This brightly colored object is a concept DAB radio by Norwegian design duo Theo Tveterås and Lars Marcus Vedeler, who work under the moniker Skrekkøgle. The piece is a witty and unusual step away from the Apple-esque idea of minimalism in electronics. It goes back to basics and employs a humble cork as an on/off switch. Aside from its intuitive function, I like the fact that Plugg gives a new perspective on how we physically interact with our devices. Check out the video to see the piece in action.

Industrial designers John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen from Australia and Vitor Santa Maria from Brazil have collaborated to design the HiddenRadio, which is currently being funded through Kickstarter. Their approach to their work is simple product design that is both innovative and intuitive. The minimal HiddenRadio & Bluetooth Speaker design connects and captivates the user through its intuitive functionality. When asleep it hides all its functions. To turn it on you simply twist and lift the cap. The further you lift the cap the more internal volume is created and will amplify to over 80dB of crystal clear sound. Although it offers Bluetooth technology, if you don’t have a Bluetooth device, a 3.5mm audio input plug is available. The battery life is also an impressive feature, offering over 30 hours of power. A beautiful, unobtrusive and simple device, which I think is well worth backing.

A prototype of a standalone device to listen to Spotify at home, that was the degree project of Jordi Parra, an Interaction Design student at the Umeå Institute of Design. Parra created a device inspired by the work of Dieter Rams for Braun. The functional player comes with 8 (RFID) tags that can be assigned to a Spotify link, album, artist or search. The device has two small buttons to skip to the next and previous track in the queue. The big button is the volume control and reader for the tags. Unfortunately this device is not available for sale. Parra created the prototype to show and test the concept but it is not a final product yet. During the project Christian Wilsson, Art Director at Spotify, provided feedback and maybe they will find a way to bring this product to market.

Daniel To and Emma Aiston met during their study Industrial Design at the University of South Australia. After their graduation they established Daniel Emma and exhibited their first collection Shapes in London and Tokyo. After this collection two more collections followed; ‘solids’ and ‘basics’. I would like to present you Radio from this first collection. Simplistic and featuring geometric pieces in minimal colors. The duo says humbly: Our designs aim to be ‘just nice’.

Designers Yves Malka and Pierre de Poucques reduced the radio to a white cube with just one control. They dubbed it the Lexon Sticksound. Move the joy stick left and right to search for radio frequencies, or up and down to control the volume of the built-in speaker. The joystick itself doubles as an antenna. Impressive!