Routers are ugly. Sure, there have been some attempts at sprucing them up: Google Home released decorative coverings last year, and there was this tall, y-shaped design and these routers that look like brightly colored satellite dishes. But for the most part, they’re still just an out-of-place hunk of plastic on your mantel.
A smart new solution from a recent grad at the Design Academy Eindhoven challenges that. Elsa Sier designed a router that you’d actually want to leave out, and not hide between the couch and the wall like I do.
[Image: courtesy Elsa Sier]Called Wired, the router has an organic, amorphous shape, and, unlike the harsh plastic exteriors of typical routers, this one is made out of a tactile ribbed knit, with just one wire to connect to a WLAN outlet, says Sier.
It’s a clever way to turn a mundane necessity into a playful centerpiece. The router was part of the 2020 Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show, and, unfortunately, it’s just a prototype. But to learn more about Sier’s work, go here.
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