Called Iconico, the speaker for French brand Lexon can be switched off simply by turning it face down. "It's a playful, intuitive and simple object to listen to your music everywhere in high sound quality," says Serrano.

Iconico is made of ABS plastic and comes in dark grey and white. It's intended for use with mobile phones and connects via a 3.5 millimetre stereo audio cable.

Maison&Objet takes place in Paris from 18 to 22 January.

Other speakers we've featured include one that straps over your sneakers and another with a fabric control panel. See all our stories about speaker design »

You might also like to check out Dezeen Music Project, our showcase for tracks by young and upcoming musicians and record labels.

Other designs by Héctor Serrano include hand puppet tattoos and paper animal faces for balloons, plus glass jars with cork lids launched last year. See all our stories about design by Héctor Serrano »

Lexon is a design brand based in France and China. Other Lexon products on Dezeen include a range of calculators, clocks, torches and radios made of corn starch, and a set of stackable, colour-coded stationary. The Take Time watch by Mathieu Lehanneur, which is available at Dezeen Watch Store, is also produced by Lexon.

Here are the specs for the speaker:

Power output: 1.5W
Speaker: 2W+ base
Frequency range: 20Hz-20kHz
SNR: 65dB
Distortion: <1%
Cell: lithium cell 400mAh
Typical runtime : 4 hours at medium volume
Charging voltage: USB 5V
Charging time: 2 hours
Connecting cable: 3.5MM stereo audio cable
Dimensions: Φ71X55MM

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for Lexon appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan designers Spalvieri / Del Ciotto have created a range of calculators, clocks, torches and radios that are made of corn starch.

The series for French brand Lexon uses biodegradable PLA plastic, which is made from the lactides produced by fermenting agricultural byproducts.

"In addition to being more environmentally friendly than a traditional plastic, we think PLA presents extraordinary visual and tactile qualities," say the designers. "For this reason we designed a family of very simple objects with basic technologies, where the importance is given to the material itself."

The PLA material can be processed using the same equipment and techniques as conventional plastics, although it has a different viscosity during moulding so the thickness of some parts was increased.

Biopolymers normally have a lower softening temperature than plastics derived from petroleum, making them unsuitable for many applications, but recent developments in PLA with a high thermal resistance mean it can be used for semi-durable goods like these.

Each product is powered by photovoltaic cells and rechargeable batteries, and features stripped-back white cases with bright green details.

Here's a bit of text from the designers:

MAIZY Collection

In early 2011 we were invited by Lexon to design a new family of ecological items, using PLA as main material. From this premise was born Maizy, a collection of objects made of PLA (corn plastic), powered by photovoltaic cells and rechargeable batteries.

Maizy is environmentally friendly technology. The purity of the lines expresses its vocation, inviting to go beyond the form, to find out the matterial.

The collection:

MAIZY FM radio/MP3 amplifier, rechargeable on USB
MAIZY Solar/battery desktop calculator
MAIZY Solar pocket calculator
MAIZY Solar/battery LCD alarm clock
MAIZY Solar/battery analogue alarm clock
MAIZY Pocket LED light, rechargeable on USB

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Brothers Adrian and Jeremy Wright of London based design studio DesignWright have released this set of stackable. colour-coded stationary in collaboration with design brand Lexon.

The Buro collection includes a stapler, hole punch and calculator and features the name of the object on its side.

The stationary is made in three colour gradients from plastic with a rubberised finish.

More stationary stories on Dezeen »

The following is from the designers:

Ubiquitous items like staplers, hole-punches and calculators clutter up most of our desks. They rarely match or have any sense of unity. Here, the designers saw an opportunity to create a range of desk tools which work well and look great, both individually and as a set.

Buro brings together the objects commonly found on the desk into a coherent, practical range. With each item taking the form of a simple block, they can be neatly aligned or stacked in any orientation much like a collection of books.

Buro is available in three colour gradients – green, grey and purple.

Materials: ABS plastic with a rubberised finish.

See also:

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Y-Grinder by DesignWright	Under My Roof by Christian Vivanco	Efficient Home by Mathieu Lehanneur

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