We’ve all been there. You’re three hours into a study session, hunched over your desk with tabs multiplying like rabbits, your phone buzzing with notifications, and that nagging feeling that you’re not actually retaining anything. Digital learning promised us flexibility and endless resources, but sometimes it feels more like drowning in information while learning nothing at all.
A new concept design called Check Mate is tackling this exact problem, and it’s making waves in the design community for all the right reasons. Created by a team of seven designers (Dongkyun Kim, Jaeryeon Lee, Eojin Jeon, Noey, Jaeyeon Lee, Jagyeong Baek, and Jimin Yeo), this concept reimagines what a study companion could look like if we actually designed for how people learn in the digital age. While you can’t buy it yet, the ideas behind it are definitely worth paying attention to.
The name itself is clever. “Check Mate” borrows from chess, evoking that decisive moment of victory, but it’s also wonderfully literal. This concept envisions a device that genuinely acts as your learning mate, checking in on your progress and helping you actually achieve those goals instead of just feeling busy. The design language speaks to this dual nature with a clean, minimalist aesthetic in soft gray tones, punctuated by shots of energizing yellow that feel like highlighting the important bits in a textbook.
What makes this concept compelling is that the designers didn’t just jump to solutions. They actually did their homework (pun intended) by researching what digital learners need and where current methods fall short. Their field research identified some uncomfortable truths: digital learning can create passive attitudes, make us susceptible to misinformation, and ironically, despite all our access to information, contribute to declining literacy levels. We’re getting really good at searching and depending on AI, but are we actually learning?
The proposed device looks deceptively simple. At first glance, it’s an elegant desk lamp with an adjustable arm and a cylindrical head wrapped in fabric, giving it a softer, more approachable vibe than your typical tech gadget. But the concept goes deeper, packing some serious multitasking capabilities into that minimal form. The lamp head would rotate and adjust, there appears to be a projection or camera system integrated into the design, and the base doubles as a wireless charging pad. Those yellow accents aren’t just for looks either, they’re envisioned as tactile interaction points that make the technology feel more human and less intimidating.
Where Check Mate really shines as a concept is in how it reimagines the learning experience. The visualization shows it functioning as a projection device that could display educational content, video calls with instructors, or interactive annotations directly onto your workspace or wall. Imagine highlighting text on actual paper and having that integrate with your digital notes, or being able to project your screen large enough to actually see what you’re working on without squinting at a laptop.
The concept addresses one of digital learning’s biggest weaknesses: that narrow, passive relationship we have with our screens. By proposing a way to bring information into your physical space and allowing for more natural interaction, it suggests learning could feel less like staring into the void and more like an active, engaging process. You wouldn’t just be consuming content, you’d be working with it in a space that feels comfortable and personal.
The packaging design in the concept presentation deserves a mention too. Everything is shown organized in a beautifully designed kit with that signature yellow and gray color scheme. It’s the kind of unboxing experience that would make you feel like you’re opening something important, not just another gadget. There’s a psychological element to that. When something looks and feels intentional, we treat it more seriously. As a concept, Check Mate represents the kind of forward thinking we need more of in the education technology space. It pushes conversations forward about how we should be designing for learning, how technology could support rather than distract, and what the future of education might actually look like when we stop thinking about it as just “Zoom, but make it fancier.”
The reality is that digital learning isn’t going anywhere. Remote work, online courses, and hybrid education models are here to stay. So maybe concepts like Check Mate can inspire the tools we actually need, devices designed for this reality instead of just adapting what we already have. The best part? It suggests that the answer isn’t more screens or more apps, it’s smarter integration of digital and physical spaces, and technology that adapts to how we naturally learn rather than forcing us to adapt to it.
Multi-function bedside consolidation, including USB-C charger
Circadian-friendly lighting system
QuietMark certified for sleep
Simple maintenance with long filter life
CONS:
Single color temperature range might not fit some preferences
Premium price for small coverage area
RATINGS:
AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
EDITOR'S QUOTE:
The Blueair Mini Restful Sunrise Clock Air Purifier quietly merges clean air with gentle dawn into one compact, sleep-focused design object.
Nightstands have quietly become cluttered charging stations over the past decade, with phones serving as alarms, small purifiers humming in corners, and separate wake-up lights trying to undo the damage of jarring ringtones at six in the morning. Sleep has turned into a wellness habit people track and optimize, but the tools meant to support it often feel scattered and visually chaotic.
The Blueair Mini Restful() Sunrise Clock Air Purifier is a compact attempt to pull some of those tools into one object. It is a small bedside cylinder that cleans the air, glows like a sunrise to wake you gently, plays soft sounds, shows the time, and charges your phone, all while looking more like a design piece than some cold, drab piece of appliance. But does this striking appliance work as advertised? We put it beside our comfy bed to find out.
The Mini Restful is a short cylinder about eleven inches tall, wrapped in premium fabric with a smooth top disc. It looks closer to a smart speaker or a small bedside lamp than a traditional purifier, which makes it feel natural sitting on a nightstand. The proportions are deliberately compact and soft, with rounded edges and no visible vents.
Two color options are available: Coastal Beige and Midnight Blue. Coastal Beige has a light oatmeal fabric with a warm off white top, which reads well in rooms with light wood furniture and neutral bedding. Midnight Blue uses a deep navy fabric, making it comfortable in darker, moodier bedrooms with richer tones.
The top surface is where the aesthetic gets interesting. A circular user interface houses a dot matrix clock and touch controls, surrounded by a ring that glows when the wake-up light or mood lighting is active. When the sunrise alarm is running, the top looks like a tiny dawn, casting a warm halo onto the bedside table and wall.
It is much more pleasant than the blinking LEDs most appliances default to, and it doubles the device’s role as both a functional purifier and a kind of ambient light. The glow feels intentional, like a small lamp designed to support sleep rather than disrupt it, which is a significant shift from typical purifier status lights.
The fabric wrap is a key design choice. It softens the entire object and makes it read as part of the room’s soft furnishings rather than a hard plastic box. The textile has a fine woven texture that feels closer to upholstery than speaker mesh, and it helps the Mini Restful blend into spaces where you want calm rather than tech on display. The overall look avoids the glossy plastics and aggressive styling that make a lot of gadgets feel cheap or temporary.
Ergonomics
At around two and a half pounds out of the box, the Mini Restful is genuinely portable. You can pick it up with one hand and move it between rooms or reposition it without any strain. The small footprint, roughly six and a half inches in diameter, means it takes up about as much space as a medium-sized speaker or a chunky candle.
The cylindrical shape means you can place it close to the bed without worrying about sharp corners poking you if you brush against it in the dark. The air intake and outlet are all around the body, so it does not need a lot of clearance to work effectively, which is helpful in tight bedrooms or smaller apartments where every inch of surface area counts.
The top controls and clock are designed for quick, low-effort interaction. The dot matrix display is readable without being glaring, and the surrounding touch icons handle basic tasks like setting alarms, adjusting light brightness, and likely fan speed. You can do the essentials without grabbing your phone, which is helpful if you are trying to reduce screen time before bed.
Filter access is straightforward. The fabric sleeve slips off, and the inner filter is a wraparound design with a simple closure, so replacing it does not require tools or wrestling with complicated cartridges. This kind of maintenance design makes it more likely that people will actually change the filter when it is due rather than giving up and buying a new device.
Performance
Inside the cylinder is a HEPASilent filter system that pulls in air from around the base, traps fine particles like dust, pollen, and smoke, and pushes cleaner air back out. The filtration is sized for small spaces, specifically bedrooms up to around one hundred forty square feet, which aligns with typical master bedrooms or nurseries. It is meant to clean the zone where you actually sleep.
The idea of a fresh air dome around the bed is central to how Blueair frames this product. Placing the Mini Restful on a nightstand or dresser top helps keep the immediate breathing zone cleaner, which can be especially helpful for people who deal with nighttime congestion, seasonal allergies, or asthma. The device cycles the air in a small bedroom multiple times per hour.
Noise performance is critical for a sleep device, and the Mini Restful is designed to be quiet. On its lowest settings, it is softer than most fans, more like a gentle whoosh than a mechanical hum. Higher speeds are audibly stronger when the device is working harder to clear the air, but the ability to drop back into whisper-quiet operation at night keeps it compatible with light sleepers.
The QuietMark certification adds third-party validation that the noise level is genuinely sleep-friendly, tested and approved by independent acoustic consultants. This matters because many purifiers claim to be quiet but still produce enough mechanical sound to disturb rest, while the Mini Restful can fade into the background entirely on low settings.
The wake-up light is where the Mini Restful starts to feel different from a standard purifier. You can set a time in the Blueair app, and then, in the fifteen to thirty minutes leading up to that time, the top light slowly brightens from a very dim glow to a warm, room-filling light. The color temperature stays in the warm range, mimicking the quality of a natural sunrise.
This gradual brightening is designed to help your body wake up more naturally than a sudden alarm. The light acts as a cue that morning is approaching, which can make the transition from sleep to wakefulness feel gentler and less abrupt, especially during darker winter months when natural light comes late or not at all.
If you want more than light, you can add sound. The app includes a library of gentle wake-up tones and nature sounds, and you can choose one to start playing after the light has reached full brightness. The combination of light and sound is meant to guide you from deep sleep to wakefulness in a calmer way than a phone alarm blaring suddenly at full volume.
The same light that wakes you up can also help you wind down. In the evening, you can set the top to a very low amber glow as a night light or turn it up to a comfortable reading level, all in warm color temperatures that are gentler on melatonin production than bright white overhead lights or blue light-heavy phone screens.
The ability to adjust brightness on the device or in the app means it can match different routines, whether you are reading before bed or just want a soft ambient glow while you settle in. This dual role, supporting both wind down and wake up, makes the light feel integrated into the full sleep cycle rather than just a morning feature.
The Blueair app lets you fine-tune alarm times, choose how long the sunrise light takes to reach full brightness, select wake-up sounds, and create schedules so the device behaves differently on weekdays and weekends. The app also shows air quality and lets you adjust fan speed remotely, though most people will set a preference once. For people who like to see what is happening, the data is there, but the device does not force you into constant app interaction.
The integrated USB-C charging port on the back is a small but practical touch. It lets you plug in a phone or wearable directly into the Mini Restful, reducing the number of separate chargers and cables cluttering the nightstand. For people who currently use their phone as an alarm, this makes it easier to transition to the Mini Restful without losing charging convenience.
Sustainability
The Mini Restful uses a filter designed to last many months before needing replacement, which reduces how often you need to buy and discard new filters compared to some smaller purifiers with shorter lifecycles. The wraparound filter design with simple closure encourages full use of the filter’s lifespan and makes replacement straightforward, supporting longer ownership.
The device is relatively low power and Energy Star certified, which matters for something that might run many hours every day. At its lowest settings, the energy draw is modest, and even at higher speeds, it stays well within the range of efficient bedside appliances. Blueair, as a brand, positions itself with higher environmental standards as a Certified B Corp.
Value
The Mini Restful costs more than a basic purifier or a simple alarm clock. But that price starts to make sense when you consider the roles it plays at once: purifier, sunrise light, sound machine, clock, and phone charger, all in a single compact object designed for the nightstand. If you were to buy those devices separately, you would likely spend a similar amount while ending up with more clutter. The Mini Restful consolidates that into one cylinder that is easy to set up, easy to maintain, and designed to look intentional rather than accidental.
Space and visual calm are real forms of value, especially in small bedrooms or apartments where every object on a nightstand matters. Having one well-designed cylinder instead of multiple mismatched gadgets reduces the sense of clutter and makes the room feel more deliberate. For design-conscious consumers, that reduction in visual noise is worth something tangible, not just aesthetic preference alone.
The sleep focus is also part of the value story. For people who are already treating sleep as a wellness habit, investing in better mattresses, bedding, or blackout curtains, and adding a device that supports circadian rhythms and keeps the breathing zone cleaner is a logical next step. The fact that it is optimized for bedrooms makes it feel like a targeted tool.
The Mini Restful makes the most sense for people who care about both design and sleep quality, who want their nightstand to feel calm rather than cluttered, and who appreciate when technology quietly supports routines instead of dominating them. For users trying to break phone dependence at bedtime, or parents setting up nurseries, or anyone in a small space, it fits naturally.
Verdict
The Blueair Mini Restful Sunrise Clock Air Purifier is a compact, carefully designed object that manages to be a purifier, a sunrise light, a sound machine, and a clock without looking or feeling like four gadgets taped together. It blends into bedrooms with the kind of visual ease that makes you forget it is technology, and the combination of quiet air cleaning, warm light, and gentle sounds makes it feel integrated into sleep rituals.
As sleep continues to be treated as a key part of wellness, devices that treat air, light, and sound as one integrated experience will likely become more common. For homeowners who want their bedroom tech to be as considered as their furniture and as gentle as their nighttime routine, the Mini Restful feels like a thoughtful step in that direction, turning the nightstand into a quieter, calmer place where everything works together.
There’s something almost magical about watching a peacock unfurl its tail feathers. That moment of transformation, when something compact suddenly explodes into an elaborate fan of color and pattern, never gets old. Dutch designer Jelmer Nijp must have felt the same way because he decided to bottle that exact feeling into a lamp, and the result is nothing short of captivating.
Meet Pavo, a lighting design that’s part industrial fixture, part nature-inspired sculpture. The name itself is a nod to its inspiration. Pavo means peacock in Spanish (and Latin, for that matter), and once you see it in action, you’ll understand why Nijp couldn’t have called it anything else. This isn’t your typical table lamp that just sits there looking pretty. Pavo actually moves, transforms, and reveals itself in a way that makes you stop and stare.
The design is deceptively simple at first glance. When closed, Pavo looks like a sleek metal tube, the kind of minimalist object that wouldn’t look out of place in a modern apartment or design studio. But here’s where it gets interesting. That tube retracts, and as it does, a pleated shade unfurls like a fan, spreading outward in a graceful, almost organic motion. Light radiates from the center of this fan, creating a soft glow that highlights the geometric pleats and folds of the shade. It’s the kind of moment that makes you want to show everyone in the room, “Look at this! Did you see that?”
What makes Pavo special is how it bridges two worlds that don’t always play well together. On one hand, you’ve got this very industrial aesthetic with clean metal lines and mechanical movement. On the other, there’s this undeniable connection to nature, to the beauty and drama of a peacock’s display. Nijp manages to merge these seemingly opposite ideas into something that feels both sleek and alive, modern yet timeless.
The movement itself deserves special attention because it’s not just a gimmick. The way the shade unfolds is smooth and deliberate, mimicking the natural grace of an actual peacock. It’s unexpected in the best possible way. You don’t often encounter furniture or lighting that has this kind of kinetic quality, especially not executed with such elegance. This is design that understands the power of transformation and uses it to create a genuine emotional response.
Nijp is a 2025 graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven, one of those prestigious schools that consistently churns out designers who aren’t afraid to experiment and push boundaries. His approach is hands-on and experimental, using the process of making itself as a way to explore materials and forms. You can see that philosophy at work in Pavo. This isn’t a lamp that was designed purely on a computer and then manufactured. It has the feel of something that was worked out through trial and error, through actually building and testing until the mechanics and aesthetics came together just right.
The lamp was showcased at Dutch Design Week 2025, where it attracted plenty of attention among a sea of innovative projects. And it’s easy to see why. In a design landscape that often leans heavily into either pure functionality or pure aesthetics, Pavo manages to be both functional and beautiful while also being genuinely delightful. It’s a light source, yes, but it’s also a conversation piece, a kinetic sculpture, and a little moment of wonder in your living space.
What Pavo represents is a growing trend in contemporary design where the line between art and utility becomes increasingly blurred. Designers like Nijp are asking why everyday objects can’t be more engaging, more interactive, more memorable. Why should a lamp just be a lamp when it could also be an experience? There’s something refreshing about a piece that demands your attention, that makes you think differently about what design can be. Pavo is a reminder that good design doesn’t have to choose between form and function, between nature and industry, between stillness and movement. Sometimes, the best design happens when you bring all these elements together and let them play off each other in unexpected ways.
There’s something deeply satisfying about watching trash transform into treasure, especially when the result is as stunning as Luminous Re-weave. Created by designers Ling Sha and Yucheng Tang, this lighting system takes the textiles we typically toss without a second thought (think old T-shirts, worn denim, even plastic bags) and reimagines them as soft, glowing sculptures that wouldn’t look out of place in a gallery or a design-forward living room.
At first glance, these lamps appear almost impossibly delicate. Strips of fabric hang like fringes around drum-shaped modules, creating a textured exterior that filters light into something warm and inviting. But look closer and you’ll notice the clever engineering at play. Each module starts with a metal frame fitted with a 3D printed cover, which becomes the base for hand-weaving reclaimed fabrics. The result is a lighting element that feels both handcrafted and high-tech, a sweet spot that’s increasingly rare in contemporary design.
Designers: Ling Sha and Yucheng Tang
What makes Luminous Re-weave particularly interesting is its modular nature. These aren’t your standard one-size-fits-all lamps. Each cylindrical unit can stand alone as a compact light source or stack with others to create sculptural columns of varying heights. You could start with a single module on your desk and gradually build upward into a floor lamp, or arrange several short ones across a shelf for ambient lighting. The system is entirely tool-free, which means reconfiguring your setup is as simple as stacking blocks (only infinitely more stylish).
The real genius lies in the swappable textile skins. We live in a world where we’re constantly encouraged to buy new things. So having a lamp that evolves with you is refreshingly practical. Don’t like the blue denim vibe anymore? Unwrap it and try the earthy brown tones instead. Want to match a new color scheme? Swap out the textiles. This approach not only extends the lifespan of the product but also gives users creative control over their environment. It’s the kind of thoughtful design that acknowledges people change, tastes evolve, and objects should be able to keep up.
Beyond aesthetics, there’s a compelling sustainability angle here. The fashion and textile industries are notorious waste producers, with millions of tons of fabric ending up in landfills annually. By intercepting these materials before they become trash and giving them a second life as functional art, Ling Sha and Yucheng Tang are participating in what’s known as circular design, where materials loop back into use rather than following a linear path to disposal. It’s a small gesture on the individual scale but represents a mindset shift that could influence how we think about materials more broadly.
The marriage of hand-weaving and digital fabrication in Luminous Re-weave also speaks to a larger trend in contemporary design. We’re moving past the false dichotomy of craft versus technology, recognizing instead that these approaches can complement each other beautifully. The 3D printed components provide structure and consistency, while the hand-wrapped textiles introduce variation and human touch. No two modules will look exactly alike because the reclaimed fabrics bring their own histories, wear patterns, and imperfections to the table.
Looking at the images of these lamps glowing in soft beiges, rich reds, deep blues, and faded denims, it’s easy to imagine them fitting into various contexts. They could anchor a minimalist space with their sculptural presence or blend into a maximalist room as one interesting element among many. They speak to both the person who obsesses over sustainable practices and the one who simply appreciates well-executed design.
There’s something about lighting that can completely transform a space, isn’t there? You walk into a room with harsh overhead fluorescents and immediately feel different than when you step into a warmly lit corner with just the right glow. But here’s the thing: most lamps are stuck being one thing forever. That sleek floor lamp you bought? It looks great, sure, but what happens when you rearrange your furniture or want to read in bed instead of on the couch?
Enter MOODI, a modular stand lamp designed by Taehyeong Kim that’s challenging everything we thought we knew about lighting. Instead of being locked into one configuration, MOODI is basically the LEGO set of lamps. You can snap together different components, swap out parts, adjust heights and angles, and completely reconfigure the whole thing whenever your space (or mood) changes.
The design takes inspiration from telescopic mechanical structures, and honestly, it shows. Those exposed joints and metal textures give it this industrial, almost mechanical aesthetic that feels refreshingly honest. Nothing’s hidden away or disguised. You can see exactly how the lamp works, which joints pivot, how the pieces connect. It’s functional beauty at its finest.
What makes MOODI particularly clever is how it addresses something many of us don’t even realize we’re missing. Kim’s philosophy centers on the idea that our homes aren’t just places to crash at the end of the day anymore. For millennials and Gen-Z especially, our spaces have become extensions of our personalities, stages where we live out our daily narratives. We’re curating our environments the same way we curate our Instagram feeds, and lighting plays a massive role in setting those scenes.
The modularity goes way beyond just being able to tilt the lamp head up or down. You can actually build different types of lights from the same set of components. Need a tall floor lamp for your living room? Done. Want a compact desk light for focused work? Rearrange a few modules. Heading out for a camping trip? Reconfigure it into a flashlight. It’s wild how versatile the system becomes once you start thinking about all the possibilities.
The lamp comes in three elegant finishes: white, black, and a warm beige tone that adds just a touch of softness to the industrial vibe. Each version maintains those signature exposed joints and clean lines, but the color options let you match it to your existing decor or create intentional contrast.
What really resonates about MOODI is how it puts control back in your hands. We’re so used to products dictating how we use them, but this flips that relationship. You’re not adapting your life to fit the lamp; the lamp adapts to fit your life. Morning coffee at the kitchen table? Adjust it for soft ambient light. Late-night reading session? Reconfigure for focused task lighting. Video call with friends? Move it to create that perfect ring-light effect.
There’s also something refreshingly sustainable about the approach. Instead of buying multiple specialized lights for different purposes (and contributing to more waste), you invest in one versatile system that grows and changes with you. When you move apartments, redecorate, or just feel like mixing things up, MOODI moves right along with you. The design manages to walk that tricky line between being statement-worthy and genuinely functional. It’s sculptural enough to be interesting, but never so precious that you’re afraid to actually use it. Those mechanical joints beg to be adjusted and played with, turning the simple act of repositioning a light into something tactile and satisfying.
Wireless chargers have become common, but most are anonymous black discs that disappear into the desk. They do the job, but rarely feel personal or satisfying to use beyond the first week you own them. SPOT ON is a concept that tries to make charging feel more deliberate and expressive, combining a magnetic pad with a small lamp so the whole interaction has a bit more presence on your nightstand or desk.
SPOT ON is a wireless charger and ambient lamp concept designed around a bow-and-target motif. The charging pad is a circular target that snaps magnetically to the front of a tilted cylindrical lamp body. You can dock the pad to use it as a stand charger, or pull it off and lay it flat as a separate wireless pad while the lamp continues to glow in the background.
Inside the pad is a magnet that aligns the phone with the charging coil, so when you bring your device close, it snaps into place with a satisfying click. The designer explicitly likens this to hitting the target, turning the usual hunt for the right charging spot into a more playful, bullseye moment. The subtle cross mark on the pad reinforces that visual cue every time you place your phone.
The lamp body is a tilted cylinder with vertical grooves, mounted on a simple rectangular base. When lit, the ribbed surface diffuses a warm, gentle glow, more mood light than task lamp. It’s the kind of object that can sit on a bedside table or shelf without screaming tech, giving you a bit of atmosphere while your phone charges upright in front of it.
Because the pad attaches magnetically, it can be pulled off in one motion and used as a flat wireless charger anywhere on the desk or nightstand. The lamp stays behind as a standalone light. That separation lets users adapt SPOT ON to different environments and habits, whether they prefer a stand for video calls or a low pad for casual overnight charging without the upright position.
SPOT ON comes in soft, desaturated tones like warm beige, blush pink, and muted teal, each with a matching pad. The palette leans more toward interior decor than gadgetry, making it easier to blend into different rooms. The combination of simple geometry, gentle colors, and the bow-and-target metaphor gives the charger a character that feels more like a small object you chose than a piece of infrastructure you tolerate.
SPOT ON is a reminder that even something as mundane as charging a phone can be turned into a small ritual. By adding a magnetic snap, a bit of ambient light, and a form that shifts between stand and pad, it nudges the interaction from purely functional to quietly satisfying. For anyone tired of generic charging pucks, this kind of concept hints at a more thoughtful future for everyday tech.
There’s something quietly radical happening when designers stop thinking about furniture as rigid, finished objects and start treating them like organisms that could have grown from the ocean floor. That’s exactly what YET FAB has done with their Alherd Collection, a series of lamps that look less like traditional lighting and more like glowing coral formations pulled from some computational reef.
Founded by Ilya Kotler, Anastasiya Kotler, and Rael Kaymer, YET FAB sits at that fascinating intersection where material science meets algorithmic design. The Alherd lamps are all born from the same generative system, inspired by how coral grows and how water erodes stone over centuries. The result is a porous, cellular texture that doesn’t just hold light but transforms it into something softer, more atmospheric, more alive.
Designer: YET FAB
What makes this collection especially interesting is how it scales. Rather than designing three separate products, YET FAB created one visual language that works whether you’re holding a compact table lamp or standing next to a 130 cm floor sculpture. It’s a smart approach that gives the collection a cohesive identity while offering real flexibility for different spaces and needs.
The table lamp is the quiet overachiever of the trio. Small enough to live comfortably on a desk or nightstand, it has this sculptural presence that works even when it’s switched off. But here’s where it gets clever: inside that organic, textured shell is a customizable filter system. You can swap out internal filters to shift the mood completely, moving from warm amber to soft white to deep red without changing how the lamp looks externally. It’s like having multiple lamps in one body, ready to adapt to whether you’re working late, hosting friends, or just need something moody for a quiet evening.
That adaptability matters more than it might seem at first. We’re living in smaller spaces with less room for single-purpose objects, and lighting plays a huge role in how a room feels. A lamp that can shift its emotional register without demanding more square footage? That’s genuinely useful design thinking wrapped in a beautiful package.
Then there’s the floor lamp, which takes everything up several notches in scale and presence. Standing at 130 cm, this piece becomes a vertical sculpture that anchors a room rather than just illuminating it. It’s made from recyclable plastic using a custom 3D printing process, which means each one is fabricated to order. The sustainability angle isn’t just marketing speak here; it’s baked into how these lamps are actually made.
You can choose between fully transparent or a sunset gradient finish, each offering a different vibe. Both versions use internal LED tubes that make the entire porous surface glow from within, creating this soft halo effect that feels more like ambient sculpture than functional lighting. It’s the kind of piece that makes you rethink what a floor lamp can be.
The pendant version brings that same organic aesthetic overhead. Suspended by two minimal cables, it floats above dining tables or work surfaces with an elongated form that breaks away from the typical linear pendant design. There’s something almost weightless about how it hangs there, despite having such a strong visual presence. Like its siblings, it comes in transparent or sunset gradient finishes and uses that same coral-inspired, porous surface to diffuse light gently across whatever space it occupies.
What ties all three pieces together isn’t just their shared aesthetic DNA but the philosophy behind them. YET FAB is researching how computational design can create forms that reference natural systems without mimicking them directly. These aren’t literal recreations of coral; they’re interpretations of how natural structures grow, adapt, and interact with light. It’s biomimicry filtered through algorithms and fabricated with contemporary technology.
Every lamp in the Alherd series is made to order and can be customized in color on request, which adds another layer of personalization to an already thoughtful collection. In a world drowning in mass-produced lighting that all looks vaguely the same, there’s something refreshing about objects that feel computationally precise yet organically imperfect, sustainable yet sculptural, functional yet deeply atmospheric. These aren’t just lamps. They’re experiments in how we might live with light differently.
There’s something almost magical about watching a candle melt, the way solid wax transforms into liquid and back again. Copenhagen-based studio Daydreaming Objects has taken that transformative quality and turned it into something completely unexpected: sculptural light towers that feel like they’re alive.
Their project, Soft Solids, recently won the Seoul Design Award 2025, and once you see these pieces, you’ll understand why. These aren’t your typical lamps. They’re modular sculptures that stack like organic totems, built from specially developed natural wax blends and vintage lighting hardware salvaged from mid-20th-century fixtures across Sweden, Italy, and former Czechoslovakia.
The beauty of this project lies in its contradiction. Wax feels temporary, fragile even. We think of it dripping down birthday candles or melting in the sun. But Daydreaming Objects has figured out how to make it durable, heat-resistant, and strong enough to serve as functional lighting. They’ve developed a blend using soy wax and stearin, a vegetable or animal fat derivative that’s far more sustainable than petroleum-based paraffin. The result is a material that can be endlessly recycled, melted down and recast into new forms without losing its integrity.
What makes Soft Solids particularly clever is its modularity. The Stem light sculpture, one of the standout pieces in the collection, consists of cylindrical wax units that stack vertically. You can add or remove sections, adjusting the height and composition to fit your space or mood. It’s like playing with blocks, except these blocks glow. By day, they stand as quiet, solid forms with a minimalist presence. By night, LED lights transform them into luminous columns that diffuse warmth throughout a room.
The design philosophy here draws heavily from nature. The biomorphic shapes echo patterns of growth and regeneration you’d find in plants or geological formations. The color palette reinforces this connection: off-white, soft blue, and muted green hues that evoke natural landscapes rather than synthetic spaces. Each piece receives a protective natural layer that increases strength and heat resistance while ensuring the LED light diffuses evenly through the wax.
But there’s also an element of nostalgia woven into these contemporary pieces. The vintage hardware, those metal and glass components from decades past, gives each light sculpture a sense of history. It’s not just about sustainability through using renewable materials but also about extending the life of objects that already exist. Instead of letting old lamp parts gather dust in storage or end up in landfills, Daydreaming Objects pairs them with something entirely new, creating a conversation between past and present.
The process itself is surprisingly high-tech for such an organic-feeling result. The designers use computer software and 3D printing technology to create prototypes and silicone negatives for casting the molten wax. Each shade is specifically designed to match its vintage base, ensuring both aesthetic harmony and functional compatibility. It’s a fascinating blend of digital precision and handcrafted sensibility.
What’s particularly relevant right now is how this project addresses our growing awareness of material waste and circular design. Wax is infinitely recyclable. If a piece breaks or you simply want to change it, you can melt it down and start over. This circular approach to lighting design feels refreshingly honest in a world drowning in disposable products. For anyone interested in where design is heading, Soft Solids offers a compelling glimpse. It proves that sustainable materials don’t have to look earnest or utilitarian. They can be poetic, playful, and deeply beautiful. The project challenges our assumptions about what’s permanent and what’s temporary, what’s precious and what’s everyday.
Daydreaming Objects has essentially created a new design language where transformation isn’t a bug but a feature. The very impermanence of wax becomes its strength, allowing for endless reimagining. These light sculptures don’t just illuminate rooms; they illuminate a path forward for thoughtful, regenerative design that respects both history and the future.
Picture this: a lamp that literally grows before your eyes, expanding and glowing brighter as you pump air into it like you’re inflating a bicycle tire. It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but it’s very real, and it’s called Blow. Designer Jung Kiryeon has created something that makes you rethink what a lamp can be, and honestly, it’s kind of mesmerizing.
The Blow lighting series isn’t your typical flip-a-switch-and-forget-it situation. Instead, these interactive lamps require you to physically engage with them using a hand pump. As you pump air into the structure, the lamp inflates and the light gets brighter. The more pressure you add, the more the lamp expands, creating this beautiful visual transformation right in front of you. It’s functional art that responds to your actions in real time.
Aside from just the cool factor of an inflating lamp, the design actually has a deeper meaning. Jung Kiryeon designed Blow as an exploration of anxiety, specifically the kind that builds up when you’re navigating unfamiliar territory or dealing with negative feedback loops. Instead of treating these uncomfortable feelings as something to push away, the designer examined how they progress and found a way to express them through light, volume, and material.
The result is a lamp that actually embodies emotional tension. Think about it: when you’re anxious, that feeling builds and expands inside you. With Blow, you’re literally pumping pressure into a structure, watching it swell and brighten. It’s a physical manifestation of an internal state, transforming something invisible and abstract into something you can see, touch, and control. There’s something oddly satisfying about externalizing that feeling, making it tangible.
The series includes two pieces, Blow 01 and Blow 02, and each one only comes alive through user interaction. You’re not just passively consuming light; you’re actively participating in creating it. This shifts the relationship between person and object from passive to collaborative. The lamp needs you, and in a weird way, you might need it too, especially if you’re looking for a tactile way to process stress or tension.
From a design perspective, Blow sits at this fascinating intersection of product design, emotional wellness, and interactive art. It challenges our expectations about how everyday objects should behave. Most lighting is static: you turn it on, it provides light, end of story. But what if your lamp could be a ritual, a moment of mindfulness, or even a form of stress relief? What if the act of turning on a light could be meditative rather than automatic?
The materials and mechanics behind Blow are also intriguing. The inflatable structure likely uses flexible, durable materials that can withstand repeated expansion and contraction. The integration of lighting with air pressure mechanics requires careful engineering to ensure the light intensifies as the form expands. It’s a technical achievement wrapped in conceptual design. And let’s talk about aesthetics. There’s something undeniably captivating about watching an object transform. The visual language of expansion, the way light diffuses through the inflated material, the organic shapes that emerge as air fills the structure… it all creates a dynamic viewing experience. It’s the kind of thing that would absolutely become a conversation starter in any space.
Blow also taps into our growing interest in experiential design. We’re living in an era where people value experiences and interactions, not just static possessions. This lamp offers both utility and experience. It’s not just about illumination; it’s about the journey of creating that light, the physical effort, the visual reward. Jung Kiryeon’s work reminds us that design can be more than problem-solving or aesthetics. It can be a language for expressing complex emotional states, a way to make the invisible visible. In our increasingly digital world, where so much of what we experience is intangible, there’s something refreshing about a physical object that demands your participation and responds to your input in such an immediate, visceral way.
You know that weird thing we do with tech products? We buy them, we use them every day, but then we kind of hide them. Tuck the speaker behind the plant. Stash the lamp in the corner. As if apologizing for needing functional things in our homes. IKEA’s new collaboration with Swedish designer Tekla Evelina Severin (known as Teklan) is here to flip that script entirely.
The Teklan collection, which launches globally this December, is all about making your speakers and lamps the main character instead of background extras. We’re talking bold patterns, nostalgic color combos, and shapes that look like they wandered out of a really cool vintage store and somehow learned to play your Spotify playlist.
At the heart of the collection is the SOLSKYDD family, a trio of round Bluetooth speakers that refuse to be boring. The smallest is an 8-inch portable speaker in orange with a pattern that practically demands attention. The medium version comes in green with brown and beige diagonal stripes that feel very 70s but in the best possible way. And the largest? An 18-inch wall-mounted beast in textured orange that can even connect to a screen. These aren’t speakers that blend in. They’re conversation starters that happen to have excellent acoustics, designed by Ola Wihlborg to balance form with serious sound quality.
Then there’s the KULGLASS lamp speakers, which might be my favorite thing about this entire launch. Teklan designed them to look like soft-serve ice cream, because why shouldn’t your tech look like dessert? They come in mint green and a red-brown with pink combo, and they work as both lamps and Bluetooth speakers. The built-in volume knob is a nice tactile touch in a world where everything is controlled by tapping a screen.
What makes this collaboration feel special isn’t just the aesthetic, though the colors are definitely doing the heavy lifting. It’s the intention behind it. Teklan literally went to her grandparents’ house to match the exact shade of mint green to an old bar of soap from her childhood memories. That level of personal storytelling in product design is rare, especially for mass-market furniture retailers.
“We wanted to bring that softness and friendliness into technology, to help people see home electronics differently and invite more colour into their everyday spaces,” Teklan explained. And honestly, mission accomplished. These products feel warm and approachable in a way that most tech doesn’t. While the insides are packed with all the technical complexity you’d want from quality speakers, the outsides feel almost playful.
The collection also includes a refresh of IKEA’s cult-favorite VAPPEBY speaker, now decked out in Teklan’s signature colors, plus a whole range of braided charging cables called SITTBRUNN, RUNDHULT, and LILLHULT that are inspired by climbing ropes. Even your charging cables get to have personality now.
All the speakers can connect to each other and other compatible IKEA Bluetooth speakers for multi-speaker mode, and they support Spotify Tap, so you can seamlessly continue whatever you were listening to. The SOLSKYDD also comes in a plain white version if you’re not quite ready to commit to orange geometric patterns (though I’d argue that’s missing the point). Price-wise, we’re still solidly in IKEA territory. The portable SOLSKYDD starts at $80, the medium at $100, and the largest at $140. The KULGLASS lamp speakers are $130. Not cheap for IKEA, but reasonable when you consider you’re getting both form and function wrapped in genuinely unique design.
This collaboration represents something bigger than just pretty speakers. It’s part of a shift in how we think about the stuff that makes our homes work. After years of minimalism telling us to hide everything, make it all white, keep it neutral, there’s this growing appetite for objects with personality. Things that reflect who we are, what we love, the colors that make us happy.
IKEA has been experimenting with this more expressive approach since ending its partnership with Sonos earlier this year. The Teklan collection feels like a confident step into that space, proving that affordable design doesn’t have to mean boring design. The collection starts rolling out in December, with specific dates varying by market, so check with your local IKEA for availability. And maybe start thinking about where you want to display, not hide, your next speaker.
) Sunrise Clock Air Purifier is a compact attempt to pull some of those tools into one object. It is a small bedside cylinder that cleans the air, glows like a sunrise to wake you gently, plays soft sounds, shows the time, and charges your phone, all while looking more like a design piece than some cold, drab piece of appliance. But does this striking appliance work as advertised? We put it beside our comfy bed to find out.
