Remember when phones got smaller? The iPhone 13 Mini had a cult following, but Apple killed it because most people wanted bigger screens. Here’s the plot twist: a clamshell foldable iPhone could bring back that beloved compact size without sacrificing screen real estate. You get a full-size display when you need it, and a pocketable square when you don’t. It’s the best of both worlds, and Apple knows it.

Mark Gurman’s latest report suggests Apple is seriously exploring this form factor. It wouldn’t be their first foldable (a larger model is rumored for later this year), but it might be their smartest. A clamshell iPhone makes sense for reasons that go way beyond nostalgia. It’s cheaper to build than a book-style fold, it doesn’t compete with the iPad Mini, and it opens up a market where Samsung is basically the only serious player. There are six solid reasons why Apple should do this, and one big reason why it might not work. Let’s dig in.

The iPhone Mini lives on (just folded in half)

Apple discontinued the iPhone 13 Mini because the sales numbers didn’t justify keeping it around. Turns out most people prefer bigger screens, even if it means carrying a brick in their pocket. But the Mini’s fans were passionate, and they’ve been vocal about wanting a truly compact iPhone ever since. A clamshell solves this problem in the most elegant way possible.

When folded, it’s roughly the size of the Mini, maybe even smaller depending on how thick the hinge is. When unfolded, you get a full 6.1-inch or 6.7-inch display, same as the regular iPhone or Pro Max. The people who loved the Mini weren’t asking for a smaller screen, they were asking for a phone that didn’t dominate their pocket or require two hands for basic tasks. A clamshell gives them that portability without forcing them to squint at a 5.4-inch display.

This isn’t just about bringing back a discontinued product. It’s about proving that compact phones can exist in 2026 without compromising on screen size. The form factor itself becomes the feature.

It doesn’t murder the iPad Mini

Here’s the uncomfortable truth about book-style foldables: they’re iPad killers. If Apple released an iPhone that unfolds into an 8-inch display, who’s buying an iPad Mini? The overlap would be brutal. You’d have a device that fits in your pocket, runs iOS, makes calls, and gives you a tablet-sized screen when you need it. The iPad Mini’s entire value proposition collapses.

A clamshell doesn’t have this problem. Even at its largest, a clamshell iPhone would max out at maybe 6.9 inches unfolded. That’s still firmly in phone territory, not tablet territory. The iPad Mini’s 8.3-inch display remains the smallest “real” iPad you can buy, and it stays relevant for people who want that in-between size for reading, note-taking, or media consumption.

Apple’s product lineup is carefully segmented, and a clamshell iPhone slots in without disrupting the hierarchy. It’s a phone that folds smaller, not a tablet that folds into a phone. That distinction matters when you’re trying to sell both devices to the same customer.

Samsung owns this space, but they’re beatable

The Galaxy Z Flip has been around since 2020, and Samsung’s refined it through multiple generations. They’re the dominant player in the clamshell category, but “dominant” doesn’t mean “unbeatable.” Motorola’s putting up a fight with the Razr, but Google hasn’t touched this form factor yet. No Pixel Flip. No Nothing Flip. No OnePlus Flip. It’s basically Samsung’s game, and that’s an opportunity for Apple.

Apple doesn’t need to be first. They need to be better. And in a market where there’s only one major competitor, “better” is achievable. Samsung’s Z Flip 6 is solid, but it’s not perfect. The cover screen still feels like an afterthought, the crease is visible, and the software experience is classic Samsung (which is to say, inconsistent). If Apple can deliver a smoother hinge, a more useful outer display, and that signature iOS polish, they could own this category within a generation.

The fact that Google isn’t competing here is huge. The Pixel is Apple’s biggest threat in terms of owning both hardware and software (plus Gemini is vastly more superior than any AI Apple’s managed to roll out), and if there’s no Pixel Flip to compete with an iPhone Flip, Apple has a clear shot at Android users who want this form factor but don’t want Samsung’s ecosystem.

Smaller hinge, lower risk

Building a book-style foldable is expensive and complicated. You’re engineering a hinge that supports a massive, fragile display. You’re solving durability issues that Samsung and others have been wrestling with for years. You’re creating an entirely new product category that might flop. The R&D costs are enormous, and if it doesn’t sell, you’ve burned a ton of money.

A clamshell is cheaper to prototype, cheaper to manufacture, and cheaper to fail with. The display is smaller, the hinge mechanism is simpler, and the overall engineering challenge is less daunting. If Apple wants to dip their toes into foldables without betting the farm, a clamshell is the way to do it.

This also means Apple can price it more competitively. A book-style iPhone Fold would probably start at $1,799 or higher. A clamshell could reasonably launch at $1,199, maybe $1,299. That’s still premium, but it’s within reach of people who’d normally buy a Pro model. The lower price point expands the potential customer base, and if it sells well, Apple can use that momentum to justify a larger foldable later.

Hands-free everything

The half-folded “laptop mode” is one of the best features of clamshell foldables, and it’s criminally underrated. You can prop the phone up on a table, angle the screen however you want, and suddenly you’ve got a hands-free setup for FaceTime, vlogging, watching videos, or taking photos. No tripod required. No awkward propping it against a water bottle. It just works.

Apple’s been positioning the iPhone as a serious content creation tool for years. ProRes video, Cinematic Mode, all those camera upgrades, they’re aimed at people who make stuff. A clamshell iPhone would give those creators a built-in tripod mode that’s actually useful. Imagine shooting a cooking tutorial, a makeup video, or a product unboxing without needing extra gear. The phone holds itself at the perfect angle, and you’re free to use both hands.

This isn’t a niche use case. Every vertical video you’ve ever seen on TikTok or Instagram could’ve been easier to shoot with a clamshell. Apple knows this, and they know it’s a selling point that most mobile brands haven’t fully capitalized on yet.

Big screen, small pocket

Here’s the paradox of modern smartphones: people want huge screens, but they hate carrying huge phones. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is a phenomenal device, but it’s a slab that dominates your pocket, your bag, and your hand. A clamshell solves this in the most obvious way possible: make the screen big, then fold it in half.

When unfolded, you get all the screen real estate of a Pro or Pro Max. When folded, it’s a compact square that sits comfortably in any pocket. You’re not sacrificing display size, you’re just rearranging it. This is especially appealing for people who want big screens but don’t want to upgrade their wardrobe to accommodate a 6.7-inch rectangle.

The folded form factor also changes how you carry the phone. It’s less likely to slide out of a pocket, it doesn’t create that awkward bulge in tight jeans, and it’s easier to grip when you’re pulling it out. These are small quality-of-life improvements, but they add up. A clamshell makes the big-screen experience more portable, and that’s a real advantage.

The one problem: MagSafe doesn’t love squares

Here’s where things get tricky. Apple’s entire MagSafe ecosystem is built around vertical rectangles. Wallets, battery packs, car mounts, wireless chargers, they all assume your iPhone is shaped like, well, an iPhone. A clamshell changes that. When folded, it’s a square. When unfolded, it’s a normal phone shape. But MagSafe accessories are designed to stick to the back of a phone that’s always the same shape.

How does a MagSafe wallet work on a folded clamshell? Does it attach to the outer cover, which is probably glass or plastic? Does Apple redesign the entire accessory lineup to accommodate a square form factor? Do they create clamshell-specific MagSafe products? None of these solutions are great.

This isn’t a dealbreaker, but it’s a complication. Apple’s accessory ecosystem is a huge part of their strategy, and a clamshell iPhone disrupts that in ways a book-style fold wouldn’t. You could argue that a book-style fold, when closed, is still roughly phone-shaped, so MagSafe accessories might work. A clamshell is just different enough to break compatibility.

Apple could solve this with clever engineering. Maybe the MagSafe ring is on the outer screen side, and accessories attach there. Maybe they introduce a new “MagSafe Flip” standard with different magnets. Or maybe they just accept that clamshell buyers won’t use traditional MagSafe accessories and move on. Either way, it’s a problem that doesn’t exist with their current lineup, and it’s worth considering.

So, is this happening?

Gurman’s report is credible, but it’s not a product announcement. Apple explores lots of things that never ship. They’ve been prototyping foldables for years, and we’ve seen patents dating back to 2016. The fact that they’re actively working on a clamshell now doesn’t mean it’ll hit shelves in 2027 or even 2028.

But the logic is there. A clamshell iPhone solves more problems than it creates. It brings back the Mini’s form factor without shrinking the screen. It enters a market where Apple could actually win. It’s cheaper and less risky than a book-style fold. And it gives Apple a foothold in foldables without cannibalizing their other products.

If Apple does this right, a clamshell iPhone could be the foldable that finally makes sense for people who aren’t early adopters. It’s practical, it’s pocketable, and it’s exactly the kind of product Apple excels at making. The only question is whether they’re willing to rethink MagSafe to make it work.

(Images via AI)

The post 6 Reasons Why Apple Needs to Build a Clamshell iPhone Flip (And 1 Reason It Shouldn’t) first appeared on Yanko Design.

High in the Pyrenees, where forests, rock, and weather dictate their own quiet rules, Forestone Cabin appears less like a building and more like a geological event. At just 20 square meters, this experimental wooden dwelling does not announce itself as architecture in the conventional sense. Instead, it feels as though it has always been there, something solid that rolled down the mountain long before anyone thought to give it a name.

Designed and built by the 2025 cohort of the Master’s in Ecological Architecture and Advanced Construction at IAAC – Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Forestone Cabin is part of the Bio for Piri initiative, led by Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera and funded by the Biodiversity Foundation through European Next Generation funds. The project champions regenerative forestry and the intelligent use of local timber sourced from Pyrenean forests in Alinyà, Lleida, an ambition that is embedded into every layer of the cabin.

Designer: IAAC – Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia

Installed at MónNatura Sort, the cabin occupies a sloping site near an existing mountain hostel. Designed to host two people, it compresses a sleeping area, workspace, and bathroom into a compact yet carefully calibrated interior. Nothing here is excessive. Every surface, angle, and opening earns its place.

Formally, the cabin takes its cues directly from the landscape. Its faceted geometry, composed of inclined walls and a sloping roof, responds to solar exposure, climatic conditions, and internal program, subtly shaping how the interior is experienced. Ceiling heights shift almost imperceptibly to define zones, while precisely positioned openings frame views of the Pyrenean mountains and allow cross ventilation. At night, operable wooden shutters seal the cabin into complete darkness, eliminating light pollution and supporting the site’s astronomical activities. It is a reminder that sometimes the most sustainable gesture is knowing when to disappear.

The exterior is clad in pine boards with natural edges, charred using the Japanese Yakisugi, or Shou Sugi Ban, technique. Burned by the students themselves, the wood gains resistance to insects, water, mold, and fire, while also carrying symbolic weight. Fire is a constant presence in Pyrenean forest management, and even the name Pyrenees traces back to pyros, the Greek word for fire. Here, charring becomes both protection and narrative.

Inside, Forestone transforms into a fully integrated wooden environment. Custom-designed CLT elements form not only the structure but also the furniture, including beds, seating, storage, and the washbasin counter. All components were fabricated by students at Valldaura Labs. Architecture, structure, and furniture collapse into a single material system, reinforcing a hands-on approach where making is inseparable from thinking.

The material story does not end with timber. During a wool festival in the nearby town of Sort, students collaborated with local farmers to collect sheep’s wool, later transformed into felt with the support of Dutch artist Rian van Dijk. The resulting blankets, rugs, and pillowcases introduce softness and warmth while grounding the project in local agricultural cycles. A stone sourced from the surrounding landscape was hand-carved into a washbasin, turning a found object into a daily ritual.

From the outset, Forestone Cabin was designed as a prototype. Its modular CLT system, dry assembly methods, and reliance on local materials allow it to be adapted, replicated, or dismantled with minimal impact. More than a cabin, it proposes a model for inhabiting forest landscapes responsibly, one that aligns education, craftsmanship, and ecological stewardship.

Opening to guests in January 2026 at MónNatura Pirineu, Forestone Cabin offers visitors more than shelter. It offers a way of thinking about forests not as resources to extract from, but as systems to participate in, carefully, thoughtfully, and with respect.

The post A 20-Square-Meter Boulder-Shaped Cabin That Blends Right Into The Pyrenees first appeared on Yanko Design.

Perched high above the Pacific coastline in Bahía Ballena, Costa Rica, Ojo de Nila is a house that feels less like an object placed on land and more like a continuation of it. Designed by Studio Saxe, with interiors by Atelier Sandra Richard, the home was created for a Swiss couple seeking a slower, more elemental way of living shaped by air, light, and landscape rather than mechanical systems and rigid enclosures.

A clear modular logic guides the architecture. A repeating series of structural bays follows the natural contours of the hillside, allowing the house to hover above the forest canopy instead of cutting into it. This decision preserves vegetation and natural water flow beneath the home while giving the structure a lightness that feels respectful of its setting. The modules do not read as repetition in the conventional sense. Instead, they become the framework for movement, rhythm, and flow.

Designer: Studio Saxe and Atelier Sandra Richard

Above these modules, the roof undulates in soft waves, behaving almost like a newly formed landform. Rather than acting as a simple cover, it mirrors the rolling topography of the surrounding hills and establishes a calming visual cadence as one moves through the house. The roofline continuously frames the Pacific Ocean, ensuring that the horizon remains a constant presence, never a backdrop but always an active participant in daily life.

Arrival is defined by elevation and openness. As you enter, there is no dramatic reveal or enclosed threshold. Instead, the house immediately opens itself to the ocean. The absence of enclosure on the ocean-facing side dissolves any clear boundary between inside and outside. Movement through the home is accompanied by the sound of wind through the forest, shifting light, and the distant rhythm of waves below.

The dining area is fully open to the landscape, with no windows or doors separating it from the environment. Meals unfold in direct conversation with climate and view, reinforcing a lifestyle centered on natural comfort. Adjacent to this space, the kitchen sits within the same modular grid. A long island anchors the room, illuminated by three pendant lights, while additional storage is discreetly tucked behind folding doors to maintain visual calm.

The living room balances structure and softness. A solid wood frame sofa grounds the space, layered with neutral cushions and tactile throws that invite rest. Rich timber flooring adds warmth underfoot, tying the interior palette back to the surrounding forest.

The bedroom continues this dialogue with nature through a curved open-air form. The sweeping roof and angled supports frame uninterrupted views of both forest and ocean. A low timber bed and minimal furnishings ensure that attention remains on light, air, and the ever-changing landscape beyond.

In the bathroom, restraint becomes luxury. A floating timber vanity topped with stone sits at the center of the space, while slatted wood and soft curtains filter light and create privacy without full enclosure. The result is a room that feels tactile, quiet, and gently connected to its surroundings.

Outside, the pool extends toward the horizon, visually blending with the sky and ocean. From above, its circular form reads like an eye, like a reflection, inspiring the home’s name. This gesture reinforces the idea of the house as an observer, always in dialogue with the landscape it inhabits. The deck echoes the pool’s curves, creating shaded and open zones shaped by the modular structure and flowing roof.

Ojo de Nila ultimately demonstrates how modular construction can enable expressive architecture without overpowering its context. Through repetition that allows curvature and structure that guides airflow, the house achieves a quiet, deeply considered balance between design and environment, inviting its inhabitants to live with nature rather than against it.

The post This Costa Rican Home Chooses Air, Rhythm, and Silence Over Walls first appeared on Yanko Design.

The contrast between Sunday night at a concert and Monday morning at your desk is brutal. One moment you’re lost in the music, feeling every guitar riff vibrate through your chest. The next, you’re answering emails and pretending last night’s euphoria wasn’t real. The transition back to routine work feels especially cruel when the weekend gave you a taste of something electric.

That’s where a little whimsy helps. These 3D-printed guitar amp pen holders from LionsPrint bring a fragment of that musical energy to your workspace. They’re compact at 3.5 inches per side, but the details are spot-on: authentic speaker grilles, control panels, and designs inspired by the amplifiers that power actual rock shows. You can personalize them with custom text in silver or gold. They won’t replace the thrill of live music, but they’re a small reminder that the mundane is just temporary.

Designer: LionsPrint

The thing about good desk accessories is they need to justify their existence beyond pure function. A pen holder is essentially a container with holes. You could use a coffee mug. But LionsPrint clearly understood that musicians and music fans have a specific relationship with amplifiers that goes beyond their utility. These aren’t random music references slapped onto office supplies. They’re recognizable silhouettes: Marshall stacks with their iconic script logo, Fender’s clean lines, Yamaha’s distinctive branding. The 3D printing allows for texture work that would be impossible with traditional manufacturing. Those speaker grilles have depth and pattern variation that catches light differently depending on angle.

At 3.5 x 3.5 x 3.5 inches, the dimensions work perfectly for standard desk real estate. Small enough that they don’t dominate your workspace, large enough that they actually hold a functional amount of pens, scissors, and whatever other tools accumulate throughout a workday. The cube format keeps them stable. No tipping over when you’re fishing for a specific marker at 2 AM during a deadline crunch.

The customization option elevates these beyond typical musician merch. You can add text in metallic silver or gold finishes, which means your studio name, your band’s logo, or even an inside joke with your bandmates can live on your desk. Most “gifts for guitarists” feel like afterthoughts, designed by people who think all musicians are the same. This actually lets you claim ownership of the aesthetic instead of just passively receiving someone else’s idea of what music fans want.

LionsPrint sells these through Etsy starting at $19.98 USD before shipping. The price sits in that sweet spot where it’s low enough to impulse buy after a particularly soul-crushing Monday, but high enough that the 3D printing quality actually delivers on the details. You pick your amp style, add your custom text if you want it, and suddenly your desk has at least one object that doesn’t make you question your life choices. Small victories count when you’re counting down to the weekend.

The post 3D-Printed Guitar Amp Desk Organizer Brings Concert Energy to Your Boring Monday Morning first appeared on Yanko Design.

There’s something deeply satisfying about watching designers take a swing at corporate boredom. Fevertime, a recent collaboration by Dugyeong Lee, Gyeong Wook Kim, MyeongHoon Cheon, and Dayong Yoon, does exactly that by transforming the typical video conference setup into something that looks like it belongs in a mid-80s arcade.

The concept is deceptively simple: what if meetings felt less like mandatory Zoom rectangles and more like gathering around a shared screen? The team created a physical meeting system inspired by retro game consoles, complete with a bright red spherical camera perched on a stand like some cheerful robot companion, and a base unit that wouldn’t look out of place next to your old Nintendo. There are even cartridge-style slots and that unmistakable game controller aesthetic, all rendered in a palette of scorched red, neon accents, and soft grays.

Designers: Dugyeong Lee, Gyeong Wook Kim, MyeongHoon Cheon, dayong Yoon

But this isn’t just nostalgia bait. The designers identified a real problem with modern collaboration tools: everyone staring at their own screens creates this weird isolation, even when you’re supposedly “together” in a virtual room. Fevertime flips that script by projecting content onto a shared surface, encouraging actual eye contact and spatial awareness. The physical device becomes a focal point, something to gather around rather than disappear behind.

The system lets users set up meetings in advance, defining time, participants, and structure before anyone logs on. When the session starts, participants can instantly share content from their personal devices onto the collective display. Everything stays synced and visible to everyone simultaneously. No more “Can you see my screen?” or fumbling through share settings while everyone waits. The interface shows meeting cards, schedules, and project data in a clean, modular layout that feels more like organizing a playlist than managing corporate logistics.

What makes Fevertime visually compelling is how committed it is to the gaming metaphor. The red sphere isn’t trying to look sleek or invisible like most tech hardware. It wants to be noticed. It practically begs to be the conversation starter in the room. The cartridge system for what appears to be different meeting modes or templates plays into that collectible, tactable quality that made physical media so satisfying. You’re not just clicking through digital menus; you’re handling objects, sliding things into slots, physically engaging with the technology.

The UI design carries that same energy. Bright pink highlight screens pop against neutral backgrounds. Typography is bold and condensed, channeling the space constraints of old arcade cabinets where every pixel counted. Cards and modules feel like game level selects or achievement screens. There’s a playful confidence in the branding, with the Fevertime logo rendered in that wavy, almost melting typography that suggests heat and intensity without being aggressive.

The designers describe the project as capturing “a single moment of high-intensity creative output,” that fever state when an idea finally clicks and everything flows. That philosophy shows up in the pulsing, breathing quality of the custom lettering, where font weights fluctuate to create visual rhythm. It’s design that refuses to sit still, much like the creative process it’s trying to facilitate.

From a product design perspective, Fevertime sits in that interesting space between speculative concept and plausible near-future tech. The physical components look production-ready, with thoughtful details like ventilation ridges on the base unit and a weighted stand for the camera sphere. But there’s also a conceptual boldness here, a willingness to say “what if meeting technology looked completely different from what we’re used to?”

The team used Adobe’s creative suite to develop the project, combining Photoshop and Illustrator for the identity work with After Effects for motion elements. That mix of static and animated content gives Fevertime a kinetic presence even in still images. You can imagine the interface cards sliding, the logo pulsing, the whole system humming with that arcade-ready energy.

Whether Fevertime ever makes it to market is almost beside the point. As a design exercise, it asks useful questions about how we physically and emotionally experience collaboration technology. It challenges the assumption that workplace tools need to look serious and minimal. And it demonstrates how pulling from gaming culture can make even something as mundane as meeting software feel fresh and approachable. Sometimes the best design projects are the ones that make you think, “Wait, why doesn’t everything look like this?”

The post Someone Finally Made Video Meetings Look Like a Game Console first appeared on Yanko Design.

Tech moves fast, breaks things, ships updates, iterates. The entire industry is built on the assumption that this year’s product will be obsolete by next year, and that’s fine because next year’s version will be better anyway. Then you see someone in Fukui Prefecture spending twenty minutes hand-sanding a single wooden keyboard key, checking it by touch, and the whole paradigm feels suddenly optional. Hacoa has been making wooden keyboards this way for four generations now. The current craftspeople learned from their parents, who learned from theirs.

What makes this remarkable isn’t just the craftsmanship, though watching wood move from lumber to finished keys is genuinely mesmerizing. It’s the underlying assumption that contradicts everything tech culture preaches. These keyboards are built to last decades. They’re made from a material that ages visibly, that will show wear and patina and the passage of time. They’re designed for people who want their tools to have history rather than version numbers. And they’re assembled onto standard mechanical keyboard bases, so they actually work for the thing you’d use a keyboard for: typing, every day, for years.

Designer: Hacoa workshop

The process starts with lumber selection, which already tells you everything about how different this is from injection-molded ABS keycaps. Someone at the Hacoa workshop in Sabae City examines the grain patterns and decides which pieces are suitable for a keyboard. They measure carefully so nothing gets wasted, then plane the wood down to uniform thickness. This is furniture-grade attention being applied to something most of us buy on Amazon and forget about. The wood gets machined with multiple blade changes between operations, chamfered at the edges so the corners feel softer under your fingers, then cut into individual key blanks.

Then the hand work begins. Each key gets shaped individually, sanded on the end grain to refine the tactile experience, finished by craftspeople who use their palms as quality control instruments. They’re literally checking by feel whether each key is ready. The surface gets sanded extensively, taking as long as it takes, because rushing would defeat the entire point. Quality verification happens through touch, which is perfect given that touching these keys will be the whole experience once someone owns the keyboard. After that comes laser engraving for the legends, residue cleanup, and final assembly onto a mechanical keyboard base with standard switches.

What gets me is the very deliberate disconnect between effort and function. A $30 membrane keyboard from any big-box store does the same job in purely utilitarian terms. You press keys, letters appear on screen, your email gets written. But we spend hours every day with our hands on these things. The texture matters. The sound matters. Whether the object feels disposable or permanent matters, even if we can’t always articulate why. Hacoa seems to understand that the keyboard isn’t just an input device, it’s the primary physical interface between you and every digital thing you make.

The final product shows visible wood grain variation across every key. Some are lighter, some darker, because that’s what wood does. Each keyboard carries unique patterns that came from whatever tree the lumber came from, which means no two are identical. They’re mounted on dark bases that contrast with the natural wood tones, and the whole thing works with standard mechanical switches. You can actually use this daily without treating it like a museum piece, which honestly makes it more interesting than if it were purely decorative.

Four generations of craftsmanship went into mastering the material and this product category. That timeline alone makes it weird in tech terms, where four generations might mean four years of product iterations. Here it means actual humans passing down technique and judgment through family lines, the kind of knowledge transfer that only happens when someone works beside their parent for years. The current craftspeople at Hacoa learned by watching, by doing it wrong, by developing the muscle memory that lets them know when a piece of wood is ready just by running their hand across it.

I think about planned obsolescence a lot, probably too much. The assumption baked into most consumer tech that you’ll replace it soon anyway, so why build it to last. These keyboards operate in a completely different value system where the goal is creating something worth keeping. Whether that makes financial sense for most people is debatable. Whether it’s a more sane way to think about the objects we use constantly is not.

The post This $400 Wooden Keyboard Goes Through Over 15 Hand-Finishing Steps Before You Can Type On It first appeared on Yanko Design.

The Vessels collection feels like a quiet confession from Nader Gammas. Known for lighting defined by brutalist strength and architectural discipline, Gammas takes an unexpected turn inward with this series. The sharp certainty that once shaped his work softens here, replaced by forms that feel grown rather than constructed. These lights do not announce themselves. They linger. They unfold slowly, like something discovered rather than designed.

The inspiration comes from cup fungi, a modest yet mesmerizing group of organisms that bloom close to the earth. Their clustered growth patterns and delicately rippled rims become the emotional backbone of the collection. Instead of rigid symmetry, the vessels curve and open organically, as if responding to an internal logic of growth. Light is not forced outward. It is held, filtered, and gently released, echoing the way fungi cradle moisture and air within their fragile structures.

Designer: Nader Gammas

This natural influence marks a clear departure from the heavy brass and assertive geometries that have long defined Gammas’ work. In Vessels, the language shifts toward softness and restraint. Ceramic takes center stage, valued for its warmth and sensitivity to touch. Its surface carries subtle variations in thickness and texture, details that only emerge through hand shaping. Brass remains present, but now it plays a supporting role, adding quiet warmth rather than visual weight.

Each piece is shaped entirely by hand, without molds or replication. This process ensures that every vessel is singular, carrying its own proportions, curves, and imperfections. The result is a collection that feels almost alive. As light passes through the ceramic forms, it creates a slow interplay of glow and shadow, giving the impression that the object itself is breathing. These are not fixtures designed to disappear into a ceiling or wall. They are characters within a space, each with its own presence and mood.

While the aesthetic has softened, the philosophy behind the work remains firmly rooted. Gammas has always believed that lighting is fundamental to how people experience a space emotionally. That belief traces back to his early life growing up in the United States with Syrian roots, where he developed an instinctive understanding of how form and function shape atmosphere. His academic path, from architecture at the University of Jordan to an MFA in Lighting Design at Parsons School of Design, refined that instinct with technical precision.

Today, with exclusive representation by STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN, Gammas stands confidently on the global design stage. Yet Vessels feels deeply personal, almost like a return to intuition. It is a collection that listens more than it declares, allowing nature to guide form and light to guide emotion.

Vessels is a lighting series, but with a meditation on growth, material, and restraint. Through handmade ceramic forms accented with brass, the collection transforms light into something felt rather than seen, shaping spaces with a quiet and lasting intimacy.

The post Nader Gammas’ Vessels Turns Light Into a Slow, Living Presence first appeared on Yanko Design.

There’s something satisfying about watching minimalism meet function in furniture design, and Denis Zarembo’s Insero Chair does exactly that with an unexpected twist. Based in Moscow, Zarembo has created a piece that challenges how we think about sitting, proving that sometimes the most interesting designs come from playing with basic shapes in not-so-basic ways.

The Insero Chair isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it’s reimagining the seat, backrest, and frame through a lens of geometric precision that feels both contemporary and surprisingly timeless. What makes this design stand out on Behance, where it’s already racked up dozens of appreciations and hundreds of views, is how it balances visual lightness with structural integrity.

Designer: Denis Zarembo

At first glance, the chair appears almost skeletal. Clean lines intersect at deliberate angles, creating a framework that looks like it could have been sketched in a single, confident stroke. But look closer and you’ll notice the thoughtfulness behind each junction point, each curve, each decision about where material exists and where it’s been carved away. This isn’t minimalism for minimalism’s sake. It’s reduction with purpose.

The name “Insero” comes from Latin, meaning “to insert” or “to place within,” which gives us a clue about Zarembo’s design philosophy. The chair seems to explore the relationship between positive and negative space, between what’s there and what’s deliberately absent. The seat appears to nestle within the frame rather than simply sit on top of it, creating an integrated whole that feels more like sculpture than traditional furniture.

What’s particularly clever is how the design manages to look both delicate and sturdy. The slender proportions suggest lightness and mobility, which is increasingly important in our flexible living spaces where furniture needs to work harder and move more freely. Yet the geometric construction hints at strength, with forces distributed through the frame in ways that are as much about engineering as aesthetics.

The chair exists at that sweet spot where industrial design meets art object. You could absolutely see it in a modern apartment or a minimalist office, but you could just as easily imagine it cordoned off in a design museum, being studied for its formal qualities. That dual nature is what makes pieces like this so compelling. They don’t just serve a function; they start conversations.

Zarembo’s work fits into a larger tradition of designers who understand that chairs are never just chairs. They’re statements about how we live, how we work, how we relax. From Charles and Ray Eames to contemporary makers pushing digital fabrication techniques, chair design has always been a proving ground for new ideas. The Insero Chair continues that lineage while speaking in a distinctly current visual language.

The rendering quality also deserves mention. The way Zarembo has presented the chair on Behance shows it from multiple angles, letting viewers appreciate how the geometry shifts depending on perspective. Sometimes it looks almost two-dimensional, like a line drawing come to life. From other angles, the complexity reveals itself, showing depth and dimension you might not initially expect. This careful presentation isn’t just about showing off. It’s essential for understanding how the piece actually works in three-dimensional space.

There’s no information yet about whether the Insero Chair will move into production, but that’s almost beside the point. Concept furniture serves an important role in pushing the conversation forward, in asking “what if?” even when “when?” remains unanswered. These designs influence other makers, spark ideas, and gradually shift our collective sense of what’s possible.

For anyone interested in where contemporary furniture design is heading, pieces like the Insero Chair offer valuable clues. We’re seeing a move away from bulky, overwrought designs toward cleaner silhouettes that don’t sacrifice comfort or functionality. We’re seeing digital tools enable precision that would have been difficult or impossible with traditional methods. And we’re seeing designers like Zarembo who understand that good design doesn’t shout. It speaks clearly, confidently, and leaves room for you to fill in the meaning yourself.

Whether the Insero Chair ends up in living rooms or remains in the realm of conceptual exploration, it’s already doing what good design should: making us look twice, think differently, and reconsider something as everyday as where we choose to sit.

The post This Chair Looks Skeletal But That’s Exactly the Point first appeared on Yanko Design.

The moon in product design is no longer just a romantic reference. It has become a quiet source of structure and meaning. Designers now draw from its sense of absence, soft geometry, textured surfaces, and the gentle play of light and shadow. Rather than literal moon shapes, the influence appears through restraint, calm proportions, and tactile depth.

Using the moon as a muse helps create products that feel grounded and timeless. This approach values emotional longevity over visual noise, allowing objects to connect with users on a deeper, more intuitive level. By echoing the moon’s permanence and stillness, design gains a timeless quality in an otherwise fast-changing world, influencing everything from sculptural lighting, celestial timepieces, and orbit-inspired furniture to architectural forms, tactile décor objects, and calm, minimalist technology products.

1. Furniture: Interpreting the Moon’s Surface Through Form

Lunar-inspired furniture moves away from polished perfection toward raw, tactile expression. Surfaces echo the moon’s terrain through uneven textures, carved contours, and matte finishes that invite touch. Materials such as cast metal, stone, and concrete reflect a quiet strength, translating celestial ruggedness into functional, grounded forms.

These pieces act as visual and spatial anchors within an interior. Their weight and texture create a sense of stability, offering emotional comfort through material honesty. Beyond aesthetics, such furniture delivers long-term value—designed to endure, age gracefully, and remain relevant across generations rather than follow fleeting trends.

The Moon Series by Craft of Both and MADE encourages users to play, adjust, and reshape their space through a pleated, fan-like form inspired by radial geometry. Designed by Christina Standaloft and Jay Jordan, the Moon Chair and Moon Bench unfold gently, turning everyday use into a calm, tactile experience.

What defines the series is its modular intelligence. Elements can be added or removed to change comfort, privacy, and visual impact. When combined, the pieces form sculptural seating landscapes. Blending Eastern inspiration with contemporary design, the Moon Series balances adaptability, craftsmanship, and enduring elegance.

2. Lighting: Creating Atmospheres Through Lunar Glow

Lunar-inspired lighting focuses on softness rather than intensity. The design language shifts away from direct glare toward indirect, diffused illumination that mimics the moon’s changing phases. Gentle gradations of light create calm, responsive environments instead of static brightness.

These fixtures are designed as experiences, not just utilities. By filtering and softening light, they introduce a sense of sanctuary within modern interiors dominated by glass and steel. The result is an ambient glow that feels natural and restorative, subtly shaping mood, rhythm, and spatial comfort throughout the day.

Phase is a sculptural lighting object that reimagines our relationship with time and light by replicating the moon’s real-time orbit around Earth. Developed by London-based studio Relative Distance over four years of research and engineering, the lamp transforms astronomical data into an immersive visual experience. Light passing through its smoked glass surface reveals the moon’s topography in striking detail, creating a soft, hypnotic glow that feels both intimate and expansive.

The lunar imagery is derived from a high-resolution NASA composite and applied with extreme precision, housed within a minimalist mineral-composite case inspired by extraterrestrial materials. Phase operates without apps or connectivity, relying instead on a simple three-button interface to control time, brightness, and viewing modes. With carefully tuned optics that mimic the subtle diffusion of true moonlight, the lamp offers a calm alternative to screen-based light—an object that slows perception and deepens spatial awareness.

3. Architecture: The Lunar Dome Perspective

The domical form offers a softer, more immersive interpretation of lunar architecture. Inspired by the moon’s curved horizon, dome-shaped spaces dissolve sharp edges and create a continuous spatial flow. Light moves gently along the curved surfaces, enhancing a sense of enclosure while maintaining openness to the sky.

From a performance standpoint, domical architecture is inherently efficient. The form encourages natural air circulation and evenly distributes light, reducing heat gain and energy demand. Beyond efficiency, the dome creates a primal sense of shelter—an architectural echo of the moon itself, grounding the home in cosmic reference and human comfort.

Conceived as an architectural spectacle, Moon is a 224-meter-tall spherical resort that translates lunar form into inhabitable design. Developed by Moon World Resorts Inc., the structure is envisioned as a hyper-realistic representation of Earth’s satellite, combining monumental scale with precision engineering. The project is organized around a three-storey circular base that supports a colossal orb above – designed to be the world’s largest sphere. The exterior of the orb mirrors the moon’s surface, constructed from a steel framework clad in carbon-fiber composite, with integrated solar panels enabling energy self-sufficiency.

Function and form are tightly interwoven throughout the design. The base accommodates public amenities such as the hotel lobby, spa, and convention facilities, while the spherical volume above houses approximately 4,000 suites. At its core lies an immersive lunar environment, featuring acres of undulating terrain and a detailed simulated colony. Designed to meet LEED Gold five-star standards, Moon positions architecture as experience – where structure, sustainability, and spectacle converge into a singular, otherworldly destination.

4. Clock Design: Reconnecting Time with Lunar Cycles

Clock design is shifting away from precise minute-counting toward a more intuitive understanding of time. Instead of emphasizing speed and schedules, these pieces track lunar phases and cyclical movement, reminding users that time is fluid rather than strictly linear.

Beyond function, such clocks carry a quiet educational role. They reconnect daily life with natural rhythms and inherited ways of measuring time. Crafted as sculptural objects, they balance motion, material, and meaning – serving as instruments of awareness and enduring design statements within the home.

Time may be a human system of measurement, but its logic is rooted in celestial motion. The SpaceOne Tellurium translates this cosmic rhythm into an elegant mechanical object, merging daily timekeeping with the orbital dance of Earth and Moon. Beyond hours and minutes, the watch presents a miniature solar system at its center, where scaled representations of the Earth and Moon revolve around a fixed sun. These elements do not move symbolically; their motion is precisely calibrated to reflect real astronomical cycles, turning the dial into a living model of time and space.

This complexity is driven by an intricate mechanical architecture built around the Soprod Caliber P024. A series of star wheels governs days, months, and orbital movement, allowing the Earth to complete one full revolution each year while guiding the Moon’s phases with remarkable accuracy. Housed in a lightweight Grade 5 titanium case, the design departs from traditional dial layouts, using a triangular division that reinforces its futuristic character. A deep black-and-blue palette, scattered with star-like markers, completes the watch’s refined celestial aesthetic.

5. Sculptural Art: Experiencing the Lunar Sublime

Lunar-inspired art shifts toward scale, silence, and depth. Large monolithic works use light-absorbing surfaces to create moments of visual disappearance, where form feels both present and absent. These pieces are less about image and more about sensation, drawing the viewer into stillness.

This approach treats art as a spatial experience rather than an ornament. Confronting the idea of the void, it challenges perception and spatial awareness. Positioned deliberately often at the end of a passage, such works create a journey through architecture, culminating in a quiet moment of reflection and cosmic pause.

LUA is conceived as a sculptural lighting object that blurs the line between functional design and contemporary art. Created by Madrid-based brand Woodendot, the piece draws directly from the quiet poetry of the moon, translating celestial calm into a tactile, three-dimensional form. Its softly contoured geometry and layered construction allow light to emerge gently, creating an ethereal presence rather than a conventional source of illumination. As an object, LUA feels composed and intentional—designed to be viewed as much as it is to be used.

The sculptural quality of LUA lies in its interplay of planes, textures, and shadow. Two wooden panels form the core composition: a corrugated back panel that adds depth and material richness, and a smaller folded front panel that partially obscures the light, producing an eclipse-like halo. This subtle manipulation of form and light creates a dynamic visual effect that changes with perspective. Available in multiple shapes, sizes, and finishes, LUA functions as a quiet centerpiece—an artful intervention that enhances spatial mood through restraint, balance, and material expression.

“Moon as Muse” is not a passing trend but a deeper shift toward thoughtful and lasting design. It encourages designers to slow down and find balance between technology and emotion, structure and softness. By looking to the moon, design becomes more reflective and intentional.

This approach defines a quieter kind of luxury. It is not about excess, but about clarity—honest materials, restrained forms, and the careful use of light. In this stillness, spaces feel timeless, meaningful, and deeply connected to the way we experience our homes and the natural world.

The post 5 Product Designs That Brought the Moon Indoors: They’re All Stunning first appeared on Yanko Design.

Aluminum dents. That is the trade you accept with most “premium” luggage. The grooves look great in the lounge, then a few trips later you are quietly cataloguing every new crease and corner hit. You can baby it, you can wince every time it goes into an overhead bin, but eventually the shell starts to look tired. Premium luggage, economy behavior.

Titanium changes the terms of that deal. AERIONN Forma treats aluminum the way iPhone Pro treats the regular iPhone: same category, different league. Apple moves the Pro models to titanium because it signals intent and performance in one move. Forma does the same. It uses certified Grade 1 titanium for the shell, formed as a single continuous body, so the case flexes under impact and returns to shape instead of locking in dents. It is the “Pro” material choice for people who live in airports and prefer their luggage to age, not degrade.

Designer: AERIONN

Click Here to Buy Now: $499 $1799 (72%). Hurry, only 3/688 left! Raised over $654,000.

There’s a specific moment frequent travelers recognize. You’ve got lounge access, priority boarding, a seat that actually reclines, and you’re pulling luggage designed to be replaced in a few years. First class isn’t just a ticket, it’s a standard. AERIONN Forma was designed for travelers who understand that distinction. The Milanese design shows restraint where most luggage shows decoration. Clean architectural lines, a matte brushed titanium surface that resists fingerprints and develops subtle patina over time. The kind of wear that looks earned rather than abused. Leather-wrapped handles add warmth without competing for attention. This case looks like it belongs in the first-class cabin, carried by someone who travels often enough to know visible damage shouldn’t be part of the premium experience.

Apple uses aluminum for the standard iPhone. The Pro models get titanium. Same exact decision tree applies here. Titanium signals intent. It’s a more precious material than aluminum, harder to source, more expensive to work with, and significantly more durable under real-world stress. Grade 1 commercially pure titanium meets ASTM B265-15 certification standards, with tensile strength in the 290 to 310 MPa range, significantly higher than aluminum alloys used in luxury luggage. The shell has undergone thousands of repeated drop tests, bending tests, ultrasonic inspection, and dimensional verification. The testing isn’t about proving indestructibility, it’s about ensuring resilience under conditions where aluminum would show permanent damage. Titanium flexes to absorb impact, and only shows signs of wear and tear with rough use. Aluminum dents easy… and it stays dented.

The single continuous shell construction eliminates seams and structural weak points. Despite using industrial-grade material, the case weighs 4kg with weight distributed evenly across the entire structure. Lift it into an overhead bin and the weight doesn’t fight you. Roll it through a terminal and it tracks cleanly without pull or wobble. That movement comes from the AIRMOVE dual spinner wheels, engineered for low drag and quiet operation. No rattle, no vibration, just smooth motion that keeps pace instead of slowing you down. The multi-stage telescopic handle extends smoothly and locks firmly, with leather-wrapped touchpoints that feel substantial. Good luggage disappears during travel, requiring no conscious effort to manage.

Security is handled without zippers, which remain the most common failure point in luggage. A precision TSA latch system sits flush with the titanium shell, allowing inspections without damage while removing fabric, teeth, and stress points entirely. It’s invisible when closed, dependable when needed. Metal latches integrated into aerospace-grade titanium don’t have the failure modes that plague zipper-based systems. The TSA-approved combination lock integrates directly into the shell. No exposed mechanisms, no added bulk, no interruption to the clean form. This approach to security makes the case look refined while actually being more secure than conventional designs.

The matte brushed titanium surface does something interesting over time. It develops a natural patina that reflects use without looking damaged. Fingerprints don’t show. Minor contact marks blend into the finish rather than standing out. After years of travel, the surface tells a story without looking beaten up. This separates objects you keep from objects you replace. Titanium naturally resists corrosion, so the shell maintains structural integrity without protective coatings or finishes that eventually wear through. Temperature extremes don’t compromise strength. A precision-fit silicone seal keeps water out, protecting belongings from rain and splashes during transit. The case is designed to be used repeatedly and to look better for it.

The interior uses a dual-compartment layout that keeps packing organized from departure to arrival. Compression straps on one side secure clothing and minimize wrinkles. A full divider panel on the other side contains shoes, toiletries, and essentials. Integrated pockets hold smaller items so you’re not digging through layers to find what you need. The durable nylon lining wipes clean easily and holds shape after repeated use. Nothing flashy, nothing wasted. Dimensions are 55 x 36 x 23 cm, fitting standard airline carry-on requirements while offering 38L capacity. The layout supports efficient packing and easy access, which matters when you’re moving through multiple cities in compressed timeframes.

For EDC enthusiasts and design-focused travelers, durability is status. Knowing your carry-on can handle abuse that would destroy conventional luggage is the quiet flex. Soft-shell Samsonite is lighter, cheaper, and never dents because it’s designed for economy class standards. It won’t be noticed from ten feet away and it won’t give you the VIP feeling that comes with carrying something genuinely exceptional. Titanium luggage exists in a different category entirely. It’s luggage meant to last decades, not seasons. The buy-once philosophy changes the economics. A $1,500 aluminum case that needs replacement after five years costs more over time than a $1,799 titanium case that lasts twenty years. Longevity becomes luxury when the alternative is planned obsolescence.

AERIONN Forma is currently available with Super Early Bird pricing at $499, Early Bird at $699, and a two-pack bundle at $975. Standard retail pricing is $1,799. Shipping begins July 2026, with fulfillment handled globally. Aluminum carry-ons from established luxury brands typically range from $1,200 to $1,700 depending on size and features. Titanium luggage rarely appears in this segment, and when it does, pricing usually exceeds $2,000. Early pricing positions aerospace-grade materials as accessible for travelers who recognize that upfront cost matters less than total cost of ownership. This case represents a shift in how premium luggage gets engineered and priced.

Click Here to Buy Now: $499 $1799 (72%). Hurry, only 3/688 left! Raised over $654,000.

The post This Practically Bulletproof Titanium Travel-Case Makes Your ‘Fragile’ Luxury Luggage Look Cheap first appeared on Yanko Design.

IKEA’s GREJSIMOJS collection started with a dog-shaped lamp that dims when you hold its head for bedtime, turning a light switch into something closer to petting a sleepy puppy. The limited collection is more than just about cute animals, but also about playful behavior baked into everyday objects. That same thinking now shows up in a tiny Bluetooth speaker shaped like a mouse, with four stubby legs and a braided tail that doubles as a carry loop.

The GREJSIMOJS portable Bluetooth speaker is a small, mouse-shaped character IKEA calls a “cute little music friend” for playful people of all ages. It is meant to follow kids from room to room, turning background sound into something they can carry and interact with, while still being a straightforward wireless speaker for parents who just want podcasts in the kitchen or bedtime audiobooks without fumbling with phone speakers.

Designer: Marta Krupińska (IKEA)

Picture a child drawing at a desk, the purple mouse sitting nearby quietly playing an audiobook or favorite songs. Pairing is as simple as connecting a phone over Bluetooth, and the sound is tuned for everyday listening rather than shaking walls. The built-in volume limit protects sensitive ears, so kids can turn it up without parents needing to hover over the controls constantly or worry about hearing damage.

The braided tail makes it easy for small hands to grab and move the speaker from bedroom to living room. Charging happens over USB-C, though the cable and adapter are sold separately, and IKEA says adults should handle that part. The speaker cannot play while charging, which creates a split that lets kids control what they listen to while adults manage batteries and power.

The multi-speaker mode lets the mouse pair with other IKEA Bluetooth speakers supporting the same feature. That means the same music can play from multiple spots, turning a hallway and playroom into one sound zone without complicated app setups. It is an easy way to make dance parties or tidy-up time feel coordinated, even if the tech behind it stays invisible to everyone involved.

The collection’s goal is to inspire play and togetherness across the home, and the mouse fits that mission well. IKEA notes that £1 from every GREJSIMOJS product sold during a set period goes to the Baby Bank Alliance, adding a layer of purposeful giving. More than just decor, the speaker is a small facilitator for shared stories, music, and movement in family spaces without needing complicated setup rituals.

The GREJSIMOJS mouse speaker, like the dog lamp, treats technology as something that should feel approachable and a bit silly rather than cold. Rather than competing with serious audio gear, it is trying to make rooms feel more alive without asking kids to sit still or parents to manage another app. In homes where screens already demand enough attention, a small purple mouse that quietly pipes in sound might be exactly the kind of tech everyone can agree on.

The post IKEA Just Made a Mouse-Shaped Speaker That Kids Can Actually Carry first appeared on Yanko Design.

Dutch manufacturer Donkervoort has been handcrafting lightweight performance cars for purists since 1978, and their creations do stand out. The Lelystad-based automaker has all eyes rolling with yet another limited-edition sports car that looks inspired by the clown shoe design that BMW perfected in the 90s.

The newly unveiled car is ultra-agile thanks to the weight reduction achieved by shaving off components like the skid-control, torque-vectoring, or automatic brake-assist. It doesn’t even have power steering, and gives buyers the option to skip the air conditioning unit for weight reduction, making it the ideal fit for raw purists who want to feel every little change happening in the driving dynamics. According to company CEO Denis Donkervoort, “The key to everything we do is about eliminating weight, minimizing inertia, and delivering unforgettable driving experiences.”

Designer: Donkervoort

The Donkervoort P24 RS two-seater analogue supercar that looks like an Aston Martin DB12 with a long hood up front and exposed wheels. Straight out of the Hot Wheels world, the performance car packs a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine delivering 600 horsepower and 590 pound-feet torque. The power-to-weight ratio is high, given the car weighs 2,204 pounds, literally making it a road-legal race car on the streets. The driver can toggle the horsepower via the Power to Choose technology with three different outputs: 00, 500, or 600hp. That means 770hp per ton power-to-weight ratio at the highest settings, something similar to the mighty Bugatti Chiron.

Body components of the P24 RS are made out of carbon fiber and the in-house developed Ex-Core material, which is a combination of foam and carbon fiber. That explains the uniquely shaped body panels that are more flexible yet highly durable to take on the stresses at high speeds. Purists can attach two wings at the rear and a deep front spoiler to enable 198 pounds of downforce at speeds of 155 mph to keep the car glued to the tarmac and maneuver the track with maximum stability. Those cheeky Aero Blade headlights also fold away behind the grille when not in use to maximize airflow, assisting in peak performance at high speeds during daylight. The optional aero package can be easily removed and stored inside the 290 liters boot when not needed.

The interiors are as good as the exterior with matching colored leather trims for the steering wheels, doors, and the gear shifter. Carbon fiber inserts flow down to the inside of the dashboard as well as the side panels to keep the weight down while not compromising on the theme. The racing DNA is apparent in the bucket seat design that only misses one thing: a secure roll cage. The roof can be removed in no time to feel the thrill of speed. Not much has been detailed by the maker about the specific material choices, but it is for everyone to see.

Only 150 examples of the Donkervoort P24 RS will be made, out of which 50 have already been booked by customers in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. Deliveries are slated for the April timeline, with the starting price tag set at 298,000 Euros (approximately $354,000). The lightweight driver-focused supercar is a clear manifestation of Denis’ belief that “no supercar is worth the weight.”

The post Donkervoort P24 RS is a counterpunch build for drivers who crave raw speed first appeared on Yanko Design.

Remember the last time you picked up a pen and actually stopped to look at it? Most of us don’t. We grab whatever’s lying around, scribble a note, and move on with our day. But designer Leila Ensaniat is challenging that autopilot relationship we have with one of our most familiar tools. Her creation, Pulse, recently snagged the Golden A’ Design Award for 3D Printed Forms and Products, and it’s easy to see why this isn’t your average ballpoint.

Pulse is what Ensaniat calls a “floating pen,” and that description actually makes sense once you see it. Drawing inspiration from the quiet, effortless drift of clouds, the pen feels less like a writing instrument and more like a small sculptural moment on your desk. It’s the kind of object that makes you pause, which is pretty rare when we’re talking about something as mundane as a pen.

Designer: Leila Ensaniat

What makes this design really interesting is how it blends old-school craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. The pen features biomorphic patterns that look like they grew organically rather than being designed, and they’re created using lost wax casting in aluminum, silver, bronze, and gold. That’s a centuries-old metalworking technique typically reserved for jewelry and art pieces, not everyday writing tools. But that collision of traditional craft and contemporary design thinking is exactly what gives Pulse its unique character.

Ensaniat, who has a background as an industrial designer at Cisco specializing in consumer electronics, brings a tech-world sensibility to object design. Her approach centers on human-centered design, which basically means she’s thinking hard about how we actually interact with objects rather than just how they look on a shelf. With Pulse, that philosophy translates into something that feels natural in your hand while also making you reconsider what a pen can be.

The surface treatments are particularly thoughtful. Those nature-inspired patterns aren’t just decorative, they enhance both the visual appeal and the tactile experience of holding the pen. It’s a detail that matters more than you’d think. When an object feels good to touch, when it has texture and weight that seems intentional, it changes your relationship with it. You’re more likely to keep it on your desk, to reach for it specifically, to actually care about this tool that usually gets treated as disposable.

What’s fascinating about Pulse is how it sits at the intersection of sculpture and utility. The design explores that balance between being something you want to look at and something you actually need to use. Plenty of designer pens lean too hard into the luxury angle and end up feeling precious and impractical. Others focus purely on function and look forgettable. Pulse seems to nail that middle ground where form and function aren’t competing, they’re collaborating.

The project also gave Ensaniat deeper insight into the metal finishing and plating industry, which might sound technical but is actually important. Understanding how materials behave, how different metals can be worked and finished, how surface treatments hold up to actual use, that knowledge separates decorative design from functional design. A beautiful pen that tarnishes after a week or feels unbalanced when you write isn’t really good design, it’s just good marketing.

Created for her brand N I L A, which focuses on integrating technology seamlessly into everyday life, Pulse represents a broader design philosophy about making thoughtful, human-centered objects that solve real problems while also being distinct and meaningful. It’s an approach that feels increasingly relevant as we’re surrounded by more and more identical mass-produced stuff. Pulse won’t revolutionize how we write, and it’s not trying to. But it does suggest that even the most familiar, seemingly finished objects in our lives still have room for fresh thinking. Sometimes all it takes is a designer willing to ask why something has to be the way it’s always been, then having the skill to actually answer that question with something better.

The post This Award-Winning Pen Floats Like a Cloud on Your Desk first appeared on Yanko Design.

Late-’90s desktops hummed under desks in beige towers that always felt heavier than they should. CRTs flickered, CD drives whirred, and somewhere in every PC gamer’s mind lived a fantasy build they only saw in shop windows or magazine ads. The gap between the family PC that struggled with Quake and the dream rig you sketched in notebooks, complete with turbo buttons and drive bays, felt impossibly wide.

Maingear’s Retro98 is that fantasy finally built. The limited-run sleeper PC uses a retro beige SilverStone tower with a working turbo button and keyed power lockout, but hides 2026 hardware inside. The pitch is simple: 1998 on the outside, 2026 inside. It is the machine your younger self would have lost their mind over if they could see past the beige and understood what an RTX 5070 even meant.

Designer: Maingear

Retro98 feels more like a drop than a product line. Maingear limited it to 38 units: 32 standard builds and six water-cooled Retro98α rigs with braided ketchup-and-mustard cables. The brand positions it as something you will not find at a big-box store, and points out that you will not even find a Radio Shack next week. Each system is hand-built by a single technician, making it feel closer to a limited sneaker release than a typical prebuilt.

Even the lowest spec overshoots anything you could have imagined in 1998. The Retro98 5070 pairs an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, 32 GB of DDR5 at 6000 MT/s, and a 2 TB NVMe SSD. This is the kind of machine that runs Cyberpunk smoothly while looking like it should be loading StarCraft from a stack of jewel cases on the desk.

Of course, the front-panel rituals matter as much as the internals. The keyed power lock feels like something your parents would have used to keep you off the PC, and the fully functional turbo button now toggles performance profiles instead of pretending to overclock a 486. These physical interactions turn booting up into a tiny ceremony, a reminder of when pressing power felt like entering a different world rather than unlocking another screen.

Behind the retro faceplate, you still get modern conveniences. USB-C on the front, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and a clean Windows 11 install without bloatware. The machine is not trying to recreate the pain of driver floppies or IRQ conflicts. It is just borrowing the shell and the attitude. You get the look and the jokes, but you also get quiet fans, instant game launches, and none of the frustration.

Retro98 is not about value per frame but about finally owning the mythical beige tower you stared at in catalogs. It is for people who remember sharing a/s/l in chat rooms and slapping CRTs after another buffer underrun, and who now have the budget to indulge that memory. A beige box with a turbo button probably should not feel fresh in 2026, but somehow it does, which says more about how boring glass-and-RGB towers have gotten than it does about nostalgia.

The post Maingear Retro98 Is the 90s Dream PC Finally Built with 2026 Hardware first appeared on Yanko Design.

Gaming headsets tend to lean bass-heavy and closed-back, with flashy branding and mics that sound good enough for Discord but not much else. Planar-magnetic hi-fi headphones sound incredible but usually lack microphones and look out of place next to RGB keyboards. Players who care about both soundstage and winning often juggle two pairs or compromise, because the two worlds rarely meet in one product without awkward concessions.

That is where ROG Kithara comes in. It is ROG’s first open-back planar-magnetic gaming headset, developed with HIFIMAN. The collaboration brings 100mm planar drivers into a headset that still has a proper boom mic, in-line controls, and all the plugs you need for PCs, consoles, DACs, and laptops. It treats games like they deserve hi-fi instead of just tolerating them as background noise.

Designer: ROG (ASUS)

The planar drivers deliver an 8Hz to 55kHz frequency response with very low distortion, which translates into deep, controlled bass and crisp treble without smearing. The open-back design creates a wider, more natural soundstage, so footsteps, reloads, and distant movement sit in believable positions instead of clustering in your head. It helps both immersion and tactical awareness without needing surround processing that usually just muddies everything.

Playing a competitive shooter, you can distinguish a teammate reloading behind you from an enemy stepping on metal two floors up. The fast transient response keeps those cues sharp, and the open-back architecture stops explosions from masking subtle sounds entirely. You react faster because you are not guessing where anything came from. You are actually hearing it placed in space the way the sound designer intended it.

The on-cable MEMS boom microphone covers the full 20Hz to 20kHz range with a high signal-to-noise ratio, so your voice sounds more natural than typical narrow-band gaming mics. Separate signal paths for audio and mic on the dual 3.5mm cable keep game sound from bleeding into chat, which your squad will quietly appreciate even if they never ask what headset you switched to or notice until the crosstalk disappears.

The balanced cable with swappable 4.4mm, 3.5mm, and 6.3mm plugs lets you move from a desktop DAC to a laptop or console without changing headsets. The included USB-C to dual 3.5mm adapter covers modern laptops and handhelds. With 16-ohm impedance, Kithara is easy to drive without a rack of gear just to get it loud enough for late-night sessions.

Of course, the metal frame, eight-level headband adjustment, and two sets of ear pads, leatherette with mesh for focused sound and velour for a softer feel, mean you can tune comfort and tonality. The open-back design leaks sound and is best in quiet rooms, but for players who want one headset that handles ranked matches, long story games, and critical music listening, Kithara feels like a rare crossover that actually respects both sides.

The post ROG Just Built the Gaming Headset Audiophiles Always Wanted first appeared on Yanko Design.

Every man has a mental wishlist of grooming tools he’s admired from afar but never pulled the trigger on. These aren’t flashy gadgets or unnecessary luxuries. They’re precision instruments that turn daily maintenance into moments of quiet confidence. The kind of gear that makes him feel more put together without saying a word. This Valentine’s Day, skip the predictable gifts and give him the grooming arsenal he’s been eyeing but convincing himself he doesn’t need.

Japanese craftsmanship meets masculine refinement in Kai Corporation’s Auger collection, where every tool is engineered with surgical precision and designed for men who appreciate the details. These aren’t replacements for drugstore basics. They’re upgrades that transform routine into ritual, offering control, sharpness, and durability that cheap alternatives can’t match. Whether he’s meticulous about his appearance or just starting to care about the finer points of grooming, these five essentials will earn their place in his daily rotation.

1. Auger PrecisionFlex Razor

Shaving should be a ritual, not a rush job. The Auger PrecisionFlex Razor transforms daily maintenance into an act of precision with industry-leading engineering that adapts to every angle and contour. The 5-blade system delivers an ultra-close shave that respects the skin while eliminating stubble, and the 3D pivoting head glides effortlessly from the jawline to the neckline. The world-first 30° adjustable head angle changes everything, allowing seamless transitions between shaving directions with a simple lever pull that maintains flow and eliminates awkward repositioning.

Kai Corporation built this razor for men who refuse to compromise on results or experience. The independent suspension mechanism offers the widest pivot range in the industry, ensuring consistent contact even in hard-to-reach areas where lesser razors lose effectiveness. Whether he’s going clean-shaven or sculpting defined beard lines, this razor delivers the control and confidence that comes from tools engineered without shortcuts. This Valentine’s Day, give him the razor that turns a daily obligation into a moment of masculine refinement he’ll actually look forward to.

Click Here to Buy Now: $45.00

What We Like

• The industry-leading 3D pivoting head with independent suspension provides unmatched contouring ability, ensuring consistent blade contact across every facial angle and curve.
• The world-first 30° adjustable head angle revolutionizes versatility by enabling effortless transitions between shaving directions without breaking rhythm or repositioning.
• The 5-blade system delivers an incredibly close shave while minimizing irritation, respecting skin integrity even with daily use.
• Over 100 years of Japanese blade-making excellence ensure precision-ground edges that maintain sharpness through multiple shaves, delivering consistent performance that justifies the investment.

What We Dislike

• The advanced engineering and premium materials result in a higher upfront cost compared to disposable razors or basic cartridge systems.
• The replacement blade refills, while high-quality, represent an ongoing investment that may exceed budget razor alternatives.

2. Auger PrecisionLever Nail Clipper

Most men settle for flimsy clippers that bend under pressure and leave jagged edges. The Auger PrecisionLever Nail Clipper rewrites the standard with a patented rotating lever mechanism that shifts the pivot point closer to the blade. This engineering breakthrough means more cutting power with less effort, making thick nails feel like butter under precision steel. Every press delivers a clean, satisfying click that confirms what you already suspected: your old clippers were doing you dirty.

Kai Corporation didn’t just improve the nail clipper—they perfected it. With over a century of blade-making expertise behind every cut, this compact tool turns a mundane task into something almost meditative. The stainless steel cutlery blades slice through without tearing or splitting, leaving smooth edges that never snag. It’s the kind of tool that makes him wonder why he waited so long to upgrade, and the kind of Valentine’s gift that proves you notice the details that matter to him.

Click Here to Buy Now: $49.00

What We Like

• The patented rotating lever system maximizes cutting force while minimizing hand strain, making it effortless to tackle even the thickest nails in one clean motion.
• Precision-ground stainless steel blades crafted by Japan’s premier blade manufacturer deliver cuts so clean they eliminate the need for filing.
• The compact, ergonomic design fits comfortably in the hand and travels easily without the bulk of traditional clippers.
• Every element reflects over 100 years of Japanese blade-making mastery, turning a basic grooming task into an experience of mechanical excellence.

What We Dislike

• The premium engineering comes with a higher price point than standard drugstore clippers, which may give budget-conscious buyers pause.
• The compact size, while travel-friendly, may feel slightly smaller than expected for those accustomed to bulkier traditional clippers.

3. Auger PrecisionEdge Nail File

Filing nails feels like an afterthought for most men, but skipping this step leaves rough edges that snag on fabric and undermine an otherwise polished appearance. The Auger PrecisionEdge Nail File turns finishing into a deliberate act of refinement with dual filing surfaces and an ergonomic 3D grip that puts complete control in his hands. The coarse side shapes with authority while the fine surface smooths to perfection, creating seamless transitions that feel as good as they look.

Kai Corporation engineered this file for men who understand that grooming doesn’t end at the cut. The precision-etched stainless steel surface glides without catching, and the sculpted handle makes maneuvering intuitive even for beginners. It’s not about vanity—it’s about presenting himself with the kind of attention to detail that separates deliberate from careless. This Valentine’s Day, give him the tool that completes what the clipper started, proving that the final touch is where real refinement lives.

Click Here to Buy Now: $19.00

What We Like

• Dual-surface design eliminates the need for multiple tools by offering both aggressive shaping and gentle smoothing in one streamlined instrument.
• The three-dimensional handle structure provides exceptional grip and control, making precise filing effortless even for grooming novices.
• Corrosion-resistant stainless steel construction with precision etching ensures consistent performance without the dulling or rusting common in cheaper files.
• The compact form factor makes it ideal for both home grooming and on-the-go touch-ups without sacrificing functionality.

What We Dislike

• The stainless steel construction may feel heavier than disposable files, requiring a brief adjustment period for those accustomed to lightweight alternatives.
• The precision etching, while durable, may require periodic cleaning to maintain optimal performance with extended use.

4. Auger PrecisionCurve Scissors

Trimming stray brow hairs or sculpting a crisp beard line demands accuracy that standard scissors can’t deliver. The Auger PrecisionCurve Scissors feature ultra-thin curved blades that follow facial contours with surgical precision, eliminating guesswork and second attempts. The curve isn’t just aesthetic—it’s a functional design that allows for controlled, targeted cuts right at the root without pulling or snagging. Every snip feels deliberate, turning detail work into an exercise in masculine mastery.

Kai Corporation designed these scissors for men who approach grooming with the same attention they apply to everything else worth doing right. The ultra-thin blade profile enables root-level trimming that thicker shears can’t achieve, while the ergonomic design makes extended sessions feel natural rather than forced. These aren’t the scissors he’ll use to open packages—they’re the precision instruments he’ll reach for when presentation matters. Give him the Valentine’s gift that proves sharp looks require sharp tools.

Click Here to Buy Now: $25.00

What We Like

• The precision-engineered curved blade design enables pinpoint accuracy for shaping brows, refining mustaches, and detailing beard lines with professional-grade control.
• Ultra-thin blade construction allows for seamless cutting close to the root without the pulling or discomfort associated with standard scissors.
• Ergonomic handle design reduces hand fatigue during extended grooming sessions, making detailed work feel effortless.
• Over a century of Japanese blade-making expertise ensures long-lasting sharpness that maintains performance through countless trims.

What We Dislike

• The specialized curved design may require a brief learning curve for those accustomed to straight-blade scissors.
• The premium construction commands a higher price than generic grooming scissors, which may seem steep for a single-purpose tool.

5. Auger PrecisionGrip Tweezers

Nothing undermines a sharp appearance faster than stray hairs that standard tweezers can’t quite grip. The Auger PrecisionGrip Tweezers eliminate frustration with ultra-fine angled tips that grab even the finest hairs on the first attempt, delivering flawless removal without slipping or breaking. The patented stopper mechanism prevents the lateral misalignment that plagues cheap tweezers over time, ensuring consistent tension and unwavering stability through countless plucking sessions. This is surgical precision for everyday grooming, designed for men who know that perfection lives in the details.

Kai Corporation engineered these tweezers with the same exacting standards they apply to surgical instruments and professional blades. The ergonomic finger groove reduces hand fatigue and provides absolute steadiness during detailed work, whether shaping brows or eliminating rogue hairs that appear at the worst possible moments. These aren’t the tweezers that will bend or lose grip after a month—they’re lifetime tools built to maintain performance through years of use. Give him the Valentine’s gift that proves you see the effort he puts into looking sharp, even in the smallest details.

Click Here to Buy Now: $29.00

What We Like

• The ultra-fine angled tip design provides exceptional gripping power on even the finest hairs, eliminating the frustration of repeated attempts and broken strands.
• The patented stopper mechanism represents genuine innovation by preventing the misalignment and tension loss that render ordinary tweezers useless over time.
• Precision finger grooves create natural hand positioning that reduces fatigue and enhances control during extended grooming sessions.
• Japanese engineering excellence ensures the tips remain perfectly aligned and maintain consistent tension through years of regular use, making this a true lifetime grooming tool.

What We Dislike

• The premium construction and patented features command a significantly higher price than drugstore tweezers, which may seem excessive for a simple tool.
• The precision-engineered tight grip, while effective, may feel initially unfamiliar to those accustomed to looser, more flexible tweezers.

The Grooming Gear He Deserves

Men rarely invest in themselves the way they should, convincing themselves that good enough is acceptable when it comes to grooming tools. The Auger collection proves that precision engineering isn’t indulgence—it’s the difference between maintenance and mastery. These five tools represent the upgrades he’s considered but postponed, the quality he recognizes but rationalizes away. Valentine’s Day offers the perfect moment to permit him to care about the details that shape how he presents himself to the world.

Japanese craftsmanship meets masculine practicality in every piece, turning routine tasks into rituals worth his time. These aren’t just grooming gadgets—they’re the physical manifestation of attention to detail, built to last and designed to deliver results that cheap alternatives never will. Give him the collection that proves you see the effort behind his appearance, and watch him discover that the right tools don’t just make grooming easier—they make it satisfying.

The post 5 Best Valentine’s Grooming Gadgets He Wants, But Won’t Buy Himself first appeared on Yanko Design.

Remember when buying a sofa meant measuring doorways, hoping it would fit in the elevator, and bribing friends with pizza to help you haul it up three flights of stairs? Designer Yuqi Wang just made all of that obsolete with the Accordion Modular Sofa, and the concept is as brilliant as it sounds.

The whole design centers on one genius idea: what if you only needed one type of module to create any sofa configuration you could imagine? The Accordion does exactly that with a single base unit that compresses and expands like its musical namesake. Through an internal structure made from high-resilience foam, wooden side panels, climbing ropes, and adjustable knobs, each module can change its size and curvature to fit whatever space you’re working with.

Designer: Yuqi Wang

What makes this really clever is how it solves multiple problems at once. Traditional modular sofas usually require you to buy different shaped pieces (corner units, armrests, middle sections) and hope you’ve guessed right about what you need. With the Accordion system, you’re working with identical modules that transform as needed. Want a compact loveseat for your apartment? Use two modules. Need a sprawling sectional for your living room? Add more units and configure them however you like. The possibilities aren’t just numerous, they’re practically endless.

But here’s where it gets even better. Because these modules compress, the whole thing ships flat-packed in a way that actually makes sense. We’re talking small enough to literally place in a shopping cart and carry out yourself. No more waiting weeks for delivery windows or paying outrageous shipping fees. The compression feature dramatically cuts down on packaging waste, storage costs, and the carbon footprint of transportation. It’s the kind of sustainable design choice that doesn’t require you to sacrifice anything in return.

The inspiration came from watching an accordion player perform, where Wang noticed how the instrument’s bellows compress and expand with such fluidity. That rhythmic movement translated into furniture creates something that feels almost alive, like the sofa adapts to you rather than the other way around. The technical execution involved studying compression mechanisms from various industrial applications before landing on a prototype that was both simple and effective.

For anyone who’s moved apartments multiple times or likes to rearrange furniture seasonally, this is a game changer. Your sofa can literally grow or shrink with your needs. Hosting a party? Expand it. Need more floor space for a home workout? Compress it down. The adjustable knobs make reconfiguring straightforward enough that you won’t need tools or an engineering degree.

The design world has taken notice. The Accordion Modular Sofa won the Golden A’ Design Award in Furniture Design for 2025, one of the most prestigious recognitions in the field. This isn’t just a participation trophy either. The Golden award represents first-rate, outstanding design that genuinely advances the intersection of art, science, and technology. What’s exciting is that this isn’t some far-off concept. The sofa is scheduled to hit the market in October 2025, which means you could actually have one of these in your home soon. It represents a shift in how we think about furniture ownership, moving away from bulky investments that lock you into one configuration toward adaptable pieces that evolve with your lifestyle.

The Accordion Modular Sofa proves that innovative design doesn’t have to be complicated or precious. Sometimes the best ideas are the ones that make you wonder why nobody thought of them sooner. A sofa that compresses for transport, expands for comfort, and reconfigures endlessly from a single module type? That’s the kind of practical magic that makes design truly great.

The post This New Sofa Compresses Like an Accordion (Fits in Your Cart) first appeared on Yanko Design.

Let me tell you about something that caught my eye recently. When was the last time you actually looked forward to cleaning your air conditioner filter? Yeah, I thought so. But the folks at ZHEJIANG ZHONGGUANG ELECTRICAL CO.,LTD have done something pretty clever that might change how we think about one of home maintenance’s most tedious tasks. Their Snapcool air conditioner just won a Golden A’ Design Award, and here’s why it deserves your attention.

Picture a tape measure. You know that satisfying feeling when you pull out the metal strip and it snaps back into place with a smooth click? Now imagine that same mechanism applied to your AC’s filter system. That’s exactly what the design team behind Snapcool did, and the result is both practical and surprisingly delightful.

Designer: ZHEJIANG ZHONGGUANG ELECTRICAL CO.,LTD

The whole concept flips conventional air conditioner design on its head. Most AC units hide their filters behind awkward panels that require tools, patience, and sometimes a bit of cursing to remove. Snapcool mounts its filter system on the side, where it slides in and out with the ease of extending a measuring tape. This isn’t just about making maintenance easier (though it definitely does that). It’s about turning a chore into something almost fun.

What really makes this design sing is the eye-catching orange filter compartment. It’s not just there to look cool, though it certainly does that. The bold color serves as a constant visual reminder to check your filter status, which means you’re more likely to keep up with maintenance and enjoy better air quality. It’s the kind of thoughtful detail that shows someone actually considered how people interact with these machines in real life, not just in a sterile testing environment.

The aesthetics matter here too. Traditional air conditioners tend to be those white boxes we tolerate but don’t exactly love. Snapcool breaks that mold with its sleek, modern shape that actually looks like it belongs in a contemporary home. There’s something inherently futuristic about its design language. It feels less like an appliance and more like a piece of tech you’d actually want to show off. This project came to life through collaboration between six team members: Jinghong Zhang, Yuxin He, Menglin Xie, Yuhui Xu, Haiping Hou, and Xiaojun Yuan. Their collective vision demonstrates what happens when designers stop treating home appliances as purely functional objects and start seeing them as opportunities for innovation and delight.

The recognition from the A’ Design Award isn’t just a trophy for the mantle. It’s validation of a broader shift happening in product design right now. We’re moving away from the idea that utilitarian objects should be invisible or purely functional. Instead, designers are asking why everyday items can’t be both beautiful and practical, why they can’t spark a little joy even as they perform mundane tasks.

ZHEJIANG ZHONGGUANG ELECTRICAL CO.,LTD, operating under their OUTES brand, has been building a reputation for integrated climate control solutions across hotels, universities, factories, and residential buildings. This isn’t their first rodeo with design excellence either. They’ve racked up six A’ Design Awards, proving that Snapcool isn’t a fluke but part of a consistent commitment to pushing boundaries in HVAC design.

What strikes me most about Snapcool is how it challenges our assumptions. We’ve collectively decided that air conditioners should be forgettable white boxes tucked into corners. But why? There’s no rule that says climate control can’t have personality. There’s no law stating that filter maintenance must be annoying. The tape measure inspiration is genius because it’s so obvious in hindsight. We’ve had this perfectly functional, satisfying mechanism sitting in our tool drawers for decades, and it took creative thinking to realize it could solve a problem in a completely different context.

Snapcool represents a future where even the most utilitarian objects can bring a smile to our faces. Where maintenance becomes less of a burden and more of an experience. Where our living spaces are populated by thoughtfully designed products that respect both our intelligence and our desire for beauty. Sometimes the best innovations aren’t about inventing something entirely new. They’re about looking at old problems through fresh eyes and borrowing brilliance from unexpected places.

The post Why This Air Conditioner Filter Took Design Cues from Your Toolbox first appeared on Yanko Design.

The 58mm Swiss Army Knife has occupied pockets for over a century with the same basic formula: red plastic scales, a handful of tools, and a design language that never needed to change. Victorinox perfected compact utility decades ago, and the format became so synonymous with everyday carry that entire generations never questioned whether it could evolve. But that permanence also created a constraint. Once you chose your tool configuration, you were locked in. Swapping scales meant glue, risk, or permanent modification.

Keyport’s Versa58 system breaks that constraint without breaking the knife. The platform introduces a snap-on interface that attaches to any 58mm SAK’s existing rivets, transforming fixed scales into swappable modules. Add a rechargeable LED light, a mini pen, a USB-C flash drive, or a deep-carry pocket clip in seconds. Remove them just as fast. The knife stays intact, the heritage remains untouched, but the capabilities expand in ways the original designers never imagined. It’s modularity meeting tradition, and somehow both sides win.

Designer: Keyport, Inc.

Click Here to Buy Now: $39 $60 (35% off). Hurry! Only 2 left of 75.

The core of this entire system is a deceptively simple piece of spring steel. This patent-pending interface plate is the result of a full year of development and seven complete revisions, a process that speaks to the engineering challenge involved. The plate is engineered to flex just enough to click securely onto the mushroom-shaped rivets that hold a standard SAK together, the same ones hidden beneath the factory scales. The design had to be robust enough to handle repeated attachment cycles without loosening, yet gentle enough to avoid damaging the knife’s frame. It’s a tool-free, glue-free, and completely reversible process that takes seconds. This single component unlocks the entire platform.

Versa58 operates in two distinct universes. The first is as a direct upgrade to your existing Victorinox. You pop off the original scales and snap on the Versa58 modules you need for the day. The second universe is completely independent of the knife. Using a magnetic connector system called MagMount, any two modules can be attached to each other to create standalone tools. This dual functionality means you can either enhance the classic SAK you already own or build an entirely new, minimalist multi-tool from scratch. The system offers a level of flexibility that the 58mm format has never seen before.

The MagMount system is absolute genius, using three tuned neodymium magnets to create a crisp, satisfying connection. This allows for the quick assembly of pocketable rigs or keychain tools. You could, for instance, snap the flashlight module to the pen module for a compact, non-knife tool perfect for travel or restrictive environments. The magnetic pull is tuned for a secure hold while still allowing for smooth rotation and easy reconfiguration. It also introduces an addictive fidget factor, turning the act of customizing your carry into something tactile and engaging. It’s a smart design that expands the ecosystem beyond the knife itself.

Among the first wave of modules, the Clip Scale is likely to be the most celebrated. Machined from either 6061 aluminum or Grade 5 titanium, it finally adds a clean, low-profile pocket clip to the 58mm SAK. This has been a common request in the EDC community for years. Crucially, the clip is designed to be reversible and does not interfere with the knife’s keyring, a flaw seen in some aftermarket solutions. It’s paired with a V Scale for the front, which includes a multi-use slot designed to hold the original SAK’s toothpick or tweezers, ensuring you don’t lose core functionality.

The Pocket Flare module brings modern illumination to the platform. It’s a compact, USB-C rechargeable light with a beam tuned for close-range tasks. It offers three modes: a 3-lumen low beam with a 12-hour runtime, a 43-lumen high beam that runs for two hours, and a 45-lumen side light that acts as a lamp to brighten a small area. Because it uses the MagMount interface, you can also snap it onto any metal surface for hands-free lighting, which is incredibly useful for repairs or finding something in a dark tent.

Keyport also developed modules that bridge the analog and digital worlds. The Pen Module features a precision mini pen with a premium German Troika refill, offering a smooth writing experience without any rattle. For digital needs, there is a streamlined USB-C 3.0 flash drive module available in 64GB and 256GB capacities. This flip-out drive seamlessly integrates secure, portable storage into your pocket setup for documents, media, or backups. These additions transform the classic pocket knife into a tool that feels much more relevant to modern daily life.

Perhaps the most forward-thinking aspect of the Versa58 platform is its openness. Keyport will be selling standalone interface plates, inviting makers, modders, and machinists to design their own compatible modules. This opens the door for a community-driven ecosystem of custom tools built on the Versa58 standard. It’s a canvas for creativity, allowing anyone with an idea to contribute to the platform. This move could give the system incredible longevity and a range of options far beyond what Keyport could develop on its own.

Keyport has already outlined a roadmap for future modules, showing a long-term commitment to the system. Upcoming additions being explored include a Bluetooth locator, an NFC module for digital access or automation, a craft blade for precision cuts, and even a minimalist carrier for a Bic lighter. The plan is to build Versa58 into a comprehensive platform, not just a single product release. Backer feedback from the initial campaign will help shape which of these new tools get prioritized, making early adopters part of the development process.

The Versa58 system is available for backing on Kickstarter, with special pricing tiers for early supporters. The campaign offers several bundles, including the foundational Origin Bundle with the core scales starting at $39 and the more comprehensive Apex Bundle that adds the Pocket Flare module starting at $77. All modules and scales are available in either machined 6061 aluminum or the more premium Grade 5 titanium. The Versa58 ships globally starting August 2026.

Click Here to Buy Now: $39 $60 (35% off). Hurry! Only 2 left of 75.

The post Upgrade Your Victorinox 58mm Army Knife Into a Fully Modular, Snap‑On Multitool Ecosystem in 10 Seconds first appeared on Yanko Design.