs consider the Technics SL-1200 to be their go-to turntable, the technical build of this line of turntables appeals to audiophiles too, who only use the turntable for at-home listening. The series of turntables offer exceptional sound quality as a result of precise motors and absorbent isolation, today Technics releases its 50th-anniversary model.

Designer: Technics

Operating the whole show, the SL-1200 turntable’s main feature is its direct-drive motor, which offers dynamic accuracy when playing records. Since its introduction in the 1970s, the sound quality and accuracy have “further evolved with the SL-1200/1210MK7, and achieved even higher sound quality as the Coreless Direct Drive Motor.” The tonearm is also specific to Technics equipment, the SL-1200 features an S-shaped tonearm, which is unique to Technics audio gear. Moving in its own distinct arc, the S-shaped tonearm reproduces music with high fidelity tracking performance without stylus skipping.

In addition to the SL-1200 turntable’s unique tonearm and direct-drive motor, each insulator foot on the 50th-anniversary edition consists of an internal spring and rubber cushion material to shut out any reverberating vibrations. Integrated pitch controls also help set the Technics SL-1200 apart from other turntables. As the designers note, “Pitch control on the SL-1200 was originally utilized for the precise adjustment of rotation speed. Club DJs began using this function to match the pitch between two tracks to achieve a smooth transition. This technique led to the explosive popularity of the SL-1200 worldwide.”

While the designers at Technics haven’t changed the new model too much when compared to the first model, there was never a need–the SL-1200 has always been about the “pursuit for pure audio performance.” Technics goes on to explain, “The vibration-absorbing cabinet and insulators suppress undesirable noise, while the gimbal suspension tonearm provides high tracking performance for high-fidelity sound reproduction.”

The post Technics launches a 50th-anniversary edition of their legendary SL-1200 turntable first appeared on Yanko Design.

3D-printed artificial reefs made from cremains are designed to regenerate marine biodiversity

Posted on by

Resting Reefs is a system of artificial reefs that are 3D-printed from the cremated ashes of passed-over loved ones.

Spreading the ashes of relatives who’ve passed over across the ocean is a beautiful way to memorialize loved ones. While the symbolism behind it is the point of tossing your loved ones’ ashes into the wind, Royal College of Art graduates Louise Lenborg Skajem and Aura Elena Murillo Pérez developed a means to still memorialize our passed-over loved ones while regenerating endangered ecosystems in the process. Resting Reef, a line of artificial reefs made from cremated ashes using 3D technologies, marks the culmination of Lenborg Skajem’s and Murillo Pérez’s studies at RCA.

Designers: Louise Lenborg Skajem and Aura Elena Murillo Pérez

Working with the remains of deceased animals instead of human ashes, the design duo combined animal bones with pulverized oyster shells and a binder to create a composite to be 3D-printed into stippled mounds that resemble underwater reefs. While the designers are still testing their formulas, “it will contain a binder like a low-carbon cement suitable for marine environments.”

The 3D-printed mounds offer ideal growing conditions for oysters by mimicking the form and natural growing scheme of ​​stromatolite reefs, which are formed from microorganisms like blue-green algae. Forming the cremated ashes into solid reef mounds also allows surviving family members to visit their loved ones’ eternal resting places.

Built to prevent natural and human-induced erosion, protect shorelines from the natural elements, and regenerate native biodiversity, Resting Reef transforms traditional funeral services into preservational burial methods that protect marine life. Putting the customizable process in their own words, the design duo explains, “The way they grow is in layers, which is very similar to how oyster shells grow. We are using 3D printers to bio-mimic similar layers and ridges that are ideal for small marine organisms to attach to.”

The post 3D-printed artificial reefs made from cremains are designed to regenerate marine biodiversity first appeared on Yanko Design.

Yves Behar & Dr. Deepak Chopra collaborated on the IRIS meditative pod design to create quiet moments in busy places

Posted on by

The Iris pod is a meditation space designed by the likes of Deepak Chopra and Yves Behar for people to have a place for a quiet respite in crowded areas.

Working from home has introduced many changes to office culture. The need for productive collaboration and communication has been emphasized, leading many to address the shortcomings of their company’s specific culture in ways that bring about effective change for mutual benefit.

Designers: Deepak Chopra, Yves Behar, fuseproject for OpenSeed

Weaving more purposeful rest breaks into the workday has been one such change in today’s workforce, inspiring many employees to seek out meditative and quiet moments throughout their workdays. Spurred by the cultural shift, OpenSeed joined forces with alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra, design studio fuseproject, and designer Yves Behar to launch Iris, a series of meditation pods meant to provide moments of calm in high-traffic areas, like the office.

Providing an escape from the hustle and bustle of collaborative workspaces, the Iris meditation pod completely shuts the outside world away so you can find some peaceful respite in its nest-like interior. Even a recent study showed that meditating in an Iris pod during the workday leads to more productive workflow, increasing effectiveness and amplifying meditative benefits. Inside, Iris achieves optimal meditative conditions through essential oils, integrated sound and light technology, as well as guided meditations. Partnering with Deepak Chopra in advisory and content, every aspect of the Iris pod is designed by those who understand meditation in its rich history and ever-changing complexities.

Constructed from sustainable materials, the Iris pod’s exterior is comprised of felt panels to block out about 60-70% of outside sounds. Ideally, the Iris pod will be positioned in its own quiet space, taking up only 100 square feet at most, requiring only one 20 amp electrical outlet for operation. In addition, each pod comes with a WiFi-enabled tablet that uploads and updates new meditation content.

The post Yves Behar & Dr. Deepak Chopra collaborated on the IRIS meditative pod design to create quiet moments in busy places first appeared on Yanko Design.

This treehouse is built from felled trees to prove the importance of effective woodland management

Posted on by

The Sylvascope is a wooden treehouse built for The Harewood Biennial 2022 exhibit where designers and artists explore why craft is a radical act.

The Harewood Biennial 2022 is a contemporary art exhibit that takes place on the estate of the Harewood House located in Leeds, United Kingdom. The exhibit is meant to explore forms of radical acts within the scope of design and craft. Spread over 100 acres of land, artists and designers embrace radical acts through their own interpretations, from organic architecture to mycelium-based furniture. For Sebastian Cox, a London-based fine furniture maker, his idea of radical acts took shape in the form of a treehouse. Dubbed Sylvascope, the treehouse is a nest-like space constructed by cutting trees down, Cox’s chosen radical act.

Designer: Harewood x Sebastian Cox

Describing the inspiration behind this radical act, Cox describes, “We are planting trees at a rate not seen before in history. The area of woodland in Britain is now back at the level it was in the 14th Century. Despite this, biodiversity within woodlands is declining. How do we save our woodland wildlife? It seems not necessarily by planting more trees–we need to manage our woodland.” In an effort to explore how cutting down trees can help diversify the woodland creatures that populate the forest, the trees used to give rise to Sylvascope came from felled trees located on-site.

Built almost entirely from trees harvested onsite, the Sylvascope treehouse is located in the nucleus of the Harewood Estate to show what managed forests look like. Through this radical act, Cox hopes to help facilitate the growth of brambles and herb undergrowth to boost the area’s biodiversity. Along with cutting trees down, Cox is also planting new seeds and trees in different sections of the forest to provide diverse nesting grounds for different animal species.

“We often think a healthy woodland is one that looks pleasing – with tall trees and a welcoming, leaf-littered woodland floor, easy to navigate with no brambles or undergrowth. But this kind of woodland is not favorable to most of our woodland wildlife,” Cox explains, “When we fell some trees in a woodland, and let light into the woodland floor, other plants, and with the insects, mammals, and birds, can thrive. It seems cutting trees can be more useful than just planting them. Only 41% of Britain’s woodlands are managed, so management should be an equal priority to planting.

The post This treehouse is built from felled trees to prove the importance of effective woodland management first appeared on Yanko Design.

This at-home sanitation device disinfects your dishes using ultraviolet rays

Posted on by

The Desktop Disinfection Cupboard is a minimalist at-home sanitation micro solution for disinfecting kitchen dishware and utensils.

Sanitizing our household items has become a top priority since the pandemic sent us deeper into our home spaces. Sometimes it feels like our shelves can never be stocked enough with Lysol wipes and disinfectants. On top of that, the past few years have not been short on new sanitation devices to soothe any lingering anxieties.

Designer: Wenhua Xu (许文华 ) & Top Design (托迪 设计)

Ushering in a new wave of household cleaning routines, designers have created their at-home solutions to make them feel a bit more manageable. Designed to clean dishware, a new desktop disinfection cupboard from industrial designer Wenhua Xu scales down the at-home sanitation device to fit on a kitchen countertop or utility shelf.

Wenhua Xu’s desktop disinfection cupboard appears to be about the same size as a toaster oven, equipped with enough space to store some plates, a couple of bowls, and an accessory dish. The device maintains an inviting look with rounded corners and a convex glass covering. The slight incline of the control panel also enhances the device’s usability, allowing users to access the device’s control buttons without having to bend down or look for the panel.

The control panel reveals the device’s array of features, which include hot drying and ultraviolet disinfection functions. Outfitted with 6 UVC dual-modules, the desktop disinfection cupboard is small but mighty. “Not only is it equipped with a powerful hot air drying function and ultraviolet disinfection function,” Wenhua explains, but the desktop device is also “easy to operate” thanks to its inclined control panel and all-around disinfection capacities.

The device is also made from stainless steel to be able to refract ultraviolet rays to all corners of the internal space. Wenhua also goes on to describe the device’s minimalist appeal, “the appearance is simple and can be well integrated into various furniture environments.”

The device’s control panel is designed to be intuitive and easy to use. 

A concealed drawer is integrated into the device’s side for users to access at any time.

The convex glass covering retracts behind the dishrack to provide full access to the dishes and utensils.

The post This at-home sanitation device disinfects your dishes using ultraviolet rays first appeared on Yanko Design.

This pedestrian cross-walk system uses smart technology to ensure a safe flow of traffic

Posted on by

Smartpass is a universal smart pedestrian cross-walk system.

The language of cross-walk signals is universal. When traveling to a new city, it can feel like such a relief knowing that you won’t have to pull out your pocket translator just to cross the street. While deciphering cross-walk signals is relatively simple, there are different road rules and forms of street etiquette that are unique to each city.

Designer: 2s.design studio

In driving cities like Los Angeles, jaywalking is generally frowned upon, but in New York, it’s an essential skill if you plan on being on time. In Poland, 2s.design studio has been at work on developing a universal smart pedestrian cross-walk system called Smartpass.

Aiming to create a cross-walk system that provides safety and comfort for all traffic participants, 2s.design studio’s Smartpass incorporates assistive features for pedestrians and vehicles that obey the cross-walk signals. When pedestrians approach the cross-walk, a central unit with built-in GSM and detection modules sends alerts to the system’s supplemental modules for pedestrians to cross safely.

Once the internal sensors detect oncoming pedestrian traffic, sound alerts are broadcasted and LED lights to illuminate to guide pedestrians to the other side of the street. Antiskid modules also trace the traffic lanes for cars to come to gradual stops as they let pedestrians walk across the street. While pedestrians cross the street, radar and monitoring modules indicate when it’s safe for cars to keep driving.

Designing Smartpass, 2s.design studio conducted research with the Institute of Roads and Bridges of the Warsaw University of Technology, which revealed that cross-walks can be made 30% safer by integrating smart cross-walk systems like Smartpass. Seeing the success of Smartpass in the city of Warsaw, the team of designers introduced the smart system to other European countries including Germany and Slovakia, holding onto the goal of opening up to manufacturers and representatives abroad.

The post This pedestrian cross-walk system uses smart technology to ensure a safe flow of traffic first appeared on Yanko Design.

This WFH accessory is designed to monitor your posture for healthy spinal alignment

Posted on by

Uplift is a posture-monitoring desk accessory that broadcasts users’ real-time side profiles and posture-correcting suggestions.

Working from home has done a number on our spinal alignment. As we crunch in work to meet our deadlines, we gradually hunch over the laptop to meet its screen without ever realizing how it affects our spines and postures. While physical posture correctors do exist, wearing harnesses at work isn’t exactly ideal. Introducing a more applicable way to correct our postures without distracting us from work Uplift is a remote posture monitor designed to operate as a desk clock.

Designer: Aj Choudhury

In designing Uplift, Aj Choudhury felt inspired by the appeal of smoothies. Generally accepted as the blueprint for a healthy meal, smoothies offer a convenient and tasty way of getting in all of your daily nutrients without making you feel like you’re choking on pounds of broccoli. Designed to be the size of a pocket watch that can sit on your desk as a small clock, Uplift stays out of your personal space, yet still manages to offer the same perks as a posture corrector.

Being sedentary for long hours at a time, unfortunately, comes with the territory of the workday. It’s just the reality of it. As a result, workers suffer back pain and long-term spinal damage that arises from sitting too long in uncomfortable and unergonomic positions. Uplift comes in handy during those hours since it reminds users to stand up and walk around a bit when they’ve been sitting for too long.

Choudhury created Uplift as a posture-monitoring accessory hub, “that sits at the user’s desk, encouraging them to reduce slouching and sedentary time. Dressed in soft-touch resin and given a slim profile, Uplift has a tactile appeal and portable size.

It does this with a real-time view of the user’s posture along with useful prompts and advice.” From the device’s main display, users can witness a real-time side profile of their spinal alignment as well as broadcast suggestions to ‘lift your seat,’ or ‘raise your screen angle.’

The post This WFH accessory is designed to monitor your posture for healthy spinal alignment first appeared on Yanko Design.