Hasta La Ideas

The Camera Multi-Tool is an EDC item available on Kikkerland Design that allows users to store several handheld tools in their pocket or wallet.

EDC items come in handy when you least expect them to. Contactless door openers came in handy with the onset of a global pandemic and donut-shaped plastic cutters can do more than just slice open plastic water bottles. Providing the perfect home for niche EDC items, Kikkerland Design is known for one of the world’s “largest [collections] of ingenious items combining form, function, and delight in equal parts.” Cameras are temperamental creatures, so Kikkerland Design released a handy multi-tool to help optimize camera settings and capture the perfect photograph.

Designer: Kikkerland Design

Aptly termed the Camera Multi-Tool, Kikkerland’s new product is a stainless steel, credit card-sized gadget that resembles a palm-sized, 2D camera. Whether you have an old, vintage camera or weather conditions make it hard to figure out the best settings for taking photos, the Camera Multi-Tool comes with 13 functions as well as the ‘Sunny 16’ rule to help figure it out. In its center, is a circular cavity that allows users to find the best angle for their photograph. As the rule goes, on a sunny day, the aperture can be set to f/16 and so on.

Maintaining a slim size to fit inside of your wallet, the Camera Multi-Tool measures 7.6×3.2×0.2cms. Packing a lot into its small size, the Camera Multi-Tool carries a saw blade, a flathead screwdriver, a Phillips screwdriver, two wrenches, a blade, a Prybar nail puller, a bottle opener, a butterfly screw wrench, a ruler, and a keyhole. While the many tools can be used outside of cameras, screwdrivers and wrenches can tighten cameras and other accessories like tripods.

The post A camera-shaped EDC to easily adjust settings is a must-have part of your photography gear first appeared on Yanko Design.

In LA, the acclaimed durational artist exhibits still-life paintings and sculptures

On York Boulevard in LA’s Highland Park neighborhood, vibrant flower paintings hang on the gallery walls of Oxy Arts, Occidental College’s public art center rooted in community and social justice. This colorful and serene series of compositions, which comprise the solo show Wherever we will to root, may appear to be a surprising choice from EJ Hill—an artist known for arduous performance-based work that explores the social inequities faced by Black, Brown and queer people. But as with Hill’s other work, this show intends to initiate a dialogue.

A white grand piano sits in the middle of the gallery surrounded by Hill’s floral paintings. Meldia Yesayan, the director at Oxy Arts, explains that the piano functions as an autobiographical piece as well as a self-portrait. Hill titled the work “Garden,” a play on the word kindergarten, and his own kindergarten class photo sits atop it.

There are moments in life when the darkness and the trauma beckon the beauty and the joy on the other end

“For the students and the greater community there is a vulnerability and a thoughtful examination of the human condition that he foregrounds that’s exactly what we need right now,” says Yesayan. “He describes it as a pendulum swing in his practice. There are moments in life when the darkness and the trauma beckon the beauty and the joy on the other end. They both work in harmony together.”

Yesayan further explains that the Wanlass Artist Residency at Oxy Arts—of which Hill is taking part—encourages conversation between an artist and the college community without any predetermined structure. The residency offers artists the opportunity to teach for a semester and mount a solo show to explore approaches to their practice in unexpected ways. Hill named his class Neutral and Authoritative Knowledge. This multi-disciplinary course was offered when students had just returned after two and a half semesters of distance learning. Together, their exploration of trauma and isolation germinated conversation and creative works that focused on restoration and balance at a time when healing was so crucial.

Hill’s relationship with Oxy Arts began in 2019 during their Shizu Saldamando exhibit. One event related to that show brought Hill and photographer Texas Isaiah together for a dialogue at the Made in LA exhibition at the Hammer Museum. The two conversed about Hill’s 2018 durational work “Excellentia, Mollitia, Victoria,” which Isaiah photographed. For the piece, Hill ran fear-conquering laps around six of the seven schools he attended growing up.

After this, for the three-month duration of the exhibition, Hill stood on a podium in a small gallery designed to resemble a school track for every hour that Made In LA was open to the public. The effect was mesmerizing, emotional and awe-inspiring for viewers, while being a punishingly arduous endeavor for the artist. In contrast, Hill has taken the time to paint flowers as a healing and therapeutic response to his physically challenging performance-based work as well as the stress of the pandemic, social upheaval and racial injustice. Hill invites gallery visitors into a room full of flowers to experience images of joy, beauty and balance.

With the installation of Wherever we will to root, Hill has chosen not to do interviews, but rather speak about the show in conversation with writer Paul Holdengraber at a public event. Hill will also lead a sunset hike accompanied by a picnic of Guyanese food made by his neighbor, Jasani Jacobs. For the closing night celebration, Hill will play a live concert with Jeffrey Michael Austin as their duo Daisy Days.

Choosing to not speak directly about his work is not new to Hill. Part of his MFA thesis at UCLA was a 30-day vow of silence. At the Studio Museum in Harlem in 2016 he laid motionless on a platform without speaking. This silence inspires curiosity about the artist’s thought process and explanations of his evocative and profound work. Some answers can be found on his Instagram, where he periodically writes vivid descriptions of his ideas. On 1 June 2019, Hill captioned an image of Dutch conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader on a small boat, “I’m trying to find a healthy balance just short of finding my miraculous. I wish I never find it. For the pursuit itself is what holds me tenderly between trough and crest, rolling me ad infinitum between and absence and presence, lapping the feet of those standing at their own edges of bliss.”

One more clue into his motivation can be found on the Oxy Arts Instagram. There, Hill posted, “I, just like the rest of you, am making it all up as I go along, responding in real time, hoping that my previous experiences coupled with my Cancerian intuition will eventually land me somewhere idyllic. Somewhere I can stay for a while—root, if you will. A futile endeavor? Perhaps. But what if it isn’t? Have I done enough yet to the point where I can say ‘They’re literally just paintings of flowers’ and have it suffice?”

Recently Hill received news that he has been invited to participate in this year’s Whitney Biennial, and with the theme “Quiet as It’s Kept,” he’s sure to have plenty to say, or not say, there.

Images by Ian Byers-Gamber. Courtesy of OXY ARTS, Los Angeles

No matter how advanced photography tech may get, there’s something about an actual physical camera and the fact that it always reigns supreme. We’ve reached a point where most of us use our smartphones to click photographs and record videos! I mean, they are extremely accessible and easy to use. But anyone who owns a real deal hardcore camera – knows that the true joy of photography lies in this one gadget. They always take the utmost care of their precious camera, after all, it is their most prized possession! However, cameras these days are going beyond the usual and quintessential DSLRs. They’re getting more innovative, savvy, and futuristic! And, we’ve curated a whole collection of unique camera designs to satisfy all the photography lovers out there. From an Apple iCam Pro action camera that perfectly replaces the GoPro Hero10 to a minimal digital camera for globe trotters – this wide range of camera designs is perfect for all kinds of photographers!

1. The iCam Pro

The iCam Pro conceptualized by Diego Valdés (aka. Diego Valoro Design) is a miniaturized version of the iPhone 13 – of course with a slightly different utility of documenting extreme experiences. The triple-camera module setup is a detour from the convention of a single potent camera on such sports cameras. This could be a USP for a brand like Apple who’ll foray into a very competitive space dominated mostly by GoPro. The slimmer, more rectangular shape of the action camera will give prospect users the freedom to carry it in the pocket of their jeans without getting uncomfortable. The choice of colors and materials will also play a part in the success of iCam Pro, if we happen to ever see one in real life.

2. Moir 21

There’s a mystique to film photography, but for modern purposes, we tend towards digital mediums. Blending the two together, design team Sarwan Bhinder and Vishnu R conceptualized Moir 21, an instant film camera that takes the best of both worlds to meet the beauty of film cameras with the convenience of digital photography. Maintaining the integrity of a film camera and resolving the limitations set by current digital cameras, Moir 21 allows for multiple prints of hand-selected photographs. Many photographers who enjoy takings photos on film appreciate the medium for its single-shot takes.

3. JK Captain’s Polaroid Go

Designer JK Captain who is already reckoned for his retro-futuristic computer from the Loki series, believes the white plastic-bodied Polaroid Go featuring splashes of color, has some scope for improvement. To present an idea Polaroid would want to look at closely, the designer has added a manual focus lens right below the company’s signature rainbow stipe logo for more precise focusing and better low-light photography. The portable camera is provided with three colorful buttons for Exposure, Timing, and Autofocus, alongside the zoom in, zoom out buttons. The overall design scheme from the Polaroid Go remains the same, however, the ingenious additions will make the Polaroid Go special edition create some ripples in the instant camera industry.

4. The Insta360 GO 2 miniature action camera

The Insta360 GO 2 miniature action camera provides you with the ultimate hands-free photography experience! You can mount the portable device almost anywhere, and use it alongside the collection of accessories that come with it. It’s tiny enough to comfortably fit into your pocket, and is waterproof up to 13 feet! So you can carry it with you for a photo sesh at the beach. It provides 1440p shots, and FlowState Stabilization to ensure your pictures and videos are steady at all angles. You can connect the gadget to the Insta360 app to preview your content and make any required adjustments.

5. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro features built-in two-, four-, and six-stop ND filters, which let you reduce and control the amount of light in your pictures. The camera also features an adjustable tilt HDR LCD with a 1,500 nit brightness. It boasts two mini XLR audio inputs as well. It’s been amped with a 12-bit gamma curve to create brightly colored images by capturing more colors in highlights and shadows! This camera is perfect for shooting in all lighting conditions – whether you’re in direct sunlight or a low-light setting. A large battery also ensures that the camera is always juiced up for long photoshoots!

6. The Woodsum Camera

Meet Woodsum, a camera that champions this very simplicity. Designed to work without batteries, the Woodsum camera captures images on a 35mm reel of film. It uses a pinhole lens instead of those fragile glass lenses… and it’s a device so simple, you could literally build it yourself. In fact, Woodsum comes absolutely unassembled and your first photography project is, in fact, to build the camera! Entirely made from laser-cut pieces of wood that you assemble together, the camera comes complete with a pinhole lens, shutter, viewfinder, film-holder and winder, camera grip, a tripod mount, and even an eyelet to tie your camera-hanging leash around!

7. The Action 2

What the Action 2 gets right with its design isn’t just the camera (after all, DJI’s cameras are pretty fantastic, to begin with) but rather how the camera is operated. The company designed an exhaustive list of modules, holders, and even accessories to go with their camera, all of which affix themselves to the Action 2 using an incredibly powerful set of magnets (a la MagSafe). The modules simply snap on or snap off, and give you a variety of use-cases, from being able to hold the camera in your hand, fix it to your chest/arm/head, attach it to your helmet, handlebar, or dashboard, place it on a steady surface, or even go underwater with it.

8. The Supreme Camera

A concept design by Gunwoo Park, this Supreme camera can be the ultimate compact camera for the free-spirited ones who like the outdoors. It’s not really a rugged digital camera but it’s designed for those into subculture activities like hip-hop or skateboarding. This group of people usually prefer capturing moving images as they are more active and creative. The Supreme camera allows you to record a moment while editing images with just one hand. It’s like holding a smartphone in one hand but the camera part is more powerful. The designer was aiming for a very compact gadget that can work as an action camera and an editing machine.

9. The Mi Action 360

The Mi Action 360 overall champions a rather ‘less is more’ aesthetic. The two-button interface aside from the camera’s body also has a battery level indicator, an in-built microphone, and two tripod mounts that let you hook your action camera onto tripods, selfie sticks, or a host of other mount-compatible accessories. It doesn’t match up to the DJI Action Cam’s magnetic mounting system, which I’ve declared my love for pretty publicly. That being said, the Mi Action 360’s core capabilities are entirely different, and judging by the size of the lens, this little bad boy should quite easily be able to capture 360° HDRI images in 4K, which would make for great immersive VR content.

10. The FLANEUR Digital Camera

This smart camera has a powerful performance quotient – courtesy of the crossed section of closed lens that hide from plain sight in a series of plastic casings that move independently. Depending on the shot being taken, the lenses can be swapped with the push of a button. A telephoto for taking a portrait shot or a wide lens for shooting panoramic landscapes on a golden sun bathed evening. The viewfinder can rotate in 180 degrees direction for portrait shots or 90 degrees for a wide shot without moving the camera instead. The functionality is also kept to the bare minimum to let you focus on capturing memories. The flash intensity is controlled via the large wheel, while the positional switches lend the option to toggle between colored or monochrome photos or videos.

The post Sleek camera designs that are the next best thing for photography lovers first appeared on Yanko Design.

If you are a parent, you have probably thought about different ways how to declutter your children’s stuff, but have not really done anything yet. You know how crazy and overwhelming it can be. Toys and clothes seem to be endless as the kids grow. So if you are a new parent, follow this advice: do not buy a lot of stuff.

No matter how tempting it is or how cute an item is, refrain from shopping too much. You need to be smarter now especially since there is a move to go friendlier with nature, as well as, live a more minimalist life. One way parents can contribute to Mother Nature is by choosing furniture pieces that grow with their children.

Designer: Theo Luvisotto

The Flip-Flap Children’s Chair is a smart invention by Theo Luvisotto, an industrial designer from Brussels. He worked on numerous mechanisms and prototypes before getting to the final design. The chair features a backrest that can be flipped down and converted to a stepladder.

It’s a two-in-one item that can help children in different ways. It’s a chair for when kids have to study or play. It also works as a stepladder when kids need to reach higher spots. With it, the children can be the same height as the adult as they start doing things together. Have your kid step on the Flip-Flap so he can help you while preparing the table or washing the dishes.

The Flip-Flap is a wooden chair that comes with an industrial design. The refined aesthetics show a wooden part serving as the seat and another, the backrest, with a smooth painted finish that can be pulled down to work as a step stool. Young kids can transform the piece themselves but as with any object, always with caution.

This transformable chair teaches kids to concentrate on work as they sit. It also teaches them self-sufficiency so they can become the “big kids” their parents want them to be. This chair isn’t really for play but it can be fun to use. It’s more practical than anything else.

The Flip-Flap Children’s Chair is mainly for the kids but it can be interesting to see an adult version. You see, we grown-ups sometimes need to use a ladder to reach cabinets, especially in the kitchen. A bigger version will be a helpful, space-saving piece of furniture we’d like to see in small, tiny homes.

The post Flip-Flap Children’s Chair magically transforms into a step stool first appeared on Yanko Design.

In an episode of Seinfeld, Jerry encounters a closet organizer who has an incredibly radical idea to transform the wardrobe – hooks. Hooks everywhere. No shelves, no rods, just hooks. It’s an incredibly wild idea, but even within it lies a pretty powerful message. There’s a certain versatility to hooks. They can be used for shirts, pants, even belts. However, if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want to wholeheartedly commit to the hook idea, the Hurdle Hanger for Pants 2.0 provides the next best alternative.

Envisioned with quick & easy organization, the unconventional pants hanger is a renewal of the original Hurdle Hanger for Pants, which debuted in 2018 as a Kickstarter project but made its way into Amazon as a retail product. As with its predecessor, version 2 features a cleverly placed U-shaped hook on one side—a subtle feature that lets you hang items like shirts, ties, belts, and even caps.

Designers: Swen Hong & Henry Kwak

Click Here to Buy Now: 20 packs for $34 $49 (30% off). Hurry, for a limited time only!

In its new avatar, the hanger sports a set of minor redesigns that provide major improvements to its functionality. The new hanger now measures just over 19-inches, making it perfect for pants and shorts with 29 to 40-inch waistbands. It also comes with an electroplated stainless steel hook (as opposed to the plastic hook from its previous iteration) that rotates when you need it to, allowing for easy organization and effective storage.

Using the hanger is quite easy, as the viral-style video demonstrates above. Most hangers aren’t really consciously designed because they always play the second fiddle to the most important items in the wardrobe… the clothes. The Hurdle Hanger for Pants 2.0, on the other hand, is conscientiously designed to make sure it supports and protects the clothes you wear. It comes with a slightly asymmetric design that gives it strength as well as the ability to hold your clothes. Its unique form lets you slide pants into it in a mere second, while the U-type hook on one side is now widened, letting you store multiple items like a belt, tie, and cap together. The Hurdle Hanger’s design promotes easy, universal hanging in a way that quickly helps you keep your wardrobe organized, while slip-resistant strips on the hanger ensure that your clothes never slide off by accident. The hanger’s design even elevates most clothes by 2-3 more inches than other hangers, giving you more space on shelves to store folded clothes.

Organize multiple items together for a complete outfit.

The first iteration of Hurdle Hanger for Pants, along with its complementary product, ‘Hurdle Hanger’, went on to be the most crowdfunded hanger series in history, raising over $700,000 via crowdfunding alone. Its latest evolution makes a few tweaks that make the hanger even better than before. Its ultra-slim profile is less bulky than conventional hangers, letting you fit more hangers on the rod, while the stainless steel swivel hook lets you rotate the hanger too. The entire lineup is made from high-quality ABS; a recyclable thermoplastic known for strength and durability used for products ranging from protective headgear to Lego bricks. All this combined gives Hurdle Hanger for Pants 2.0 the ability to last longer than conventional hangers while also hanging all your clothes easily, swiftly, and neatly.

Click Here to Buy Now: 20 packs for $34 $49 (30% off). Hurry, for a limited time only!

The post This unique hanger design can help you organize your entire wardrobe in mere minutes first appeared on Yanko Design.