Interior Design Sense

Delve into the archives of Yanko Design and you’ll notice that 6 out of 10 designs are by Korean Designers! It’s never been a calculated attempt on our part, but the truth is that their ideas and concepts are so innovative and in-sync with “good design”, that it is hard to ignore. Many of you write in to ask how we find out about these designers; I can’t give out our trade secret, but I can direct you to a place where you can meet them in person and maybe share your passion for design. The Korea Pavilion will be set up at the 100% Design London, this September. They are really eager to show you their ideas and introduce you to their team; maybe even hook-up some business propositions!

For those of who are attending the 100% Design London, earmark their stand L70 (23 – 26 Sept), and those at home, fret not, here’s a peek at what you’re missing…in a two-part series special! Let’s Look at Part I.

Ring For You And Earth by Birthday

Do you recollect the “Only 1°C Change Can Affect Us – Ceramic Cup”? The same design studio is showcasing the Only 1°C change can affect us: Tee shirt and these gorgeous recycle rings! When I visit the Korean Pavilion, I’m heading here first!

Undulating Salad Bowl by Design Now

The Undulating Salad Bowl is quite a quirky design intended for multiple diners. It has a sturdy base, and the Bowl does a complete 360 degree rotation, giving all diners equal access. With its ribbon-shaped base, the Salad Bowl is capable of transforming into various looks. It certainly is a conversational piece for any party!

Glass Tape by 601BISANG

Looking for design with a sense of humor? 601BISANG is the right place to look for it! Their Glass Tape is perfect for mix-and-match & co-ordination and is made with eleven sets and twenty-two different graphics. They will be showcasing many other products like the “Fantasticker”, a translucent, multi-colored pattern sticker in various shapes such as circles, triangles, and squares; you can layer them to create your own set of patterns. The Kraft Post-it: a multi-tasker with its vintage charm of wood-block stamp marks. Leaf Bookmark Note: charming leaves between pages.

The Sharing Teapot by i-CLUE DESIGN

The fascinating i-CLUE DESIGN will be showcasing the Hobi Tree ( a nursing bottle dryer), but I particularly fancy their Sharing Teapot! Based on Korea’s culture of sharing and caring, the teapot allows you to brew two kinds of tea in the same pot! Talk about dishing out a heady caffeinated cocktail!

Transform Tanagram Sofa by DESIGNSKIN

DESIGNSKIN specializes in Children’s toys and their Transform Tanagram Sofa bagged an iF 2010 Product Design Award. If you are taking your little tyke to the exhibition, be sure to let him play with their interactive and imaginative products like the Castle Mat and STAGO SOFA beanbag!

“TA-RAE” Lighting by Design Virus

This is one Korean Virus that you will want to catch, simply because of their astonishing creativity. Who would have thought that spools of threads can transform to such elegant lamps! That’s “TA-RAE” Lighting for you, composed of ten traditional “Seoul colors!”

Tree Bookshelf by designArtist Soh

designArtist Soh’s main objective is to make furniture and art expression as well. Essentially this means they want it to be functional and beautiful to look at. A perfect example for this is the Tree Bookself. I recommend that you also check out the Relation Sheep Stool that will be there at the stand, it will be interesting to see how two people sit face-to-face on a soft sheep-wool-stool and have a conversation!

For this and more fun products, stay tuned for Part II of the Korea Deign Pavilion at 100% London Design festival; right here on Yanko Design!

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Yanko Design
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This second reader’s home is that of Lione Monte, a pattern designer from Brazil. With alot of creativity and personal items, she has made it a cozy and inviting home that I bet she loves spending time in. (P.S. Check out her beautiful print & pattern work on her blog, her online portfolio and this website of the brand (Cantão) that she designs for).

We don’t know if you ever imagined how an IT Entrepreneur’s Home would look like, which is why we decided to give you a glimpse of a futuristic project, to say the least. Villa F is located in Vienna, Austria and was designed by the architects over at Najjar & Najjar. A real fan of Mac computer designs and Lamborginis, the owner wanted a place where he could live and work and that would reflect his passions. Moreover, he made sure his crib housed the latest trends in home technologies. Plasma TVs jumping out of seemingly common furniture, a large aquarium with computer generated graphics, LED lighting and sound systems turned on and off with the help of a mouse click- everything in this futuristic place is digitally maneuvered. We are really curious to find out what you think about this house, because from where we are standing, it doesn’t look to homey. It would also be fun to know if you think this place is suited for the personality of someone working in IT.

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More hot Singapore design. We’ve focused on apartments before but there are a lucky few who possess that most valuable of quantities on this populous island state …. land no matter how small. These stunning conservation architecture homes are in Singapore’s conservation zones. Many are shop houses but behind their immaculately preserved historical facades hide stunning modern homes where every square inch is devoted to living life well. All were designed by one of South-East Asia’s leading architectural firms ONG&ONG. Beautiful, considerate of heritage and spatially clever! More after the jump.

Designer Ryan Klinger’s Eco-Friendly Empower Rocking Chair keeps pace with the current thriving A&D scene where renewable energy is superseding other traditional energies. The idea behind the concept chair is simple, rock on and produce energy to power up all the necessary evils like laptops, mobile phones and other portable electronic devices via an USB outlet. A great concept and we would love to see it in commercial spaces like airports, hospitals and even lounge bars.

Via Ecofriend

Post from Eco-Friendly Empower Rocking Chair

“Design with a conscious” is one of those 21st century A&D trends that have really caught on and are no longer associated with tjhe idealists or the eco-police. Every inch of our urban existence is dependent on some form of energy so it makes sense to design products that actually track our consumption.The Belkin Conserve Insight does just that and also gives you information on the amount of CO2 emitted by your appliances, or the cost of operation. So if your refrigerator is consuming too much electricity then chuck it for the environment and even your wallet.

Post from Belkin Conserve Insight Records Your Energy Consumption

Here’s a reader request that came to us a little while ago (sorry, I wish I had time to do these posts more often) from Michelle:
“I’m currently having my kitchen re-designed and built from re-claimed wood. The texture of these re-fashioned door fronts is incredible. The process is an evolving one and will eventually involve a re-do of the kitchen island as well. I plan to put a small stainless sink (round) in the island. Back in April (I think) you had a photo of an island done in re-claimed wood with chrome carts placed underneath for an wonderful mix of industrial warmth (** photo below from nuevo-estilo.es). I have purchased an old (100 years + door with the original blue paint) that will be cut (yes, it will hurt to cut it in half) and used as each end of the island (the short ends). Beyond this plan, the rest of the design is an open book. I wonder if you can post some island inspiration that will help and that might allow me to think outside the box even more when it comes to how to best utilize the space inside or under the island effectively (storage & cost that is).”

I went through my stash of kitchen photos and grabbed a bunch of kitchen islands that I find intriguing. Hopefully something will inspire you Michelle, although maybe just shoving metro carts under it is a quick/simple/cheap solution. (I’d like to point out that I noticed a few islands with storage for wine which is awfully smart considering I hate most wine racks and have my meager wine collection stashed under my kitchen sink).

CountryHome	CountryHome
Sunset	Sunset
Sunset	Sunset
Sunset	Mark Olson
Hus & Hem	Hus & Hem

Sköna hem
Domino
Eric Roth

You have seen many homes on Freshome that feature stone and brick walls. You probably not imagined that this idea would be taken further and be applied to a furniture set. This highly original collection called “Bricks&Mortar” includes a chair, a love seat and a sofa, all featuring a very interesting upholstering material. After all, who says bricks can only be used as building materials? We don’t know about you guys, but we find these items quite interesting and out of the ordinary. We think they would go great in a creative interior, surrounded by a simple color palette and a minimalist decor. And perhaps a few flower pots also to cheer up the atmosphere. In case these designs caught your interest, you can read more information on ordering them here.

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The USB interface is quite fascinating, it’s got an entire peripheral industry started to cater to its existence! We have USB hubs, compatible heads for car-charging, compatible plugs for wall sockets, etc. To cut this long route of buying compatible peripherals just for the sake of charging, why not include the USB seat into a normal socket plate? Let it sit pretty next to the 3-pin socket…just as we see in this picture! So super simple that it snapped an iF Concept Award this year!

Designers: Lv Jianhua, He Dawei, Zhou Hanxiao & Xu Yao

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Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!

If you love video games, and PlayStaion more exactly them you might also fall in love with this piece of custom furniture. This coffee table with a base that looks like a giant PlayStation controller, was built by an Australian student called Mark for his high school industrial technology class project. The whole project took about 20 weeks to complete during off hours, and is made from plywood, MDF and veneer. Unfortunately the PlayStation Coffee Table can’t be found in stores, at least not yet. So what do you say, gamers, would you actually buy the PlayStation Controller Coffee Table? – Via – Ocau & Dvice

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