Hasta La Ideas

Love it, hate it, but you can’t really ignore Apple! With the work from home situation taking a toll on our work setups now is the need, more than ever for multi-functional designs. Also what this hour needs are designs that make us smile. With our gadgets holding our attention for maximum time these days (can you imagine how this quarantine would be without our phones or the internet?!) these electronic powerhouses need these accessories to give you the most of their capabilities. Our curation today brings you the best of Apple accessories – to amplify your productivity, help you create a portable setup as well as to fill you with joy!

Joyce Kang and C.O Design Lab’s Pod Case gives the Apple Watch a much-needed history lesson, introducing it to the ancestor that started the Apple craze. The watch’s screen roughly matches the screen size found in classic iPod Nanos, while its body is only a slight bit thicker. The Pod Case, made in silicone, slides right over the Apple Watch body, giving it a funky throwback, while also letting you use the watch as-is. Obviously, the jog-wheel on the front is a dummy one (although it could work if it connected via Bluetooth), but the watch can easily be navigated using the touch-screen.

It seems that Stephen Chu may have made one of the most marvelous breakthroughs in the computer peripherals category. Say hello to the Kolude KD-K1, a sleek external keyboard with a pretty interesting twist. With circular keys that sit within a machined aluminum base giving it a neo-retro vibe, the Kolude KD-K1 keyboard is a visual treat with tactile scissor-switch keys that make it a great keyboard to type on too. Designed to be the Swiss-Army-Knife of keyboards, the Kolude KD-K1 makes sure you’ll never have to bend over and reach behind a CPU to plug a pen-drive in again.

The iBoy fidget toy is the perfect desktop accessory for every apple lover! Say hello to the iBoy by Philip Lee, a collectible that captures the combined joy of an action toy with the world’s most famous music playback device. Modeled clearly using Apple’s classic player as inspiration, the iBoy comes with movable hands and legs that attach and detach via magnets, and droid antennae that manifest themselves on each side of the iBoy’s head in the form of earphones! The iBoy’s design captures the most realistic, believable details of the music player, turning it into a nostalgic retro-inspired keepsake. The iBoy’s torso is all ABS plastic, while the back is a polished chrome metal. The figurine even comes with a display and ports (not real ones, obviously) and is complete with realistic artwork etched onto the metal back, and real tactile controls and rotating jog-dial on the front with realistically believable feedback that feels exactly like the original.

The doqo case turns your iPad Pro into a MacBook… with a trackpad and multiple ports! Designed to give iPad Pro users the laptop experience, doqo’s case design transforms your tablet into a full-fledged MacBook. Slip the iPad Pro into the doqo and there’s little difference between this setup and any of Apple’s laptops. The case comes with a gorgeous aluminum design, a full-sized keyboard, a functioning trackpad, and enough ports to make a MacBook Pro jealous! Integrated into its slim profile is an SD card reader (remember those?) and even an HDMI port that lets you connect your setup to a larger display! You’ve also got 2 USB-C ports for charging your iPad or diverting power to an iPhone and 2 USB 3.0 ports for pen drives, hard drives, or any dongles you may need to go about your day-to-day activities.

The DoBox Mini can turn your iPad/iPhone into a full-featured computer… with ports! This small aluminum box, roughly the size of a power-bank, unleashes your smart device’s true abilities. It connects to your home Wi-Fi network via a cable, and to your smart device via an app… and that’s where the magic begins. The DoBox Mini now turns your iOS device into a powerhouse of sorts. Ports on the DoBox Mini become ports you can use with your iOS device. You can plug a USB Mouse, Keyboard, an HDMI-connected display, or even a USB Drive or SD Card, and they all become accessible via your smartphone or tablet. All the control lies within the DoBox app. You can connect devices, share data, store data, and even stream movies to an external display.

AXS Technologies from Brooklyn, NY has created a new and innovative product that unifies all of your most important devices into one sleek system essentially making the AirPod’s native charging case obsolete. Power1 takes portability and functionality to a new level giving you a system that’s doubly useful because it doesn’t just charge and protect for your iPhone… it charges and protects your Airpods too and ensures they are always with you and ready for use. Designed as an evolution of traditional battery cases, Power1 not only holds an extra battery but also manages your Airpods like no other system. Armed with proprietary design, Power1 comes with two modes. One, where it charges your Airpods only (up to 30 times on a full battery), and a second mode that charges your Airpods as well as your phone, giving both gadgets full advantage of Power1’s 3000mAh internal battery.

The iMac G3, in its translucent, colorful, flavorful glory is considered to be the starting point of Apple’s aesthetic dominance in the tech industry, and also the product that sealed Jonathan Ive’s reputation as a designer to be reckoned with. Available in thirteen different ‘flavors’, the iMac G3 looked absolutely stunning, offering a candylike color scheme and a translucent housing that let you peer into the ‘mind of the computer’. Spigen’s Classic C1 pays tribute to that glorious phase in Apple’s timeline, with its three-part case for the iPhone X that mimics the technology-meets-translucent glory of the iMac. Available in seven of the thirteen colors (Spigen’s stayed true to the colors too), the case sits in three parts around the iPhone. The inner cover gives the case its skeletal design, with the circuit-board design and the cutout near the Apple logo – just flip it over and it even has the ‘hello (again)’ text that was displayed in the iMac G3 advertisements.

Zendure’s SuperHub basically solves the problem of having multiple devices to charge and just one power outlet. Designed as a power-brick but with multiple ports, the SuperHub lets you use one outlet to route power to all your devices, while at the same time, allowing you to transfer data between them… serving the role of a USB hub along with a power-delivery system. Armed with an AC power input on one end, and two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a 4K HDMI port on the other, the SuperHub takes ownership of both power as well as data delivery. You can connect multiple devices, including your laptop, to the SuperHub, charging them simultaneously, while also letting you plug an external display in to broadcast your phone, tablet, or laptop’s screen on it.

The designers of DGRule describe it as an “invisible hub” and I guess we can see why. The DGRule promises to be a convenient alternative to the limited Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports since they aren’t always compatible with all devices. Subtle, discreet, and far from bulky, DGRule snaps onto both sides of the MacBook Pro. The cushion pad ensures it stays glued onto the laptop, no matter which position you work in. Available in Space Gray or Silver, it camouflages with your laptop, appearing to be a natural extension of it. Created from CNC aluminum, this allows the hub to comfortably merge with the MacBook Pro.

The motion of using a dropper to transfer colors was reinterpreted with the data delivery interface with an Apple pencil-like tool which has been christened as iSpoid for this concept project. The group of Korean designers (Chi-Eun Jang, Hyeokryul Kwon, Jaegeun Kim, Jeongmin Lim) who came up with this conceptual product wanted to make data transfer and data sharing between devices as easy and joyful without the stress of connecting via Bluetooth, hard drives, and the quest for finding the right device to AirDrop.

Named after the very man who pioneered the edgy, angular, low-poly aesthetic, the Brubaker Box is a minivan inspired by the designs of Curt Brubaker – who’s work also directly influenced design of the Tesla Cybertruck.

The Brubaker Box is essentially for families who want to adopt the Cybertruck aesthetic without necessarily buying a pickup. Made possibly for edgy soccer moms, the minivan comes with a slightly softer low-poly design that’s more approachable and friendly (after all, you want to look more like a family person and less like you’re Mad Max-ing your way through life).

The Brubaker Box comes with a metallic finish and as a quirky touch, wooden bumpers. The car seats two at front and has a spacious rear, accessible by a single sliding door. on the opposite side, instead of a second door is an entertainment center to keep the kids occupied on long road trips. Windows on the side and two long sun-roofs that run along the top help illuminate the insides of the car during the day, while a light strip between the sun-roofs helps in lower light settings. The interiors of the car reflect a sense of cleanliness and purity that sort of mirrors the outside. There isn’t an overwhelming presence of seats at the back, giving you a lot of breathing space (which if you have kids, should be a blessing), while the dashboard on the front is absolutely pristine too, with just a steering wheel and two displays to provide essential information. The car’s conceptual, but it’s safe to assume that something this futuristic doesn’t run on gasoline. The car doesn’t look like it comes with boot space, indicating a sort of electric skateboard setup that puts the batteries and essential components under the cuboidal cabin. A pretty nifty combination of being boxy yet out-of-the-box, no?

Designer: Samir Sadikhov

The Brooklyn retailer and workshop encourages young readers to create as much as they consume

Brooklyn‘s LOOT operates differently than most comic book stores: a $30 monthly subscription provides customers with unlimited access to the club and its comic collection, as well as the opportunity to take books out one at a time. For those who don’t frequent the brick and mortar store, comics are available for $5 online. LOOT founder Joseph Einhorn’s mission is simple: to give kids access to an endless supply of comic books at an affordable rate. He hopes the stories inspire readers and keep them in the shop’s orbit.

Seeing how young readers light up when they enter their favorite characters’ worlds, Einhorn saw an opportunity to bring more characters to life via a creative challenge for kids. He launched a contest that challenged kids to conceptualize their own comic book character and then submit their work to LOOT.

“The contest idea came to us in the best way possible… from the kids,” Einhorn tells CH. “We have been trying to encourage the kids to be as original as possible when making and selling their own comics at LOOT.” The shop also stocks original comics by children from all over and encourages storytelling, creativity, and comic-crafting through hosted workshops in their airy second-floor studio. Kids who sell their comics there also take 90% of the profits; the 10% LOOT takes simply covers transaction processing fees. “We talk a lot about how character development is at the core of all their favorite comic franchises. As a result, kids started to submit more in-depth character profiles, sometimes in lieu of full-on comics. We decided to see where that could go and making an action figure was what they were most excited about.”

Einhorn fielded the submissions from people under the age of 18 and ran through the entries with the help from a panel of guest judges: Coco Baba founder (and mother of comic-loving kids) Emma Heming Willis, comic-based movie actor Colin Ford, and prolific sculptor and graphic artist Djordje Djokovic. Together, they settled on four winners. Then, Einhorn turned the project over to Concrete Jungle Studio artist Steven Cartoccio. Using a 3D printer and his abundant experience, Cartoccio would turn each of the designs into action figures.

“I was a fan of Steve’s art. He came in to the shop and was blown away,” Einhorn says. “He really loves what we are doing and he said he would help out in any way we need. When the kids asked for their own action figures, he took the call.” Cartoccio has since completed the first of the four winning submissions: Princess Anya by 12-year-old Haile.

Though the contest’s submission window has since closed, LOOT ensures (alongside the rollout of the rest of the winners’ figurines) that the shop will remain open virtually.

“Given everything going on in the world, we have been moving our classes online and trying to come up with ways to keep families engaged in art during these challenging times,” he says. “Our DMs are open. If a kid submits anything, we will respond and try to help them develop their ideas and if we see something that is so good that we feel it needs to be made, we’ll bring it to Steve and see what we can do.”

Hero image by Catherine Michelle Bartlett for LOOT

Do you want to explore interesting ways to tell the story of your brand or products? We can collaborate on a digital talk, discussion, video or another bespoke content idea as part of Virtual Design Festival.

Perhaps you want to launch a new product or service or talk about an existing one. Or maybe you’re a tech company that wants to speak to the global architecture and design community. Or an architecture firm with bold ideas.

We’ll work with you to come up with a unique way of telling your story. Our in-house video studio is able to operate remotely to create high-quality content that will resonate with our audience. We can even assign a day of VDF to your brand and create multiple posts as part of a take-over for greater impact.

Each piece of content will be published on the Virtual Design Festival microsite, as well as being featured on Dezeen (over three million monthly visitors) and included in Dezeen’s daily newsletter, which has 170,000 subscribers.

We can also create highly engaging video content to publish on Dezeen’s social media channels, which have a combined total of over five million followers.

We can create one-off talks or videos, or a series of content.

For bigger partnerships, we can increase your brand’s exposure by giving it a dedicated day in the Virtual Design Festival schedule. In addition to publishing the series of content, we would put it in a featured slot at the top of the Virtual Design Festival homepage and give you dedicated advertising banners across the Virtual Design Festival microsite.

Contact us now for details of prices by emailing vdf@dezeen.com.

VDF also offers an affordable platform for students and graduates and a digital products fair where designers and brands can promote their wares.

About Virtual Design Festival

Virtual Design Festival is the world’s first online design festival, taking place from 15 April to 30 June.

The festival has already generated substantial interest around the world, with contributions lined up from many leading designers.

“The global design community has collaborated to launch the first virtual design festival in response to the coronavirus lockdown,” wrote The Guardian newspaper.

Designer Ron Arad described VDF as “a great initiative to bring us together at this extraordinary time,” while Tom Dixon said: “The Virtual Design Festival allows us an unexpected digital platform to describe our latest thinking.”

“Thank you Dezeen for keeping the light on,” said Stefano Giovannoni. “I look forward to this digital festival with Dezeen,” said Yves Behar.

The post Promote your brand with a bespoke Virtual Design Festival talk, video or full-day takeover appeared first on Dezeen.

This is one of those product designs that’s so smart, you’re almost angry that you didn’t think of it first. The Green Disc is meant to replace that oily rag you use at home to oil your bike chain:

I don’t know that I’d carry it with me, but I like the compact size and oil-proof container that allows you to. I’m also digging how simple it looks to load and use.

Designed and made in Germany, the €19 (USD $21) gizmo is killing it on Kickstarter right now–$142,000 on a $7,100 goal at press time, with 18 days left to pledge.