Speakers for designers are like pizza toppings for regular people, you can never stop with the combinations and you have to keep innovating to find THE one. And on that note I’ll say the Seda speaker is climbing the top speaker charts very rapidly, I mean it has already won the Silver A’Design Award Winner 2020 while being a finalist in the Azerbaijan Design Award 2020 and getting an honorable mention in Design that Educates Awards 2019. Overachiever but we love that in design!
Portable speakers don’t usually have intriguing aesthetics, so Seda was created with the intention of blending both visuals and technology to make it stand out. Its physical form radiates a zen feeling while also having a multifunctional appeal. Seda isn’t just smart, it was made to be intelligent. Seda has a pen holder in the center which also acts as a small space organizer. It features an embedded light bar in its external body which works as a desk light and it also has a dim ambient light – to be honest, this speaker is more lit than the playlist I made for it. It almost looks like an accent interior piece for your home than a portable speaker.
It can be connected via the USB port and Bluetooth, so you can leave it out instead of putting it away in a drawer with a bag of chords (never know which one of those belongs to the speaker!). The media player control panel embedded in Seda’s body makes it compatible with multiple devices so you can connect more than just your phone via Bluetooth. If holiday season isn’t canceled this year, I am putting Seda on my wishlist!
Alright, who is ready for a table that looks like art and does not come with a frustrating IKEA assembly guide? Because Boston-based designer Mian Wei has created this beautiful piece of furniture that marries minimal aesthetic with cultural heritage. The Dougong blocks from ancient Chinese architecture play a central role in the build and concept of the grid table – think of it as an advanced Lego challenge! Mian Wei won the Silver A’Design Award for this grid table in the homeware and furniture category, showcasing his exceptional skills as a multimedia artist who brings to life ideas that blend industrial design and emotions seamlessly.
This is a no screws assembly – yes – there is no need to keep a track of the different screw sizes and the tiny anvil! The grid table relies on the ages-old Dougong method of interlocking blocks so effectively that it not only distributes weight evenly but also lays a strong foundation while experiencing history. The supporting structure (Dougong) is made of modular parts that can be easily disassembled and reassembled in need of storage and moving. The bracket connectors (Gong) slide easily into the beams (Dou) to form the weight-bearing structure and retain structural integrity when the table is being lifted. It is made of ash, maple, and plywood which brings tone and texture ‘to the table’ (I just had to take that opportunity!).
“This project, on the one hand, tries to go back to the root to reinvestigate the practicality and scalability and bring new life to the ancient tradition. On the other hand, the project seeks to explore new aesthetic possibilities of the structure with modern forms and production techniques” says Mian Wei. The grid table gives form to the visual of wisdom and can be a stand-alone accent piece in the room (while also holding your tea and books!) without being too bold. The table is minimal yet so intricate in what can only be described as ‘engineered art’. As the owner builds the table, the complexity fades away, and the sensible nature reveals itself – the complete opposite of what I have ever felt while assembling the simplest chest of drawers in my home.
You better bookmark this page, cuz it’s filled with all kinds of awesomeness! We present to you a handpicked selection of winners of the A’ Design Award over the years. Go ahead and scroll down to inspire yourself. Who knows, we may be featuring your work here real soon! The A’ Design Awards pride themselves in absolute diversity, which means there’s something in it for everybody. You’ve got categories like Furniture Design, Electronic Devices Design, Transportation Design, Medical Devices Design, Social Design, and Home Appliances Design, just to name just a few. We’re sure you’ve got a design project that fits in somewhere…if you do, head over to A’ Design’s webpage to drop in your preliminary registration. With A’ Design, you don’t just get awarded, you get applauded too… Even a registration will get you registered in the World Design Index, and an absolutely wicked Design Business Calculator to help you work out your design charges!
Anyhoo! Here are the absolute best of the best, curated for our YD family.
Prosthetics and electronics sure make an insane combo. Imagine having a computer INSIDE your palm instead of within it! And you know what, the fingers are optimized to work on capacitive touch screens. Nice!
02. EcoZip Rollercoaster zip line by Frederic Gallimard
It takes a great deal of talent to be able to swing from tree to tree like Tarzan. Either that, or it takes the EcoZip, an in-forest zipline rollercoaster that uses trees to create the coaster’s path. You know what the best part is? This isn’t a concept! The first attraction using the EcoZip has already been opened to the public in New South Wales, Australia.
03. Hair and Hand Dryer in one by Jaewan Choi
Combining products with the same function isn’t just economical. In most cases, it can set market trends too (Like an air purifier/conditioner). The Hair and Hand Dryer creates the ultimate washroom/dressing room appliance. Way to save energy and capture two unique markets with a single product!
04. Toss Multifunctional Laundry System by Toss Design Team
What’s the point of storing your clothes in one place, but washing them in a completely different place? The Toss integrates the washer dryer unit into your closet system, so your clothes laundering as well as storage are integrated into one solution. Doesn’t it make so much sense?
05. DigiLock Smart Bike Lock by Tong Jin (TJ) Kim
Biometric security is yet to become mainstream. It’s there on phones, but hasn’t permeated completely into all our security related products. The DigiLock brings that level of encryption to the bicycle lock. Eliminating the need for a separate key, the DigiLock is not just convenient, it’s super secure too!
06. Arrow Office Table for chief by Taras Horoduskyy
I wonder if there’s a Wild Design category in the A’ Design Awards, because the Arrow Office Table certainly fits that bill! With its edgy, radical, and absolutely in-your-face design, the table is built around the character of the workplace head honcho. Show them who’s the boss!
07. FLOvers Floor Lamp by Denis Orlenok
Marrying a tripod with a lighting device, the FLOvers Floor Lamp explores lamp design that’s more about being sculptural than functional. Three radially arrayed elements bound together create an environment light that one can interact with, either lighting up the floor, walls or ceiling. All of them with equal amounts of beauty!
08. y.O Zmart Chair by Rick Yestadt
Another contender for the Wild Design category, the y.O Zmart is a rather wacky chair. Designed to look like two chairs were accidentally fused together, the chair’s design is actually carefully planned. It can be used in two different orientations, as a vertical chair as well as a recliner. Eccentric, smart design!
09. wooden ebike Science meets Sustainability by Matthias Broda, ace team
Plywood is celebrated for its load-bearing strength rather than its beauty. The Wooden ebike however celebrates plywood using clever design that isn’t just sustainable in every sense of the word, it’s unusually pleasing to look at too! Wouldn’t you want this? I Wood!
10. Zenyth Hubless longboard by Nicholas Peril
What do you say when a Designer actually designs a functionally superior product just by virtue of good design? Challenging long-board design just for the sake of creating a design exercise, the Zenyth Hubless longboard turned out to be quite the new-age, tradition-shaking longboard design!
11. Nextbit Robin Smartphone by Nextbit
Why do phones upgrade their specs but never their storage? Even 32Gb doesn’t seem to cut it these days. The Nextbit Robin sets new standards by giving you unlimited cloud storage along with the phone. Store and recall as much data as you want on your phone! Plus, will you look at those yummy color schemes?!
12. Smarter Smart display USB adapter by inDare Design & Baseus Manufacture
Chargers are such an afterthought. Smarter wants you to know that a USB adapter can be as amazing as the phone it’s built for. Designed with a screen that displays relevant charging information, the adapter’s design can even dock your phone on it. And with its svelte matte metallic finish, you’ll never use traditional out-of-the-box chargers ever again!
13. Bird Wearable input device by Prime.total product design
When they said that technology would put the world at the tip of your finger one day, they weren’t wrong. The Bird wearable is a tiny unobtrusive remote input device that just wraps around your finger. Once worn, your finger becomes a haptic-controller for all your smart devices. Pair this with voice control, and you, my friend, have got JARVIS!
14. Pin Clock by AliReza Asadi
There are just SO many ways to tell the time now. However, even in a saturated market, the Pin Clock manages to step aside as a fresh product that tells time in an elegant and novel way. Three hands have projectors on them that project hours, minutes, and seconds individually. However, these three hands also rotate, forming the time. So you don’t just have a textual representation of the time, the position of each text tells you the time too! Perfect for a guy like me who can then read the time without his spectacles!
15. Torsion Rocking chair by Natalie Musorina
Designed as a wonder of physics and manufacturing and a tribute to Mobius, the Torsion chair is literally just one strip of plywood with knit seating in between. The shape of the chair has a two-fold purpose. It relies on torsion stress to create a sturdy chair, but more importantly (from a design perspective), it creates something beautiful, memorable, and iconic!
16. 3bee Bicycle Frame by Tamás Túri
The 3bee bike frame kinda reminds me of the Tour de France logo. Its innovative shape encourages the forward-leaning sitting position, a feature found in all sporting bicycles. Plus, since it’s 3D printed, it can be tailor-made to suit your ergonomics or preferences.
17. Refugee Wearable Shelter by Dr Harriet Harriss & Graeme Brooker
Fashion and Social Design meet with the Refugee Wearable Shelter, a jacket that quickly transforms into not just a sleeping bag, but also a tent when you need it. Needless to say, the jacket is rather snug, and becomes quite spacious when opened out. The design gets full marks for not just meeting midway between fashion and function, but being a highly fashionable and even more functional product!
18. PeeFence Flexible Urinal by PeeFence I/S
Environmental art turned constructive solution, the PeeFence discourages using open expanses of land as your restroom. A simple poster curled inwards at the base, the art actually becomes a usable urinal! Talk about 3D Pee Graphiti!
19. A.F.A.-Powered Exo-Suit for Firefighter by Jiazhen (Ken) CHEN
Tony Stark may be a superhero, but Firefighters are real life superheroes. A.F.A. (Advanced Firefighting Apparatus) is an exosuit designed to enhance the abilities of the firefighter as well as give them additional protection. Designed to allow humans to carry up to 90 kilos with absolute ease (and break down doors efficiently), the AFA is functional and no less charismatic than any Iron man suit!
20. KickTrix Soccer training system by LA Design
With the KickTrix, you can literally bend it like Beckham! Designed to provide an indoor football training experience, the KickTrix helps one to sharpen and hone their ball control skills indoors. That too without breaking anything around the house!
