Plugging Away
Possibly inspired by Min-Kyu Choi’s brilliant multi-plug design, two students were presented with 2010 iF concept awards for stacking USB plugs. These are only concepts, so I don’t know how plausible they are, but I think they’re well-conceived and nicely executed.
Gonglue Jiang and Ke Zhao of Tongji University in Beijing, China designed a plug that is very believable in its dimensions. The clean, white cable matches the current Apple aesthetic, and the color accents provide a way to distinguish one device’s plug from another. One drawback is that the width of the plug and orientation of the cable may preclude use of other ports.
Yi Fan Lin and Hong Yih Chu of Shih Chien University in Taipei, Taiwan have a very compact design. Again, multiple colors improved identification. While the small profile solves the potential to block other ports, I must wonder if there is room for whatever would be needed to make such a plug functional. The bend in the cable lends some visual interest, but it also seems like it could get in the way when plugging and unplugging the cables.
Feasible or not, I enjoy seeing these fresh takes on old problems.
