Tag Archives: Concept Designs

Portable moka pot lets you enjoy coffee in the middle of nature

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While I will most likely not be going camping anytime soon, there are a lot of people who enjoy this kind of thing. There are also a lot of campers or outdoor enthusiasts who like to enjoy having a cup of coffee once they have pitched their tents or reached their mountainous destination. Sure they can just bring a flask or heat water for their instant coffee but wouldn’t you rather “brew” your own coffee when you’re marveling at nature?

Designer: Militello Design

This product concept is called Moka-mp and based on that name, you kind of already know what it is. It is a portable moka coffee pot that is light enough but still durable enough that you can bring it with you when you’re climbing a mountain or spending the night camping outdoors. It’s meant to help you enjoy your time with nature while still drinking a cup of brewed coffee.

The moka pot doesn’t look like your usual stovetop coffee brewer. If you didn’t know that it brews your coffee, you might think it’s just a regular portable cooking pot, albeit smaller. The bottom part holds the water while just above it is a safety valve and the space where you put your coffee powder and where the coffee magic happens.

This can become an essential part of your camping and outdoor gear if it becomes an actual product eventually. Those who love both coffee and the outdoors will have a good time as they sip their (hopefully) delicious cup while enjoying the wonders of nature. However, I’d stick to my cup of coffee in an air-conditioned coffee shop, thank you very much.

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Spherical bottle opener concept adds a playful touch to your dining table

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Many of our everyday tools at home have designs that go back decades or even centuries. Although they might not be inherently broken, there’s no reason why they can’t be changed or improved as long as functionality isn’t compromised. Just taking a look at the dozens of screwdriver designs and laser-based measuring tools shows there’s definitely room for improvement and experimentation.

The bottle opener, for example, has a head that provides the actual functionality and a handle that adds leverage. But what if you can ditch that long handle for something more interesting but equally useful? That’s what this concept design tries to offer, resulting in a version that’s not only functional but also decorative when not in use.

Designer: Younghyun Kim

The current conventional bottle opener design isn’t exactly bad. It’s practical, easy to make, and leaves some room to use different materials for the handle. At the same time, however, they can be longer or bigger than they need to be, and the majority of designs are pretty uninspiring. There’s a reason why bottle openers are often stored in drawers, lying in wait until they need to be used.

This bottle opener design concept, on the other hand, is something you might want to keep on top of the table or the kitchen countertop even after you’ve used it. Rather than a long handle and a head with a hole in the middle, the concept uses a dome for the opener and a sphere for the handle. That means it also won’t take up space in the unfortunate event that you do want to put it away.

More importantly, however, this spherical bottle opener becomes more than just another tool in the drawer. Because of its interesting shape, and the fact that it can stand upright, it becomes a sort of decoration that adds some aesthetic value to your table or kitchen. It can even be used as a paperweight to keep paper napkins from flying away.

In theory, it doesn’t lose any of the benefits of the traditional bottle opener design. The ball-shaped handle can still be made from different materials that can change its character. It might be questionable, however, if the design provides the same leverage as a conventional long handle does, but it probably wouldn’t take too much effort to pop a cap.

The post Spherical bottle opener concept adds a playful touch to your dining table first appeared on Yanko Design.

Spherical bottle opener concept adds a playful touch to your dining table

Posted on by

Many of our everyday tools at home have designs that go back decades or even centuries. Although they might not be inherently broken, there’s no reason why they can’t be changed or improved as long as functionality isn’t compromised. Just taking a look at the dozens of screwdriver designs and laser-based measuring tools shows there’s definitely room for improvement and experimentation.

The bottle opener, for example, has a head that provides the actual functionality and a handle that adds leverage. But what if you can ditch that long handle for something more interesting but equally useful? That’s what this concept design tries to offer, resulting in a version that’s not only functional but also decorative when not in use.

Designer: Younghyun Kim

The current conventional bottle opener design isn’t exactly bad. It’s practical, easy to make, and leaves some room to use different materials for the handle. At the same time, however, they can be longer or bigger than they need to be, and the majority of designs are pretty uninspiring. There’s a reason why bottle openers are often stored in drawers, lying in wait until they need to be used.

This bottle opener design concept, on the other hand, is something you might want to keep on top of the table or the kitchen countertop even after you’ve used it. Rather than a long handle and a head with a hole in the middle, the concept uses a dome for the opener and a sphere for the handle. That means it also won’t take up space in the unfortunate event that you do want to put it away.

More importantly, however, this spherical bottle opener becomes more than just another tool in the drawer. Because of its interesting shape, and the fact that it can stand upright, it becomes a sort of decoration that adds some aesthetic value to your table or kitchen. It can even be used as a paperweight to keep paper napkins from flying away.

In theory, it doesn’t lose any of the benefits of the traditional bottle opener design. The ball-shaped handle can still be made from different materials that can change its character. It might be questionable, however, if the design provides the same leverage as a conventional long handle does, but it probably wouldn’t take too much effort to pop a cap.

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Movable trolley cabinet lets you be more mobile in your work space

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Whether you’re working from home or from your office, you probably have just one desk or workspace where you spend most of your time. But there are also those that for one reason or another love to move around the room when working. It can be a hassle to keep moving your stuff when you need to move from one place or another. This product concept might just be the solution if you have that problem.

Designers: Keetae Kim, Jinsu Du, Young Jin Kim

Kimmipak (named after the three designers) is a concept for a steel trolley that you can help move around the stuff that you need to work on if you’re moving from one place to another in the room. It looks like a piece of luggage except that it opens up like a cabinet. But just like your luggage, it is something that you can store things in and then roll around if you need to bring stuff to and from your other workspaces.

When you open the cabinet, there are two layers but it can probably be modified as well if you need more shelves. You can ise it as a bookshelf, cabinet, and the top can also be a mini table. There is a removable toolbox at the top where you can place items like garden supplies, tools, beauty stuff, etc, if you need them carried around but you don’t need the whole trolley.

It’s an interesting concept for those who move around a lot in the room and you need your tools or stuff with you. Some steel or filing cabinets also have wheels for easier moving around if needed but this one was specifically designed to be portable and movable like your luggage.

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2-in-1 retro device concept brings an AI speaker and record runner together

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The recent retro craze when it comes to devices and even just designs of devices isn’t limited to just the people who actually experienced these things. The younger generation has a fascination with everything “old”, which can sometimes make older people really feel old. We’re seeing all kinds of product designs and concepts that play on this pseudo nostalgia (because it shouldn’t be called nostalgic if you didn’t actually experience it right?) and this trend will probably last for a long time. The best ones are those that are able to bridge nostalgia with modern sensibilities to get something that doesn’t just repeat what was done before.

Designer: Seunghyeon Kim (Focus Studio)

This concept for an AI speaker and record runner plays on the nostalgic feel that people are looking for. This is a 2-in-1 device for those who want to experience the convenience of a regular Bluetooth/AI speaker with the added different old school way of playing a vinyl record. The full device is a minimalist gadget that doesn’t give you a lot of features to maintain the external retro feel that you may be looking for.

The main part is a rectangular box shaped speaker complete with grills, a slider control for the volume, and the simple play/pause, rewind, and fast forward buttons. The power button and the slider control are the only colored spots in a silver monochrome device. There is a round thing on the left that at first looks like a detachable speaker but is in fact a record runner. This is a small record player that you place on top of an LP. It plays the record by pushing and pulling on the grooves, thereby earning the nickname of the vinyl killer (since some records get broken because of this).

The idea of a retro-looking speaker will most likely interest both those who want to get back to the good ole days and those that wanted to experience it in one form or another. The record runner feature may not be appealing though to those who prefer their vinyls to be played the regular way.

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Power bank concept is not only ergonomic but even comes with a mirror

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If you’re staying outside your house or office for a certain period of time, it’s almost always required that you need to bring a power bank. Well, unless you’re one of those people who can live without looking at their smartphone (or your device has a lot of juice). But for the rest of us that need our smartphones almost always, a power bank is attached to our bag as well as our devices. We don’t really think about the design of our power banks but some product designers do.

Designer: Anil Ramesh, Arun Kumar, Joel D’silva (Analogy Design Studio)

The folks over at Analog thought about adding a bit more functionality to the power bank and make it easier for users to carry it around. They focused on “usability, portability, and aesthetics”, the latter of which we don’t really think about as long as it gets the job done. But since we probably hold the power banks alongside our phone, it makes sentse to make it look better and also make it ergonomic.

The power bank has an elongated design rather than the normal brick version that most of them have. It actually looks like a cosmetic case and since that’s the look they’re going for, they added a beauty aspect to it. There’s a mirror inside of the power bank so you get another function for it aside from juicing up your device.

The power banks come in various pastel colors and because of the added mirror function, it might appeal more to women or at least those who need mirror on the go and like the color scheme. The ergonomic function will also be useful for those who may have some grip or muscle issues from holding phones for a long time.

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Aztec architecture inspires unique mug concept

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While I have a lot of mugs at home, most of them are just your normal liquid vessel. They just differ in color and the design printed on the cup itself, but otherwise they’re just your typical mugs. But I’m always open to adding more to my collection if I see a design that is pretty eye-catching. Whether I actually use it or not sometimes depends on my mood though.

Designer: Luminous Design Group

If this concept for a mug for a conceptual chocolate brand gets made, it’s something worth adding to my collection. The Horeca mug is a concept for Xocoyo, a brand that doesn’t actually exist but can possibly in the future. It draws heavily from Aztec architecture since the fictional brand also draws inspiration from that ancient civilization. You would think that steep staircases and ancient design would not have anything to do with a coffee or hot chocolate mug, but they were able to incorporate it.

The matte dark ceramic brings back the feel of the earthenware vessels from the Aztecs. The mug itself has geometric shapes from their architecture including the stairs-like bottom part and an angular-shaped handle. The wooden base complements the “steps” and adds a more organic look to the entire product. The name of the brand is etched into the mug.

This kind of design blends storytelling and functionality into what is usually a utilitarian object. But if you can sip your hot liquid of choice from such a mug or even if you just have it on display, wouldn’t you want to add something uniquely designed to your collection?

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Modular keyboard concept can help solve a decades-old usability problem

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Although we see dozens of computer keyboard designs these days, the basic layout of the device hasn’t changed since the very first model came out. Even if you consider variants of the QWERTY standard like AZERTY or Dvorak, the standard has remained the same over the years, which means carrying over most of the usability and ergonomic problems that were there from day one. The “10 key” numeric keypad, for example, is always on the right side, with a bias towards right-handed people.

That’s not exactly a problem for TKL or “Ten Keyless” keyboards, but that does mean buying a separate numpad that doesn’t integrate well with the rest of the keyboard, both functionally and aesthetically. This keyboard concept takes a shot at solving that long-standing handedness problem and its solution is to let you design your keyboard layout to your needs and preferences.

Designer: Alexey Prokopenko

It’s easy enough to just buy a TKL keyboard and a numpad separately, allowing you to arrange the two as you see fit. That, however, only works for that combination, and even then it’s not always a pretty sight. The visual and functional disconnect between these products can also have a subtle effect on our subconscious, just like how clutter or disjointed styles can trigger our minds in ways we don’t realize.

A modular design like the Connect concept helps solve this problem. In a nutshell, you can place a numpad module to the right or left of the “main” TKL keyboard in a way that physically connects the pieces. Since they’re from the same system, they also share the same aesthetic, which is a matte black in this case.

Of course, the beauty of a modular system is the flexibility it offers. Not only can you switch the position of the numpad on either side on a whim, you can also connect something else there or have a different module on the opposite end simultaneously. You can, for example, have a trackpad or a macro keyboard on either side. The choice is totally yours and can be changed dynamically depending on your work, need, or mood.

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If there’s one oddity to this design concept, it would be that the function key row is also an optional module. Granted, some Bluetooth keyboards actually exclude this row, forcing users to make complicated keystrokes to activate the functions. In this case, however, removing that row would create an imbalance when a module is attached to the left or right side of the keyboard. Most people will probably prefer to have that function row there all the time anyway, making it a bit of an unnecessary design detail.

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White noise speaker concept helps lull you to sleep

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Are you the kind of person who’s always sleepy when at the office but suddenly feels energized as soon as you leave? Then when it’s time to sleep, you have so much energy and you find it hard to fall asleep? It’s a vicious cycle that affects a lot of modern employees now. It may be that they just don’t like the work but it can also be because of things like insomnia and even Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS). It can affect your work, social life, and overall quality of life.

Designer: Jinkyo Han

One thing that works for some people to help them fall asleep is having some kind of white noise playing in the background. You can use your phone or smart speaker to play white noise playlists but what if there’s a device that just does that? That’s the idea behind the concept for a white noise speaker. It doesn’t have any other purpose that may distract you from sleeping. All it’s supposed to do is play white noise and accompany you as you drift off to dreamland (hopefully).

The speaker looks like one of those digital photo frames that can display random photos from your collection. The rectangular device has a glass frame at the top and then the speaker grill at the bottom where the white noise comes out. The glass seems like a screen where white-noise related videos can play (like falling rain, leaves blowing in the wind) that can accompany the white noise as it lulls you to sleep.

There wasn’t much information about the other features or aspects of the concept design but the product renders seem to be self-explanatory. As someone who also has much trouble sleeping at night (and then consequentially has problems waking up in the morning), this can be a pretty useful device to have.

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Cooking range concept lets you share your kitchen space with other people

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I live alone so I can cook whenever I want (which is almost never) and move around freely in my kitchen. But I’ve also experienced living with several people and manoeuvring around everyone during meal times can be a challenge. There are a lot of people who share their living spaces with other people but most kitchen appliances are meant to be used by one person at a time. When you’re living with other people, that’s not always the realistic scenario.

Designer: Anil Ramesh

This concept developed for Electrolux is designed for such a situation. The Peninsular free-standing cooking range can be accessed from 3 sides so that a couple of people can prepare and cook their food simultaneously. The range can be operated by 1 or more users since it has a rotatable inferface for the oven and the hob. The sliding over door opens to the left but it can also be opened from the front.

The cooking range also has other features to help not just with the cooking but also the preparation and even the eventual service once you’re done cooking. There are borders that can protect you and also to attach accessories to store cutting boards and other kitchen utensils. There are also rotatable drawers that can be accessed from the front and the right side.

There is also an upper storage shelf so you can put your spices and other ingredients. It even has an LED lamp for when you need some extra light. There’s also an option to have a modular hood. It’s a pretty nifty thing to have in your kitchen, especially if you’re sharing it with family members or roomates.

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