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About 5 years ago I noticed more strollers at design shows. Manufacturers were paying attention to design and function. They were clever with compartments, lightening the overall weight and hiring engineers to make unfolding and collapsing an easy task. With those efforts we now have strollers that make pushing babies around an easy and stylish affair. One such company is Bumbleride. I don’t have a baby myself (at least none that I know of) so I handed this over to a trusting mommy. If anyone is going to speak the truth, it’s a mom so hit the jump.

First of all, ADORE the name – Bumbleride. It sounds so sweet and as their tagline says, it’s the ride of your life. Lucky babies! The model we have is the Flight in a yummy-pinkish color called Vita. The stroller retails for $249.99 and comes in four other colors.

Our mommy agrees, the design is quite fetching – more suitable for urbanites. The Flight is a head turner even in a design haven like San Francisco. It’s peerless enough to be inimitable. A number of people stopped our mommy on the street to inquire more about this compact stroller with the generous sun canopy. What strikes us most is the silhouette. Whether by intention or just a lucky result of happenstance, the Flight has a beautiful profile. There’s nothing more adorable than seeing the classic huge sun canopy with just a peep of baby’s feet dangling, yet the Flight does it in a very modern way. It’s a clean design void of unnecessary frills – just their two toned logo.

The engineering accoutrementis impressive – fully padded with headrest, shoulder pads, reclining backrest and adjustable footrest, cup holder, huge cargo basket, 5-point safety harness, and carrying handle all built into a uber-lightweight 13 lb aluminum frame. The list reads like a mini luxury car. Our mom’s favorite features are the car seat adapter which is compatible with many popular infant car seats and the unique suspension which enables her to turn the stroller with just one hand. This thing turns on a dime!

Unfolding and collapsing the Flight is very easy and a benefit to the cross-aluminum frame is the center of gravity located pretty much right under baby. We said earlier the Flight is built for the urban jungle and we meant it. Even in the paved hills of San Francisco, our mommy never felt unsure. The Flight’s weight belies just how sturdy it is. There’s never a moment of hesitation – a worry that baby might take a spill out of the seat and with that being said her only suggestion was to make the wheels a tad larger.

The Flight is a winner in our book, designed to meet the challenges in a busy urban landscape. Our mommy proclaims it’s the easiest stroller to quickly pull out of the car and get going. She still keeps her larger stroller for its storage compartments but if you’re looking for something meant to travel light and easy, try the Flight.

Designer: Bumbleride (Buy it here $249.99)

Source:yankodesign.com

Designer Cho Hyung Suk has an affinity for bicycle chains – for their utilitarian function and seemingly beauty. The B-Chain Lamp spins the bike chain into a new kind of object, one that is rigid enough to pose a light into various positions. There’s something oddly anthropomorphic about this design – maybe because it halfway reminds me of the Pixar Lamp.

Size: 230*170*220(H)
Materials: birchplywood, marble, hardware

Designer: Cho Hyung Suk

Source:yankodesign.com

By roughly tracing the structure of everyone’s favorite surprise during winter, designer Sylvain Gerber created the Snowflake Speaker. Inspired by JBL’s years of audio expertise, he’s created something that visually contours the idea of clean sound – as pure as snow.There are no fancy covers or meshing. The speaker is stripped bare revealing all the intricate membranes highlighted by an eery glow. Technically the design is simple to execute by integrating the latest in flat membrane audio technology hiding all the electronics in the bottom of the speaker.

Designer: Sylvain Gerber

Source:yankodesign.com

Our virtual hand has gotten pretty innovative in real life and the credit for this goes to all those concept ideas that seemed pretty outlandish at first. Im talking about the mighty mouse! From bare minimum functions to creatively complicated, the computer mouse has evolved in its stature. Here is a recap on the Ten Most Creative Mouse Concepts that have been showcased on Yanko Design.

10) OM Wireless Optical Mouse by Lukasz Natkaniec

OM is an optical mouse that is slim and wireless. It measures only 10mm at the highest point and sports an extra-wide body to cover up your palm.

9) Bendy M by Kim Hye-shin

Stripping the mouse of all is fuss, the Bendy M gives us the basic device thats actually a long strip fashioned to the infinite-sign-shape. It doesnt promise too much on grip tho and is merely a handy tool for the travelers who always complain about carrying bulky devices.

8 ) Toe Mouse by Liu Yi

No hands, no problems! The mouse improvises its form to fit the clutch of your toes! Especially been designed for folks with upper limb disabilities.

7) G-Spot Mouse by Andy Kurovets

Creatively naughty Andy Kurovets should have been a sex-toy designer, but the good lad thinks mouse and sex can lead to a heady cocktail! And he is right! The G-Spot mouse has a sweet spot that takes you directly to your favorite website.true to man-style no foreplay here as well!

6) eVouse by Marcial Ahsayane

I simply adore the eVouses form. Now I dont know how practical it will be while holding it as a pen to render works on the computer, but its glossy pictures suggest a refreshing new form for the drab black blob sitting on my desk currently!

5) Wooden Mouse by Alest Rukov

Exploring different materials to use to manufacture a mouse can be creative as well. The Wooden Mouse here is a perfect example.

4) Apple Slim Mouse by Tryi Yeh

Smooth and cutting edge as the original Apple form, this creative version looks awesome in the aluminum avatar. It switches between trackball (400dpi) and laser (1600dpi) with a micro adjustment and can be manufactured in a glossy plastic version as well.

3) Memory Mouse by Miji Rhoe

Apples hockey puck style mouse did not find favors with many, but designer Miji Rhoe still chose to explore this form. The result was a mouse which included built-in memory storage; the flip side was wires and portability. Nevertheless a creative idea!

2) Jelly Click Mouse by Bongkun Shin, Heungkyo Seo, Jiwoong Hwang & Wooteik Lim

The most unusual of the lot is this Jelly Click Mouse. With child-like excitement you inflate the mouse to use. Too bad its just a concept!

1) iContact by Eun-Gyeong Gwon & Eun-Jae Lee

Its not hard to fathom a time in the future where you insert a contact lens into your eye and this in fact is the mouse. The logistics to get the iContact working efficiently could be an engineers nightmare, but that shouldnt limit the creativity of a product designer!

Source:yankodesign.com

for the splatter of rain-soaked umbrellas! The Lawn For Rain is a really neat dish that has a dash of green springs at the bottom of the tray and huge sponge fingers. The idea is to mesh your wet umbrellas between the sponge fingers so that they soak in the water and dry it. The tiny plants at the bottom are kept hydrated via the excess drained water. Personally I think its a cute idea, but for cities like mine, where monsoons create havoc only for three months in a year, the poor plants would die of thirst later!

Designers: Cun-Min Zheng, Yan-Zhen Li & Xin-Yu Wang

Source:yankodesign.com

Hello check it out! This is a roundup post collecting an array of lighting instruments (lamps, if you will,) as created by Brand van Egmond. This design label is a/THE pioneer in Dutch ‘Haute Couture lighting design. Designers William Brand and Annet van Egmond founded Brand van Egmond in 1989 with the “sole intention to create art without restraints.” And then there were lamps. Devour the lit gallery below, now with bonus seats!

“Broom” is the “catwalk” model lamp in this collection. Made for office environments and contemporary lounge interiors.

“Coco” is not a late night comedy host. Coco is instead a sophisticated lamp with “Eyes Wide Shut” features and an enchanting feminine silhouette. Strings of black and clear crystals make up the bulk of this lover.

“Digital Dreams” is a lighting sculpture, using the personalized power of photos which you insert to illuminate your living space.

“Flower Power” is one of two bits in this collection that it work perfectly fine without lights. Laser cut steel plates made into flowery shapes. Made for lounging.

“La Vie en Rose” is a flexible system of rose-shaped sculptures with which you can create a bouquet of flowers with crystals.

“Woodstock Sitting Object” is another sitting object and the last in this roundup. Big, curled, curved and tangled iron. Nickel plated, powder coated white or powder coated black. High gloss polished.

Designer: Brand van Egmond

Source:yankodesign.com

It’s not random chance that I, a resident of my state, should be allowed to do a writeup on this lovely graffiti furniture. I live in Minnesota, USA, a state where graffiti is almost exclusively under, behind, or inside of things. You won’t find much of any graffiti out on the streets, only under train bridges, behind doors, and in alleys. Similar is the nature of this collection of furniture: “Awake Your Inner Vandal,” which designed by Ilan Dei is comprised of three lovely, surprising bits.

“Namibia Credenza Evolution Revolution” is a lovely wooden cabinet with two large surprises. In the left set of doors you will find the word “EVOLUTION” written in giant graffiti lettering, in the right, “REVOLUTION,” all of it in wild, powerful colors.

“Namibia Side Table Aquatic Life” is a circular side table with a mirror that reveals not just the bottom of the table, but, what’s that? Some super cute koi fishies!

“Namibia Console” is the simplest table of the three, this one with a very simple accent around the inside of the rim of the base of the table. Around this rim are some rather abstract graffiti shapes in gray tones.

Designer: Ilan Dei

Source:yankodesign.com

Two objects, both by Vital Steel NYC, both made for dividing up rooms without major construction work. One of them is called UNA, the other ANDRA. First “Una” is floor-to-ceiling single panel room divider, then Andra is a three panel free-standing room divider. Both of them are constructed of laser cut steel and hand blown glass.

Vital Steel NYC is a new business made by a husband and wife by the names Robbin and Benno. Vital Steel NYC is a design studio for modern steel and hand-blown glass room dividers and screens. Wild!

Designer: Vital Steel NYC

Source:yankodesign.com

The Drawing Lamp reduces the idea of an artificial light source to its most basic components, cable and illuminant. Thomas Feichtner designed it for his personal use but it looks complete enough to hit store shelves now. The illuminant is LED based and the steel frame can rest on two different planes giving you wide dispersal or direct illumination.

material: steel tube, LED
size: 500 x 280 x 140 mm

Designer: Thomas Feichtner

Source:yankodesign.com

I love this “plated” table top from Elad Kashi. Although the legs mimic a very well known designer, it’s all about what’s on top. The table surface is actually made of several removable ceramic plates and the idea is each can hold a side dish or condiment. It encourages communal eating and is a great way to divvy up space at the dinner table. I love the last picture. DAMN those people are pigs. Oink!

Designer: Elad Kashi

Source:yankodesign.com

Concrete, ideal for building homes and roads but is it good enuf for a coffee machine? Tough question to answer, but apparently we can take Shmuel Linskis help on this coz hes designed one. The rugged appeal and the delectable cracks in its form; Espresso Solo looks smoking hot in this cemented avatar! Shmuel has kept the project simple, the machine makes only espresso: short and long. A chamber for the beans and an outlet for water are all that it features. No fuss, just solid love for caffeine and irresistible forms!

Designer: Shmuel Linski

Source:yankodesign.com

DryMate is a clothes dryer that uses a new vacuum technology to dry clothes at lower temperature. As a result lesser energy is consumed, and heat-related damage to the clothes is avoided. The dryer scores another brownie point for being easily accessible from a standing position. To aid its stand further, a 9 degree tilt and a wide-mouth drum has been incorporated to the design. The rounded exterior gives a refreshing new form to the redundant cuboids that we see at homes.

Technology as explained by Nico:

From a technical view every enclosed space with an air pressure lower than in our environment is already a vacuum. In every vacuum there are special physical conditions as a result of the lower amount of material. DryMate uses one of those special conditions. In a drum with lower air pressure (vacuum) water already evaporates at much lower temperatures than 100C. The lower the air pressure the lower the temperature that is necessary to evaporate water. It is much more energy-saving to create a minor under pressure than heating your wet laundry to 100C. Therefore DryMate can achieve much better energy efficiency than conventional tumble dryers.

Supervising Professor: Prof. Hatto Grosse, Kln International School of Design

Designer: Nico Klber

Source:yankodesign.com

If you ever travel to Wisconsin Dells in Wisconsin, USA, you’re going to find two things – one, lots of waterslides, two, ducks! Ducks in Wisconsin are boats with wheels, made for both land and water tourism. The post you’re reading right now isn’t a duck, it’s so much more! It’s the “Volkswagen Terrafine” and it’s designed by Niklas Palm for a union of water and land vehicles in a very rock and roll sort of manner. Landcruise then jet through the waves!

This magic machine carves. It’s made inspired by chris-craft boats and skateboards, having a “carving-mode” in which wheel-arms move to allow the vehicle lean into corners in a unique way. Then, when on land, a special function allows the front wheels to lock as an anchor then drag the rest of the vehicle over obstacles like an earthworm. This makes this off-road land vehicle mode keep the earth in “fine” condition, hence the title of this project “Terrafine.” Then there’s all kinds of other features, too!

Battery pack between the seats, torsion suspension, wheel-arms for everybody, in wheel electric engines, a suspension engine, and so much fun for anyone daring enough to fly around in it.

Although it can’t fly yet. Maybe that’s next!

Designer: Niklas Palm

Source:yankodesign.com

When you think of robotic police enforcement, I would hope that your mind would travel first to the most awesome of all part-robot police enforcers, that being of course Robocop. I’m not sure if Jamie Martin had RC in mind when he designed “C.R.A.B.”, but certainly this amazing machine would be right at home in a modern sequel to those fabulous action movies. The letters C.R.A.B. stand for Cybernetic Autonomous Remote Barricade, which means that if you see this death-defying looking metal six-leg at the door to anywhere, you ain’t getting in.

This is a real big deal. For real.

The technology behind the artificial intelligence used in this fabulous machine has been being developed over the past 12 years in relative secret between weapons manufacturer Dalton/Stanley and megacorporation Omni Consumer Products.

Next generation armor and weapons, very possibly on the streets in the real world very soon. In fact, similar all-terrain robots are being developed for military uses, setting in motion what might be the largest change in the way wars are fought in the history of the world.

NOTE: this is a concept right now, but we (humans) have been talking about the day when robots walk around on their own since robots were first conceived. Someday it’s gonna happen. And the CRAB shall command them!

Designer: Jamie Martin

Source:yankodesign.com

The quickest way to the eyeballs and minds of tens, hundreds, and thousands of people in a position to make you the designer you want to be is to innovate on an invention that hasn’t had any innovations in years and years and years. Designer Ryan Klinger takes the sling, the sling for the arm that is, and makes it modern. Just a piece of cloth right? Sling your arm up with a ripped up t-shirt like Rambo? It’s a skilled designer that can innovate on something so unbelievably simple.

Ryan Klinger was in the perfect position to design this design. After a snowboard accident and 4 months with his arm in a crappier sling, Klinger got to work. During that time, I should say. No designer worth his salt lets a little thing like -1 arm do him in.

This “SureSling” is a removable shoulder support that’s full of thermo-gel that can be heated or cooled to relieve pain and swelling. Suitable for broken clavicles, shoulders, forearms, and all sort of fun stuff like that. Adjustable in several ways, including an arm-rest pump that can be inflated for a custom fit/feel. Straps and size adjustments are easily within reach of the free arm for self-fixing. Stromatex (breathable neoprene) is used for the main material so the user can both take showers without being all soppy wet and because breathable = cool in the heat.

Anti-gravity palm support, water-proof velcro, beautiful sepia color scheme.

Would you like anything else? My goodness!

Designer: Ryan Klinger

Source:yankodesign.com

When designing this timepiece collection for odm, Michael Young altered the conventional mindset of how a watch looks and the result is this gorgeous collection. The position of time panel and buttons are ingeniously reversed for a fresh way to read time, giving its eponymous name Reverse.

You won’t find a side button, but a super large knock-sensor on the face. Users simply tap it to activate the EL backlight function that enables a glow below the button. Minimal design of the 3 hands allows only their tips to appear on the outer ring of the button for a new perspective in time.
This exciting new collection will surely arouse much interest amongst the public, and users will appreciate the unusual wittiness of the design.You can get them in four enigmatic hues; coral red, olive green, grey and black. What, no white?
Designer: Michael Young for odm

Source:yankodesign.com

I’m in love with the Two Leg Coffee Table. The Corian table top has always been a favorite of mine in kitchens because it reminds me of milk. I adore the way the oak legs intimately meet into the table surface too. Although the description says two legs, I still see four – just not in the traditional sense. By increasing the surface area of the main support legs, you get stability.

Designers: Shay Carmon and Ben Klinger

Source:yankodesign.com

Its not a hot-blonde-Sony or gorgeous Apples, but plain simple laws of physics that causes this Nokia to get an erection! The physical kind! I mean the Kinetic kind! The concept is this, for every incoming call, text, email or alarm, the phone gets super excited and getsstanding tall! Yup the brief was to make the phone as playful as possibleas if a vibration mode was not enough! And if its not the right person calling or the alarm too soonsimply tap the phone back to deflate the erection! Ummcold shower wont do!

On a more serious note, heres more info on the Nokia Kinetic – a seriously playful mobile phone for 2012. The reason behind the erection is an electromagnet in the base of the phone that allows a weight to be shifted, causing the phone to stand up. Digital information gets converted into kinetic movement!

Other features include:

• Camera capture button at bottom right of phone means you grip the phone like an SLR camera when taking a photo.
• Standby mode is perfectly balanced; Screen is raised from the surface.
• Top half is 8mm in thickness with bottom being 18mm.
• The shape and weight at the bottom of the phone mean ergonomically it is much better to hold than other phones.
• 2 taps on power button allows you to manually set stand up mode. (For a clock on your desk, a digital photoframe, or to play music).
• Proximity sensor on front of the phone, means that the stand up feature does not activate when in your pocket.

Design Tutor: Silas Grant

Designer: Jeremy Innes-Hopkins

Source:yankodesign.com

i-Mos is a pair of funky looking glasses that a speech impaired person can use for easy communication. Although the user scenario suggested by the designer looks more tragic, like involving physical disabilities as well, Im going to stick with just the basics. The device tracks your eye movement as Morse-code inputs and then voices it out as speech. One eye is dedicated to dot and the other to dash. Aids like sentence completion and built-in Morse code learning, add value to the idea and make usage more independent. A well intended plan!

Designer: Wonkook Lee

Source:yankodesign.com

God help you if you live by the coast where drainage sucks, it’s puring like crazy and its high tide as well! To top it off, citizens callously litter the streets, which end up clogging the gutters! Sounds familiar to me coz Ive lived through one of the worst city floods due to all of the above, hence the Smooth Cover for city drains sounds fantastic! The cover has slanted slits that are narrow enough to let the rain water pass through but keeps away the trash. And as you can see, they are perfect for those stiletto beauties, no more clipped heels for them! Hurray!

Smooth Cover is an iF Concept Design 2010 winner!

Designers: Yan-Ting Chen & Hsin Yeh

Source:yankodesign.com

I think this project wins the longest name of the day award with “flight case Pioneer PRO 1400 – FLT.” It’s a DJ table that can be folded up easily and nicely into a rolling case configuration. Inside can also fit all the equipment you’d need to DJ, headphones, CDs, plates, and other DJ gear. It’s what designer Raphael Vivier calls a “mobile disco” and I’m inclined to agree. Wheels of steel on tiny wheels for easy transport.

Whenever you put the PIONEER logo on your project, you instantly have a lot to live up to. My favorite Pioneer product isn’t sound equipment at all but a movie, the perfectly classic anime film “AKIRA.” There’s something forever futuristic because of its perfect aesthetic, simple, colorful yet simple, sharp, amazing. This turntable situation right here is taking up that mantle and busting out with an amazing product.

High five for functionality inside perfect simplicity, all the while obviously very prepared to release some fabulous beats.

Designer: Raphael Vivier

Source:yankodesign.com

This is the fattest of all the iPhone covers. If you know of a fatter one, I challenge it to a duel! This project/product is called ARKHIPPO and is from the ARK system of coverups, this one dealing specifically in iPhone covering and protecting and standing up. Yes ineedy! Not only does this huge hunk of resin protect your fragile bit of technology, it allows it to both stand on its own and sit in the crook of your neck for easy phonecall use. See the pic for this classic phone pose lost to most modern ’smarts.

All the colors you desire, lovingly produced to huge proportions, and if you find yourself stranded on a desert island, acts as a pillow for your rock-weary head. Survival gear ho!

Dimension: Height 170, Width 83, and Depth 50
Material: Proprietary closed cell resin / similar to Crocs Shoes
Accessibility: Dock connector access window

Designer: HaA Design

Source:yankodesign.com

Industrial designer Jan Gielens creates a boat called “Breaking,” Yanko Design breaks a post about breaking. The people who read about Breaking have their nose-cartilages broken after having crammed them against their computer screens, and all is well. It’s a giant shape. It’s a tiny boat shaped like a boat you’ve never before seen, let me assure you. You’ll be cruising so hard in this Breaking boat you wont ever want to pilot one of those “old-timey” boats again. Cruise hard!

This boat is a product of studies done by former lecturer (Agora department of Universidad Libre Las Colinas) Jan Gielens. The first of these studies dates all the way back to the 1980s. This vehicle is designed based on sound fluid mechanic principles, using a series of aero and hydrodynamic properties thatmake this boat go very very fast.

The specifics aren’t tabulated yet for actual speed, but with the low motor capacity, aerodynamic nature, and static air cushion it creates, Breaking completely avoids “plowing through” waves and “bult sleep” (which, when translated from Dutch, of course means “hump drag.”)

Think starfighters used in Revenge of the Jedi. Tiny, made for short distances, perfectly powerful. Made to be used like a sharp knife.

Designer: Jan Gielens

Source:yankodesign.com

Cleaning up after your dog is a tough pill to swallow but anyone who has ever stepped in a pile of steaming crap knows it’s a necessary evil. Make those ugly moments in life a little better with humor. Dog Poo bags comes in 16 recyclable options, each with a humorous or ironic print. Love the idea but why not step it up and go for biodegradable too? Get it from Designspray.com. 12,90 for 16 bags.

Designer: Jungeschachtel

Source:yankodesign.com

Mutant Life is a interesting project that explores the lifespan of common home appliances. It suggests we could create a system of products that take on different uses after their primary function has expired . From a technical aspect, all electrical parts are designed to be disassembled and recycled. For example, what if an oven became a microwave only to be come a table and finally a birdhouse?

Designer: Camilla Masi

Source:yankodesign.com