There’s a unique aesthetic behind the Mini, one that shouldn’t be tampered with too much. As if the Mini Clubman didn’t suggest the designers at Mini were losing perspective, the new Mini Coupé concept pretty much proves it.

Okay, at first glance, it looks like the same Mini Cooper I came to love years ago. In what I am guessing was an attempt to appeal to the critics of the British classic, they designed the Coupé that kind of resembles a cheap HotWheels toy.

Don’t she look cute? I bet that engine can purr.

It’s kinda cheap to keep the exact same nose and hood shape, but tack on a Civic-like body. Mini’s are boxy. Not egg-shaped. If they could add a few edges to this thing, I’m sure it can reach its full potential.

So in short, I do see potential with this direction, but I hope the people on this project have the sense to make some big changes before making the Mini Coupé a reality.

I remember the day I got my first Gameboy Color. I was stoked. That thing was designed right. It was smaller than it’s clunky predecessor, because portability was it’s main concern. My friends and I could easily slip it into our pockets to sneak it out onto the playground for some epic Pokemon battles. I thank the geniuses at Nintendo for making a small gaming system, the folks at Motorola for making the Razr, and the good people at Apple for creating the iPod Nano.

If you haven’t gotten it yet, I REALLY appreciate condensed design. This is why I think this case for the Nintendo DSi is ridiculous.

The guys at Nyko thought it would be clever to attach a zoom camera onto a little toy. Why?! I see people with DSi’s on in public, and they have one thing in common. They’re gamers. Not photographers. Maybe I’m missing something, but Mario never relied on a jumbo camera lens to beat Bowser.

It’s not so much that the idea of a camera enhancement is bad, I’m just having a problem with the cost. When the main selling point is portability, it seems counter-intuitive to lug around that thing. The benefits do not out-weight the cost here. Especially on a weak 0.3 Megapixel camera.

I think Nyko blew their budget on getting a good model rather than decent designers. Way to go.

I’ve never been a big fan of the meat substitute, but at least it inspired the design of this sweet chair!

Yu-Ying Wu, a graduate student of Industrial Design in Taiwan, ingeniously designed this foam chair, giving it a non-traditional twist. She used sheets with cut-out triangles to give it holes to “breathe”. It looks like a cube, but once a person set’s their weight upon it, it will mold to their shape, while counterbalancing their weight just enough to provide a sturdy seat. It even gives an extra push to assist when getting up. Nice.

I’m not thrilled about the aesthetics. The color is dull and the triangle cut-outs remind me of 3rd grade crafts. In Wu’s defense, she wasn’t exactly going for a traditional chair look.

I can get over the appearance. Overall, I think the function is the primary focus of this design, and it clearly excelled in that area.

The piece is, unfortunately, not on the market quite yet.