Yanko Design - Latest Posts |  |
- Casting Shadows Of Love
- Cutter Safe For Fingers
- Totally In Your Ears
- Interview with Asher Clark of Terra Plana
- Big Sound From A Zeppelin Mini
- Tube Your Wood
- Reusing Daylight
- A Bird-Shaped Camera
| Posted: 12 Jul 2010 03:49 AM PDT  One of YD's team members is soon to tie the knot, and I'm sure he must have picked the ring already. But just in case he hasn't I'd like to suggest the "Heart Of Love", a symbolic expression of love. The ring and pendent design try and replicate the ever-popular image of a wedding ring on the bible with casted "love" shadow, and do a pretty good job of it. Call it trick photography or simply the play of lights; undoubtedly it can't get mushier or romantic than this! This collection is fashioned form sterling silver with rhodium plating for lasting beauty. Designer: D.K. & Wei
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| Posted: 12 Jul 2010 03:26 AM PDT  Safety Cutter is a simple stationery project that looks at adding functionality to the ruler and taking care of your fingers at the same time. The cutter is integrated into the ruler for a reason…to locate it easily in your stationery stash, plus the rigid support will help you cut the sheet (or whatever it is that you were cutting) with confidence. Not a really dynamic project, but what I really found interesting was the way the blade gets a protective sheath. Look at 5th image to know what I am talking about. Designer: Han Ji Yeon
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| Posted: 12 Jul 2010 02:59 AM PDT  Earbuds look neat in your ears but sometimes times they can be misfits. Either the buds are too big or you have exceptionally small holes! The Ocarina Earphones come with the solution and feature a T shaped systematic type design, so that it can take support of your of inner ears, earflaps and tragus, for perfect placement. And if for a moment you thought that the design similar to the ancient flute-like wind instrument – ocarina; you were thinking right. Designers: Yong Lee, Geon il Lee & Seo hyun Baek of i-SOUND
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| Interview with Asher Clark of Terra Plana Posted: 12 Jul 2010 01:30 AM PDT  Footwear company Terra Plana has always been on my radar for their ethical stance regarding the Earth and the impact of design. Their aesthetic is anatomic without any “green” pretension. Their latest product, the Evo, eschews the consensus of what a good running shoe should be by going back to basics; running barefoot. My interview with Terra Plana’s Head Designer Asher Clark grabs insight into this growing movement and sheds light into the mind of this wunderkind. Designer: Asher Clark for Terra Plana
You grew up in a family known for footwear. Did you always know you’d stay in the “family business” or did you have other aspirations? What were they? I grew up in cider country (Sommerset) in a town called Street, which is where the Clarks HQ is based. My dad was not a cobbler and not working for Clarks, so although I lived down the road, I never felt particularly close to the business and certainly never thought I would end up pursuing a life as a shoemaker. I was very into skateboarding and surfing and remember being fascinated by the brands and performance products that were specific to those sports. I went to London College of Fashion to do product design for the fashion industry and it all kinda came together. I knew I wanted to be a shoe designer and make crazy trainers. Where did you learn your skills? Where do your creative instincts come from? I went to LCF in London, I started working as a freelancer for Kenzo 2003 and worked with some amazing brands and designers and spent an ungodly amount of time in airplanes and shoe factories around the world. In 2008, I set up my own design company called AMC Design House. Among other projects, we are most proud to be the design force behind Terra Plana and VivoBarefoot. They are the most relevant and important categories in shoe world and this keeps us on our toes, creatively energised and learning every day! If you had to sum up the company’s ethos, what would it be? Shoes are bad for you Terra Plana footwear looks totally original. I sometimes see a hint of Clark DNA but for the most part, it’s unique. How would you describe the aesthetic? 21st century Artisan or Clarks on dope .
Talk to me about the Vivo Barefoot Evo? What is it? VivoBarefoot in the original barefoot brand and the Evo is our running shoe… It's the best anti-shoe out there. I’ve tried several shoes that simulate barefoot running; some are more successful than others. How is VivoBarefoot Evo different? Like you point out, the barefoot thing is a hot topic of debate in the running world with existing products like Vibram Five Fingers, Feelmax, Nike Free etc… all promoting the benefits of barefoot and others set to follow with their version. The VivoBarefoot patent lies in the puncture resistant layer between the thin sole and sock and is in all of the Vivo shoes. The Evo in our first running specific shoe and it is essentially an ultra naked minimalist foot sleeve that should simply protect the foot and lets it do its thing. It allows your foot to flex effortlessly in multiple directions and gives superb directional traction on every type of surface. The product promotes maximum breathability and free flowing natural movement. This is a question I’ve always wanted to ask the pro-barefoot camp. Many runners pronate or supinate and require corrective orthotics. Can these runners use the Evo comfortably? Most people have been in shoes every walking hour of there life since they were kids and it stands to reason that if you jump out of your shoes and run a marathon your going to feel pain in places that you didn't even know existed. Absolutely, if you are new to barefoot you need to take it slowly and listen to your body, building up to longer runs and looking at improving your running technique with a like minded running coach. The hard soles of shoes actually cause a lot of foot problems and research shows that if you let you body move as nature intended, a lot of the problems you talk about can be corrected. For me personally barefoot just feels rite and perhaps is not for everyone but we were all barefoot once upon a time, right? As head designer of Terra Plana, what inspires you? What do you do when you come to a creative block? Am inspired to make things better…better to wear, better for the environment…just keep being better. Most designers have unusual quirks. For instance I find the best collaborator is myself and often talk to myself to brainstorm ideas and solutions. What are your quirks? Lets just say I think a lot on the toilet. Another question I’ve always wanted to ask footwear designers are why the high heels in women’s shoes? Tons of studies show it’s terrible for the foot yet the industry perpetuates it. Most women are always going to want the effect of a healed shoe. We battle with this all the time and know that you are of course better off wearing flat shoes – we make high heals and we all know that they are not good for you but we now only make heals that are max 5cm high, thin flexible soles, memory foam foot beds and eco constructions and materials. We have resided to the fact that if we are going to make heals we are going to make sure that they are as good for you as possible. When you come up with new designs, do you try them on yourself to decide if it’s good, or do you have a team of people to test it? We have other people to test the shoes, but I am sample size UK 8 so as long as it hasn't got a heal on it I like to wear the hell out of them. I started to run every day when we began to design the Evo so that I could get under the skin of the product and along with the people we consulted with, I could make sure that we were making the right choices during the critical stages of development. Some designers say designing with Earth friendly practices and sustainable materials are too difficult. Since you’ve designed footwear for both the eco and traditional camps, what’s your take? Do you find it challenging or creatively limiting ? Until genuine scientific lifecycle analysis for a bunch of different shoes happens – quite honestly – a lot of green initiative' are just finger in the air kind of moves. With Terra Plana each concept is an evolution of thinking from the last. I guess a kind of snowball of knowledge picked up along the way that results in improvements to existing products or the promise of a genuinely exciting solution for a new product that are usually impossible to resist. Materials are ways we are always making improvements by using some fantastic post consumer recycled synthetics on upper nylons, air mesh, linings that not only have mind blowing eco creds but are super hi performance. We are also working with our sole supplier for SS11 (Spring/Summer 2011) developing a special high abrasion rubber compound that uses up to 50% recycled car tires – very interesting stuff . We approach sustainable design through our in-house eco matrix – where we score every product based on five criteria.
Care to shed any light on upcoming Terra Plana projects or ideas you may be toying with? Com’on, don’t be shy. I shouldn't tell you this but we are developing 2 very exciting new barefoot projects for SS11. A Duel injected EVA running shoe and a very special single moulded running sandal. Who are your favourite designers, regardless of industry? Would you ever consider a Terra Plana collaboration with an artist or another designer? Would love to do a collaboration with Jonathan Ive if Mr. Jobs would allow it? Finally, what’s your favorite color and why? White, is that a colour? ---------- |
| Big Sound From A Zeppelin Mini Posted: 12 Jul 2010 01:00 AM PDT  I reviewed the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin almost 2 years ago and even to this day, there are few iPod/iPhone speakers that can match its beautiful design and awesome sound. The latest incarnation of the Zeppelin is the Mini. Call it the little brother but don’t be fooled by its size. This is big sound in a little box. Hit the jump for my review. Everything in the original Zeppelin is found in the Mini. B&W’s advance acoustic technologies, intelligent and almost alien design, and exceptional build quality did not suffer in the miniaturization. The original Zeppelin is a huge football shaped object that demanded table space. The Mini is much more accommodating with its small footprint. Really, it’s the best desktop iPhone/iPod speaker at this price point ($399.95). Lets talk about bass for a minute. Music without bass sounds flat and many of the speaker systems out there sacrifice it to get a small footprint. Not so with the Zeppelin Mini. The rear houses B&W’s Flowport, a massive hole for air generated by bass units to move around freely. The result is bone rattling without distortion – music to my ears. The docking arm that holds the iPhone or iPod keeps it secure, charges it, and provides an optimal angle for touchscreen navigation. Like its big brother, the Mini comes with the same pebble shaped remote that can control almost every aspect of the iPod playlist. Still one of my favorite features of the docking arm is spinning it 90º incase you prefer navigating your iPod via Cover Flow mode. I’m sad I have to return it. There aren’t many things in my home I let sit out on display. The Mini receives that honor for its beautiful design. Kudos to Native Design and product designer Morten Warren, the same team responsible for the original Zeppelin. I’ve had weeks of audio bliss thanks to the Mini. Bowers & Wilkins have done an amazing job bringing their sonic expertise to a package that can audibly hang with the big boys. Designer: Native Design for B&W (Buy it here $399.95)
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| Posted: 12 Jul 2010 12:13 AM PDT  If you’ve ever received a poster in the mail, you might know what a heavy-duty paper tube looks and feels like. It’s the same sort of tube that you find inside a roll of toilet paper or wrapping paper, but multiplied to the point of hardness. What designer Seongyong Lee is doing here is the same process but instead or with lots of layers of paper, with few layers of wood. These tubes, made, are then pieced together as furniture! These wooden “tubed” wood pieces are very light but very strong. They’ve got the long lasting value of plywood but with the tooling and finishing abilities of a much prettier process. Each bit of furniture here is made as an example of how the tubed wood could be used. All of it apparently is amazingly strong and light. For example, the stool is only 820g in weight and can hold whatever you’d consider a “normal” stool could hold. BONUS: think of the possibilities of the hole down the middle of the legs of these furniture bits. As Lee suggests, how amazing would it be to have all your cords hidden? Totally amazingly fabulously hidden. Designer: Seongyong Lee
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| Posted: 12 Jul 2010 12:10 AM PDT  Now this is one of those simple and simply brilliant designs. It doesn’t happen often that a design so simple as a lamp touches my heartbones, but check it out. It’s all in the description. In describing this project, the designers at Onø Design made the comment “sensibly reusing the daylight” as far as how this lamp is basically one giant solar-charged LED light. How lovely is that? During the day, turn this lamp upside-down to collect daylight. At night, turn it rightside-up and it switches on. Light for you all night long. Apparently the LED lights, in addition to burning longer and for less power (of course), also do not attract insects the way other bulbs do. That sold me, all the way. Put it on your dock for some excellent lighthouse-like lights to direct you home after a relaxing evening of night-cruising on your boat or pontoon. Designer: Onø Design for Bockia
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| Posted: 12 Jul 2010 12:03 AM PDT  When you think about a concept, there’s always a first use that comes to mind. When I think of a bird-shaped camera, I immediately think of it being used to collect photos of birds. Certainly birds would be more apt to get close to a camera that’s shaped like a bird, yes? They’re comfortable in the eyes of another bird, more than a human, anyway. Well how about this – what if those cameras were instead used to capture images of people disobeying traffic laws on the road? Scary! Amazing! And oh my goodness, how it could work! You’ve got these birds on the wire, taking photos or video of people committing traffic crimes and wow, the crimes that will be caught. And then, as designer Thomas Valcke notes, there’ll be a collection of people who know that these birds are watching them. Paranoia sets in, as it always does, and these people begin to fear every bird watching them! Big Brother? No way. Big Bird. Designer: Thomas Valcke
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