Tag Archives: Best Of

Unconventional Product Designs that help you keep calm and carry on during quarantine!

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Staying indoor is the new trend! We say trending (putting a positive spin!) while  COVID-19 has us all quarantined but there are only so many recipes we can follow before we run out of cooking supplies. To help you survive this impromptu indoor session, here is a list of product designs we know will up the ante for any quarantine situation – this one (hopefully Amazon will deliver our orders minus the 1-day rush) or just be prepared in case the next one strikes. Honestly, I’m sure we all have some survival/ emergency bags ready however our needs during quarantine and trying to stay healthy at home – mentally and physically is a whole new ball game. The curation here brings you designs that will challenge you, let you learn and help you grow with this bonus time we have been given away from distractions, trying to become the best version of ourselves we can be!

Maxwell Custom’s custom-made Infinitum guitar takes that age-old form and applies design-thinking to it the design brief. The Infinitum takes the existing design and tweaks it to create a new and improved experience. The body comes CNC machined out of native New Zealand timbers (kahikatea and black maire) and features two major upgrades. The iconic sound-hole is bid adieu for four ‘vents’ on the front and back that allow the sound to emanate outwards in a way that makes it easy for the player as well as the audience to hear the music. The second significant upgrade is the absence of the bridge or the piece of wood and metal that would be glued to the guitar’s body, holding onto the strings from one end as they wind around the turnkeys at the other end. Playing guitar is cool enough, turning up with this beautiful customer design is sure to get you some eyeballs!

The Nintendo Flex is to the Gameboy what Daniel Craig is to Sean Connery. Same James Bond, but modern. The Flex by YJ Yoon comes with a few very welcome updates. Bigger screen on a device that’s the same handy size (albeit thinner). The screen’s also mildly curved, giving you a slightly panoramic experience and adding just a tiny couple of more display inches into the same framework. The Flex retains the same keys and controls, but gives them a makeover too, opting for flushed surfaces rather than the original GameBoy’s chunky keys that stood out from the surface. There’s even a contrast slider on the side of the Flex. The Flex’s biggest overhaul, however, is the change in Nintendo’s cartridge system. Flex ditches the large squarish cartridges for something much sleeker and thinner, looking almost like a stylus. The stylus-sized cartridge slides conveniently into a slot in the Flex’s base, locking in place and becoming impossible to remove while in the middle of gameplay.

Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka has created a quick and easy face shield for healthcare workers fighting COVID-19, which attaches to the wearer’s glasses. Yoshioka’s template design can be used to create a face shield in three simple steps from a clear sheet of PET or PVC plastic. Printed on an A3 piece of paper, the template can be placed over the top of a clear sheet of plastic and used as a guideline for cutting around the edge of the shape. The user can then make cuts into the plastic sheet over the two small lines indicated towards the top of the template on opposite sides. The two temple arms of the wearer’s glasses can then be slotted into these incisions, leaving the glasses protected by the shield as they sit behind it on the user’s face. Let’s face it, this DIY mask is important to survive any global pandemic!

Japanese studio Nendo has designed a mobile battery that users can charge by rotating, to power-up their smartphone in case of emergencies. The minimal, stick-like emergency portable battery, called Denqul, was designed for use in disasters, to ensure people have a reliable power supply for their smartphones to access to basic needs such as communication and lighting. Coz we sure can’t imagine being stuck without power supply and our phones dying on us.

The LaserPecker Pro’s laser module is no bigger than a coffee-cup, and the stand literally folds up into something that can slide right into your bookshelf… but when assembled together, the LaserPecker Pro is arguably the easiest-to-use professional-grade laser cutter and engraver for the masses. The LaserPecker Pro simplifies the process of laser cutting/engraving into three simple steps. 1) Add your artwork to the LaserPecker app, adjusting it to reach the desired output. 2) Plug the LaserPecker module onto its stand and add the product/material you want to etch or cut underneath. 3) Hit print! LaserPecker immediately begins working to etch or cut out the pattern you’ve fed into it. Time to put all those DIY pins to use!

LifeSaver by VanBerlo Agency can be mounted on walls at accessible and prominent locations. If someone is suffering from a cardiovascular attack, you simply grab it and press the button for calling 911 below it. So while you perform CPR, the ambulance is on its way! The first instruction provided is to remove the clothes from the chest of the victim. After that, you open the box and remove LifeSaver from it. Place the AED on the chest of the victim, and follow the instructions. OLEDs and touch sensors guide you through the entire process. LifeSaver even helps you with placing the electrodes correctly and guides you regarding the location and rhythm for the chest compressions. While being great in public places, the LifeSaver is a boon in the current situation where you know the medical system is so overloaded, the ambulance may take time to arrive, while this gives you a fighting chance to save the person in need.

On a lighter note, whoever said “less is more” was right because these minimalist Uno cards just made game night a whole lot cooler. The clean look makes you feel like the OG Uno showered and put on a sexy aftershave. Even Mattel couldn’t resist it and now this beautiful design will soon be a part of the official UNO gang! So the next time you are under quarantine, you shall play Uno with your roommates but in style.

Designers Marion Pinaffo and Raphaël Pluvinage are using paper to build simple machines and gadgets. Titled Papier Machine (a play on the word Papier Mache), the designers compiled a 13-page book where pages can be torn off and folded into various different electronic mini-machines and sensors (that can sense mass, humidity, wind, and even color… all made out of paper!), powered by simple off-the-shelf batteries. The paper electro-toys rely on special types of conductive ink that are screen-printed onto the pages, bringing much more to the table than just colorful visuals. Fun and science packed in a neat well-designed bundle! Come out of this lockdown as a smarter you.

BassMe is a wearable subwoofer that rests conveniently on your shoulder, with the audio-element sitting against your rib-cage. Designed to be worn with headphones or even with a VR kit, BassMe helps you feel the audio, rather than just listen to it. Using state-of-the-art sound-wave and vibration technology, BassMe delivers rich low-end frequencies to you, widening the range of frequencies you experience while listening to music or to any sort of audio. This party for one is sure to rock your world!

Designed as a disaster survival kit, this clock can practically save lives by allowing you to be prepared during a disaster. The Life Clock comes with a hollow internal compartment that houses its own kit of emergency products. It comes with two potent glow sticks that can each shine for 12 hours, wrapped in a metallic foil that you can fashion a reflector cone out of and use as a makeshift flashlight. A foil blanket allows you to maintain core body temperatures by trapping body heat through thermal reflection, while an emergency two-tone whistle allows you to signal for help. Finally, an emergency kit that is functional even when not in use. Always be prepared.

The idea of the Ocean Community vessel by Wojciech Morsztyn 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.

We know the Ocean Community is quite a futuristic concept, but we can’t help but imagine social distancing while on the sea! But coming back to the present, we maintain our distance, keep our spirits up – learn a new hobby, finish a project you always wanted to do and emerge a better version of yourself after this experience!

China leads the World Design Rankings in 2020: A look at a few A’ Design Awardees from the country

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We’re kicking off 2020 with the World Design Rankings as they stand, and it seems like China has steadily found its way to the number 1 position, with a stunning 1538 A’ Design Awards over the years. The World Design Rankings provide a window into which country is the most progressive when it comes to design thinking and more accurately, which country houses the world’s best designers. As of the beginning of this decade, China, USA, Japan, Italy, and the UK sit at the top five positions of the global design rankings.

The list, created by the A’ Design Awards and Competition organization aims at capturing the year on year design progress of each country. With as many as 106 nations on the list, the World Design Rankings are an ever-changing, ever-evolving set of rankings that wholly encapsulate design progress through their awards program. With the 2019-2020 edition still accepting submissions, it’ll be interesting to see how the rankings change this year. If you want to see your country on the top (along with showcase your best work to the world) take a look atour piece on what Design Awards can do for your Career.

We’ve meticulously compiled a few of the 1538 designs from China that shone at the A’ Design Award. Scroll below to see our selection and if you do want to help your country rise higher up the design rankings, the A’ Design Awards are still accepting submissions till the 28th of February! Every entry you submit raises your country’s score (even more if it wins an award!).

Register Here for the A’ Design Awards and Competition 2019-2020: Deadline 28th February 2020

01. Flexpai Flexible Smartphone by Royole

Flexpai sits at the top of our list for being the very first folding smartphone to ever be released to the public. Beating the likes of Huawei, Samsung, and Motorola to the race, Royole managed to debut the Flexpai back in 2018, long before anyone really knew what flexible smartphones would look like. Kudos to them, right?!

02. Nike+ Run Club Pop-up Gym by Coordination Asia

Designed to grab attention in Nike’s signature style, this pop-up gym sits on the streets, beckoning passersby to take a look inside. The hexagonal gym comes with an eye-catching exterior and a 6-part pod system on the inside with a treadmill in each pod. Dynamic media surfaces are used throughout the kaleidoscopic interior and exterior, wrapping participants in a temple-like setting devoted to the running experience, in the heart of Shanghai’s Times Square.

03. Ultratime 001 Watch by Bob Lei, Fever Chu and Jay Chan

A platinum award-winning design, the Ultratime 001 Watch comes with rotating discs and a silver line that helps point at the time corresponding to the position of the discs below it. Its angular placement, along with the clean design of the watch gives it minimalism with a touch of chaos. The watch’s crown sits at an offset too, making the timepiece rather interesting to look at!

04. Floh Travel Luggage by Rohan Siebel

Perfect for the urban dweller who wants to effortlessly weave through the crowded streets and pathways, Floh is travel luggage that comes with wheels and a handle, but it isn’t like most travel luggage. The luggage-holder doubles up into a scooter that one can use to ride around either an airport (provided it isn’t heavily carpeted) or even the streets while heading to work or back home. You could, however, also detach the wheels and wear the Floh as a conventional dual-strapped backpack too. It’s all up to you!

05. Changyu CS Brandy by Tiger Pan

Tiger Pan’s bottle design for Changyu CS Brandy aims at showcasing exactly how precious Changyu’s famed brandy is. Operational for 120 years now, Changyu is a prestigious winery brand in China, and the bottle helps reinforce the company’s brand value. It comes with a textured exterior that acts as a great tactile pattern for gripping while pouring, while also setting the bottle apart from regular alcohol bottles that rely mostly on print to differentiate from the competition. The CS Brandy’s eyecatching 3D pattern is further complemented by the bottle’s gradient that goes from dark on top, to transparent at the base, creating a sense of awe and mystery.

06. Meditation Seat Ware by Gao Fenglin

Gao Fenglin’s Meditation Seat can only be sat on in a certain way, directing the user’s behavior and encouraging a seating position that keeps your back upright, and your legs folded inward. The seat comes with an unusual design that naturally gets you to sit with your legs crossed in a meditative pose, allowing your posture to be corrected, spine kept straight and making sure you’re physically as well as mentally healthy.

07. Tai Chi Sales Center by Kris Lin

Kris Lin’s Tai Chi Sales Center aims at creating a healthy and inviting environment for the building’s customers by relying on forms that evoke a sense of beauty. The building’s facade, although seemingly chaotic, has a sense of stability and balance in it, and actually comes with a dark and light set of blocks denoting the Yin and the Yang in Chinese culture.

08. Hangzhou Zhongshuge Bookstore by Xiang Li

This bookstore is literally what heaven looks like to bookworms. What seems like an endless tsunami of books is in fact Xiang Li’s imagination of what a ‘forest of books’ would look like, with an undulating landscape wooden flooring, and lighting leaking from within bookshelves, just like you’d find in a forest with how sunlight leaks through branches. Of course, Xiang Li’s interpretation isn’t completely literal, but the Hangzhou Zhongshuge Bookstore is literally every book lover’s dream come true. An endless landscape just filled with knowledge to tap into and wisdom to be gained.

09. YOGA 900s Convertible laptop by Lenovo (Beijing) Ltd.

There’s sheer beauty in Lenovo’s Yoga 900s hinge. Comparable to that of the Microsoft Surface Book, this laptop’s hinge looks beautiful, efficient, and unbeatable. It also ties two sleek laptop bits together, i.e., the screen and the keyboard. Designed using a combination of rose gold, matte black, and just hints of metallic grey near the flexible joint, the Yoga 900s is more than a machine, it’s art and technology combined.

10. Guilin Yanshan Wanda Exhibition Center by Tengyuan Design

The Guilin Yanshan Wanda Exhibition Center is quite a work of art, considering it’s a space to display or exhibit work. One’s eye immediately goes to the ceiling, which seems like staring into either a kaleidoscope or a mandala, thanks to its beautiful radial design that draws on local culture and humanistic characteristics such as Guilin landscapes, Guangxi bronze drums, cliff stone carvings, and therefore integrates regional characteristics into its design, bringing in a local cultural flavor that inspires awe as well as casts a beautiful diffused light into the space for exhibitions.

Register Here for the A’ Design Awards and Competition 2019-2020: Deadline 28th February 2020

Here are 10 products Tesla should make with its Cybertruck’s ‘bulletproof’ steel

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Perhaps one of the most impressive things to come out of the Cybertruck launch was the steel that Musk decided to use in his pickup truck. The steel formed what was called the truck’s exoskeleton and didn’t rely on an internal chassis for strength. Basically, the steel body was literally the thing holding the truck together. Developed to be used on SpaceX’s rockets, this specially formulated alloy of steel boasts of such high strength, it’s physically impossible to mold/cast/stamp it into the shape of your choice (and it stops 9mm bullets too). Imagine your design process being completely dominated by your choice of material. We’ve sort of come a full circle in automotive design, haven’t we?!

Anyway, it got me thinking. What if Tesla, in its signature ‘coolbro’ fashion decided to launch its own series of products using this particular strain of steel? It wouldn’t be a newfangled idea, considering the company sold 200 limited edition Tesla-branded carbon-fiber surfboards at $1,500 a pop just last year. So just in case someone from Tesla’s marketing and product development team is reading this, here are 10 ideas for products Tesla could make using their invincible bulletproof steel.

01. CyberSteel Padlock


That level of impenetrable, bulletproof, sledgehammer resistant security should extend to other stuff too, right? Locker, garage, home, bunker, bicycle, the Tesla Steel Padlock can safeguard them all. With an entirely steel-made construction, it’s impossible to break or saw apart, and the presence of a biometric scanner means nobody can pick it either. What happens if the fingerprint reader breaks? Unlock it with your Tesla keyfob, I suppose.

02. CyberSteel Vault


Oceans Eleven would be an incredibly long movie if something like the Tesla Vault existed as a standalone product. Hammers, drills, dynamite, nothing gets you past the impenetrable vault. The space-grade steel is strong enough to withstand high temperatures that spacecrafts experience as they re-enter the earth’s atmosphere, so this vault may even put up a pretty good fight against thermite.

03. CyberSteel Smartphone Cases


Gone are the days of weak, fragile, bendy aluminum phones. While this rather wonderful concept by Jonas Dahnert only displays what a Cyberphone would look like, imagine if your iPhone or Google Pixel had a Tesla Cybersteel-reinforced (is that what they call it?) smartphone case. The Nokia 3310 finally has some competition.

04. CyberSteel Laptop Bodies


An idea sparked by Min-Liang Tan and the guys at Razer, I’d really love to see a laptop with a steel chassis. A nice, robust, shatterproof gaming laptop that you literally couldn’t break even if you went into a fit of uncontrollable rage after losing a game. Heck, with its bulletproof construction, you could literally defend your life against muggers with it.

05. CyberSteel Protective Gear


Speaking of defending oneself, the bulletproof, sledgehammer-proof steel could just as easily see applications in protective equipment. From construction gear to police and military gear, the applications are endless. Why else would the Dubai Police put in a bulk order for an entire Cybertruck fleet?

06. CyberSteel Spectacle Frames


I’ll admit I’m personally invested in this one, being a spectacle wearer myself. Given how thin and fragile spectacles can be, it would be nice to have a pair that are reinforced with this steel. What about the lenses? I have my doubts about that Cybertruck glass.

07. CyberSteel Umbrella Frames


Just as fragile as spectacles are those umbrella frames. It’s estimated that as many as 1.1 billion umbrellas are thrown away each year after being rendered useless. Now I know the logistics of manufacturing an umbrella frame that’s usually stamped out of sheet-metal that’s less than a millimeter thick doesn’t apply to the 3mm thick steel used in the Cybertruck, but hey, Musk isn’t known to back away from a challenge, is he?

08. CyberSteel Voyager Record


Now I originally thought of a steel Tesla Surfboard (to follow its previous Carbon-Fiber Surfboard series), but a surfboard with steel that strong could literally guillotine your limb right off your body if you lost your balance, so here’s something more sensible.
When NASA launched the Voyager 1 in 1977, they included with it two vinyl records crafted in gold, containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth to any extraterrestrial species. I say hey, instead of launching a Tesla Roadster into space, how about we drop Volume II of that Voyager Record imprinted in steel, complete with updated contemporary references from over 40 years later.

09. CyberSteel Construction Material


If SpaceX could use that steel to build spacecrafts, Tesla could probably make and sell a few Cyber-bunkers too. Made from perhaps one of the strongest alloys known to us, imagine a bunker that’s hurricane-proof, quake-proof, and even nuclear-bomb proof. I mean you could throw in one of Tesla’s Biohazard-mode air-filters inside and you’ve got yourself a quaint doomsday shelter.

10. CyberSteel Sledgehammer


In signature ‘fire-fights-fire’ spirit, behold the Tesla Cyber-hammer, the only sledgehammer that can dent the Cybertruck! I imagine there’s an entire army of YouTubers who would buy this just so they could try it out on their Cybertrucks for some ‘views’. A good idea? Probably not. A good marketing strategy? I mean Elon’s sold thousands of flamethrowers already… What’s a couple of sledgehammers?

The product around your product: Winning Packaging Designs from A’ Design Award 2019

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Your product’s packaging is arguably the first thing the consumer sees, as a part of the product experience. It forms the first ever interaction between product and consumer, and a successful interaction means a consumer will pick the product up off the aisle and add it to their cart. Bad packaging design can adversely affect a product’s success or its performance, while a well packaged product allows it to stand out, prompting someone to pick it up and decide to purchase it. Packaging Design is more than just a box with artwork… it’s the product around the product, and deserves as much attention while designing as the item within it.

Packaging Design forms just one of the various categories of the A’ Design Award and Competition, which spans the popular categories like Architecture, Lighting, and Consumer Electronics, as well as the obscure, lesser known categories like Cybernetics, Prosumer Products, and Safety Apparel Design. The A’ Design Award’s ultimate goal is to be an umbrella that covers good design across all disciplines, which is why it has 100 different categories for submitting design projects, and over 200 jury members (comprising academics, design professionals and press members) from all around the world collectively judging the works. Winners of the A’ Design Award don’t just win a trophy and a certificate, but receive an entire PR Campaign dedicated towards pushing their career, clout, and even their projects to newer heights. A’ Design Award’s winners and even its participants are included in its annual award book and business network, while additionally contributing to their country’s overall design ranking that paints a holistic picture of how design-centric and design-forward each country is.

The A’ Design Award is currently accepting entries for the 2020 edition of the award program, so go ahead and give your work and career the push it deserves!

Here are some of our curated picks of Packaging Design winners from the A’ Design Award & Competition 2019. If you have a potential packaging design project that you think is worthy of an award, click here to register & participate in the A’ Design Awards 2020. Hurry! The regular deadline ends on 30th September!

01. Awanama Sake by Ryuta Ishikawa

With the kind of sheer finesse you’d expect from a handle on a samurai sword, the Awanama Sake bottle is just a canvas for its beautiful texture. Designed to stand out from the category of sake, Awanama wants to introduce its unpasteurized sake as a new brand of rice-wine that’s authentic and deserves universal recognition. The bottle comes with a heavily textured black exterior that catches the eye, while also remaining opaque so as to shield the sake inside from external light. Made from glass, Awanama’s bottle surely knows how to attract with just how intricately detailed the texture on it is, practically hypnotizing one into wanting to pick it up!

02. Eco Freshness Tag by Zeyuan Zhang


Designed so you never end up having stale poultry, the Eco Freshness Tag lets you know when your eggs have gone bad. Yes, you could submerge your egg in water to see if it sinks or floats (if it floats, throw it away), but then again, you could also just look at the color of the tag, which alters over a period of 10-14 days. A green tag indicates the egg is fresh and ready for consumption, a yellow tag probably means you should consume the egg right away instead of waiting, and when the tag turns red, just ditch them eggs!

03. Raimaijon Pasteurized Sugarcane Juice by Prompt Design and Cordesign

The ingenuity of the Raimaijon sugarcane juice bottle is that when stacked, it literally looks like a sugarcane stalk! The slightly warped cylindrical bottles nest one on top of another, while the label gives it its green color. When you stack 2 or more, the bottles begin looking like sugarcane stalks, complete with nodes between them! What a wonderful way to use the bottle to trace back the product’s origin story! This would make for a pretty eye-catching installation on a storefront, would it not?

04. New Hope Seed Brand Gift Box by Yung-Li Chen – Fineherbsoap Co. Ltd.


When you buy one of Fine Herb’s soaps, you’re doing much more than just buying soap. You’re buying a plant too! The organic natural soaps come in white vessels with a small seed taped to the bottom. Take the soap out and water the seed and it eventually grows into a herb. You can then put some soil into the vessel, turning packaging into a planter for your Zinnia seedling! And don’t worry, the planter is made from mixed pulp of 100% recycle paper and lavender grass seeds, making it eco-friendly and biodegradable too!

05. Cedea Luxury Mineral Water Bottle by Nick Pitscheider and Sharon Hassan

Designed as an homage to Cedea, the goddess of water and life in the Dolomites’ Ladin Culture, the bottle pays homage to the Northern Italian culture and its lore, with two water bottles, one representing the ruby red of roses, and one capturing the stunning blue of the sky. What’s genuinely remarkable is the bottle’s construction, that’s designed to perfectly refract light in a clever way. The bottle’s bases are colored either red or blue, while the rest of the bottle is completely transparent. Look at the bottles head-on, and you see clear water in them, but look at the bottles when they’re below your line of sight, and the glass’s refractive property makes the entire bottle look either blue or yellow. Its lens-like effect aside, the bottle looks absolutely beautiful too, with its gently swirling form highlighted by the twisting vertical lines that give the bottle a delicate spiral asymmetric shape, resembling the natural shape of Cedea, the Goddess of Water and Life.

06. Dinosaur Ice Cream Box by Mengying Zhang & Zhicheng Chen


A fun way to make kids enjoy the experience of eating ice-cream (enjoy it even more, rather), the Dinosaur Ice Cream Box comes with an embossed dinosaur fossil shape at its base. Fill the tub with chocolate ice cream that represents the soil, and your kids turn into archaeologists who have to dig through the ground with their ice-cream spoons to hit the fossilized treasure at the bottom! When you reach the end of the box, the remnants of ice-cream look like stray pieces of soil near the dinosaur’s carefully preserved fossil. Now if only there was a way to use this box to get kids to eat more of their veggies!

07. Small Bag Candle Packaging by Liangfang Fang and Jinxi Chen


Just an elegant way of packaging a candle, Liangfang Fang and Jinxi Chen’s solution involves a small, flat piece of paper that’s pinched and folded, with a neat tape on top. What’s really worth appreciating is its simplicity and its minimal elegance… and the fact that it literally looks like packaging for a chocolate, because those candles look absolutely edible, don’t they?!

08. Ooops! Use Toilet Paper by 2Republic BTL Reklámügynökség Kft.

While the designer’s name may certainly be a handful, the Ooops! toilet paper is intentionally designed to be a handful too! Unlike most toilet papers that come packed in sets of multiple rolls, and require to be unpacked and mounted on a toilet-paper-holder, the Ooops! toilet paper comes in a pack of 3, and can literally be used inside the box! The packaging comes with a handle, allowing you to easily carry it around, within the shopping mall, and also inside your house, from the store room to the loo, where you can just place the package right beside your toilet. The package comes with an opening on the top, which you can use to pull out as much toilet-paper as you need. Designed to be used without a toilet-roll-holder, the packaging dispenses the paper directly from itself. The rolls inside the box are center-fed, which means there’s no cardboard tube at the center of the roll… it’s paper right from start to finish. That doesn’t just give you more toilet paper per roll, it also means you can pull the paper out like you would from a tissue-box. Easy peasy!
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Impressed? Inspired? Go ahead and grab a spot for your own designs at the A’ Design Award and Competition 2020! Click here to Register Now! Hurry! The regular deadline ends on 30th September!

Don’t miss out on our top 10 trending designs from September so far!

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September is rapidly getting over but the innovation is not! Here are the best designs from this month that are already turning heads, be it an attachment that allows you to connect 4 SIM cards to your phone to super slim wallets with fifteen layers and invisible stitching that are good for posture while being high on innovation. Just scroll down, have a look and get inspired to create your own innovative design.

This weird, zany attachment for your Samsung phone from SIMore gives your phone an additional 4 sim-slots, allowing you to be a walking-talking living example of someone living the open-market dream. The attachment fits into a dual-sim smartphone’s secondary sim-slot, much like a USB-Hub plugs into a spare USB port. Your primary SIM card still drives the phone, but Simore’s adapter gives you the power of having and using four extra SIM cards, allowing you to own and use up to 5 different numbers (possibly from 5 separate telecom providers!)

YeongKyu Yoo of cloudandco has designed two wallets that are extremely slim – WalletType1 and SlimWalletType1. The former is a bi-fold design with 6 pockets, and the latter is a card wallet with 2 pockets. The key to the form are the layers and the invisible stitches. Sporting a multi-layer construction with uniform thickness, the edges of the wallets are precisely painted for the ultimate seamless look. The wallets look like a solid sheet of beautiful leather and nothing more. To capture the beauty of quality leather, they focused on bringing its texture to the foreground. This meant keeping all unnecessary details invisible, including stitches. The multi-layer construction was carefully conceived so that once assembled, the form is completely uniform in thickness. To finish it off, the edges are precisely painted for the ultimate seamless look — just like a solid sheet of beautiful leather.

Treat your sofa as the beautiful and central part to your home that it should be with designs such as the Lawless Sofa by Evan Fay.

Unveiled at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, the new Lamborghini Siánn explores a whole slew of fresh possibilities for the company. After the conceptual Terzo Millennio, the Sián is the first car from the Italian automotive company to venture into a hybrid drive, relying on a V12 engine as well as a unique 48 volt e-motor, delivering 34 hp to provide immediate response and an uplifted performance.

Having analyzed the shortcomings that current inhalers have, and identified that both the stigma that they carry and their “throwaway” nature are two of their main issues, Ryan Lee Sanderson, Justin Arsenault & Thrive Design created not one, not two, but four inhalers. As the name suggests, the Aria Youth is targeted towards youngsters; it features a rubberized body that will protect it from the inevitable drops that will be thrown it’s way. This, combined with the large paddle accusation makes this product a far more suitable alternative.

Long before planned obsolescence was a thing, products were built to last a lifetime. People would own, use, and reuse products for years, passionately maintaining them for future use, and fixing them if something ever broke. It’s rare to see that sort of passion in today’s products, and the Wingback Mechanical Pen by Alasdair MacLaine is a rare item that embraces that culture of design-for-perpetuity. Buy it now!

Titled the ProPilot, the golf-ball is inspired by Nissan’s ProPilot 2.0 driving technology and is the company’s way of showing how they can fit their incredible self-driving chops into something literally palm-sized. The golf ball obviously isn’t intended for professional use! As a way of demonstrating how small Nissan can go with its self-driving tech, the ball literally finds its way to the hole no matter where you hit it.

The Polaroid Lab is a novel product that lets you rest your smartphone on it, and turns the image on your smartphone screen into a Polaroid photo. The desktop device uses a close-proximity lens to literally take a photo of your screen, turning your high-end smartphone’s photo into a printed picture that you can then scribble a message under and pin to your wall. The Polaroid Lab’s biggest benefits are that you can choose the best photo from hundreds of clicks, edit it and add filters or stickers, and then place your phone with the image loaded on the screen onto the Lab to turn it into a Polaroid snap.

The Turning Chair is a creative take on seating relies on a form that can be flipped 90° to completely change its function! When in orientation A, the Turning Chair is a comfortable low-lying lounger with a reclining backrest, perfect for your living room… but thanks to its angular rear legs, the chair can be flipped back to turn it into a high-seated bar-stool that fits rather suitably in your kitchen. Plus, get this… the chair’s form is stackable too!

Austin Maynard Architects have designed ‘king bill’ — a playful renovation and extension of a double-story terrace house and neighboring garden. the original house is among the oldest in the Australian suburb, built around 1850. after its 2018 update, it’s now also one of the most inventive.

Trending designs from August you don’t want to miss out on!

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August is rapidly getting over but the innovation is not! Here are the best designs from this month that are already turning heads be it the redesigned Mac Pro concept that sure looks like a more efficient design to a portable, emission-free portable air conditioner to relieve the heat, or even wireless headphones that double as a fashion accessory, just scroll down, have a look and get inspired to create your own innovative design.

Everyone has been debating the recent cheese-grater edition of the Mac Pro, and I hate to admit that this was one Apple product that I didn’t fancy much. I’d much rather live in a fantasy world and promote the Mac Pro concept by Semin Jun. The CPU is classy and features two parts – the main body and its case. Wrapped in a mesh polycarbonate body, the heart of the computer is encapsulated in a stylish transparent frame. Designed as a wireless sync edition that works with your iPhone, simply place it on top of the Mac and let it sync with your computer and charge at the same time.

evaCHILL provides each user with their own personal microclimate without the release of Carbon Dioxide by using the principle of water evaporation to create moist, fresh and, most importantly, cool air!

Based on patented designs, these conceptual Xbox Cloud controllers give us an idea of what the real thing would feel like. Two controller-halves clip onto either side of the phone, turning it into a handheld gaming console, complete with everything you need to play Xbox’s signature titles. The controllers come in a variety of colors, just like the original Xbox ones, and feature all the keys, buttons, and joysticks, including BOTH the left and right triggers on the top!

Designed for the year 2022, when Lamborghini realizes that the Urus needs an overhaul either because it’s selling like hotcakes, or not selling at all, the Agressivo (a concept SUV by Fernando Pastre Fertonani) is, quite simply put, more tastefully Lamborghini-esque. Agressivo’s demeanor is more in line with Lamborghini’s sportscars, but it comes in the format of an SUV, with wide tires, higher road clearance, and strangely enough, just two doors.

Rather than be confined in a case, where they hide from view, these conceptual earphones sit around your neck, magnetically attached to a chain, giving the earbuds a more fashion-forward approach in a rather direct sense (almost looking like pendants or dog-tags). Each earphone comes with its own sleeve that covers the silicone tip, preventing it from falling off or worse, getting dirty.

LavvieBot S is the smartest litter box and is integrated with IoT functions. It automatically cleans your cat’s litter and refills it from the storage bin. You can check the status of your cat’s business (bowel movements) in real-time via the App ‘PurrSong’. The one thing that you can be assured, is that the refilling of litter will not happen if your cat is in the bin. As the cat enters, the sensors capture the movement and hold-off refilling.

AirFlex Labs is trying to challenge the status quo with their Tech Pants, featuring a fabric that looks like denim and is as durable as denim but is thinner, more breathable, flexible, and comfortable to wear. Combining performance synthetic fibers like Tencel and Polyamide with Japanese 10oz Pima cotton, AirFlex’s engineered fabric combines the best of all worlds. It has an impressive four-way stretch, is breathable, wicks moisture rapidly, resists wrinkles, lasts as long as denim does, and does all this while being 30% lighter than denim.

Titled the Switch UP, the console is primarily handheld, but still retains a crucial feature found in the Switch… being able to game on a larger screen. The Switch UP doesn’t come with detachable joy-cons, making it a little like the Switch Lite that released last month. However, the Switch UP sits halfway between the Switch and the Lite, giving you the ability to play your favorite Nintendo titles on the move, or on your TV! The backpack, called the Clever Dock, fits into a negative space in the controller, integrating with it seamlessly. It works as an extra battery pack for the console, while also comes with HDMI and USB ports, allowing you to plug it to your television or even a projector.

Imagine a smart insulin port attached to your skin, delivering the right dose, and at the right time. At the same moment, getting all information regarding your sugar levels, meds timings and health data, managed and analyzed with the accompanying app. Kite replaces the need to pump yourself with over 30 injections a week, thanks to the soft cannula insertion. It turns any device into a ‘smart’ device and automatically dispenses the accurate insulin dose. Designed to be affordable, a device like this can be very helpful in the lifestyle management of diabetics.

Designed for bespoke comfort, and for unparalleled lightness while running, Nike’s Joyride Run Flyknit literally has a sole that’s filled with multiple tiny squishy spongy beads. Resembling a beanbag for your feet, the Joyride give your feet the same feeling a beanbag gives your body. A cushioned experience that takes the shape of your foot. Engineered to perfection, these beads have absolutely the perfect density, allowing you to run on any surface without feeling the stress on your heels, shins, or knees.

On first glance, you would be forgiven in mistaking this air purifier for a side-table; its confident form and carefully-considered details lead to a product that resembles an item of furniture as opposed to an electrical appliance. Its designer, Jaehyo Lee, recognized that furniture isn’t as simple as ‘one-size-fits-all’; by incorporating a modular design, this friendly air purifier can be transformed to suit the environment it is destined to be placed within and further harmonize with the existing furnishings.

Ten of the most unconventional award-winning Architecture Designs from A’ Design Award 2019

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In keeping with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s description of architecture as frozen music, this post is quite literally a playlist of the best architectural designs from 2019.

One of the A’ Design Awards’ most strong categories, Architecture sees a lot of entrants as well as winners from around the globe. We handpicked some of the most beautiful, most intriguing, most inspirational, and definitely the most unique architectural pieces from the A’ Design Award and Competition’s winners list of 2019. Ranging from conceptual designs to residential units, to religious spaces, offices, museums, and retail spaces, the A’ Design Award covers architecture in its entirety, aside from a wide roster of other design categories. Not only does winning an A’ Design Award look great on an architect’s resume, it also brings a lot of repute and focus to the work, uplifting the value of both the designer and the design!

The A’ Design Award is currently accepting entries for the 2020 edition of the award program, so go ahead and give your work and career the push it deserves!

If you’re an architect looking to participate in the A’ Design Awards 2020, click here to register. Hurry! The regular deadline ends on 30th September!

01. Arbor Arena Parametric Pavilion by Selvagen
Taking inspiration from low-poly structures, the Arbor Arena Pavilion is a neat exploration in parametric architecture that uses a series of triangles to create a geodesic dome shape, complete with windows and even a star-shaped skylight on the top. Designed for a temporary event in 2018, the modular structure is now being rebuilt as a permanent addition to the Botanical Garden in Recife, Brazil.

02. Cohen Chapel by Joaquim Portela
Featured on Yanko Design back in 2016 as the Aurelios Chapel, Joaquim Portela’s chapel design explores something absolutely unique in terms of architecture, leave alone religion-inspired architecture. A chimney-esque detail acts as an abstract steeple on the outside, but in fact works as a skylight, diverting a strong shaft of light into the chapel to beautifully illuminate the altar.

03. Cecilip Facade by Dante Luna G.
Designed as a facade for a plastic surgery clinic, the organic shape of this facade takes inspiration from the undulating curves of human skin. Its reflective nature is designed to be instantly recognizable but also attractive, in a way being a metaphor for what the clinic hopes to achieve for the patients that visit. The facade was made locally and is composed of more than three thousand profiles of stainless steel with mirror finish, each with two pieces cut CNC and armed with 3M structural tape, similar to those used in aviation, on a metal support structure.

04. Volcano Eyes Observation Platform by Jaskó+Vági Építész Kft.
Created using a basic metal framework, and filled with the rocks found in and around the area, this elevated observation platform was made in May 2018 for the Nemrut Volcano Eyes Competition, to help view a 360 degree panoramic view to the Nemrut Volcano’s caldera or crater. An upper part of the structure acts as a platform for viewing the volcano, while the lower half transforms as a shelter for the people who decide to camp or spend the night at the location.

05. Liberty Stadium by Aysan Moosvai and Farzad Saeidi
Designed to be equal parts alluring (from both the top as well as bottom, and from inside and out) as well as lightweight, the Liberty Stadium uses a combination of support structures and tensegrity to create its design. Designed around the popularity and pull of football, the structure relies on being able to create spaces for crowds to navigate easily, preventing bottlenecks and enabling circulation of the public. The project started in October 2018 and finished in January 2019 in Tehran.

06. Old Palapye Museum by Beullah Serema
For the record, this is what I imagine buildings in modern Martian societies will look like. A combination of beautiful indigenous materials like the red rock along with futuristic styles and facades made of glass. The outstanding burnt brick church ruins stand proudly within perimeters of a rich historic site of the 19th century capital of the Bangwato tribe. Built in 1891 by the London Missionary Society, it was later abandoned after the royal King Khama III relocated his capital to another resource-rich site. Designed as a museum to showcase and preserve the past cultures and artifacts, the architect designed a museum and exhibition space by working with the existing ruins, so as to not override them but rather create a new life around them!

07. Wuxi Wanda Mall by WANDACTI and CCI Architecture Design & Consulting Co.,Ltd.
Unusual for combining a rectangular footprint with its flower-esque inspiration, the Wuxi Wanda Mall has a rather unique aesthetic. The design inspiration of the project is derived from the Wuxi city flower “azalea”, and is designed to cover five different theme parks with five azalea petals respectively. The project is located in the main axis of Wuxi cultural tourism city, accommodating for shopping, catering, culture, entertainment and leisure.

08. Casa Ojala House by Beatrice Bonzanigo
The term used to describe Casa Ojala is that it’s a ‘highly flexible house’, which immediately makes it quite an interesting concept in the first place. A sustainable, minimal, compact and flexible product for a new comfort, away from TV or air conditioning, the Casa Ojala blurs the lines between what’s indoors and what’s outdoors. The flexible house has two bedrooms, one with a double bed and one with a single bed, a bathroom, a terrace, a kitchenette and a living room, which can, in fact, be continuously transformed into one another or become a large outdoor platform, a house with no roof or even no floor. “The home becomes a surprise, a game, a theatre, fragrances and gestures. The landscape is its facade”, says Beatrice Bonzanigo. The project was patented in December 2017 in Milan, and was exhibited in Salone del Mobile in April 2019 in Milan.

09. M50 Art Hotel by Yun LU – MUDA-Architects
Built in the musical town of Pingle in Sichuan, the M50 hotel actually abstracts a musical piece and turns it into architecture, pretty much canonizing Goethe’s quote of architecture being like frozen music. The external curved facade mimics the rhythmic movement of music and the bodily sway associated with it while the external curtain wall employs a horizontally subdivided aluminum plate, which closely resembles the texture of bamboo, as a hat tip to Sichuan’s bamboo culture.

10. Sailing Castle Pavilion by Cheng Tsung Feng
Bringing the ship’s sails to land as a strong expression-piece, the Sailing Castle Pavilion is a quaint open space that reacts with its surroundings by billowing with the wind, while remaining static on land. Tapping into the feeling of seeing a fleet of boats and fishermen sailing out to see, or making their journey back to land, the pavilion hopes to create that feeling of awe, at looking at a vast number of sails billowing in the wind together. The interaction among people and the Sailing Castle is a representation of the prosperity of the fishery industry, communal unity, expectation, and joy.

Impressed? Inspired? Go ahead and grab a spot for your own designs at the A’ Design Award and Competition 2020! Click here to Register Now! Hurry! The regular deadline ends on 30th September!

Entries are now open for the A’ Design Awards and Competition 2020!

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Promising yet again to cover the best in design across all disciplines, the A’ Design Award and Competition‘s 2020 edition is now open for entries. Every year, the awards honor and celebrate designs and designers spanning over a hundred categories, ranging from Furniture, Architecture, Industrial Design, Consumer Electronics, Medical Design, Service Design and many other design domains. Gathering a jury of over 200 senior designers and educators from around the world, A’ Design Award is perhaps one of the most recognized platforms for true validation.

The A’ Design Awards were founded to be a Yellow-Pages of sorts for good designs and designers. Applicants range from non-designers to students, professionals, teams, to even vast organizations. Judges take an agnostic approach to the entries, evaluating them for their concept, execution, aesthetics, philosophy, and potential for social change. Winners of the A’ Design Award are then entitled to not just a trophy and certificate, but also vast PR campaigns, extensive publication on design blogs, and the ability to get their designs to millions of more eyes across the globe. Even participants find themselves on the winning side, because just registering for the A’ Design Award entitles participants to a free evaluation of their design, as well as an inclusion in the Business Network, as well as access to A’ Design Award’s free Design Fee Calculator that allows designers to accurately price their products and services.

At the end of the day, the awards annually plot the best work from around the world, creating an extensive map of good design from across the globe. A’ Design Awards’ program even ranks individual designers on an international scale, as well as provides scores for each country, creating value by allowing you to capture progress and even study design trends as they happen. Be a part of the most diverse international design competition there is! Registrations for the A’ Design Awards and Competition 2020 are now open!

Click Here to Register for the A’ Design Award and Competition 2020! Deadline for registrations and submissions: 30th September 2019

A look at winners from A’ Design Award and Competition 2019

01. Flexpai Flexible Smartphone by Royole

Currently the first and only flexible smartphone to be shipped to the public (Samsung’s Fold was faulty, and Huawei had its own problems), the Flexpai is at the forefront of the bending-smartphone revolution! With an outward-bending screen that can be used in both folded and unfolded formats, the Flexpai innovates in a category that most company haven’t even properly set foot into!

02. Intermodality Desk by Attila Stromajer

Inspired by the prominent role and place of grand pianos in homes, the Intermodality desk is just as grand. With a design that follows the cues of the large instrument, the desk comes with a similar shape, size, and even features a large lid that opens sideways, like in a grand piano. Standing on three legs, like the musical instrument, the Intermodality desk is crafted from antiqued plywood, and features copper trimmings near the handles and at the base of the legs, adding a touch of finesse to the desk’s grand design.

03. Luminous Lighting + Sound System by Mohammad Hossein Namayandegi


A combination of light and sound, Luminous is a chandelier that also works as a speaker with 360° surround sound. The setup comprises a ring-shaped design with LEDs on the inside of the ring, casting an ambient glow across the room, while 20 audio drivers arranged around the outer part of the ring create a rich, immersive audio experience fitting for a grand ballroom or even a large living space.

04. Sidekick Notebook by Tan Mavitan

The Sidekick is quirky, but has logic to it. An A5 notebook looks small on your desk, but open it and it doubles in size, becoming an A4, and occupying precious real estate on your desk. The Sidekick has no such problem. Its unusual shape and diagonal spine allows it to open into an ‘L’ shaped notebook that can easily sit at the corner of your keyboard, or your mousepad, or even tablet. The notebook won’t serve well for sketching, but makes a good note-taking pad, offering both landscape and portrait writing areas. Take notes, make doodles, or probably even sketch on it if you can, the Sidekick is that one notebook you won’t buy and put away only because you’ll love keeping it on your table to occasionally take notes, and to perpetually show off.

05. Natede Air Purifier by Vincenzo Vitiello – Laboratori Fabrici

The Natede is a nifty planter/air-purifier hybrid that keeps the house green and the air clean! The core technology of Natede is phytoremediation, a NASA-developed technology that forces the air through the roots of the plant to amplify its natural purification power. Designed to work discreetly and with no need for external filters that need constant replacement, Natede conveniently purifies the air you breathe by getting the plant to absorb microorganisms, gases, and dust particles, while also adding a dash of fauna to your decor!

06. Tearista Automatic Tea Maker by Shilton Chong

The Tearista is a one-of-a-kind device that democratizes instant-tea-making the way the coffee-maker allowed households to automatically brew coffee every day. At the center of the Tearista (combination of Tea and Barista) is its kettle-and-brewer combo. The kettle or carafe holds the water in it, while a perforated brewer compartment holds the tea-leaves. A control panel at the base allows you to program the steep-time and water temperature, based on the leaves you’ve selected, and the machine does the rest. A mechanical arm descends the brewer into the kettle, immediately kickstarting the tea-brewing process. When the timer comes to an end, the brewer compartment ascends upwards, ending the brewing process and leaving you with a perfectly prepared vessel full of tea!

07. Quiett Induction Cooktop by Seokhyun Park and Dosun Shin

Quiett isn’t like most induction cooktops. While induction cooking is still relatively in its prime, Quiett takes it a step further, showcasing the future of culinary preparation. The Quiett uses wonderfully sleek induction modules that snap to one and other, conveying information to each other while also giving you the ability to lay your hob out in a format that fits your countertop. The cooking surfaces are slightly recessed, making sure your vessels don’t slip off the glossy glass surface easily, and Quiett’s most futuristic feature remains its screen, built into an area right beside one of the induction plates. The screen displays recipes, allowing you to cook and follow instructions at the same time, seamlessly taking you through the cooking process, and allowing you to create new dishes without breaking a sweat! I imagine the display could play videos too, helping cooks master new techniques and skills in the kitchen and create remarkably tasty food!

08. Supporting Umbrella by Li Purui

With a shape that looks like a splash of water and a yellow color that almost gives it the appearance of a mini-crown, the Supporting Umbrella solves two rather annoying problems with the umbrella experience. A. Stability, and B. Water dripping on the floor.
The Supporting Umbrella retrofits onto most umbrella designs with the spoke at the end. It gives your umbrella a cute crown when open in the rain, and when you’re done, lets you stand the umbrella vertically on its tip. When placed vertically upside down, the Supporting Umbrella attachment uses a small concavity to collect all the water that drips off your umbrella, so that you’re not left with a pool of water on the floor every time you try to dry your umbrella out.

09. Shiny Movie Ticket by Li Peitong

The Shiny Movie Ticket is the perfect example of a simple idea that’s so revolutionary that it just absolutely warrants recognition. Designed to eliminate the need for people to constantly shine a light on their ticket stub to see which seat they’re supposed to sit in, the Shiny Movie Ticket comes with perforated numbers that tell you your row as well as seat number. It’s so remarkably simple I can’t believe no one’s ever done something like this. While movie halls need to remain dark for the projection to look bright and vivid, the Shiny Movie Ticket allows you to easily see your row and seat number by simply holding the perforated ticket to the illuminated cinema screen. Sheer simplicity, absolute genius.

10. Shell Sofa by Natalia Komarova

With a voluminous yet hollow frame, the Shell sofa is instantly visible. It is, in a strictly physical sense, minimalist (because it’s mainly hollow), but visually, the Shell sofa is almost pillowy, spacious, and a treat to look at. The sofa is a frame that curves from the left to the back and to the right, with space in between for cushions, or even two side tables if you remove the cushions at the extreme ends. It’s visually imposing, but still manages to look light and airy, thanks to its wickerwork of metal rods. The interwoven rods also create this moire effect that creates a dynamic optical illusion, making the Shell sofa’s body incredibly interesting to look at… and while we’re on the subject of interesting, the sofa comes with two small openings at the beginning and end of its structure, making it perhaps the most entertaining play area for a domestic cat. Good luck getting it out though once it goes inside!

Click Here to Register for the A’ Design Award and Competition 2020! Deadline for registrations and submissions: 30th September 2019

Edgy Lighting Designs that address your lighting needs

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There are times we come across designs that make us smack our heads and say – why didn’t I think of that?! This switch light is one of those designs! Working perfectly as ambient light, the switch rocks upwards, downwards, and rests in a neutral position. While in neutral, the light stays off, but the minute you rock it either upwards or downwards, it turns into an ambient lamp, casting light in the direction it’s been angled. Each person’s lighting choices are chosen to bring them comfort and joy. So why shouldn’t we look out for a lighting solution that matches all our needs? In this collection, we have designs that are actually lights that hold plants to rocket-shaped lamps that need to be pushed down to launch their light. So whatever your needs, I’m sure we have a design that meets your lighting needs!

Switch ambient lamp by Pasque D. Mawalla. While in neutral, the light stays off, but the minute you rock it either upwards or downwards, it turns into an ambient lamp.

38 Copper lighting for plant lovers by Bocci features large spheres are blown with a multitude of interior cavities, some deep enough to hold earth for cacti and succulent.

The Light Shelf by Jong-su Kim.

Beautiful ‘Leaf’ pendant lights by Daniel Mato of Loomiosa.  

Japanese art collective TeamLab has used lighting to create a sea of spiraling whirlpools inside a Melbourne Art Museum.

Alpine APC 60 by Studio Endo. 

The Spaceship mood light by Hongseok Seo, Minkwan Seo & Jin D.

Geometrical woodspot lamp designed by Alessandro Zambelli.

Stunning chandeliers by Andreea Braescu with intricate porcelain leaves that are all individually handcrafted! 

Preciosa Lighting has installed a huge sculptural lighting feature based on the Arabic eight-pointed star inside the lobby of the Sheraton Dubai Mall of the Emirates Hotel.

The Curl by Sebastian Bergne. 

Brick Light by Paolo Rizzatto.

Raptor Lamp by udnDesign & Funcus