Where was this invention when I was in Fashion Design school? Big Eye Needle is an ordinary loop-eye sewing needle except it’s made of some new fangled metal. With a bit of pressure, the tiny loop-eye expands to the size of a button hole making threading a cinch - literally. Gone are the days of far sighted clumsy hands and sore thumbs. Damn thread never seems to want to go in without a fight. I need the Big Eye Needle now. Appropriately, I rate this a DO WANT!

Designer: Woo Moon-Hyung

Woo Moon Hyung

In our cult of the new and the shiny, it’s sometimes refreshing to remember that it’s possible to make new things out of old things that look old. No, seriously, it’s possible. And Jan Korbes Garbage Architecture has many projects to prove it. Coming from the Gordon Matta-Clark school of architecture, Jan Korbes follows a lot of threads at once. There are a lot of small furniture pieces involving scrap wood and recycled car tires.  Some are interesting, some you’ve seen before, but in every instance he doesn’t stop experimenting.

Where it starts to get really interesting is when the objects start to become architecture, or pieces of architecture. The Zee Stair is a great example: an old harbor pole is sawn again to become a beautiful, unexpected stair. Sinus Stairs II takes this a step farther by recycling old doors to create a screen-like staircase, one that begins to take on the mass and shape of a building. Optrek Tranvaal takes recovered doors from other projects and recycles them into a skylight/balcony cut not unlike some of Matta-Clark’s late proposals, where the envelope of the building is cut to create something entirely new. This is someone we’re going to be checking in on from time to time. We can’t wait for the truly big projects to begin.

Designer: Jan Korbes Garbage

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The Rundle Lantern is a parking garage in Adelaide, Australia, composed of a big corner-wrapping screen. Each of the 748 “pixels ” has two LED lights behind it, and it can do all the stuff that awesome big screens can do. It was designed by brand consulting firm Fusion , but this is no jumbotron: it was intentionally designed to be a lantern to this part of town, and even though it moves it doesn’t display hard images or text. It’s more like a huge Jeremy Blake light-painting , and we love it for that. Check out the videos.

Designer: Fuse Project

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Mobile phones are at their core, a means of connecting people to one another, and designer Rahul Sen has striped back the phone to this core element and created what he calls “Loops of Faith”.

The Nokia bracelet concept was finally born out of a convergence of a Rahki bracelet metaphor with a Buddhist prayer wheel metaphor. The system was inspired by what exists today as customs and traditions in the digitally excluded countries of the World with the hope that it would serve the needs of millions of digitally illiterate people all over the World who have little faith in technology.

The Bracelet, could be likened to a mobile phone in itself, is made of a simple foam body with an OLED as the main surface. The form is a derivative of the outer surface of any cylindrical form or its modulation. Each Wheel could be likened to a SIM-card on a mobile phone and establishes a connection with the parent Bracelet and the tower to which it is docked. The wheels have a recessed surface which can clasp the Bracelet whenever needed. It also has an OLED surface to complete the communication from the parent bracelet. A bracelet could be connected to numerous wheels in different places.

The Rakhi is a form of traditional friendship bracelet, where a brother ties a sacred thread around the wrist of a sister. The knot is a symbol for connection. (though it’s also done between close friends) A Buddist prayer wheel is a central pole with cylinders slotted over the top inscribed with prayers around their circumference. Passers by spin these wheels in an act of goodwill, believing that it reverberates the prayers to the rest of the world.

Designer: Rahul Sen

Rahul Sen

I saw some generic knock off at my local electronics retailer and decided it was high time to try the real deal first before giving the knock off a chance. Joby was kind enough to answer my request and sent me their wildly popular Gorillapod SLR-ZOOM, the flexi-bendy tripod that gets your camera into more nooks and crannies you thought possible. Hit the jump for my review.

This isn’t a replacement for your traditional tripod. Tho the Gorillapod SLR-ZOOM is plenty strong to hold up an SLR camera, you’ll still want a traditional tripod for those glorious pro shots. The Gorillapod is about portability with the added advantage of getting you those unique shots that will have people wondering how you got it - say those two squirrels hanging out in the tree, or that beetle busily working away in the morning dew.

Each leg is made up of 10 ball joints that have 360º of rotational freedom standing 10 inches tall when fully extended. They’re a bit stiff to manipulate and didn’t get any looser after constant use, which is a good thing since the last thing I want happening is for the entire contraption to fail, sending my expensive camera smashing into the ground. There’s a universal screw set to fit any camera that’ll take a traditional mount. The Gorillapod SLR-ZOOM doesn’t come with the quick release mount found on the original Gorillapod which frees you from screwing it on/off. This was intentional since most SLR owners will want to invest in their own professional mount head.

Once you get the hang of manipulating all those ball joints, setting up your camera for that perfect shot is a snap. You’d be amazed at the angles you can get your camera in. Tho it’s entirely made of plastic and rubber, the Gorillapod is strong and very grippy. Never once did I feel like it would give out, even when I had the camera upside down. This would make an awesome gift for someone just stepping up to the digital SLR world. With 3 models to choose from (compact camera, SLR cameras, and big video cameras), they’re priced just right.

What we liked:

• Affordable, 3 models to choose from $24-$54
• Flexible joints provide an innovative way to set up shots in almost any angle
• Extremely strong and durable
• Joints don’t seem to wear out with constant use
• Very lightweight and compact
• Stands about 10 inches tall when legs are fully extended

What could be improved:

• Joints are a bit stiff, tough to manipulate
• Joby should develop their own mount head and include it with the SLR-ZOOM

Designer: Joby [ Buy it Here ]

Gorillapod

The Toasty Charger by Hyun- A Ko makes each charging session into a breakfast scene, or whenever it is you toast. For me, that’s breakfast. Assuming it can take all varying sizes of lithium ion batteries, you slide one in, push the toaster handle down and wait for it to pop back up again. Granted this is one toast that’ll take a little longer than usual so if you’re not around to see it pop, there’s a handy dandy color coded LED light in the shape of toast for visual reference. Mmm, breakfast!

Designer: Hyun-A Ko

Hyun a Ko

TRIA is a wireless sound system that allows the user to listen to music from vinyl records and rip it to a built-in hard disk. YES! Composed of three elements – a wireless vinyl player and ripper, wireless stereo speakers and a wireless controller,  music can also be transferred from the player’s built-in hard disk onto a USB storage device or MP3 player.

TRIA not only plays vinyl records on a new system with innovative digital solutions, it also preserves the old turntable experience by enabling it to be controlled with a remote control or a touch-screen LCD display located on the top surface of the player. A system of four styli allows it to play the both sides of the vinyl without having to flip it. In addition, TRIA is equipped with an internal cleaning system, which offers the system long life and durability.

Designer: Ricardo Baiao at Mola Ativism

Ricardo Baiao

Having a propensity for wild and crazy automotive here at Yanko Design, the GYM Concept Car comes as no surprise! Obviously very inspired by a recent gym renovation project, this vehicle tries a new combo, acting as a fully electric mobile workout center. Each workout charges the car for more driving.

A single seat machine, this vehicle is inspired by WWII fighter airplanes. Lightweight injection molded magnesium alloy chassis covered by “a minimal amount” of carbon-fibre bodywork. Inside is an electric motor and a battery pack. You can either plug batteries in or charge them yourself. While inside the car, you can use the stepping machine, rowing machine, bench press, pull-up simulator, or arm weights.

But what I want is the ability to take the battery out and charge it in the safety (both of physical and mental harm) of my own home using equipment I already own. On the other hand, what if I want to do pull-ups on the edge of the Grand Canyon without leaving the comfort of my car? I will need a GYM Concept Car.

P.S. : The GYM Concept Car is not affilliated with not probably had any contact or knowledge of the [Wellness Sky], so don’t worry about it being some crazy inspiration, for real!

Designer: Da Feng [ Via: Diseno-Art & Jalopnik ]

Da Feng

Mua was designed with lovers in mind. The organic shape invokes the idea of two people intertwined, embracing each other. Wicker wrapped steel on the outside, red for love in the inside. Mua dangles from a tree suspended for all voyeurs to see and at the perfect angle - looks like a giant heart shaped pendant. Implying love in a design can border the esoteric to the ridiculous but I think the Mua strikes the perfect balance. I just hope those red covers are washable because. . . well, I’m not gonna go there.

Designer: Victor Aleman

Victor Aleman

The Hourglass Lantern works like traditional hourglasses but turns the thousand year old tech upside down (literally) by using LEDs instead of sand. You can even adjust how long it takes for the light to flow from top to bottom by twisting the two halves like a dial. As time passes, luminance decreases on top as it increases on bottom.

I like the idea but there’s something more accurate about the sand based version since I can precisely see how much sand is left where as with the Hourglass Lantern, there’s no gauge when both top/bottom are lit.

Designer: Young Bok Kim

Young Bok Kim

Sonoro Audio Cubo Elements clock radio won a Red Dot award for best product design so we just had to review one to see what all the accolades were about. Right off the bat, this is no typical clock radio. In fact, my regular radio tucked its tail in and hid behind the lamp as soon as the Cubo Elements came prancing out of its packaging. Hit the jump for my review.

Hands on this is the SHINIEST clock radio I have ever seen which ironically means you shouldn’t be too hands on because it’s a finger print magnet. This was made apparent by the lint free microfiber cleaning cloth and a pair of white gloves included with each unit. The only part you ever touch is the glowing metal control dial which eerily looks kinda like a precursor to HAL. Don’t worry tho, nothing about the Cubo Elements will take over your home in an attempt to kill you. This is much more user friendly.

The ring sorta mimics the old iPod click wheels of yore. Everything from changing radio modes, audio inputs (yes it’ll connect to your MP3 player), and volume/player controls are accessed thru the ring and the center black button. Tho the outside is lacquered up, stereo sound and bass reflex are excellent thanks to its internal wood construction. I was pleasantly surprised how “thumpy and bassy” it was. Not quite powerful enough to fill an entire room but for your office desk or bedside table, it’s more than enough. The same mechanics also power the alarm(s) which is LOUD. If this doesn’t wake you up, nothing will.

It has basic inputs for AM/FM antennas and an AUX IN jack for any external audio device. iPod users should know there’s an optional dock that’s just as shiny. There are actually two versions of the Cubo Elements. One has internet radio giving you access to over 10,000 streaming stations and a remote control. We had the standard version and couldn’t test those features.

Price is still TBA but being that it was designed internally by Sonoro Audio, it’ll probably be much pricier than your typical clock radio. Good thing you’ll get what you pay for because like we said, the audio quality on this thing will most likely send your current clock radio on permanent vacation.

What we liked:

• Stunning hi-gloss finish and amazing build quality
• iPod-like click wheel makes it easy for any digital player aficionado
• All wood construction makes for really nice acoustics, loud and bassy
• Adjustable treble/bass
• Memorize 10 of your favorite radio stations
• LED glow ring is a nice touch, looks like it’s floating when the lights are off
• Multiple alarms with sleep settings

What could be improved:

• The optional iPod dock was clearly an afterthought, two pieces of lacquered wood and rubber bands

Designer: Sonoro Audio GmbH & Co.

cubo