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12 Inspirational and Exclusive Interviews on Yanko Design – Robert Brunner

Everyday Yanko Design assimilates and presents pioneering concepts that are sourced from a pool of talented young designers. In an effort to do something special for this brilliant community, I have pieced together a series of 12 exclusive interviews with renowned designers who talk about their journey and experiences, share lessons they have learnt and give you an insight on how to draw on your own energies to be the best. I start the series with my talk with Robert Brunner, founder of Ammunition Group and past-Director of Design at Apple, the designer of the original Macintosh PowerBook and Newton.

Seriously Smart Socket!

If you’ve ever tried to plug something into a socket in the dark (or without looking) you know that it’s damn near impossible! The LOL socket (named after the markings on its surface) is an incredibly simple and clever solution that uses grooves to guide the user’s hand and the pins effortlessly toward to the socket holes. Needs it!

Designer: Devraj Bhadra

Window Gardens

I’m not a huge fan of voronoi patterns, but I think the randomness works really well for this modern, one-of-a-kind window design. The Plant Window is constructed of a number of planter boxes that together create a natural curtain that filters sunlight. Simply plant your favorite succulent or veggies to transform what would be an ordinary window into a wall of green and sunlight.

Designers: Various

Power Pump at Sea

Marco Paolucci’s S2S project aims to bring sustainable living to sea in the form of sea stations that tap into BioStream installations on the seabed. The BioStream devices exploit the perpetual motion of tidal currents converting their renewable energy into usable electricity. Ships can dock to a station and “fill up” on power as well as suplement their desalinated water supply.

Designer: Marco Paolucci

Paper Cut

Möwe – Dream Paper Concept looks at the possibility of having intelligent paper that prints, auto cuts and folds 3-D paper projects. A lot of folks indulge in 3-D scale models and it is an interesting hobby. Mac takes the idea a step further by suggesting that what if we could control “where and how far to fold and also when to fold via Bluetooth or WiFi, it means you could move paper as you like without touching it. (It’s like embedding Javascript in paper!)” Building models from Google 3D Warehouse would be child’s play even for the non-devout! Awesome!

Designer: Mac Funamizu

More Than Signals

The Sólo is a modular traffic signal that can be easily disassembled and used for other purposes. A good example is the event of a road mishap, and how the lights can be intelligently used to create a detour for oncoming traffic. Even for road repairs; if the street is closed, may as well use the lights for marking out the hazard space! Clever use of LED lights ensure eco-sense and the modular format give the lights the versatility to be used in numerous circumstances.

Designers: Matheus de Luca, Moreira Pinto & Porto Alegre

Independent Wheelchair Assistant

Inspired by his grandfather who has been in a wheelchair since the age of 20, designer Oscar Fernandez created the electric Independent Wheelchair Assistant to help users independently access their local communities in a safe and easy way. The design utilizes the user’s own wheelchair, acting as a true assistant and eliminating the need to constantly transfer between other devices like scooters or power chairs. Hit the jump to check out its unique functionality.

Designer: Oscar Fernandez

The Smoothest iPod Dock

The slim and stylish Glide is a minimal yet elegant take on the iPod docking station that will look great in contemporary and classic settings alike. Speakers located on the tips of its solid wood wings create an aesthetic of lightness and balance in contrast with its powerful and crisp sound quality.

Designer: Matthew Hicks

Light Metamorphosis

Using a polyjet printer allowed designers at Voxel Studio to use a variety of materials with unique properties and textures to create the Cocoon lamp. The lamp’s organic form is truly a representation of its unique construction- similar to the way caterpillars use fast hardening liquid from their spinnerets to build their cocoon shells, the polyjet applies liquid photopolymer through nozzles which then hardens in UV light. 

Designer: Voxel Studio

Kinetic Leaf

Leaf Wireless Mouse scores big time on looks and has a decent enough direction as far as tech aspects go. The one thing that we do with our mouse the most is to move it around. Based on this, the designers have created a concept that uses its motion to self-power the mouse. It sounds like a whiff of air for now, but imagine if we could have a wireless mouse that did not tank up on so many batteries every month? Because I use it so much, I tend to replace my Magic Mouse battery every 7-8 days. I say go for Leaf right now!

Designers: Lu Hairong and Zhang Xuehui

Modular Maestro

Blu is a modern musical instrument that draws inspiration from the keyboard, re-imagining keys in a modular and flexible way. Much in the same way a child learns to build structures from toy blocks, they can learn to understand tonality and song composition simply by changing the position of the modular keys around the central unit to control pitch and timing of the notes. Its smart, colorful user interface makes learning music an exciting and memorable experience.

Designer: Eric Pautz

Find Tranquility in Furniture

Alain Gilles’ designs, the BuzziHood and BuzziBooth for Buzzispaces, (thats a whole lotta Buzzi!) are all about personal space, privacy, and intimacy. The wall-mounted BuzziHood pictured here offers a quick escape from the surrounding cacophony of distractions so you can have a moment of peace for a phone call or just a quick breather. The BuzziBooth provides a private and comfy setting for intimate conversation in public spaces. Each is made of 100% recyclable, sound-absorbing fabric.

Designer: Alain Gilles for Buzzispaces