Yanko Design » Software

Monitors Your Health, Draws Blood

Long Tran — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:30:48 +0000

The < yu: > enables real time biometric feedback – the kind of information that could revolutionize medical diagnosis. It’s a soft bracelet mesh that checks your vital signs and even draws painless blood samples. It interfaces with you computer and acts as an alarm clock by applying pressure. With a flick of the rest, the device tightens and takes real time biometric readings to be transmitted to a computer and physician.

Designers: Ewald Neuhofer, Talia Radford, Thomas Schiefer & Georg Milde

EXT AVANCED MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS by Ewald Neuhofer, Talia Radford, Thomas Schiefer & Georg Milde" src="http://www.yankodesign.com/images/design_news/2009/08/16/yu1.jpg" alt=" EXT AVANCED MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS by Ewald Neuhofer, Talia Radford, Thomas Schiefer & Georg Milde" width="468" height="299" />

Confuse Time, All The Time, Every Time

Radhika Seth — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:05:47 +0000

If you live in the land of confusion, lemme confuse you more!
Designer Johan Bisse Mattsson is testing my limits as a writer and yours as a reader. Let’s see if you can comprehend this: A clock, where the Second’s Hand rotates from the tip of the Minute’s Hand. The Minute’s Hand rotates from the tip of the Hour’s Hand. Confused? I know I am…so give it up for Einstein here and head over to the Hand in Hand Clock webpage, where you can experience this mesmerizing design first hand.

Currently the Hand in Hand Clock is implemented as a software solution. Drag the hands to change the time and zoom in and out by using your scroll wheel.

Designer: Johan Bisse Mattsson

Yanko Design Partners With Bunkspeed

Long Tran — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:49:40 +0000

We don’t often make announcements but this one certainly deserves its own entry. Yanko Design is partnering with Bunkspeed, purveyors of the excellent HyperShot rendering software. Those of you who have written us have testified to HyperShot’s amazing renders. We were especially smitten with its speed – honestly the fastest renderer we have ever used and it’s multi-platform, so that’s a win-win in our book.

So why do you care? Well my dear readers because if you look to the top right corner of yours and my favorite website, you’ll see we’ve added a new button, “Bunkspeed HyperShot.” That’ll take you to our official press release but more importantly, the opportunity to download a 15-day trial and purchase your own copy.

Be it a product designer, industrial designer, automotive designer, furniture designer or architect, HyperShot is a must have in your pipeline. I’m telling you, the SPEED is really incredible. Other software packages take nearly half a day if not more to achieve the same kind of results. We’re talking real-time global illumination and physics here!

Those of you who already use HyperShot, please contact us, tell us your story. Show us work you’ve created with HyperShot. Maybe we can put together a gallery of HyperShot renders created by Yanko Design readers. You’ve always wanted to be featured on this site, now is your chance. Many of you asked us “what’s the best software to use?” Well here you have our choice for best renderer and we’re giving you a 15-day trial.

“But Yanko, we can already get a 15-day trial from Bunkspeed’s website, what gives?”

How about a yummy discount? Thanks to our new partners, Yanko Design readers will get 10% off at checkout when you enter code “Yanko-0910.”

Best Renderer: Bunkspeed HyperShot

Useful Tools in a Designer’s Arsenal

Chad Smith — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:31:50 +0000

As a practicing architect, one of the difficulties I face is the pearl that is the English system of measurement that persists in the United States construction industry. It makes international projects difficult to jump to. It means you need scale measuring tools that have lots of weird markings on it, and are useless abroad. And it makes adding on a calculator impossible. Lucky for us inchcalc comes to the rescue.

It’s a special feet-inches-and 1/16th inch calculator application that transforms your iphone from generic phone supercomputer into the most awesome construction device ever. This is the must-have application for architects and cost estimators alike.

Designer: inchCALC

3D Software and You!

Long Tran — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:05:53 +0000

One of the most important tools in a designer’s arsenal is software. We receive loads of questions about what software to use but like any other tool, it’s only as good as its master. There are a number of industry standards but we want to hear from you – what 3D modeling/rendering solution do you use? I started with Lightwave 3D in the 90’s, then took on the daunting task of learning Maya. Today I use Modo exclusively. Most of these packages have free learning editions students can download. What about free open source solutions like Blender? Any others?

All of the sites, none of the smells

Anthony James — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:11:43 +0000

Let’s face it, we live in a nearly virtual society. Just the fact that you are reading Yanko Design right now and experiencing objects of design through the magic of the intertubes is proof positive. Most of the items featured here on Yanko Design may never actually touch or be near in real life. Same goes for most places on this vast planet. I have been around the world many times and still have only seen a tiny fraction of it. Enter this truly amazing step in virtual tourism called “GeoSim” www.geosimcities.com. It is the largest virtual model of a city and the singular representation mirroring real-life Philadelphia, their first test city. Great for city planners, architects wanting to see how a property integrates into the local landscape or just monetarily challenged tourists. GeoSimCities has managed to render out nearly the entire city for you to explore and virtually travel through. From the current store fronts and exact architecture, even down to the garbage cans on the street, you can wander around cities with other live virtual tourist and get a pretty good idea of (at the very least) what that place looks like. They are set to launch in a dozen more cities very soon, until then, welcome to Philadelphia.

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Is all industrial design software the same?

Yanko Design — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:34:47 +0000

Mike Hudspeth from Machine Design talks about what to look for in ID software. Today there are many. Besides Alias ($25,000), good packages include Rhino ($895), ICEM ($2,300 and up), NX (a lot, depending on what bundle you pick), and even SolidWorks ($3,995). So besides price, how do you decide? The only significant differences between programs are capability and interface. When selecting ID software, look for these capabilities:

Free-form surfaces is the absolute most important thing to look for. Any kind of modeler builds 3D models, but a free-form modeler lets you create flowing lines and biomorphic shapes for visual excitement that in some cases make the product work.

Good sketching. I don’t mean parametric sketching, but drawing as if with pencil on paper — that is, a way to roughly and quickly capture your ideas. In other words, the legendary paper napkin. Make sure the software includes bitmap-creation tools.

High-quality rendering. When you’ve spent a lot of time designing a great product you want to show it off. Good renderings are often a great way to do this. But, believe it or not, they can be a problem too. When a rendering is too good, the customer sometimes thinks it’s a real photo of a physical product and asks for accelerated delivery. Also, it’s preferable to see models portrayed in the materials they will be made of. This helps you wrap your mind around the model for better understanding.

File export. Most times customers ask for models they can use in their software of choice. Make sure what you buy can export in as many different formats as possible. Especially look for stereolithography (STL) export. These days, it’s an absolute must.

Lastly, when it comes to the interface, once you’ve selected the program that will do what you need, see how it accomplishes tasks. A difficult-to-use interface might provide more power but limit users to whomever can figure it out. Look for simple and obvious. Look for what you can live with.