Featured Archives - Designer Upskill

March 25, 2020March 25, 2020

Nature of Form – A Design book for Inspiration from Nature

Want to design for something that is fast, go for Cheetah; Want to design for something that should look vintage, go for the Zebra stripes; Want to design for something that is colorful, go for rainbow or a butterfly; We designers know that initially we all need some base from which we derive inspiration and generate initial concepts. The problem is that we tend to use the same sources and then try to do something new, How is that possible? What if there was a Design book that gave us the options of various forms, or inspiration sources? What if we can get a range of colors that are already visually appealing rather than a dead palette of colors? There are so many what-ifs that come to our mind when we start designing something from the scratch.

Nature of Form is is a design book that gratifies all the questions that arise in a designer’s mind. And the main reason may be that the creators and authors of this design book are all designers. It is a collection of Forms, Colors, and Textures extracted from various elements in nature. It covers 150 elements divided into categories like Fruits, Vegetables, Insects, etc. From these elements, 1454 entities have been derived (432 Forms, 231 Patterns, 791 Colors). We can just imagine the amount of hours and toil behind this book!

The creators of this book have also derived various use cases to give us an idea of how to use this book and till now I am utterly impressed. Nature of Form is not a simple reference book, it’s a pool of various sources of inspiration for you to dive into. There are endless possibilities of using this book and that’s the beauty and the strength of it.

March 24, 2020March 24, 2020

iTemp – Smart mug and Bowl for perfect temperature

We all know how our coffee or tea or whatever pumps up your adrenaline or boosts up your mind is either too hot to burn your mouth or too cold to be better left alone. Especially when we are working, we lose the track of time and our drink is no longer enjoyable. iTemp, a smart mug and bowl with temperature control and regulator, is the perfect way to enjoy your drink at a temperature that is just right.

iTemp Mug & Bowl are able to heat up, cool down, and maintain the temperature. What’s more, there’s a companion app. This app allows you to set your preferred temperature and all you have to do is to double tap the coaster and it will start heating up your drink at your desired temperature. An embedded LED light show the heating level of the liquid. The heating range of iTemp is 25°C-65°C.

iTemp Bowl can be used to heat up and maintain your food at a specified temperature. So, enjoy your food and drinks while working without worrying about it getting cold.

March 4, 2020March 17, 2020

Oclean X Pro: World’s Smartest Sonic Toothbrush!!

Have you ever been dazzled by someone’s smile and wish that your’s could blind others too? Well, the key to beautiful, shining, and healthy teeth lies in proper brushing. Manual brushing can sometimes leave certain areas or our brushing motions may be appropriate. Rather than spending hours on the Internet reading tutorials on proper ways of brushing, we suggest that you check out the Oclean X Pro toothbrush which has amassed millions on Indiegogo. Key features of this brush include

- 42,000 strokes per minute, you’ve got to be Flash to beat that in manual brushing.
- Brush modes like Whiten, clean, sensitive, or gum massage.
- 20 brushing programs for adjusting strength and intensities.
- Time setter to set time as per your brushing needs.

Apart from that, the smart display on the toothbrush informs you of your brushing score, Blind-Zone reminders, and lets you adjust brushing strength, mode, and other settings. The Oclean app tracks your brushing data, generates personalized brushing reports, maintains family profiles, etc. The battery also lasts for 30 days with 2-hour charging time to fully charge it. The biggest validation of this product is that last year it received accolades from Red dot and iF Design.

February 13, 2020March 17, 2020

Glamos: Bring Touchless Screens to Life

Glamos is a motion-sensor that can be used to create virtual screen on almost any surface. It’s simply Plug-n-Play. Connect it to your device and instantly turn your screens interactive. You can also control devices remotely (within 3.2 ft radius) like changing TV channels, changing presentation slides, etc. Compared to the other motion sensors already available, it is the smallest one so far but more powerful. The most prominent features of Glamos are:

- Pocket-friendly, it’s so small that it can easily fit in a child’s hand.
- No setup or app required. You just connect Glamos to the device and the virtual screen is set up instantly.
- It has a 3 feet radius and 180

The applications of Glamos are limitless. You can use it in your business meetings to make your presentations interactive and impressive. You can use it to play games royally, change TV channels, and access devices with ease even when your hands are messy.

Glamos truly is a technology that has the potential to enhance the the way that touchscreens have been used till now.

February 8, 2020March 17, 2020

Oclean X Pro: World’s Smartest Sonic Toothbrush

- 42,000 strokes per minute, you’ve got to be Flash to beat that in manual brushing.
- Brush modes like Whiten, clean, sensitive, or gum massage.
- 20 brushing programs for adjusting strength and intensities.
- Time setter to set time as per your brushing needs.

February 7, 2020March 17, 2020

Urbie Air – 3-in-1 Eco Air Purifier

With the increase in pollution, the need for the Air Purifiers has increased drastically. When we say Air Purifier, all that comes to our mind is a gray or white rectangular box with some mesh or a fan. Urbie air Purifier changes not just what a purifier can do but also how beautiful it can look.

Urbie Air is a 3-in-1 purifier that removes excess Humidity, filters volatile Organic Compounds, and amplifies fresh Oxygen production. The filters used are 100% biodegradable. Thus, you breathe in fresh air without harming the environment further. Urbie Air is more like a smart planter rather than a dumb purifier. It adds elegance to the surroundings and is smart enough to water its plant.

Urbie Air has smart sensors for air quality, plant’s thirst, temperature, humidity, and water tank level. The Urbie app tells you about the air quality and other parameters. Yet another smart thing about Urbie is that recycles the water collected from humidity to water the plant when needed. Two powerful fans suck in the polluted air and filter it with the help of microorganisms living in the plant’s soil that break down pollutants into safer compounds. Activated eco-friendly Carbon Filters are effective for even smaller pollutants < 2.5μ also known as Volatile Organic Compounds.

Urbie Air is a perfect example of what happens when good design meets modern technology and out-of-the-box thinking.

February 1, 2020March 17, 2020

Cuppa – A Cordless LED Touch Lamp

When we say LED lamps, what first comes to our mind is a short cable, fragile design, and accessibility issues. In today’s Wireless era, anything with a wire or a cord hinders our pace. We may not have a readily available socket. We may want to carry the lamp outdoors. Or we may simply don’t like to handle wires. Although cordless options are there in the market, the needs that go without saying are easy portability, sturdiness, and long-lasting charge.

All these features are essentially covered by the cordless LED touch lamp Cuppa. Cuppa has been launched on Kickstarter with a funding goal of $5000 which it surpassed in the first six hours of its launch. The key features of this product are that it is minimalist, lightweight, supports 360° Touch for on/off, has stepless dimming, is Waterproof, Flame Retardant, and has No Risk of Electrical Shock. Well, that’s a long list.

Cuppa is inspired by the shape and size of a coffee cup. It is available in three
colors and complements any type of Furniture or surrounding. One of the distinguishing feature is the patent pending 360-degree ‘Any Touch’ technology that allows it to be turned off and on with a touch anywhere on its base.

With Cuppa, we have created a smart lamp that works individually without WIFI, Bluetooth, APPs, a smart phone or a remote controller, but is still smart and minimalist.