Tag Archives: Concept Designs

This reversible mid-high bed concept can grow with your child

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Buying furniture as adults can already be quite a stressful endeavor, but buying one for kids doubles or even triples the difficulty. Not only do you have to consider safety and comfort, but you also have to consider how they can grow up fast and make those products useless in just a year or two. That’s why parents might sometimes be tempted to buy more affordable furniture that they can either dispose of, resell, or give away quickly, which is a practical solution but not a smart one. It would be better if the furniture could actually change and adapt to the child’s growing needs, like this mid-high bed design concept that still be used by the same kid after they’ve grown a bit.

Designer: A Su (PUPUPULA)

It might be surprising to learn that there is a lot more variety when it comes to kids’ bed designs. Some types are better for certain ages, while others provide room for more than one person. Like most beds, however, these are often designed with a singular target audience in mind, which means they easily outgrow their use and their charm in just a few years. That wouldn’t be much of a problem if not for the expense and waste that comes with replacing those beds again and again.

The Big Eyes bed concept solves that problem by employing a design that can change its purpose depending on the number or age of its owners. And it doesn’t employ complicated tricks like modular or moving parts that could actually be dangerous for a toddler. Instead, you can simply flip it over to change it from a mid-high bed to a basic bed and vice-versa.

The mid-high bed position is perfect for younger kids or siblings who need to share the same bed space. The top bunk is the main bed, while the bottom space can act as a secondary bed or a spacious play area. Once the child grows up a bit, however, removing the ladder and turning the bed over changes the story completely, with the bottom now acting as a basic bed and the top frame as a place to hang cotton canvas play curtains for some privacy.

Big Eyes is made of birch plywood, which gives the bed a warm, welcoming tone. There are no moving parts or hidden compartments, making it easier to turn the bed over as needed. The bed’s design is actually quite minimalist, leaving the freedom of decoration and personalization to parents and kids. That same simple design, however, is also its strength, allowing it to have that reversible functionality you won’t be able to pull off on more sophisticated designs.

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This chair concept for fast-casual restaurants comes with a coat hanger and bag tray

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The way we eat outside has been changing over the past years, and fine dining and fast food are no longer the only choices available. In many parts of the world, “fast-casual” has become a popular option that combines the speed and price of fast food establishments with the quality of full-service bistros. Despite being a category in its own right, the furniture used in fast-casual restaurants doesn’t actually take into account the specific needs of this class of customers and is instead meant for either fast-food chains or full-service establishments. This chair design concept tries to break the mold by introducing a piece of furniture that caters specifically to fast-casual customers who need to hang their coats or keep their bags but can never find such a place with regular restaurant chairs.

Designer: Zhiyuan (Frank) Fang

Fast-food restaurant chairs are often made from plastic, designed to be cheap, easy to move around, and often uninspiring. Customers here are often in a hurry, anyway, so they don’t care so much for the things they’re carrying, presuming they’re even carrying some. Fine dining chairs, in sharp contrast, are elegant and a little more expensive in order to match the restaurant’s ambiance. They, too, don’t have convenient features for keeping your things, because restaurants often have available storage for those near the table or by the entrance. That leaves fast-casual diners to fend for their own most of the time, often resulting in awkward displays of jackets or even forgotten bags or purses.

The RACK Chair design was conceptualized with fast-casual restaurants specifically in mind. While the chair might find some uses in other diner types as well, the aesthetics, materials, and features truly shine in this middle-ground of the catering industry. It’s made from a variety of wooden materials, including birch, pine, walnut, and ash, giving it a bit of style and fine character. At the same time, however, the minimalist design and flat-pack-friendly construction are ideal for mass production and use.

The real distinctive parts of the RACK chair are the integrated coat hanger on the backrest and the storage tray under the seat. While it’s certainly possible to drape coats, jackets, and other clothing over the back of most chairs, they also have a tendency to slip off, sometimes unbeknownst to the owner. The tray offers a secure space to put in purses, document folios, and small bags for each reach, while also blocking unauthorized access from behind.

Some might downplay the impact that these two simple features can bring, but knowing that there will always be a place for your jacket, coat, bags, and things adds tremendous peace of mind and convenience. That in turn, will surely make the experience and location memorable, increasing the likelihood that you’ll be a repeat customer. After all, the last thing you need is to stress over your stuff when all you really want is to enjoy an affordable and delicious meal.

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This wooden shoe rack doubles as a bench and a tray for transient bodies and objects

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A lot of the clutter and missing items in our homes are caused by having no proper place to put our stuff. Whether they’re keys or shoes, small objects can lead to big messes when left anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes, it’s not enough just to have a place to put them; you also have to be smart in where you actually place these objects’ homes. Things that you take with you outside but not indoors are often best left near the door, but that space might not always be the best location for shelves. This design concept offers a rather elegant solution to this multi-layer problem, providing a more permanent fixture for temporary things like shoes, keys, earbuds, and even your own tired body.

Designer: Joao Teixeira

Shoe racks are not an uncommon sight inside houses, apartments, and living spaces. More often than not, their placed by the door to make it easy to put shoes on when leaving and have a convenient spot to leave them after you’ve taken them off. Due to the space these pieces of furniture occupy, however, they usually serve a single purpose only and have almost no other use except for shoe storage. It’s practically wasted space, especially if you don’t have that many shoes there to begin with.

Inspired by traditional Japanese architecture like torii gates, “Tokyo” is a shoe rack that goes above and beyond the call of duty, at least if you want it to. It actually serves two other functions in addition to holding your shoes. The cushioned top serves as a comfy bench, perfect for when you need to sit down to take a breather or put on shoes. There is a small tray on one side that lets you put down your phone, keys, and other knick-knacks for a while. Given the multi-functional design of the concept, it’s something that can easily be placed near the door or against any wall. Yes, it will take up a length of space, but you’re getting three for the price of one.

What’s even more impressive is how this design implements those three functions in a beautifully minimalist manner. Like many of Joao Teixeira’s furniture concepts, it involves using bent planks of plywood to achieve simple yet sophisticated-looking forms. In this case, the two legs are bent at opposite angles, but one of them extends upward and curves embrace the cushion, creating a completely flat and solid surface to act as a temporary holding area for small objects. Structural support is provided by a pseudo three-centered arch, also made from bent plywood, that creates a shelf for larger things.

Admittedly, Tokyo hardly looks like any typical shoe rack, which makes it an ideal piece of furniture to place anywhere. The large empty space at the bottom can be home for taller shoes and boots, while the shelf can hold sandals, loafers, sneakers, and similar footwear. Of course, it could also be used to hide books, foldable umbrellas, or other things you might want to quickly grab before you rush out the door. Either way, this shoe rack and bench in one provides a convenient and charming place for shoes and small items, not to mention a comfortable way to catch your breath after coming back home.

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This modular bracelet concept lets you choose how smart you want your jewelry to be

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The popularity of the Apple Watch has finally given smartwatches their place in the market, making them understandable and even desirable. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone now wants a smartwatch, especially those who prefer mechanical watches or have different aesthetic tastes. Unfortunately, the majority of wrist-worn smart trackers seem to be made with sporty and rugged designs in mind. Given hardware requirements, that’s not exactly surprising, but that shouldn’t stop designers from imagining what’s possible. One such dream is reflected in this minimalist yet distinctive bracelet that throws all smart wearable design conventions out the window, offering a modular piece of jewelry that is smart in more ways than one.

Designers: Akasaki Vanhuyse, Astrid Vanhuyse

If you remove the actual time-keeping function of a smartwatch or a fitness tracker, all you’re really left with are the sensors that actually do the work of keeping tabs on different metrics of your health, directly or indirectly. A display isn’t even necessary since you can always check those figures on a smartphone. In fact, a display might even be detrimental because of the distractions it pushes your way or how it clashes with some fashion styles. Smartwatch designs are primarily constricted by hardware such as displays and big batteries, but what if you could be free of those restrictions?

That’s what the BEAD concept seems to be proposing, offering the same health and wellness monitoring functionalities but in a form that is a bit more universal and, at the same time, more personal. At the heart of the design are the beads, actually tiny cylinders that each hide a single sensor used to track a specific biometric like a pulse oximeter or an accelerometer. Each bead is an independent unit, free from displays or large batteries, performing a single task and performing it to perfection.

The idea is that you can combine any number of these beads on a string or wire to achieve the same collective effect as a fitness tracker. You wear it around your wrist like a bracelet, held together at the ends by magnets in the shape of half-spheres. The wire is white, plain, and unadorned, which puts a bigger visual focus on the beads. Those beads themselves carry a brushed metal finish that helps hide whatever scratches they may incur over time while also giving them unique characters.

You can add or remove as many of these modular beads as you need, only paying for the functionality you actually use. It also makes repairing broken beads easier, since you only need to replace that single piece. Admittedly, the industrial aesthetic might not appeal to everyone’s tastes, but the concept opens the possibility of using different, perhaps more stylish designs that will truly create a fusion of fashion and technology in a simple smart bracelet.

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This smart home robot concept is designed to blend with the rest of your furniture

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We’re not that far from the smart homes of science fiction, especially with robots that are literally making their way inside our living spaces. The most common is, of course, the circular vacuums and mops that pick up after our mess, but other kinds of smart robots have started to become part of our way of life as well. They may serve different purposes, but a lot of them share a common motif, one that puts more emphasis on technological marvels over other aspects. While that’s not exactly bad, it also takes for granted how user experiences are also driven by aesthetics and comfort, something that cold, impersonal machines are unable to convey. Taking a cue from smart speakers that masquerade as works of art, this home assistant robot concept bucks the trend and instead portrays an appearance that could easily be mistaken for a side table or some other piece of minimalist furniture.

Designers: Haechan Ryu, Haechan Jeong

Perhaps in a few decades, home designs will have become so futuristic that robots won’t look out of place, even if they look mechanical and clinical. At the moment, however, they not only clash with the more organic and life-filled interiors of most homes, they also look unapproachable and alien from an emotional and psychological perspective. We’re still not used to these kinds of smart appliances, so their unusual appearance further distances them from acceptance.

Cor! is a design concept for a home assistant robot that can help humans with their chores while seamlessly blending with its surroundings inside your abode. Sure, it still looks like an appliance on wheels, but its more minimalist and simpler appearance makes it fit better with other furniture without sacrificing function. In fact, its circular plate on top of a truncated pyramid makes it look no different from a unique side table or movable shelf.

That tabletop actually hides Cor!’s core functionality. In a nutshell, it’s a platform that can be raised or lowered as needed and tilt forward to actually do some work. For example, it can dump the contents of a laundry basket into a washing machine, water plants with a pot sitting on top, or dispense food for pets. Cor! can even automatically fetch these “modules” from a shelf that acts as its base, sliding beneath the shelf so that the object on top magnetically latches on the tabletop. And yes, it can also actually hold items on top like a regular table, such as drinks, phones, books, and anything that can fit on top of it.

Cor! also has other functions, such as hidden containers in its base, a ring mood lighting beneath the tabletop, obstacle avoidance, and even an emergency stop button. The real value of this concept, however, lies not in its smart functions but in its smart design, allowing it to be easily integrated into a home’s existing design and into people’s lives.

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Sushi-themed suitcases bring joy to one of the most stressful aspects of traveling

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After being stuck indoors for so long because of COVID, people have started traveling again en masse and with such intensity that the term “revenge travel” was coined. Whether it’s just across the country or to another one, people have started to remember the feeling of freedom that traveling produces. At the same time, however, it also reminds them of some of the stress involved, particularly when it comes to packing and anxiously waiting for their bags to appear on the luggage conveyor belt. Truth be told, it’s probably impossible to completely get rid of all those negative emotions, so every little thing that lightens the mood can help. This design concept, for example, doesn’t make packing easier or make time go faster, but it adds a rather playful flavor to your suitcase that might give you joy, or even make you drool, every time you see it.

Designer: Yujeong Shin

Most travel bags are designed with greater emphasis on functionality and durability, especially for suitcases that can never escape rough handling and tumbling on flights or cruises. Of course, that doesn’t mean they can’t be made to look beautiful or visually interesting, especially when aesthetics also add value to the product beyond just appearances. With the right choice of materials and thoughtful design, almost any type of theme can be used to make a suitcase look enticing without sacrificing its core features.

These pieces of luggage, for example, were made to resemble the rather famous appearance of sushi. In particular, they’re made with the dual tones of “nigiri” in mind, with white “rice” topped by a colorful ingredient, something that’s a bit easy to pull off considering suitcases are made of two halves in the first place. Associating suitcases with food might be an odd idea, but the motif is almost perfect when you consider how these rectangular containers on the airport conveyor belt almost look like sushi on food conveyor belts that are popular in Japan.

The designs cover three popular types of sushi, each with its own distinct colors as well as ridges unique to the flavors. The yellow egg (“tamago”) design has the usual spiral design you’ll see on such sushi, while both the brown eel (“unagi”) and orange salmon (“sake”) have raised waves that run across the top. Admittedly, there are more flavors of nigiri available, though the collection is oddly missing the equally popular red tuna (“maguro”).

The sushi metaphor doesn’t stop there, however, and another aspect reveals a rather genius marriage of form and function. A strap wraps around the width of the suitcase, resembling the strip of seaweed (“nori”) used to hold the two halves of sushi together. This strap has an area for writing your information and saves you the trouble of having to buy a separate accessory for the suitcase. The sushi suitcase isn’t a groundbreaking new design that changes the formula completely, but it helps make traveling a bit more enjoyable and even fun, especially if you’re going to Japan.

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