Flek Pure is a translucent terrazzo-like panel made from 100% recycled materials

Although many people know about the benefits of using products made from recycled materials, few actively seek them out. The only times they do buy something that uses recycled materials is when it’s actually part of a bigger whole, and they have no choice on the matter. There are many presumptions and misconceptions about the quality of recycled products, which may have been true decades ago. Fortunately, designers, science, and technologies have moved forward since then, breaking the mold of what you can expect from recycled materials. This translucent resin-like material, for example, is so eye-catching and beautiful that you might not believe that it’s 100% made from bits and pieces that would have otherwise been thrown away.

Designer: 3form

Back in the day, you could easily tell recycled paper from virgin paper with a single look. Recycled paper is often rough and brown or gray, properties that are unappealing and sometimes even unusable in some applications. That’s no longer true today, of course, but there are still some things that are difficult to pull off when using recycled materials. Most products using recycled materials, for example, are often opaque, which is what makes this striking material even more impressive.

Flek Pure is a resin-like material for use as panels in doors, partitions, decorations, and anywhere else you would need a durable and sustainable slab that would be a stand-in for glass or fiberglass. The “Pure” variant, specifically, looks like frosted glass with a few random specs of colors that give it a terrazzo-like character. Like frosted glass, it is translucent, and you can make out shapes and shadows behind the panel, creating an interesting visual that still maintains your privacy.

That translucency is a rare trait among materials made from recycled bits, especially one that’s 100% recycled, like Flek Pure. The company uses a unique and meticulous process that creates pellets from internally sourced waste or upcycled materials and then sorts these pellets according to their clarity and cleanliness. This is how the translucent appearance is achieved, and the bits that aren’t so clear are still used to create the “imperfections” that give Flek its terrazzo aesthetic. Nothing is wasted, which makes Flek Pure an excellent solution for environment-conscious designers.

Of course, not everyone will find Flex Pure’s clear whiteness always appealing. There are other colorways available as well, which all maintain that translucent quality. The addition of color, however, does pull the sustainability a bit down to using only 92% recycled material, but it’s still a significant win, especially compared to opaque or muddy panels that use even less recycled parts.

The post Flek Pure is a translucent terrazzo-like panel made from 100% recycled materials first appeared on Yanko Design.

Xbox just pulled a Nintendo with its 20th Anniversary translucent wireless controller!

“Ah, this gives me such fond GameBoy Advance memories!”

2021 marks a pretty important milestone in the timeline of gaming. It was 2 decades back that Microsoft unveiled its ambitious plans to move from computing to full-blown gaming with the Xbox, a console designed to take on Sony’s PlayStation which released in 1995… a rivalry that even 20 years later, is still going strong. To mark the 20th Anniversary of the Xbox, Microsoft announced a special edition of its wireless controller, with a uniquely nerd-pleasing translucent black design with green accents – colors that have a strong link to the Xbox brand and even their logo.

While Xbox has a history of releasing translucent variants of their controllers (notably the translucent green Xbox Duke controller), it’s a tactic that one could argue was popularized at least in the gaming circuit by Nintendo, with the translucent GameBoy, GameBoy Color, and GameBoy Advance. The controller isn’t fundamentally different in function, although it’s a hat-tip to 20 years of Xbox revolutionizing the console gaming industry. It comes along with a translucent Universal Quick Charging Stand that’s designed by Razer, which claims to charge your controller in under 3 hours, with overcharge and overheating protection.

The Xbox 20th Anniversary Special Edition Xbox Wireless Controller, which was announced earlier today, goes on sale beginning November 15th. Alongside the controller, Microsoft also announced a wired 20th Anniversary Special Edition Xbox Stereo Headset, complete with bright green highlights and a translucent black shell.

“November 15th, 2021 will mark 20 years of gaming together! Fans helped shape what Xbox is today and we can’t wait to see what the next 20 years will bring”, said Microsoft in a press release on the Xbox Wire blog. “Today, we celebrate our history together with the 20th Anniversary Special Edition Xbox Wireless Controller and 20th Anniversary Special Edition Xbox Stereo Headset – launching November 15 and available for pre-order now. We were inspired by our favorite memories together from the last 20 years and created not one, but two unique accessories to commemorate this milestone.”

Designer: Microsoft (Universal Quick Charging Stand designed by Razer)

Stunning translucent motorcycle concept allows you to see the chassis through its bodywork!

Always trust a concept automobile to push the boundaries of design.

Remember the Mercedes Benz GINA? A concept car that was literally made with cloth bodywork?? Well, the Polestar Aegis concept builds on that idea by employing a flexible plastic paneling that gives the bike a bizarrely beautiful aesthetic. The Aegis is literally translucent, as the plastic panels that cover the top and bottom of the bike allow you to literally see the chassis through them. Designed as an entry for the Polestar design challenge on Instagram, the Aegis concept follows the competition brief of showcasing ‘purity and performance’.

The Aegis comes with a relatively robust chassis design that doesn’t just act as a framework for the bike’s structure, it literally defines the bike’s aesthetic as two flat translucent plastic panels fold over and fix to the chassis, becoming the bike’s body. The translucent nature of the plastic allows you to see the Aegis’ muscular frame through it, while the entire bodywork sort of acts as a massive mudguard for the entire motorcycle. Rather than washing your bike every week or two, just take the plastic sheets off and hose them down!

There’s something really exquisite about the way the translucent shell defines the Aegis. It’s a textbook interpretation of purity, but at the same time, the fact that it showcases the motorcycle’s inner mechanisms almost reinforces the fact. The folded 2D paneling also imparts a low-poly aesthetic to the bike, giving it the purity of form too. In fact, there’s another hidden detail that I really can’t seem to ignore. The Aegis’ outline changes the minute you sit on the bike. The upper translucent panel comes with a single continuous curve on the top, but the minute a rider sits on it, the panel flexes to adjust to the biker’s curvature, buckling to form a 3D curved surface.

Clearly, the Aegis is just a concept (the same way the Mercedes Benz GINA was a concept too), but it really explores an angle that’s achievable and could actually make sense. What if you just had stripped-down motorcycles that came with flexible paneling that you yourself could attach and replace like a phone’s outer case? It would be easy to clean, wouldn’t dent or scratch the way metal would (you could just easily replace it too), and for my anti-plastic posse, I’m sure we could find a polymer (I’m leaning towards Polycarbonate) that’s easy to use/recycle and can also withstand any heat coming from the engine nearby.

Designer: Lukas Lambrichts

Leaked HTC U11 Plus video reveals a bigger battery and screen

A hands-on video featuring the upcoming HTC U11 Plus has been leaked to Facebook, showing that the flagship phone will be available in a translucent option, as well as black and silver. Evan Bass, who's known for leaking tech specs, also confirmed th...

Boost you phone’s cool quotient!

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The Ice View asks the question “what if your phone’s flip cover was see-through? The purpose of a flip cover is to guard the screen from any accidental impact, but that pretty much means you can’t see squat until you flip it open. Flip covers with circular or squarish holes don’t make sense either. It kind of defeats the purpose if your cover doesn’t completely guard your screen right? Well the HTC Ice View cover’s just what we all need. Using cleverly engineered PolyUrethane, the cover is actually translucent. But when rested on the screen, it allows you to see necessary information displayed on your lock screen. What’s better, it’s scratch and impact resistant, AND TOUCH SENSITIVE! Which pretty much puts it high above the competition.

A classy looking metal blip on the bottom left not only provides space for branding, it also conceals the magnet that unlocks your phone when you flip it over. Neat! Ain’t it?!

Designer: HTC Design

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Nike+ FuelBand, SportWatch GPS add some new colors for the holidays

Nike FuelBand, SportWatch GPS add some new colors for the holidays

The good news is that Nike is adding some new colors to its Nike+ connected FuelBand and SportWatch GPS lines so your wristwear can more closely match your kicks all winter. While the original translucent limited edition Nike+ FuelBand Ice won't be returning, at the end of October it will be available in new White Ice and Black Ice colors, with distribution expanded to more Nike stores in the US, Canada and UK. If you prefer GPS, precise timing and a multiplatform Nike+ Running app to LEDs, the TomTom-powered Nike+ SportWatch GPS is rolling out a new white/silver colorway. The bad news? If you were waiting for other updates, like a FuelBand with GPS, SportWatch that can pump out some MP3s while you run, FuelBand app for Android or really anything other than cosmetic changes, you're out of luck. We wouldn't let that get in the way of a workout however, check below for more details on each or return to customizing some NikeiD Lebron Xs -- your choice.

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Nike+ FuelBand, SportWatch GPS add some new colors for the holidays originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Oct 2012 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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