Tag Archives: Modular

Fairbuds XL Gen 2 Drivers Fit Gen 1 Headphones for a €100 Upgrade

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Most wireless headphones quietly become disposable. Batteries fade, cushions peel, and people replace the whole thing every few years instead of fixing what broke. Fairphone’s first Fairbuds XL were an outlier, modular and self-repairable with screws instead of glue. Gen 2 is the next step, not a clean break but a refinement that tries to make keeping and upgrading a pair of headphones feel as normal as replacing them.

Fairbuds XL Gen 2 are over-ear headphones that keep the same modular skeleton but add new 40-mm dynamic drivers, refined tuning, and updated materials. Fairphone claims 30 hours of listening, active noise cancelling with ambient mode, Bluetooth or USB-C wired listening, and two colorways, Forest Green and Horizon Black, which deepen the original palette into something a bit more mature and less obviously plastic.

Designer: Fairphone

The drivers are the most interesting change. Gen 2 ships with new 40-mm dynamic drivers and updated tuning for a more natural, detailed sound, but those drivers are also sold separately as modules. Owners of the 2023 Fairbuds XL can open their existing headphones with a screwdriver and slot in the new drivers, keeping everything else while upgrading the sound. That turns the Gen 2 launch into both a new product and a parts catalog.

The comfort story centers on materials. The headband now uses a breathable net fabric, and the ear cushions switch to a soft birdseye mesh, which improves comfort during long sessions. The IP54 rating handles dust and splash resistance, and the new material identity balances durability with a sleeker look. The switch from PU leather to mesh is practical for warm environments and long wear, without sacrificing the ability to take everything apart when it wears.

The modular design remains unchanged, with nine replaceable parts, including the battery, cushions, drivers, headband, and covers, all held together with screws and no glue. The battery is easily removable, the three-year warranty extends the standard two years, and the LONGTIME™ label certifies products designed for longevity and repairability. The goal is to keep components in use instead of sending whole headphones to the landfill when one piece fails.

Advanced noise cancelling with a switchable ambient mode, an upgraded Fairbuds app with new presets and customizable EQ, and Bluetooth with dual-point connectivity let you move between phone and laptop. You can also plug in over USB-C for battery-free listening. Gen 2 adds auto power-off after 30 minutes of inactivity with ANC off, saving battery and extending runtime per charge, which is a small but thoughtful improvement.

Most Gen 2 products pretend Gen 1 never happened. Fairbuds XL Gen 2 ships drivers that fit both, which means the launch doubles as a parts drop for anyone who bought the original two years ago. That feels unusual enough to notice, especially at €249 for a full headset or roughly €100 to just swap the drivers. Whether or not that changes anyone’s mind about buying repairable gear, it at least shows that upgrading can be designed in from the start instead of being treated as impossible or inconvenient.

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UltraBar X Replaces Your Stream Deck, Volume Knob, and Phone Apps

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Most desks accumulate a scattered collection of control devices over time. There’s the keyboard and mouse, maybe a Stream Deck for shortcuts, a volume knob for your speakers, a phone running smart home apps, and a separate remote for the desk lamp. Each solves a specific problem, but together they create a landscape of disconnected gadgets competing for space and attention. The monitor sits above it all, while everything underneath becomes a tangled mess of cables and redundant functions.

UltraBar X tries to consolidate that chaos into a single, modular strip that lives under your monitor. Built around a long, wedge-shaped bar with an ultra-wide display, it acts as a command center for your computer, applications, and even your smart home devices. Instead of a fixed product, it works more like a platform where you snap on magnetic modules to build the exact control surface your desk needs.

Designer: Team UltraBar

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The central piece is CoreBar, a low, seven-inch display wedge-shaped bar tilted at forty-five degrees so it’s easy to glance at without adjusting your posture. The screen shows clocks, system stats, app icons, and customizable scenes that change based on what you’re doing. Tap the screen to wake your PC, jump between apps, or trigger macros, all from a touch interface that sits right where your hands naturally rest.

What makes the system feel different is how the magnetic modules expand it. DotKey snaps onto the side and brings a cluster of Cherry MX mechanical keys for shortcuts and macros. KnobKey adds a precision rotary dial that clicks crisply as you turn it, perfect for adjusting volume, brush size, or timeline scrubbing. VivoCube is a tiny controller with its own AMOLED screen and switches, small enough to hold or dock alongside the bar.

Of course, there’s also SenseCube, the environmental sensing module. Inside its small triangular shell are millimeter-wave radar and sensors for light, temperature, humidity, and vibration. This gives your desk a kind of ambient awareness, letting it detect when you sit down, notice changes in lighting, or respond when the room gets too warm. The workspace starts to feel less static and more responsive without constant input.

A typical morning might look like this. You walk up to your desk and tap CoreBar to wake the PC, which also brings up a layout tuned for writing and email. The mechanical keys are mapped to window management shortcuts, while the knob handles scrolling through long documents. Later, a single press shifts CoreBar into a design layout, and pretty much the same modules now control brush size, zoom, and layers in Photoshop or Illustrator.

The system doesn’t stop at the screen. Through its network connection, CoreBar can talk to Philips Hue lights to adjust the room based on your focus mode, or trigger a Sonos playlist with a single tap on an icon. The same bar that manages your open apps can also dim the lights or change the soundtrack, turning your desktop into a bridge between your computer and the rest of your space.

What keeps the experience from feeling overwhelming is how the software handles it. CoreBar runs a custom system with an app store and a library of templates for different workflows. Programmers get layouts for terminal, debugging, and IDE shortcuts. Designers get knobs and keys for brushes and layers. Streamers get scene controls and quick mutes. These templates bundle icons, animations, and logic, so you can load a complete setup without building from scratch.

That said, the modular approach means the system can grow over time. You can start with just CoreBar and add modules as you figure out what you actually need, swapping them in and out as your workflow shifts. The QuantumLink magnetic protocol means modules snap on, get recognized instantly, and can be reconfigured in seconds without tools or menus.

UltraBar X is made for people who enjoy shaping their tools rather than accepting whatever default interface their operating system provides. It doesn’t replace your keyboard or mouse, but it gives the space under your monitor a clear job beyond collecting dust and cable clutter. For anyone tired of juggling separate devices or hunting through nested menus, a modular bar that can sense, adapt, and consolidate feels like a thoughtful step toward desks that work the way you do.

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This Modular Chair Transforms Into 3 Designs With One Sphere

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Remember when you were a kid and every toy was an invitation to build something new? Designers Sihun Lim and Hyeonggyun Han are bringing that same playful spirit to furniture with their PLA modular chair concept, and honestly, it’s the kind of design that makes you wonder why all furniture isn’t this fun.

The PLA project is built around a simple but brilliant idea: what if you could customize your chair the same way you’d snap together building blocks? At the heart of each design is a spherical connector module that acts like a universal joint, letting you attach different seat backs, legs, and structural elements to create wildly different chair styles. It’s furniture that refuses to be just one thing, and in our era of tiny apartments and ever-changing aesthetics, that flexibility feels genuinely exciting.

Designers: Sihun Lim, Hyeonggyun Han

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What really sets this concept apart is its unapologetic space theme. Lim and Han didn’t just create modular chairs; they created modular chairs inspired by the cosmos, and that choice transforms what could have been a purely functional exercise into something that sparks imagination. The three main designs (cleverly named O1-P, O2-A, and O3-L) each take inspiration from different space exploration imagery, turning everyday seating into conversation pieces.

The O3-L sunbed takes inspiration from satellites orbiting in space, complete with distinctive panels that evoke solar arrays. The design has this wonderful industrial edge to it, with metal connecting elements that create visual interest while serving the practical purpose of holding everything together. When viewed from above, it really does resemble a satellite, right down to the way the components radiate from that central spherical hub.

Then there’s the O2-A chair, which draws from Saturn’s iconic silhouette. When you look at it from the side, you can see how the designers translated those distinctive planetary rings into flexible curves that wrap around the central sphere. The result is a chair that feels both organic and architectural, with legs that flow in elegant arcs. It’s the kind of piece that would look equally at home in a sleek office or a retro-futuristic cafe.

The O1-P stool channels the moment a lunar rover touches down on the moon’s surface. The body of the rover becomes the seat, while the landing legs translate into the stool’s four individually configurable legs. It’s that perfect intersection of form following function and function following fantasy. You can practically imagine Neil Armstrong’s voice as you pull up a seat.

 

The color palette is another smart choice. Instead of playing it safe with neutrals, the designers went bold with electric blues, coral pinks, and eye-popping lime greens. These aren’t colors that fade into the background; they’re colors that announce themselves. Combined with the metallic silver pipes and connector elements, the chairs have this retro-futuristic vibe that feels fresh rather than dated. It’s very “The Jetsons meet contemporary Scandinavian design.”

Beyond the aesthetic appeal, there’s something genuinely progressive about the modular approach. We live in a world drowning in disposable furniture, where a wobbly chair leg often means the whole thing ends up in a landfill. With the PLA system, you could theoretically swap out broken parts, reconfigure your setup as your needs change, or completely transform your chair’s personality with new modules. It’s furniture that grows with you rather than becoming obsolete.

The designers describe PLA as embracing the concept of “Universe,” suggesting infinite possibilities for decorating and shaping according to imagination. That might sound a bit grandiose, but when you look at how the same central sphere can anchor completely different chair personalities, the metaphor tracks. It’s about giving users creative agency over their environment, letting them become co-creators rather than just consumers.

Of course, this is still a concept design, which means we can’t run out and buy one tomorrow. But that’s actually what makes projects like this so valuable. They push the conversation forward about what furniture could be, challenging both manufacturers and consumers to think beyond the static pieces we’ve accepted as normal. Whether or not the PLA system ever makes it to production, it’s already succeeding at its most important job: making us reimagine the everyday objects in our lives as canvases for creativity and play.

The post This Modular Chair Transforms Into 3 Designs With One Sphere first appeared on Yanko Design.

GaN Charger Lets You Swap Plugs, Stack Blocks, Pick Your Wattage

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GaN chargers have gotten smaller and more efficient over the years, but they still look like anonymous black or white bricks. Most people toss them in a bag and forget about them, and if you travel frequently, you end up carrying a separate adapter for different plug types. It’s functional but incredibly boring, and the whole category feels like it stopped trying once the engineers got the size and wattage right.

Bang Design’s LEGO-inspired GaN charger is an intern project that tries to make chargers fun and modular instead. The concept treats the charger as a colorful block system, with different cubes for different wattages and swappable plug modules for different countries. It’s patent-pending but still just a concept, though it looks polished enough that you could imagine buying a set off a shelf and arranging them on your desk like tiny toys.

Designer: Bang Design

Every module is a perfect cube or tall cuboid with sharp edges and flat faces that instantly read as building blocks. The 65 W version has a red top half, white bottom half, and large “65 W” printed on one side in light gray type. A subtle asterisk mark on the top hints at a LEGO stud without copying it directly. The rest of the family uses green, blue, yellow, and pastel beige blocks with the same bold geometry.

One green cube houses a sliding plug carriage with metal prongs that can be removed and replaced with different pin standards for US, Indian, or European outlets. A rectangular recess on one face holds the carriage, and gold contacts inside suggest a cartridge-style electrical connection. The plug becomes just another swappable piece of the system rather than something permanently wired to the charger, which is the whole point.

Different wattage blocks have different port configurations. The blue 30 W cube has one USB-C port, the yellow 120 W block has three outputs, and the beige version mixes USB-A and USB-C. Users could pick the block that matches their device or build a small family that shares the same plug module. The big printed wattage numbers make it easy to grab the right cube without squinting at tiny labels.

One cube plugs into the wall while the other blocks sit on the desk like small sculptures. The chargers stop being clutter to hide and start looking like a collection you might actually enjoy arranging. The LEGO reference makes the whole setup feel approachable and almost toy-like, especially compared to the usual tangle of anonymous black bricks and bulky travel adapters that most people carry around.

Turning this into a real product would mean solving serious issues around safety certifications, heat dissipation, and mechanical durability for those swappable parts. But the concept is still valuable because it shows how even a commodity accessory can carry personality and systems thinking. The LEGO-inspired GaN charger hints at a future where chargers are not just smaller and faster, but also more playful and easier to live with.

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Bene Just Built Office Furniture You Can Reconfigure Without Any Tools

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Offices keep buying furniture that looks permanent, which works fine until someone needs the room to do something different. A workshop space becomes a presentation area, a meeting room needs to turn into individual work zones, and nobody wants to wait three days for facilities to show up with screwdrivers. The furniture just sits there looking expensive and immovable while everyone works around it instead of with it.

PIXEL by Bene is designer Didi Lenz’s answer, and it looks almost suspiciously simple. Each piece is a 36 x 36 cm cube made from raw pine plywood with visible grain and knots all over the surface. Lenz says it isn’t really furniture, which makes sense when you see people stacking them into benches, flipping them into tables, or just using one as a side storage box with a handle cut into the side.

Designer: Didi Lenze (Bene)

The wood is completely untreated, so every cube looks slightly different depending on which part of the tree it came from. Some have dark knots near the corners, others show lighter grain patterns, and the plywood edges are exposed instead of hidden under veneer. It definitely reads as workshop material rather than corporate office product, which seems to be the whole point. You can see the screws holding the corners together.

The cubes stack easily because they’re all the same size, and the cutout handles on two sides let you carry them around or fold them over to connect boxes side by side. Add a white laminate top and a stack becomes a work table. Add casters to the bottom, and it rolls wherever you need it. PIXEL Rack adds metal frames that turn stacks into proper shelving or room dividers with slots for whiteboards and plants.

Bene shows photos of teams building entire project rooms by hand. Boxes stacked three high become benches for workshops, racks filled with boxes create semi-transparent walls between work zones, and tops laid across stacks turn into standing height tables. The setups look intentionally unfinished, like someone is still building them, which is probably the aesthetic Lenz wanted. Nothing looks bolted down or precious.

The system works because it assumes people will move things around themselves without asking permission. You need more seating for a presentation, so you grab some boxes from the storage wall and stack them into rows. The presentation ends, and those same boxes become side tables or go back to holding supplies. Heck, they can turn into a bar for an event if you add the right tops.

Raw plywood has obvious trade-offs. It’ll get dinged and stained over time, the surface isn’t smooth enough for detailed work, and the workshop look won’t suit every office brand. The fixed 36 cm dimension means everything is the same height whether you’re sitting, standing, or storing things, which can feel awkward. Some people will look at PIXEL and just see fancy storage crates, which isn’t entirely wrong.

But the system makes sense for spaces that need to change shape constantly. Co-working areas, design studios, classrooms, and pop-up shops can rebuild their layout between sessions without calling anyone. The wood looks honest and approachable instead of intimidating, and you don’t need instructions to figure out that boxes stack. PIXEL by Bene basically gives you building blocks that happen to be office furniture, or maybe it’s the other way around.

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Finally, a Lamp That Changes Shape as Often as Your Mood

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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.

Designer: Taehyeong Kim

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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.

The post Finally, a Lamp That Changes Shape as Often as Your Mood first appeared on Yanko Design.

SPOT ON Charger Makes Wireless Charging Feel Like a Bullseye

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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.

Designer: SEUNG-A-LEE

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.

The post SPOT ON Charger Makes Wireless Charging Feel Like a Bullseye first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Swedish Designer Just Turned Childhood Puzzles Into Furniture

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You know that satisfying click when two puzzle pieces finally snap together? Swedish designer Gustaf Westman has blown that feeling up to furniture-size with his latest creation, the Puzzle Shelf, and honestly, it’s the kind of playful design we didn’t know we needed.

If you’ve been following Westman on Instagram (and you really should be), you’ve probably already fallen for his signature aesthetic: chunky, glossy objects in candy-bright colors that somehow manage to feel both nostalgic and completely modern. Think rounded edges, inflated geometry, and a sense of humor that most furniture seriously lacks. The Puzzle Shelf fits right into this universe while marking something new for the designer. It’s his first venture into modular shelving, and it’s exactly as delightful as you’d expect.

Designer: Gustaf Westman

The concept is brilliantly simple. Westman took inspiration from, well, puzzles. Actual jigsaw puzzles. “I usually get inspired by the most random things, and in this case, puzzles,” he explains in a recent Instagram Reel. Each shelf unit features those familiar protruding tabs and recessed slots that slide and lock together without any visible hardware. No screws, no Allen keys, no confusing instruction manuals with cryptic diagrams. Just pure, friction-based satisfaction.

What makes the Puzzle Shelf so compelling is how it transforms something functional into something sculptural. These aren’t just storage units. They’re bone-shaped, oversized blocks that you can stack, rearrange, and play with to create whatever configuration your space needs. Want a tall tower of shelves? Go for it. Prefer something low and horizontal? That works too. The system is completely flexible, giving you the kind of creative control that makes arranging your space feel more like art than organization.

Westman’s design process is also pretty fascinating. Before committing to full-scale production, he tests everything through 3D printed miniatures that mirror the final product almost exactly. It’s a smart approach that lets him work out all the kinks while keeping that essential puzzle functionality intact. The result is a system that actually works the way it promises to, which in the world of trendy furniture, is refreshingly rare.

And can we talk about how these pieces look? The glossy finish and those signature candy hues make the Puzzle Shelf feel like an oversized toy that somehow grew up without losing its sense of fun. It’s the kind of design that makes you smile when you walk past it, which is exactly what good furniture should do. Plus, the generous spacing between levels means you actually have room for your books, plants, ceramics, or whatever else you want to display.

This latest piece comes on the heels of Westman’s collaboration with IKEA earlier this year, a 12-piece collection that brought his playful aesthetic to a wider audience. That partnership showed how his rounded forms and informal approach to design could translate across different price points and product types. The Puzzle Shelf feels like the next logical step, proving that Westman’s chunky universe has plenty of room to grow.

What’s refreshing about Westman’s work is that it never takes itself too seriously. There’s a lightness to his designs, a sense that furniture doesn’t have to be stuffy or precious. The Puzzle Shelf embodies this philosophy perfectly. It’s functional without being boring, sculptural without being impractical, and playful without being juvenile. It invites you to interact with it, to rearrange it, to make it your own. It isn’t trying to revolutionize how we think about storage. It’s just making the everyday act of organizing your stuff a little more joyful, a little more tactile, and a lot more fun. And isn’t that what good design should do?

The post This Swedish Designer Just Turned Childhood Puzzles Into Furniture first appeared on Yanko Design.

This 3D-Printed Modular Power Strip Is Made From Recycled Plastic

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Carefully curated desks always have one ugly secret hiding underneath them. Power strips are black plastic bricks with tangled cables, even in the most beautifully designed workspaces. You need the outlets and USB ports, but nobody wants to look at the usual tangle of cords and generic housings. The bFRIENDS Power Module treats power access as something that deserves the same design attention as pen cups and storage trays.

The bFRIENDS Power Module is a family of 3D-printed desk power hubs designed by Pearson Lloyd for Bene. It’s part of the broader bFRIENDS collection, which uses recycled bioplastic and additive manufacturing to create desk accessories. That same language now extends into sockets and USB chargers, turning a power strip into a small, modular object that sits proudly on the desk instead of hiding on the floor or under a cable tray.

Designer: Pearson Lloyd for bene

The basic form is a low, rounded tray with one or two ribbed cylinders that dock into it. The cylinders hold either a mains socket or a USB charger, while the tray doubles as a shallow organizer. Module S offers a single power point in a compact footprint. Module M adds one cylinder plus a shelf for pens and small items. Module L fits two cylinders and a wider storage area for more devices and desk clutter.

The modules are designed to be modular beyond their size. The cylinders can be specified with different country sockets or USB chargers, and the threaded sub-assembly simplifies swapping them out. Colour is also part of the system. The tray, cylinder body, and top insert can be mixed from the full bFRIENDS palette, so you can match brand colours, interior schemes, or other accessories instead of defaulting to anonymous black plastic.

The Power Module uses the same recycled bioplastic as the rest of bFRIENDS, sourced from food packaging waste diverted from landfill. Pieces are 3D-printed locally on demand, which eliminates injection-mould tooling and reduces warehousing and transport. That agile manufacturing approach makes it easier to offer many colour combinations and evolve the range without the usual constraints of mass production and minimum order quantities.

The combinations and uses are practically endless. For example, a Module M or L can rest against a fabric privacy panel, with the tray holding a phone and stationery while the cylinder powers a monitor or laptop. By bringing sockets and USB up onto the desk, the module makes plugging in less of a reach and turns cable management into part of the overall desk composition rather than an afterthought you hide under a grommet.

The bFRIENDS Power Module shows what happens when designers look at the boring parts of the office. By combining power, storage, recycled materials, and colour in a single object, it makes the everyday act of plugging in feel a bit more considered. It’s not trying to reinvent electricity, just the way it shows up on your desk, turning something functional into something you might actually want visible in your workspace.

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BALOLO Setup Cockpit: Wood Monitor Stand That Adapts to Your Work

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Most desks tell the same story. A monitor sitting too low, forcing you to hunch forward. A tangle of charging cables disappears behind the desk, where you’ll never find them again. Your phone wedged between the keyboard and a coffee cup, headphones draped over the back of your chair, and a growing pile of notebooks that never quite fit anywhere. It’s functional enough to get work done, but it’s also the kind of setup that makes you dread sitting down every morning.

The Setup Cockpit by BALOLO approaches this differently. Instead of adding more organizers that take up space or forcing you to commit to a fixed layout, it creates a foundation that adapts to however you work. The monitor stand itself is straightforward, a long walnut or oak shelf that raises screens to eye level while freeing up the desk underneath. What sets it apart is the patented mounting grid running along the bottom, a system of attachment points that lets you easily add accessories wherever they’re needed and rearrange them whenever your workflow changes.

Designer: Ruben Keferstein

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The first thing you notice when unpacking the Setup Cockpit is how solid it feels. The wood is real American walnut or oak, hand-finished in Germany with natural oils and waxes that bring out the grain. The feet, made from MDF wood, are sturdy enough to keep the whole thing stable, even with two large monitors perched on top. It’s the kind of build quality you’d expect from furniture that costs a few hundred dollars, not something marketed as a desk accessory.

Setting it up is refreshingly simple. Slide your monitors onto the shelf, adjust the monitor height if needed, and tuck your keyboard underneath in the 3.9 inches of clearance. That alone transforms how your desk feels, raising screens to eye level and opening up space you didn’t realize you were wasting. But the real shift happens when you start adding accessories from BALOLO’s modular ecosystem, which is where the mounting grid earns its keep.

A laptop riser is perfect for those days when you need a second screen. A MagSafe holder keeps your phone charged and visible for notifications without cluttering the surface. Cable magnets attach to the grid, holding charging cables in place so they don’t slip behind the desk every time you unplug something. Heck, there’s even a headphone holder that keeps your cans within reach instead of draped over your monitor or tangled in your bag.

The modularity is what makes this feel genuinely useful instead of just another piece of furniture you buy once and forget about. Your workflow changes depending on what you’re working on, and the Setup Cockpit keeps up. Whether you need a tablet holder for sketching or more space for your accessories, the BALOLO Setup Cockpit lets you customize your desk to suit your preference, while leaving you with the freedom to expand and change it at any time.

What’s surprising is how much this changes the rhythm of your workday. Starting with a cleared surface instead of a pile of cables and peripherals makes sitting down feel less overwhelming. Everything has a spot, and that spot can change if you decide you want your phone on the left instead of the right. It’s the kind of flexibility most desks never offer, where adding one thing means removing something else or living with clutter.

The materials help too. The walnut finish warms up spaces that lean too heavily on black plastic and aluminum, while the oak or black-stained oak options fit minimalist setups without feeling cold. The wood is sealed, so spills and wear won’t ruin the finish, and the whole thing is built to support up to 50 pounds without wobbling. That’s reassuring when you’re stacking ultrawide monitors and laptops on top of a shelf.

The Setup Cockpit doesn’t reinvent what a monitor stand can do so much as it refines every detail until nothing feels compromised. BALOLO’s approach combines German craftsmanship with modularity that actually makes sense, creating furniture that transforms your desk without forcing you to tear everything apart first. It’s designed to adapt as your work evolves, which is exactly what premium workspace solutions should have been doing all along.

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The post BALOLO Setup Cockpit: Wood Monitor Stand That Adapts to Your Work first appeared on Yanko Design.