Tag Archives: Red Dot

This drone + carrier monitors, protects, and restores reefs by planting 100 corals per day sustainably!

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Climate change is not leaving any sphere of life untouched and a lot of that damage is irreversible. Coral reefs are one such natural treasure that is facing the harsh effects of global warming and they are dying at an alarming rate. If things continue at this speed, 90% of coral reefs will vanish by 2050. While they only occupy 0.1% of the total area of the ocean, they actually support 25% of all marine species on earth! Nemo is an award-winning device designed to assist with coral restoration in an efficient, sustainable way, with large-scale capacity. It can plant 100 corals a day and only requires 2-3 people to complete the operation.

Coral reefs help us breathe, protect us from storms, provide us with food and support the economy of coastal communities – and that is why we need to save them at all costs. Nemo consists of a digital platform, a specialized transport box, and a collaborative drone that works within its four-stage service program to help municipalities. The digital platform helps scientists to research and monitor coral reefs more accurately and at the same time, it spreads global awareness about coral reefs to citizens. The platform keeps a record of all the data gathered from monitoring the reefs. The specialized transport box protects corals during their relocation from the nursery site to the outplant site by regulating the temperature of the saltwater and pH value to give the young corals the best chance for survival during their journey. Meanwhile, the collaborative drone helps scientists monitor by 3D scanning and mapping the coral reefs. This information is uploaded to a digital platform for the benefit of coral restoration agencies. The main parts of Nemo are made from recycled plastic to reduce its environmental impact.

“We used a human-centered design approach to help solve an environment-centered design problem. We combined the best of both processes and implemented our findings from both approaches. The process behind Nemo was also highly iterative and involved multiple experts from different sectors. During our research, we got feedback from experts on our concepts and ideas to verify them and to make sure we were heading in the right direction. We also hosted creative workshops to get input from more designers across disciplines to make our product better which included digital prototyping and iterative sketching exercises,” said the team while describing their process of creating Nemo. The system uses a combination of growing corals on pre-manufactured locally recycled structures using bioadhesives and drilling holes into the ocean floor to optimize the process for 2-3 people instead of the traditional 10-15 team which saves the restoration agencies’ resources.

Nemo was created to rebuild and support healthy ecosystems which is crucial for a sustainable future, it was the answer to the question “How can the journey towards a more sustainable, efficient, and simple coral restoration process be designed?” While there are many coral restoration efforts and technology, none are as comprehensive as Nemo because it goes beyond just planting new corals and takes the entire lifecycle as well as education about the crisis into account. It allows coral restoration organizations to scale up their efforts and accelerate the positive impact. Nemo has been shortlisted for the James Dyson 2021 National Winner and has also been recognized at the Red Dot Concept Awards 2020, the Core77 Design for Social Impact Notable, and Core77 Transportation Notable.

Designer: Elias Thaddäus Pfuner and Mario Kapsalis

This fertility tracker works like a traffic light for your family planning

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It is hard enough to keep a track of what day it is in quarantine so you can only imagine the confusion to keep a track of our fertility cycles when most of us have lost the concept of how time is passing. That is when a nifty personal gadget like Daysy can really help women continue being in charge of their health.

This is a medical device and a lifestyle fertility tracker so that you can continue to monitor your body’s natural cycles in regards to ovulation and menstruation. Daysy was designed to guide you in differentiating your fertile and infertile days based on. All you have to do is take your basal body temperature under the tongue for 60 seconds and enter any relevant menstrual information. Daysy records this data to define your patterns and makes monitoring as easy as it can be – green light for fertile window and a red light if that window is temporarily closed. Think of it as a traffic light if you’re planning a family!

Daysy features an intelligent algorithm that makes instant results reliable backed by years of scientific experience and technology. Just like any smart tracker, it syncs to your phone and stores all your reports on the Daysy app making it easier to share it with your doctor or your partner if need be. The physical form of this personal device just radiates calm energy and YOU know you NEED that during your ‘lady days’ along with a tub of ice cream.

Daysy is a winner of the Red Dot Design Award 2019.

Designer: Daysy

This purifier’s 4 part cleansing process works on your clothes and your room

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Now more than ever we are looking for home appliances that are multifunctional and extra points to those that have additional cleaning or purification functions, right? If I find a keyboard that can also sanitize my hands then maybe I will spend more time working from home, or maybe a coffee mug that also doubles up as a portable facial steamer! The concept of combining purification functionality with a home appliance is a gold mine right now and that is why there is no surprise that the FAD 01/02 clothing and air multi-care system is one of the winners of the Red Dot Design Awards 2019.

This clothes purifier is a mini wardrobe with a large mirror that not only purifies your clothes but also your room when you leave its door open – much friendlier than how my refrigerator acts when I do the same thing with it. As the dust pollution and pollen allergies increase, this sleek home appliance offers a solution by blasting precise gushes of air on the hung clothes to removes the dust and pollen. The continuous air circulation means no particles are left behind on the clothing. It allows you to select settings for different types of clothing items, different materials, and cleansing options on its user-interface screen.

It’s dual cleaning system then sprays nano electrolyzed water onto the clothing, absorbing and removing odor and leftover dust particles. After that, the clothes are dried and dehumidified in a low-temperature setting. The FAD 01/02 ensures your clothes come out clean and wrinkle-free thanks to its intricate 4-part system and a methodical cleansing process. Once your clothes are out, leave the door open and let its dehumidifying and air purifying systems work to cleanse your indoor air as well – works in all seasons too!

The Fad 01/02 is a winner of the Red Dot Design Awards 2019.

Designer: Coway

This survival kit takes care of you and your pet during emergencies!

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With climate change rearing its ugly head and sending shockwaves throughout the world, our planet has been experiencing a lot of changes. Natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, or even the recent Australian bushfires are beginning to gaining frequency. We’ve been trained to be prepared for such situations, following drills and guidelines, maintaining survival kits for when they’re needed, and more. However, in such strenuous moments, what becomes of our furry friends? Our pets are members of our family, and preparing for their safety during such times is essential. Almost 32% of pets find themselves as strays on the street during such disasters, and pet mortality is supposed to be 40%. For such life-threatening situations, designer Ching Lin Tsai designed Escapet. Escapet is an escape bag, that aims to look after you and your pet’s needs during emergencies.

Escapet is a winner of the Red Dot Award for the year 2019.

Designer: Ching Lin Tsai

Made from Tetoron, an abrasion-resistant, and lightweight polyester fiber, Escapet combines a survival tool kit, and a pet carrier to create a bag equipped to deal with extreme situations. The bag consists of two components, the pet carrier, and the survival kit. Both can be separated and used individually if required.

The survival kit consists of the bare essentials such as water, food, a first aid kit, life-saving, and hygiene tools, and also has sufficient space for your personal belongings.

The second component is the pet carrier, easy-to-fold, and easy-to-store, you can slip your pet into it. It has been equipped with a pocket, which when rolled down, exposes a mesh screen, allowing your pet to stay connected with you and the rest of the world.

The carrier bag and survival kit can be combined together to create a piece of pet furniture, on which your pet can sit and lounge about. In its combined state, Escapet is meant to be carried like a backpack, with your pet and the things you need to survive a high-risk situation, all packed in! The neon orange zipper is meant to increase the chances of being spotted and rescued. However, the detachable pet carrier bag also has functionality in our daily lives, making Escapet a unique design that serves you perfectly during emergencies and even on an ordinary day!

 

Live from Singapore! Here are the ‘Best of Best’ Red Dot Design Concept Award 2019 Winners!

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Concepts form the backbone of innovation, and our ability to build on them and refine them sits at the very core of our future. YD’s always had its finger on pulse when it comes to conceptual designs. We honestly love them (even the impossible ones) because they help showcase a designer’s ability to step out of their comfort zone, and imagine something for a scenario that’s either partially or completely out of our reach. That’s one of the many reasons why we fly down to Singapore every year for the Red Dot Design Concept Awards. The Red Dot Design Concept Awards bring light to innovative and inspirational design concepts. These concepts start with a game-changing idea, and transform into a product visualization. The purpose of the Red Dot Design Concept Award is to scope out these interesting projects and bring them into the limelight, so that one day, they may develop into practical products that change our world. Live from the Red Dot Design Concept Awards 2019 in Singapore, here are our top winners from their Best of Best category… with the grand-prize Luminary Award winning project at the very end! You saw it here first!

01. Smart Intelligent Stroller by DO and BE Design

The Smart Intelligent Stroller is by far the most advanced way to travel with your child. The stroller comes with a hood that extends all the way down, giving the child a safe covering from top to bottom, while an internal system helps purify air and maintain a pleasant temperature and humidity levels inside the stroller, keeping the baby comfortable.

02. Tri-Cane by Jordan Lau Tsz Chun

This nifty walking stick can turn into a stool when you need! The Tri-cane considers the needs of the person using it, offering more than just support. The cane’s innovative design allows the handle to open up into a seat, while the cane itself comes with three collapsible legs that open outwards, turning it into a tripod-stool.

03. Smartians by Frolic Studio

Born out of necessity (or sheer laziness and genius combined), the Smartians actuators help turn these physical experiences into digital ones. The tiny actuators come with a base, a smart hub, and a wide variety of attachments that can perform actions like pulling, pushing, twisting, rotating, releasing, etc. Use your ingenuity and a combination of these attachments to turn regular, tactile experiences around your house into smart ones. The Smartians can turn lights on or off, rotate the dial on the thermostat, put the kettle on, or even water your plants

04. NeoMano Robotic Glove by Neofect

Designed to give the power of movement to people with paralysis, the NeoMano Robotic Glove sits on the hand, allowing the index finger, middle finger, and thumb grip onto objects and release them when needed. The ‘grip’ button on the controller flexes the fingers to make a gripping gesture and tightens the grip. The ‘release’ button loosens the fingers to relax the grip and returns the hand to its neutral position.

05. Dry Mountain Gas Stove by Shenzhen Shenwenjiao Design

The Dry Mountain Gas Stove has a meditative quality about it, brought about by its inspiration from Japanese and Buddhist landscape gardens. The stove’s design is dominated by curved, soft forms that make it appear calming, while also giving you a little extra countertop space, thanks to the rounded edges. The stove’s wavy resting plate is one of its strongest visual features. The wave-inspired plate doesn’t just provide an allure to the stove, it also makes it easier to clean when you’re done, with a cloth and a single swooping action.

06. Complete Plate by Lu Di

Designed as an aesthetic and functional take on the sushi-eating experience, the Complete Plate has a ramped channel running along its rim that lets you pour soy sauce into it. The ramped-design works almost like a clock, as the soy sauce level keeps diminishing with each dip, completing a full circle, giving you a very clear idea when you run out of sauce!

07. Doggy Leg by Guo Jiaxin, Li Zhi, Ma Huanhuan, Wang Yiru, Wang Yunqing, Yao Wenhua, Prof. Xu Kun, Prof. Zhang Yong

This prosthetic leg for our furry friends helps them scamper around with no difficulties! The flexible prosthesis was designed to mimic real-limb movement, thanks to an elastic plate connecting the upper and lower elements, so the leg feels absolutely natural in use as well as while resting.

08. Cord Reel Table by Zinus Inc.

Part table, part extension box, and complete ingenuity, the Cord Reel Table lets you wheel it around the house, thanks to its handle and its single-wheel design… but it does more than just that. It also lays out a wire between the table and the plug-point it’s connected to, giving you the ability to plug in and charge your phone or smart speaker from anywhere around the house! Hey Alexa, isn’t that a brilliant idea?

09. Lightweight Skateboard by Shenzhen Hanma Creative Technology

This porous skateboard may seem outwardly fragile, but it’s designed and engineered to be as strong as any other regular skateboard, if not stronger. Designed to be more sturdy and ecologically conscious than wood, the Lightweight Skateboard is die-casted using a magnesium alloy that’s finished using CNC Machining. The high-strength, low-weight skateboard comes with an adjustable wheel-base too, giving it even more of an edge over your regular wooden skateboard!

10. Lilium Jet by Lilium GmbH [Luminary Winner!]

With 36 tilting jet engines that give this eVTOL the power of flight, the Lilium Jet is capable of carrying up to 5 passengers for a distance of 300km on a single charge! It boasts of a wingspan of only 11 meters, with a design that has no tail, rudder, gearboxes, or oil circuits, making its design truly revolutionary. The luminary winning design is all set for its debut in 2025, with a hope that future models will be able to fly autonomously too!

Concepts to watch out for! Here are the best 2018 Red Dot Design Concept Awards winners!

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You can’t envision any future without conceptualization. Concepts have always interested us and been the backbone of Yanko Design because they present an image of products, technologies, experiences, and consequently, futures. They showcase an inventiveness and creativity that’s truly worth appreciating and that’s where we see a massive overlap of interest with our friends who host the Red Dot Concept Design Awards.

This year’s Red Dot Design Concept Awards: Best of Best honors some exciting concepts. Whether it’s cutting-edge technology used in consumer electronics, or in the health sector, or design that uplifts user experiences and environments, Red Dot’s Best Of Best is our annual go-to for designs that speak of creativity, cross-discipline collaboration, and marvelous execution. Here are a few of our favorites from this year’s Red Dot Design Concept Award: Best of Best! Scroll right to the bottom to see which project won the Luminary Design Award! You saw it here first!

01. Manovivo by Guiyoung Kim, Prof. Jieun Kim & Hyejeong Lee
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The Manovivo is a wearable smart-glove that helps assess and monitor the activities of daily living (ADLs) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

02. Futura Project by Ye Seul Oh & Hyeon Ji Park
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Inspired by the first typeface that made its way to the moon, the Futura Project visualizes the font’s letterforms as 3D objects and furniture, bringing the elegance of a font that’s a favorite of Wes Anderson and Stanley Kubrick, quite literally into one’s home!

03. Cookacross by Zaviè Design Studio
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The Cookacross grabbed a nomination for the luminary prize, for its inventive rectangular matrix of gas burners. Place any utensil anywhere on the stove and only the burners directly under the utensil light up. Rather than having a big flame onto which you place your cooking utensil, Cookacross uses multiple smaller burners that light up when directly under a vessel. This not only saves fuel, but also helps heat get evenly distributed across the cooking surface!

04. Martians by Igor Lobanov
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For its incredibly slim circular light-panel, and the tripod base that gives it an unusual look, the Martians floor lamps win a Red Dot. The legs are individually angle-adjustable, allowing the lamp to practically pose, rather than stand erect. The light panel can be adjusted too, to face at a wall, directly downwards, or at a seating area.

05. Revive by Franziska Heuck & James Skeggs
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Designed to act as a highly accurate robotic arm capable of intricate operations, Revive works a lot like Apple’s Daisy robot. It assists humans in pulling apart waste electronics to harvest and recycle parts that may not have been accessible to humans. The highly specialized robot arm comes with multiple attachments that help it open and pull apart complex electronic products with relative ease.

06. Grit – Resistance Training Shoes by Aarish Netarwala
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With a 3D printed sole that has my heart, the Grit offers resistance training by mimicking the feeling of standing/running on sand. The soles come with an interwoven pattern that collapses gently under pressure, just like how your foot sinks into the sand. Wearing the Grit allows you to exercise more efficiently, and build muscles by battling the resistance!

07. Nonnos Smart Insulin Watch by Inno-Partners
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The Nonnos is in every sense a breakthrough. While the Apple Watch Series 4 focused on the EKG ability, there was initially a lot of speculation that the watch would be able to measure the wearer’s blood sugar levels (externally and using non-invasive tech), a feature that, if executed, would perhaps make the Apple Watch the greatest wearable of all time. Rumors are that the Apple team is still working on the technology and developing ways to make it a reality. The Nonnos Smart Insulin Watch, in that regard, seems like the perfect wearable to complement that feature. The Nonnos is a wearable that is capable of providing you with a dose of insulin without any needles or injections. The device uses a process called Thermophoresis that allows insulin to directly be absorbed into the skin.

08. Etnisk – Food Storage by Alejandro Mandrion Moreno
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The Etnisk is an eco-friendly food-storage system that uses traditional techniques and indigenous materials to prolong the shelf-life of food without expending any energy. If perfected, Etnisk could reduce the use of single-use plastics, tetrapaks, or even refrigeration!

09. DSLRUOK? by Dustin Brown
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Completely altering the ergonomic design that you’d associate with DSLRs, the DSLRUOK? (I love the name) camera sports a unique aesthetic that’s easy to grip, fun to use, and interesting to look at. It also allows you to use your phone (with its high definition screen) as a viewfinder. DSLRs officially have a lot to worry about now!

10. MOTOROiD by Japanese Yamaha Motor Co Ltd [Luminary Winner!]
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Well worthy of the Luminary Prize of this year’s Red Dot Design Concept Awards, the MOTOROiD is a beautiful blend of visionary thinking, industrial design, transportation design, engineering, sprinkled with a touch of futurism.

The Motoroid, like many futuristic concept vehicles, is complete with an AI system, but not just any AI system… Motoroid’s AI can recognize its owner and even go as far as interacting with the user in a manner that seems fitting for a living object. This comes as no surprise when Yamaha also boasts the ability to evoke the experience of ‘Kando’ for the rider – the Japanese philosophy which simultaneously inspires a deep satisfaction, appreciation, admiration and emotional impression.

The self-balancing electric bike is currently in its proof-of-concept status, which is remarkable news, showcasing that a future where you communicate with your bike like it’s your companion, isn’t that far off!

This IKEA packaging concept turns into a stool

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Designer Xiang Guan redesigned the packaging for IKEA’s Hilver table to serve more of a purpose than packaging. With a pattern printed on it serving as a folding guide, the packaging for IKEA’s table turns into a stool that you can use with said table.

“Around 30.5 million tonnes of household waste are generated in the United Kingdom every year. With this in mind, FOLD is a packaging designed for IKEA’s “HILVER” table that encourages upcycling”, said Guan, who secured a Red Dot Award and Core77 Award for his innovative solution. Unlike most upcycled furniture, the Fold stool comes with a faceted design that looks good in most homes, and the print on it breaks the monotony of the brown cardboard color. The stool uses the corrugated board that comprised the packaging, with just an extra rubber band to hold it in place, making it not only convenient to assemble, but also easy to disassemble and recycle after it finishes serving its purpose.

Designer: Xiang Guan

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The Red Dot chair is simple, but makes a strong visual statement

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Looking pretty much like what its name says, the Red Dot chair is simple, has two basic elements, but looks so attractive it’s difficult to look away. A black pipe frame holds the chair’s dottish circular element in place, while a taut red fabric covers the circular hoop. The fabric remains flat on the front, while on the back, a loop connects it to the base, giving the fabric its tautness, and also some volume in the side profile. Sit down on the chair and the fabric on the front flexes, accommodating the sitter rather comfortably, giving you the feeling of sitting on a hammock… and the circular hoop also lets you rest your arms against it. Quite the statement-making minimalist throne, this!

Designer: Gaudutė Žilytė

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Your absolute last chance to win a Red Dot Design Concept 2017 award!

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If you’re a designer, you’ve obviously heard of the words “Red Dot”. They’re arguably the most coveted words that every designer wants to flash on their product, or resume. The Red Dot Awards are by far the most anticipated awards in the design circuit and hey, I’ve got some breaking news for you. Today’s your last day to submit your entry for the Red Dot Design Concept Awards this year!

With not more than 15 hours to go before the gates shut, if you have a design concept buried in your portfolio, or accumulating likes and appreciations galore on Behance or Coroflot, you’re armed with just enough time to make an entry and stand a chance to win a Red Dot Award!

The Design Concept award is open to design studios, companies, universities, research laboratories, inventors and students, the only criteria being that your entry be a design concept or personal project or a product that isn’t in the market (before 2nd June 2017). While submitting entries, note that you can specify whether your design is a “Concept” or a “Ready to Launch” product.

The Red Dot Awards are judged by a diverse and esteemed jury panel of 20 Design professionals and Academics from around the globe. You can read more about the Judging Criteria here, and about the Submission Format here.

Visit this link to make your design submission before it’s too late. We’re rooting for you! Submit NOW or forever hold your silence!

Here’s a look at some of our favorite designs from last year that went on to win the Design Concept Award.

The Heng Lamp by Zanwen Li reinvents switches with its clever magnetic orbs! The orbs are suspended by a string and have a magnet inside them. The strings are short enough to allow both the orbs to be attracted to each other, yet still not touch. When the lower orb enters the magnetic field of the upper one, the lamp switches on. Release the lower orb and the lamp goes off. I’d be playing with this all day!
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The Espire Full Face Gas Mask by Carlos Schreib depicts by far the most ideal mask design. Not only does it purify the air going into your nose and mouth, it even guards your eyes from smoke, dust, and harmful chemicals. The clever clear visor for the mouth ensures you can even speak more effectively, because the transparent mask makes lip-reading more effective. What’s more, it cleverly creates a wall between the breathing zone and the viewing zone so you don’t have to worry about your visor fogging up with your breath!
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One cast fit’s all with the Bone Aid by Yu-Chi Wang. This piece of medical equipment comes flat-packed and depending on whether you need an arm-brace, or a foot-brace, you fold the Bone Aid along its pre-determined folding lines. Made out of medical-grade PolyPropylene, the Bone Aid is perfect for remote areas that have little to no access to proper medical equipment and expertise.
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I don’t ever remember seeing a saline bag that looked portable. You end up having to carry the bag along with the large clunky metal stand, looking like a hospitalized grim-reaper with his sickle. The Nu-Drip saline bag by Wang Yu-Chi and Huang Yu-Man gets rid of that metal eyesore and takes on a more unique design that goes around your neck like a neck pillow. At first glance it looks like a wonderful solution, and I can only hope that this award winning design solution goes beyond the realm of concepts and becomes a reality soon!
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Here’s a classic example of A.) The kind of product that is best suited for the Red Dot, and B.) How winning a Red Dot can popularize a concept so much so that it becomes almost a household name. Being awarded the Best of the Best at last year’s Red Dot Awards is the Phone-Brella. Designed for one-handed use or rather, one armed use so your hands can be occupied elsewhere, the Phone-Brella by KT isn’t just great for texting while waiting for rains to stop, or booking your Uber on a rainy sidewalk, it’s ideal for the disabled too!
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Intrigued? Inspired? Submit your entry now!!

The awesome origami umbrella

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The Sa Umbrella is a highly impressive umbrella for quite a few reasons. At first glance, it looks like the umbrella got a minimalist upgrade. You don’t see the metal tip, the spokes, the imperfect folds when you close it, or the handle with the button/trigger just sitting there. The Sa Umbrella even goes so far as to hide the spiderweb of metal pipes that you see on the underside of the fabric once it’s open. Designed as a much-needed upgrade on the older umbrella, this one opts for a concealed magnetic opening mechanism, more durable and environment-friendly fabric, and a handle that just needs a twist to open, and a pull to close. Plus, it comes in such a brilliant blue, it’s sure to add a beautiful splash of color in an otherwise rainy, gloomy, grayscale landscape!

The Sa Umbrella is a winner of the Red Dot Award for the year 2015.

Designer: Justin Nagelberg

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