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Concrete Memory, Get Totally Cemented

Using concrete for tech products is almost unheard of, so this Memory Weights USB Stick crafted from cement comes as a pleasant surprise. I really dig the way the capacity of the USB is branded into the block. Just to add a fun twist; the weight of the block is similar to the capacity in terms of grams…so simple and elegant, yet rugged!

Designer: Shu-Chun Hsiao

Thread that Lights Up

Illuminating! LT, look at this! London based textile designer Kathy Schicker’s got a fabulous collection of color changing and light emitting textiles. No joke. Some of them react to sunlight when they see it, some of them react to the absence of it once it’s gone. Color changes in the daytime, color emitting in the night. They’re a matching of textiles, design, scarf wearing and science – pure, fabulous, wonderful science!

Designer: Kathy Schicker of Puff and Flock

Frontpack for Search and Rescue

How would you like to use some rescue technology that incorporates infrared sensors, sensitive directional audio microphones, communication, navigation and medical guidance to help with the wild, wild situations you get in as a rescuer! It’s called “SixthSense for Search and Rescue” and it’s designed by Dieter Amick. Designer Dieter Amick designed the heck out of these packs and they are wild, wild, fantastic and undeniably shiny.

Designer: Dieter Amick

Sharpen Pencil, Get Eraser

So you’ve got a pencil and you need it sharp. You need it so sharp that you’d be able to draw a really sharp picture of your favorite Yanko Design design. That’s right, you could draw the Dew Capturing Pyramid, the doo doo weighing toilet seat, or the wishbone MP3 player. Draw it. Sharp pencil, and woo! You get a bonus with this little mama. You get an eraser made out of the wood you chopped off the pencil.

Designer: Hao Gin Weng, Siang Yin Ke, and Che Hao Li

Roomba Watch Out

The All-In-One Robot Cleaner is a stick vac carrying a passenger with a mind of its own. Like any good stick vac, you’ve got something easy to push around. But if you’re feeling particularly Jetson’s like, a robot slides down and does the vacuuming for you, ala Roomba. For serious tho, I want this NOW. I’m sure the robot amidship will throw off the center of gravity but nothing a couple months of R&D couldn’t figure out.

Designers: In-oh Yoo & Sun-woong Oh for Metatrend Institute

Hello Stranger!

‘Hello Stranger’ is a collection of interactive public objects that clamp to existing infrastructure. Fences, benches, lamp posts and railings. Unlike typical municipal furniture these objects are flexible, tactile and playful. The objects are also open to a degree of interpretation. But whether they are used to ‘frame’ an impromptu photo opportunity or to create and highlight points of focus in the landscape, the ultimate purpose of the objects is to get people talking.

Designer: Michael Antrobus

G.D. Health Fading Fast

Running out of time! Death is coming to get me! That’s exactly what you think when you work for hours and hours and hours on project after project, be you a graphic designer, industrial designer, interior designer, exterior designer, whatever! Now. How can one solve such a problem of melting into the seat we sit in all day long? Exercise of course. But what one to do! If only there were a sort of Twister-esque… clock!

Designer: Nurcan Durmaz

The Big Swoop Chair

You’ll be rocking in this. When I first looked at it, I thought it was a giant Pringles chip. But it’s not! And it’s no less tasty! It’s beautiful and innovative too, incase you hadn’t already guessed. It’s designed and crafted in Northumberland, England* by the excellent Jolyon Yates. This chair is known as the “Breeze” or aka “Savannah Rocker III”, whichever slips off your lips easier. Surely your tongue is already replicating the shape of the chair.

Have a sit!

Designer: Jolyon Yates

Thin When Empty

It’s just an idea that can get better if refined; I’m talking about the Hungry Batteries. They’re not any power-chomping monsters, but rechargeable batteries that get slimmer and slimmer as they run out of juice. Essentially providing you a visual aid to indicate recharging time! The highlight being, easy removal from the cramped confines of a battery-house. No news on what kind of materials to be used for the casing, but I guess some kinda foam / sponge will do.

Designer: Mac Funamizu

Paint Like a Rollerpro!

It slices, it dices, it cuts pizza into fifteen bits! It’s the “Delux Paint Pod Micro!” WAIT that can’t be right. Ok it’s called the “DUlux Paint Pod Micro.” Ohhh ok. What does it do? It paints with automatic rollers. Simply insert the 250ml cartridge of paint into the handle and presto! Ready to go. Press the thumb delivery button and the flow of paint begins. Flowing paint, lovely roller, covered wall. You’re good to go.

Designer: David Boyce

An SLR That’s Easy On The Face

As far as tech concepts are concerned we see most designers lure in as many specs as possible, just to make the gadget geeky enough for the pros. The Sony Alpha SLR Concept promises no high-funda tech-specs and simply addresses the issue of ergonomics. The theory being that a flat back on any camera is a pain on the wrist and facial features like nose-protrusion and chubby-cheeks! Solution: Sony Alpha – featuring a slanted rear. The tilted back is easy on the wrist and face.

Designer: Abel Verdezoto I.

Ballerina Bathtub

Ballerine is a creative combination of a single bathtub and a free standing shower cabin. The integrated shower head functions as a bath faucet and a shower disc. It’s installed on a flexible arm which easily adjusts to any height and allows you to set the intensity of the water stream and direction. The flexible arm is constructed of an adjustable nylon-silicon surface. Once activated, the frame stiffens like a backbone. If you’ve ever wanted to live out your dream as a tiny ballerina inside a music box, here you go.

Designer: Gustaw Lange