OIO flashlight concept brings a bit more flexibility to your mobile lights

What’s a thing that you need in the following situations: an object gets lost somewhere under your bed; you want to catch a few more pages before going to bed but you don’t want to disturb the person sleeping beside you; the lights suddenly go off suddenly in your apartment and you need to find your way around. The answer is of course, a flashlight.

Designer: Nuri Badur

A flashlight is one of those things that you don’t really choose because of its design or how cool it looks. You might choose one because of its color but as long as it’s handy and it does what it’s supposed to do, then it will work. But if you’re looking for something that’s a bit different than your usual flashlight, there’s a concept from an Italian product designer that you may be interested in.

The OIO Flashlight looks like the cousin of Wall-E and will fit in perfectly with the Pixar movie about the last robot on earth. But more than just looking cool, it’s designed to be a more flexible kind of flashlight through its cylinder body and semishpheric shaped actual flashlight. The concept renders show a pretty cool and warm orange color, with a variant that seems to be a silver reflective/translucent color.

Why would you need a flashlight that’s shaped like that, you may ask? Well, if you were looking for something under the bed, you wouldn’t need to twist your wrist or hand to be able to see properly. If you’re reading a book late at night, this kind of flashlight can light up the book directly, although it’s not really recommended you use a flashlight for that as it can affect your eyesight. When you get stuck in a place with no lighting and you bring out this flashlight, you’ll look pretty cool.

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Demonstrating a Safer Bike Helmet: Here's What Happens to Your Brain in a Crash

Years ago, cars were crash-tested using full-width frontal tests, as if driving straight into a brick wall. This spread the force of impact along the entire front of the vehicle.

However, research revealed these tests to be a poor measure of real-world safety. Thus offset frontal crash tests, where just a portion of the front collides with the barrier—as if driving into a tree, or clipping another car head-on—became the standard. Auto manufacturers now design their cars to meet these standards, and safety has improved as a result.

A similar improvement brought about by better research has happened with Wavecel Technologies‘ bike helmets.

The bike helmet version of a full-width frontal crash test is a linear crash: Assuming the cyclist’s head hits an object perfectly perpendicular to their line of direction (again, like driving straight into a brick wall). But in reality, crashes often involve the head colliding with something at an angle. This type of angled impact transmits a rotational force into the wearer’s head, which standard foam padding protects against poorly

To show you the difference between a linear crash and a crash that yields rotational force, Wavecel put together this illuminating video, where egg yolks stand in for the human brain:

As you can see, rather than using foam Wavecel has developed a sort of energy-absorbing and -redirecting grid.

Here’s a closer look at how the grid can both redirect and compress:

The company says this mesh provides “up to 73% more absorption of rotational force than a standard helmet,” and up to 98% less concussion risk.

Wavecel isn’t limiting their technology to bike helmets; the company also makes snowsport helmets and is expanding into hardhats.

They look pretty snazzy to boot!

Lenovo Legion Y90 gaming phone design leaves a durability question unanswered

Gaming smartphones have spiced up designs to some extent, but one new design, in particular, raises concerns about its overall durability.

Smartphone designs have been changing almost every year, with brands thinking of ways to stand out from the crowd. Most of these changes happen on the back of phones, where materials, textures, and camera bumps serve as differentiating factors. That said, the standard format of phones has remained mostly the same, with cameras on the top left corner or taking up the entire area on top. Lenovo’s latest gaming phones throw that formula out the window, but it may come at a hidden price that unsuspecting owners might be unwilling to pay for.

Designer: Lenovo

One look at the Lenovo Legion Y90’s back, and you immediately know this is not your typical smartphone. While other phones have a block on one side to house the cameras, the Lenovo phone’s bump sits right in the middle of the phone instead. Even without knowing the Lenovo Legion gaming brand’s logo, the multi-colored “Y” on that island clearly suggests that the phone is meant to be held sideways rather than upright like almost all other smartphones.

That’s because the Legion Y90, like the Legion Duel 2 before it, is a gaming smartphone not only in name or hardware but also in design. It takes into consideration how most mobile games are played in landscape orientation and has been designed around that convention, even if it means eschewing normal phone conventions in the process. The cameras, for example, are located in the middle, along with that RGB-backlit bump, so that your fingers don’t smudge the lenses while playing.

The phone also has a USB-C charging in the middle so that you can charge and play at the same time without the cable awkwardly dangling off one side, getting in the way of your hand. Unseen from the outside are two tiny fans that help with thermal management. This goes above and beyond the typical passive cooling that most smartphones have today, utilizing things like thermal pastes, copper vapor cooling chambers, and similar technologies.

While the Lenovo Legion Y90 is definitely interesting from a design perspective because of its novelty, it leaves the door open to one element of uncertainty. Last year, YouTuber Zack Nelson of JerryRigEverything easily snapped the Lenovo Legion Duel 2 into three parts when doing his usual bend test. Those parts included that large middle camera bump and the two sides flanking it.

Lenovo’s design was indeed bold and novel in how it kept its core audience in mind when making the phone, almost from the ground up. That design, however, also created structural compromises, especially on the phone’s back. While few people will probably be strong enough to bend a phone that way, it still leaves the possibility of one ugly accident heralding the end of what is supposed to be a very powerful phone.

To be fair, the Legion Y90 this year has a slightly different design from last year’s model, which visually had three parts anyway. That said, the camera bump still leaves a large gaping hole, which in turn could still weaken the entire surface of the phone’s back. That’s not even considering how the phone might be less durable in some other ways, like in dust and waterproofing. Those mini fans invite dust and water to wreak havoc and destroy your phone from the inside. Hopefully, that will not be the case, but we won’t know for certain until the phone actually becomes available.

The Lenovo Legion Y90 is admittedly an eye-catching phone, at least from its back. Some of us might even reminisce about oddities like the Nokia 5510 or, closer to the theme, the Nokia N-Gage, both of which were designed to be held more like gaming devices than typical phones. On the one hand, it’s proof of how smartphone design doesn’t have to settle for the status quo, especially when targeting specific audiences. On the other hand, it is also proof of how change for the sake of change could be a recipe for disaster.

Lenovo isn’t the only brand making gaming-centric smartphones today, but it is definitely the only one embracing this handheld-centric design. Others, like ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers), nubia Red Magic, and Xiaomi Black Shark, have features like internal fans and RGB lighting but still stick to the standard phone format and, therefore, benefit from tried and tested designs. In that light, it definitely feels like the Lenovo Legion gaming phones’ unique designs are designed just to be noticed, even if that means compromising the longevity of the device in the long run.

The post Lenovo Legion Y90 gaming phone design leaves a durability question unanswered first appeared on Yanko Design.

Word of Mouth: Little Havana, Miami

A dynamic hub of Latin culture, cuisine and tradition

Little Havana is arguably one of Miami’s most dynamic neighborhoods, yet finds itself often overlooked by out-of-town visitors who tend to default to the beach-centric revelry of South Beach. A longtime enclave for Spanish-speaking transplants from the Caribbean (namely Cuba), as well as other Central and South American countries, Little Havana flourishes as an unapologetically authentic hub of Latin culture, cuisine and tradition. Designated a “national treasure” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Calle Ocho (Southwest 8th Street) is its iconic nucleus: a bustling thoroughfare lined with coffeehouses, cigar shops, pastelerias and landmarks like the 1926 Tower Theatre. Tap the experts at Little Havana Walking Tour for a guided excursion throughout the barrio’s best pockets or discover the neighborhood’s cherished spots on your own.

Courtesy of Life House

Life House Little Havana

The newest of Life House’s hotels is located on a residential street a few blocks away from Calle Ocho. It’s one of the few hotels in the historic district, and takes that significance to heart with its locally inspired design (which was spearheaded by Life House’s in-house team) and its programming. Life House Little Havana occupies a bright orange 1920s Mission Revival mansion, with 33 tropical-themed guest rooms (there are king, queen and bunk-style suites), a library and co-working space and a lush courtyard garden. Art from emerging Latin talent abounds throughout the property, including works from photographer Christina Arza (exhibited in the three-story atrium gallery) and Afrocuban ceramics that adorn the Living Room lounge. Terras, the buzzy rooftop restaurant and bar, serves up Latin American street-food-style dishes with many ingredients plucked from an on-site garden.

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Courtesy of When She Roams

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Courtesy of When She Roams

Los Pinareños Fruteria

A longtime institution on Calle Ocho, Los Pinareños is an open-air fruit and flower stand specializing in Caribbean staples like mangos, mameys and guanabanas. Much of the produce is grown in the rear garden by the Hernandez family, who founded the bodega in 1963 after immigrating from Cuba. People flock here for coconut milk, robust Cuban-style coffee, smoothies and fresh-pressed juices. The milky-sweet guarapo (pressed sugarcane juice) is among the most popular orders—a refreshing sipper on a sweltering Miami afternoon. Los Pinareños only takes cash, so be sure to have some on hand.

Courtesy of Doce Provisions

Doce Provisions

A block north of Calle Ocho, Doce Provisions is a hip Cuban fusion eatery helmed by chef-owners Justin Sherrer and Lisetty Llampalla. Lunch and dinner menus frame the chefs’ unique spin on classic dishes, which prominently feature locally sourced and organic ingredients. While the Cuban sandwich is certainly one of the main draws—theirs is stuffed with salami, Cuban Vicky ham, swiss, mustard, and mojo mayo—don’t sleep on the more inventive “para picar” small plates and provisions, like lechon asado buns made with aji amarillo and grilled pineapple confit, and fried chicken and sweet plantain waffles with guava and Sriracha honey. Enjoy your feast in the landscaped back patio, one of the most charming outdoor dining spaces in Miami.

Courtesy of Azucar Ice Cream Company

Azucar Ice Cream Company

Artisanal Cuban scoop shop Azucar Ice Cream Company isn’t hard to find, what with a mammoth ice cream cone sculpture overhanging its entrance. But deciding which of the unique Miami-inspired flavors to try might prove a challenge. There are several dozen varieties that tempt with equal pull, like café con leche (a Cuban riff on cookies-n-cream), sweet plantain and caramel flan, but the seasonal offerings like pineapple sugarcane and orange blossom almond, are extra rewarding. Then there’s the signature Abuela Maria—a decadent swirl of guava, cream cheese and Maria cookies. Whenever possible, Azucar Ice Cream Company sources locally grown seasonal fruits and vegetables from regional farmers market growers.

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Courtesy of Cafe La Trova

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Courtesy of Café La Trova

Café La Trova

At Café La Trova, Old Havana hedonism reigns supreme. Decked out in vintage furnishings and black and white photos, the dining room is an exuberant portal to Cuba’s halcyon days. The centerpiece is the restaurant’s stage, which hosts Trova guitarists and bongoceros as they perform traditional conga and rhumba music into the early morning. If the tunes don’t transport you to Cuba, the stage’s backdrop—a weathered Havana facade, complete with a laundry clothesline and 1950s car—will. Founded by James Beard Award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein and world-famous mixologist maestro Julio Cabrera, Café La Trova has earned a wealth of accolades since opening in 2019, including consecutive rankings as a World’s 50 Best Bar. In 2020, Cabrera and his team of cantineros (rigorously trained bartenders suited in red collared vests and bowties) also clinched the coveted Tales of the Cocktail Best American Bar Team Award. While the Cuba Libres and mojitos are expertly crafted, so are Berstein’s tapas-style Cuban delights, like sweet corn and chicken empandas and crispy fried boneless snapper with salsa escabeche.

Hero image courtesy of Life House

Chrysanthemum Bowl

Australian artist Kate Rhode (represented by Pieces of Eight Gallery in Melbourne and Culture Object in NYC) creates wildly colorful, playful objects with resin. With an appearance like an artifact from a fairytale, each unique Chrysanthemum Bowl has been hand-cast in food-safe resin and whether in use or not it adds whimsy to a room. Price is in AUD.

Top 10 DIY furniture designs for your home

DIY designs have been taking the design world by storm! Especially with COVID-19 restricting us to our homes, building things purely with our hands, putting our sweat and grit into it, and watching a design roar to life in front of our eyes, has become the new pass time for many of us. But these DIY designs are more than just your run-of-the-mill products made using discarded water bottles, and paper! In fact, DIY furniture has been trending like crazy! These are innovative, fun to build, and highly functional furniture designs that cater to a variety of our needs, but are also really simple to put together. It’s the best of both worlds. From a DIY desk chair that doubles up as a doghouse to a flexible and modular furniture platform that doesn’t need any tools – each of these nifty designs will get your creative juices flowing, your hands moving, as well as definitely add some value to your life. Which of these unique DIY furniture designs would you try building at home?!

1. That Stool


Developed by Alondra Elizalde, That Stool is a flatpack DIY small stool designed with easy assembly to provide a practical means of having a stool anywhere, at any time. That Stool is comprised of only a few parts: a seat rest, five legs, a couple of star-shaped spindles, and some connecting nuts and bolts. All contained within a flatpack corrugated cardboard box, the parts of That Stool are easy to assemble with no additional hardware required. Following the imprinted instructions on the underside of That Stool’s top cover, users will first attach each leg to the corresponding screws on the star-shaped spindles. From there, connecting fasteners secure the legs and spindles in place, providing a sturdy bolster for the seat rest to mount.

2. The Xylo Living furniture system

For homeowners or renters who are opting for better quality furnishings, Xylo Living can be a great option. It’s a flexible platform that offers easy-to-assemble and disassembles furniture pieces. The furniture can be made using three-component types including Surface Pieces, Side Profile Pieces, and Connecting Slats. Xylo Living allows you to interchange components to make the piece you want. The Xylo Living furniture system boasts a modular design. When you’ve finished a chair, you can make more to build a couch. You can also make a side table, center table, dining table, or maybe a TV stand. For people who like to arrange their home layout and decors more frequently, you can turn to Xylo Living as you can quickly transform a piece of furniture into a new one depending on your need and the living space. All the items you’re making, when put together, will then result in a minimal aesthetic and unified look.

3. The KUR!O

The base of the shape-shifting, infinitely customizable shelf is its underlying grid, made from sandwiched wood-fiber boards. The cuts in the grid go as much as 20mm deep, allowing you to press-fit powder-coated steel panels into it. The steel panels come in a variety of colors, giving the KUR!O its uniquely vibrant appeal, and feature carefully-placed cuts that let individual panels interlock into each other. The 2mm thick panels are heavy-duty enough to take on large loads, making the KUR!O robust, despite the fact that there isn’t any screwing or gluing of parts. Each KUR!O even comes with a set of 8mm thick steel sticks or dowels that peg into the circular holes at the intersection of the cutouts. Plug a stick in and you instantly have yourself a series of hooks right beside your shelf spaces so you can both hang as well as place items on your KUR!O.

4. Giertz’s chair made for needy pets

Simon Giertz noticed time and time again that there weren’t any desk chairs on the market designed for people with small dogs whose preferred seated position was located anywhere on their owner’s body. In her uploaded YouTube video, A chair made for needy pets Giertz takes us through the construction of both the chair’s initial prototype and its final form. Using Fusion 360, Giertz created a 3D model of the pet chair. The model features an enclosed crate, the main dog door, footrest, stairs, and roof to also work as Giertz’s seat. Employing CNC milling to construct the chair’s top seat and roof, sidewalls, stairs, and front entryway, Giertz cut vertical ridges along the sidewalls to bend them around the radius of the chair. After mounting the pieces of plywood together to form the prototype’s planned structure, Giertz uses screws to attach them, but the finished prototype saw some improvements.

5. Wonder DIY

Wonder DIY has four different kits that come with cardboard elements that allow your child to create their own learning landscape. As they make their own ‘desks’, it gives them a sense of owning their space and creating a physical learning environment outside of school. Children can learn and be entertained as they build, re-build, and re-invent their learning space – playfulness and purpose make the core of these kits! “Adults are not the only ones who feel like their lives are out of control because of the coronavirus,” says Bosch. “Children are feeling it as well. These kits are designed to empower them and make them feel in control of their environment on some level.”

6. Aalo 2.0

Designed by a former Lexus Engineer who found himself shifting cities a lot, Aalo developed and evolved over time to become Aalo 2.0, the same product in essence, but designed to be stronger, made from finer materials, and work anywhere, including outdoors. Going a step further to make the range more durable, and therefore last for possibly a decade longer, Aalo 2.0 fine-tunes a few things while sticking to its original philosophy. The products come flat-packed, much like IKEA’s furniture would, but unlike the Swedish home-decor giant, Aalo 2.0 is also designed for ‘disassembly’. This ensures that when you travel between cities, shifting jobs, your entire lifestyle travels WITH you. Aalo 2.0 comes apart as conveniently as it’s put together.

7. staxxiom’s furniture

Although their motto is “No tools, no hassle”, the most defining characteristic of staxxiom’s furniture is that it’s so visually simple, you don’t even need a manual. With laser-cut pieces of wood that simply interlock to create your design, staxxiom is building on IKEA’s DIY culture by making their furniture more efficient, more eco-friendly, and as simplified as possible. That last part works in staxxiom’s favor too, because the simplified design gives their furniture a unified, wonderfully minimal aesthetic, along with the added benefit of being ridiculously easy to build too.

8. The Bloom Chair

Call it modular, call it DIY, call it I-have-control-over-my-interiors; the purpose of the Bloom Chair is to let you customize your chair, just the way you like it to be. It’s a collaborative effort between you and the manufacturer, where you get to download the modular design, cut it yourself and finally assemble it. While you make your piece, you have the liberty of modifying the pattern and making the end shape define your vision “This project is a heart-touching blending of sense and experience; It is not just about designing furniture and home décor, but a service process as well. Instead of making and distributing mass production, the process invites users to learn the manufacturing process of furniture and experience it with their own hands. Bloom Chair embodies such a full bloom concept and proposes a new kind of status for scrap leather,” Huang & Hsieh explained.

9. The Wool Lodge

Created using merino felt wool and birch wood,  the Wool Lodge is a safe haven of sorts for your pet. You can arrange and form the flat-packed structure by yourself easily. The lodge features merino felt roof, with the rest of the structure being made from wood. Defleur’s lodge basically has two functions. Spacious enough to fit your cat’s litter box, the lodge shelters the box within its structure. Your cat can sneak away, and pee or poop in privacy, away from any prying eyes. On the other hand, you can install a soft cushion or mattress instead of a litter box in the lodge. This creates a personal space for your pet, it could be a cat or a doggo on the smaller side!

10. The Atlas

The Atlas isn’t a conventional side-table. It comes almost with the proportions and shape of an easel, sporting an A-shaped frame. It comes with a slightly inclined design too, keeping the stand stable and preventing it from tipping over due to your bag’s weight. On top, two tiny hooks let you hang your backpack, bag, duffle, suitcase, purse, or tote, while a flat surface acts as a storage area for your phone, AirPods, sunglasses, etc. Its 6-part design is rather easy to set up and requires just two screws to hold in place. The entire stand ships flat-packed to you and can be assembled in well under 5 minutes.

The post Top 10 DIY furniture designs for your home first appeared on Yanko Design.

This mixed reality headset gives you a cyberpunk makeover for the Metaverse

Some people might welcome the Metaverse more willingly if they get to wear a cool headset like this.

In the ideal future, or at least in the future envisioned by Metaverse proponents, the virtual and the physical will be so integrated that you will no longer need special gear to see holograms and virtual characters in your surroundings. Until that day comes, however, we will have to settle for wearing VR and AR headsets, collectively referred to as “mixed reality,” many of which still come in bulky, uncomfortable, or unattractive designs. We are, however, getting to the point where hardware is getting more compact and manageable, and one concept tries to imagine a more stylish headset that wouldn’t look out of place in a futuristic world, especially if our world is really heading into a more cyberpunk-like future.

Designer: Anoop VM

VR and AR headsets have always looked geeky, but they don’t necessarily have to be that way. Current designs are largely limited by the hardware components that have to be crammed inside, but that situation isn’t going to last forever. Eventually, those components will become so small that it would be possible to have the same amount of hardware inside a much more compact headset that can be as stylish as it is functional.

Maya is an exploration into what a mixed headset can look like when all those pieces have fallen into place. Its sleek design and visor-like form easily mark it as something out of a cyberpunk or sci-fi world. That said, the designer also took inspiration from other visions of the future, particularly those with cleaner environments and less dreary atmospheres. The result is a headset that won’t look out of place, whichever direction our world takes.

The mixed reality headset concept isn’t actually that far from what current technologies and designs exist today. There is, for example, a USB-C port that can be connected to an external computer, as well as cups that serve both as anchor points on the head as well as earphones. The headset, however, is also designed for more comfort and flexibility than most headsets are today. The front, for example, can be tilted up to give the wearer an unobstructed (and non-augmented) view of the real world when not in use.

Such designs will be necessary if mixed reality is to become more approachable, even for geekier crowds. Not everyone will be keen on strapping a headset on their heads to dive into the Metaverse or other virtual worlds, especially if they will look ridiculous wearing it. Ideally, we’d be wearing less conspicuous gear like AR glasses, but the Maya mixed reality headset concept looks like a more reachable design for now, and it will definitely appeal to some classes of people who want to rock a cyberpunk style even in real life.

The post This mixed reality headset gives you a cyberpunk makeover for the Metaverse first appeared on Yanko Design.

This ‘French Press for Tea’ gives you the perfect brew in a portable travel flask

As an enthusiastic tea drinker myself, I’m honestly a little offended that we haven’t done much to make tea-brewing portable beyond the simple teabag. Sure, teabags are easy to carry around, but you don’t really have much of a choice when it comes to choosing your tea leaves… what’s inside the bag is inside the bag. Nevertheless, the teabag is a standard format, meant for a single small serving, which isn’t enough for some people who like their cup of tea to actually be a large mug of tea! Meet the ECLIPSE, a portable tea brewing station that isn’t as limiting or as archaic as the teabag. It combines a travel thermos and a french-press-style brewing system in one easy-to-use, easy-to-carry design, and lets you brew two cups (or one large mug) of the tea of your choice.

Designer: Chufunyu

Click Here to Buy Now: $98.10 $109 (10% off with Coupon Code ‘YANKO10’). Hurry, deal ends March 9th.

Measuring Graduations: Hiding inside the cap with 10ml spaced-out graduation lines for easy tea portioning wherever you go.

In all fairness, I’m not surprised that a device like the ECLIPSE hasn’t become ubiquitous all this while. Tea is the second-most consumed beverage in the world, and as far as tea cultures go, its brewing methods are still deeply rooted in tradition. What ECLIPSE does is simply modernize it, by providing the same steps you’d expect in regular tea brewing. The multi-part travel press comes with a measuring cup, a brewing teapot, a plunger (that acts as a strainer), and a drinking vessel.

Double Wall Vacuum: Consistent temperature ensures even extraction during infusion and great taste to the last sip.

The inner layer of the ECLIPSE is lined with a ceramic coating to honor the traditional practice of brewing in ceramic teapots (while also ensuring that the tea doesn’t get a metallic or plastic taste), and gives you authority over how strong or mild you want your tea to be by letting you control brew-times.

Full Chamber Infusion: The brew chamber takes advantage of the whole capacity for tea leaves to fully unfurl and achieve optional infusion.

Easy Clean: Fully detachable parts. Minimal dead spots. Hydrophobic ceramic coating. Thoughtful details to make every clean-up a breeze.

If you’ve used a french press, using the ECLIPSE should come quite naturally to you. The long, cylindrical design of the ECLIPSE is naturally reminiscent of the french press, with a plunger that lets you push the leaves down to strain the tea. The contraption comes with a cap that doubles as a drinking cup, and a measuring vessel underneath. Pop both off and you’ve got the ECLIPSE’s brewing chamber, with the plunger that lets you push the tea leaves to the bottom of the vessel once you’re ready to pour yourself a drink.

The ECLIPSE is built with double-wall insulation, allowing you to pour hot water into the brewing chamber, while the outside remains cool to the touch, and has a matte-finish exterior that’s easy to grip while being anti-scratch too. Once you’re done drinking tea, the ECLIPSE can simply be cleaned out by unscrewing its base so you can easily fish out the tea leaves. The inner ceramic coating is hydrophobic and can easily be rinsed under running water… while the entire ECLIPSE is designed to be resistant to damage and breaking, giving you the unique ability to be able to travel anywhere with your tea-brewing apparatus! Try doing that with a porcelain teapot and teacups!

Click Here to Buy Now: $98.10 $109 (10% off with Coupon Code ‘YANKO10’). Hurry, deal ends March 9th.

The post This ‘French Press for Tea’ gives you the perfect brew in a portable travel flask first appeared on Yanko Design.

This tiny home is built from three shipping containers for a scaled-down lifestyle

This tiny home in Wattle Bank, Australia is formed by three 20′ shipping containers and inspired by the recent trend to downsize our lifestyles.

While downsizing our lifestyle requires letting go of many luxury comforts, it also makes room for simpler life pleasures. Sure, getting rid of the pool might hurt a little, but more green space allows for more plant cultivation and harvesting. For one Australian couple, Amy Plank and Richard Vaughan, downsizing meant disbanding from domestic duties for the freedom to surf, garden, and enjoy nature whenever and however they like. Hoping to make their dream of a downsized, sustainable lifestyle a new reality, Plank and Vaughan found the freedom they hoped for in shipping container architecture. Merging three shipping containers together to form a 530-square-foot tiny home, Plank’s and Vaughan’s Wattle Bank home fits the bill.

Designer: Modhouse

Situated on a plot of land on Amy’s parents’ farm, the couple’s Wattle Bank home was designed and built by the modular home building company, Modhouse, founded by Amy’s parents Mark and Melissa Plank. Each 20-foot shipping container that comprises the tiny home connects to one another via integrated passageways. These hallways also help make the most of the available living space by hosting utility rooms, like the laundry and entryways. Throughout the home, floor-to-ceiling entryways and windows give the feeling of indoor-outdoor living, adding some extra space to the interior as well.

While the ample windows and openings manage to create a seamless transition between the outdoors and the indoors, the home was duly outfitted to protect interior spaces from collecting too much sunlight. Overhead, detached roof extensions help to increase the home’s thermal efficiency quotient. Rated with 7.1 stars, the home’s energy efficiency is achieved by the overhead roofs as well as exterior Colorbond cladding that’s overlaid with layers of thermal insulation.

While the exterior metal cladding does much to protect the home from natural elements, a gentler, warmer interior is achieved through Tasmanian oakwood flooring and Ecoply plywood walls, ceilings, and cabinetry. In choosing all of the home’s building materials, Vaughan and Plank prioritized its eco-friendly appeal first and foremost. Low-impact materials like FSC-certified, zero-formaldehyde timber, and natural sealer on the walls and floors contribute to the home’s overall sustainability factor. In addition, Vaughan and Plank relied on the know-how of local tradespeople and builders to reduce their carbon footprint and support the local economy.

The post This tiny home is built from three shipping containers for a scaled-down lifestyle first appeared on Yanko Design.

This pop-up tent attaches to your car in only 5 minutes so you can camp anywhere the road takes you

CARSULE is a portable, pop-up tent for camping that can attach to a variety of hatchbacks, including minivans, MPVs, SUVs, and station wagons.

MOGICS is a Nevada-based company that deals with convenience. Portability, functionality, and usability remain the foundational pillars for MOGICS, producing specialty items like universal adapters and wireless light spheres. CARSULE, a pop-up cabin for your car, is one of the latest specialty items to come from the company. Your next best travel companion, CARSULE can attach to a variety of car models to provide a comfortable, spacious tent on camping trips that take you as far as the road goes.

Designer: MOGICS

Constructed from UV resistant and waterproof materials, when fully assembled, CARSULE provides up to 2 meters worth of headroom. Unlike most tents, CARSULE is designed to provide space for more than just sleeping. Large enough to function as a sleeping area and a lounge space, the designers behind CARSULE describe, “Unlike most tents that are only meant for sleeping, CARSULE provides you with a living room in the outdoors and offers mobility since the simple installation makes the movement possible and easy.”

Designed for cars with a tailgate that swings upwards, the trunk’s door serves as a latch for CARSULE to find structural support. Consisting of two metal spring loops, CARSULE’s frame is shaped by four aluminum rods. Once the tent is popped open and standing in its cubic shape, users can anchor the tent to their vehicle’s trunk door with an adjustable anchor strap.

CARSULE’s cubic shape is then reinforced by diagonal ceiling tension lines that double as fixtures for users to hang accessories from when inside the tent, including headlamps and cooling fans. Outfitted with waterproof polyurethane flooring and a 4mm felt carpet, CARSULE is a comfortable, private sanctuary where users can enjoy the wide-open outdoors.

Four aluminum rods give shape to CARSULE, looping through exterior spring attachments.

CARSULE can fit a variety of different vehicles with trunks that swing upward. 

CARSULE is designed to bring you as close to the great outdoors and is outfitted with protective netting. Rising to the height of your car, CARSULE comes with plenty of headroom for movement.

Waterproof flooring lines the bottom of CARSULE to ensure comfortable sleeping.

The ample headroom allows heat to rise and for the main living area of CARSULE to remain cool.

Even when you’re not sleeping, CARSULE provides a comfortable place to move around, relax, or get some work done.

CARSULE can be anchored anywhere, thanks to the added stability provided by your vehicle.

Transparent netting protects you from the elements, but keeps the outdoors at your fingertips. 

CARSULE’s build also always provides access to your car’s storage compartments, allowing for more floor space.

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