Looking For Great Tech Product Design and Packaging? Go Full TYLT.

above composite image by if it's hip, it's here

Every once in awhile a new brand comes along that has it all going on. Impressive product design, packaging, branding, even a well designed website with functioning e-commerce, good photographs and plenty of useful information. That's the case with TYLT, a California wireless accessory design and development company that has combined innovation with style. Their current product offerings include power products, audio products and protective cases.



above: examples of the package design for TYLT by NewDealDesign

Established in 2011, TYLT focuses on the world of mobile devices, providing you with about 20 convenient products for your mobile phones and tablets. Like many of you, I'd never heard of TYLT until they sent me three of their hip products to review with the understanding that if I did not deem them worthy, they would not be featured on this blog. No money was paid to me in exchange for a review, and believe me, none was necessary. A big thank you to TYLT for the three awesome products reviewed later in this post.


above: TYLT's home page

When the POWERPLANT portable battery pack, the YCHARGE, a dual USB Car Charger and TUNZ, a rechargeable bluetooth speaker arrived at my doorstep - one look and I knew they were gonna be blog-worthy. Once I got past the beautiful packaging created by NewDealDesign LLC, and tried out the products, my enthusiasm only increased.

I'm not alone, TYLT already boasts 3 CES Innovations Award winners at CES 2013 including: the Y-CHARGE Car Charger, the BAND Car Charger and the BAND Travel Charger. And reputable tech blogs such as Engadget, Slash Gear, CNET Asia and Tech Crunch have all lauded various products from TYLT.

The POWERPLANT:


Small (smaller than my iPhone), portable, lightweight (just over 5 ounces) and stylish, this is a 5,200 mAh battery back-up charger that has the capacity to fully charge your smartphone twice.



And with multiple ports (Universal USB and either Apple Lightning, Apple 30-Pin, and Micro USB versions available) it can charge more than one device simultaneously.



It packs the power it claims to and works with all Apple mobile products and Android mobile products. The appearance and functionality of the TYLT Powerplant do not disappoint.

Tylt Powerplant video:

Prices $69.99- $89.99, buy it here

The Y-CHARGE (2.1 AMP):


This little lightweight device is intelligently designed to charge two smartphones at once (or one tablet) in your car. The split Y-shape places the USB ports on each side so that the driver and passenger can each easily plug in their mobile phones and charge them simultaneously.



The silicone covered device weighs less than an ounce and comes in the four colors (bright apple green, bright red, bright blue or black) that appear on several of TYLT's products. The Y-CHARGE is also available in a 4.2 version and with a two foot Syncable.



TYLT Y-CHARGE video:

Price $24.99 Buy it here

The TUNZ Rechargeable Bluetooth Speaker:


A nice looking compact wireless Bluetooth speaker equipped with two x 3-watt drivers and a passive radiator for exceptional bass, TUNZ has a built in noise cancelling microphone making it perfect for phone calls as well as music. The 2800 mAh battery takes about 6-7 hours to charge and can chat or play music (with the volume at 50%) for 20 hours -that's 10 hours more than the Jawbone Jambox. The design allows you to seamlessly switch from music to hands-free calling and the touch-free controls for Volume, Play, Pause, Answer & End Calls are very convenient. The speaker comes with three different colored (black, blue and red) vibration-cancelling silicone bands that also function as an attractive stand. And with a 1Amp output Universal USB charging port you can use it to charge other external devices.



The sound is impressive, delivering volumes up to 80dB. It's also NFC Enabled - includes Tagstand NFC launcher App for Android. TUNZ is priced less than the MSRP for the comparable Jawbone Jambox, a $180 speaker that helped create the portable category the new Beats by Dre Pill, a $200 model from the popular headphone brand, making it even more desirable.

Tylt Tunz video:


Price $149.99, buy it here.

All in all, TYLT products are well-designed small, lightweight and portable, but feel substantially made. Both the packaging and the product design are visually appealing, and the products feature the latest in technological innovations and compatibility. Priced neither outrageously nor dirt-cheap, they receive consistently favorable reviews from tech gurus. You can find several video reviews on youtube, almost every single one of them favorable. Therefore, my advice is to go full TYLT.

Here's a peek at a few other beautifully designed and packaged products from TYLT (shown in green for consistency):



TYLT is dedicated to shifting consumer expectations through best-in-quality accessories which innovate briskly to stay a step ahead of the fast-paced smart product launches. They have several more products including the impressive Energi Backpack.



See more and shop for these fine products at  TYLT.

What Do Bottled Water, Music and Architecture Have In Common? Check Out Ice Swan.

Glaciers + Music + Architecture = Ice Swan.
Ice Swan is a beautiful bottled water from the glaciers and waterfalls of Chile's Patagonia region packaged in an equally beautiful bottling plant designed by Panorama Architects. To add to the intrigue, it is processed in a very unusual manner, the harvesting and bottling of the water is imbued with classical music and natural sounds of Patagonia's habitat because, according to Dr. Masaru Emoto, a world-renowned researcher, water has memory and sensitivity to sound.

Origin:


Ice Swan is bottled in its place of origin. It is a nature's gift from a strand of more than seven ancient majestic glaciers and multiple waterfalls situated in the 'Coastal Temperate Rain Forest' of The Chilean Patagonia, one of the five most pristine regions on earth.



From ancient fjords on the planet's southernmost terrain, Ice Swan's smooth 'mouth feel' and delicate flavor will refresh and satisfy even the most demanding/refined palates. Ice Swan is for the savvy and demanding connoisseurs who prefer the kind of products that set trends and leave an overwhelming feeling of wellness.

Bottle Design:


Ice Swan's bottle is an original creation from award-winning Chilean designer Sebastián Errázuriz, whose talent is trend setting in NYC, where he currently resides. The bottle's teardrop shape represents the fluidity and elegance of a slender-necked swan.



Music:
Joakin Bello, outstanding composer, performer and researcher, has put all his talent to create Ice Swan´s sonorous universe, a soft melody which flows like the waters of the Queulat Fjord.


above: the speakers in the bottling plant

It is about an original musical piece based on strings, bronze and synthesizers, in different versions; a clear example of what he himself has denominated as "Total Music".

To preserve Ice Swan's original essence, they imbue their harvesting and bottling process with classical music and natural sounds of Patagonia's habitat. When tested at the Masaru Emoto Institute in Japan, water samples of Ice Swan produced wonderful hexagonal crystals that reveal the water's exceptional quality, purity and perfection.


above: an Ice Swan water molecule

The Bottling Plant:



The building is a square volume of 18 by 18 meters and 6 meters height with its four facades clad in toughened glass with a black opaque coating. The building is set on top of a 1.5 meter tapered soil base to avoid floods of the nearby river in winter. Because of the weather conditions glass offered a good skin solution plus the reflections of the surroundings, on the other hand the steel structure which is bolted was thought to ensure recycling as much as possible.



Designed by Constanza Hagemann and Nicolás Valdés of Panorama Architects, the end result is a balanced and vanguardist building that is environmentally friendly.




The architects were asked to design a building with the function of bottling water from a cascade which is formed by a glacier. The cascade is visible from the site that is situated at the border of Queulat National Park in Patagonia, 3 hours away from Coyhaique, the nearest city.



Regarding the building, they decided to propose a construction that would depend on its context to reduce to the maximum its presence in the Patagonian landscape; this is how reflection was the most asserted principle to work on. Reflection as the ornament and presence.

The situation of harsh climate conditions and isolation compromised the material and construction logistic decisions to secure its construction quality and aging.

Inside the bottling plant:




The interior is organized in two areas, each related to a different scale. The area of the bottling process utilizes the height of the industry and the rest of the office programs are disposed in wood modules of lower height.




The Ice Swan Myth:
Ice Swan takes its name from the cosmogony of patagonian communities, the first ones to dwell there. The legend tells they were a group of native kawesqar women that died by taking side with the 'Sister Moon' against the 'Brother Sun' turning into swans that flew up to the moon. They called them ice swans, believing these became winged spirits of the glaciers, which now is the place of origin of Ice Swan's water.



Physiochemical Properties
Of utmost purity and a delicate millenary taste, our water naturally flows from glacier thaws, snowdrifts and eternal snows from the untouched region of the chilean patagonia. Our water is bottled with classical music in our facilities in order to preserve its extraordinary genuine properties, following the theories of Dr. Masaru Emoto.



Ice Swan: Chile (Patagonia)
Virginality:
Tds: 12 Mlg (Super low minerality)
Hardness: 1 Mlg (Soft)
Ph: 6,7 - 7,3 (Neutral Orientation)
Calcium: 2,99 Mlg
Nitrate: 1 Mlg (Superior Virginality)
Sodium: Sodium Free
Magnesium: 1 Mlg

images and info courtesy of Ice Swan and Panorama Arquitectos

Ice Swan

You can purchase Ice Swan Water here or at other fine bottled water retailers.

Animal Pocket Knives by David Suhami & How To Get One Of Your Own.

Israeli designer David Suhami's Animal Pocket Knives have been getting a lot of attention. The stainless steel and wood wildlife versions of the traditional Swiss army knife are actually undergoing production so you can have one of your own soon. With blades silhouetted to look like an Antelope, a Rhino and a Giraffe, complete with legs and tails, the pocket knives are adorable. How functional, I don't know, but they look as if they can at least open a beer bottle and that's good enough for me.







The story of the APK  and a cute little presentation video:
The Animal Pocket Knife was developed as David Suhami's design school project and rapidly got lot of attention throughout the web. It combines the idea of a Swiss army knife and a jungle safari in Africa. It is made from stainless steel to represent the current technology while the handles are made from fine Ipe wood to symbolize the traditional craft.



The knives will soon be available for purchase.
Sign up to be notified as to when they are available here.

About the designer:

David is a 3rd year student of Industrial Design at Shenkar College of Engineering & Design in Tel Aviv. He likes snowboarding, open sea fishing, motor sport and more. He speaks Hebrew, English and French.

He works with the following 3D software: Solidworks 2012, Rhinoceros 4 and Sketch up 7. For his graphic design works he uses Illustrator CS5, Photoshop CS5, InDesign CS5 and Flash CS5.

David Suhami


Body & Eden's Beautifully Bottled Elixirs and Tonics.

Body & Eden of Los Angeles and New York offers seasonal fruit and vegetable superfood tonics and herbal elixirs that densely pack nutrients, vitamins, and herbs needed to support and stabilize the body so that it can do what it does best, better.

THE HERBAL ELIXIRS
Drawn from ancient folk wisdom, their elixirs are vibrant and varied in color, representing their high vitamin and nutrient content:



THE GREEN TONICS
All green tonics have a green veggie base combined with a green superfood and a nourishing herbal infusion. Together, these alkaline, chlorophyll-rich greens help support your body so it can function optimally, the way the nature intended:


THE ARTISAN TONICS
Here is where they get a little more creative. They still use fresh greens and veggies, but these tonics, while still nourishing, are more focused on flavorful and fun seasonal combinations:


EXCLUSIVE LINES
The exclusive elixir line below was made for their partners, The Cove Atlantis and One&Only Ocean Club. located on Paradise Island in The Bahamas.



Twice a week, Aubrey Levitt and Hillary Deppeler, founders of Body & Eden pick out the most vibrant, alive-looking organic fruits and veggies from their local farmers, then bring them back to their kitchen so they can wash, cut, and prep them to fill your order.


above: Aubrey Levitt and Hillary Deppeler, founders of Body & Eden

They combine whole fruits and veggies, nourishing, high-nutrient green superfoods such as spirulina, chlorella, and barley, and stabilizing herbal infusions to give their tonics the highest possible nutritional content. They work closely with a hands-on herbalist to create safe, balanced herbal combinations that support your body so it can function more optimally*.

SUSTAINABLE Packaging
The drinks are packaged in glass bottles that can be returned on-site for 10% off your next order. Body & Eden uses Pristine Hydro reverse osmosis, a 7-stage filter, to ensure the best possible base for our products. To find out more about the filtration process, visit www.pristinehydro.com.



* This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease and has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

Their stories:
AUBREY LEVITT
I remember my mother handing me an ice cream bar when I was eight and saying, “Here, your reward.” I took one bite and spit it on the floor of the chalky vitamin store. "What? It's Rice Dream, you don't like it?"

Health and its latest fads have always played a big role in my life. When I was a kid, I suffered from constant illness, anxiety, and fear. I went to the hospital every week for high fevers and ate mostly antibiotics. Over time, I stopped trusting my body and started to ignore it. This worked for a while. And then it didn’t. I suffered from extreme bouts of hypoglycemia, hormonal imbalances, and every digestion issue under the sun.

I thought this was normal until my sister told me it wasn’t. Determined to rebuild my body, I saw several conventional and alternative practitioners, devoured books, and asked loads of questions. I learned how to cleanse, slow down, and feel my body. But I couldn’t do that forever. I had regained my health, but then I had to learn how to nourish myself so I could return to the stressful world I had known and sustain it.

HILLARY DEPPELER
Training as a ballerina since the age of two gave me a strong focus on my physique and put my body image high on my radar. Born loving sweets, I relied on sugar for energy and compromised by eating tons of greens and salads to stay thin.

Unfortunately, what got the job done in the short term left me unhealthy in the long run and depleted of energy and essential nutrients for a vibrant, full life. Working in the fast-paced Manhattan media world and having to attend numerous client events, dinners, and lunches put me on the quest to find out what would sustain my energy, help me manage the hours and stress, and still enjoy all the delicious culinary treats New York has to offer. The solution wasn’t cutting out what I love or risking my job, but developing a healthy, nourishing base that enabled my body to function better throughout my daily life.

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