#Neck-shaped headphone holder doubles as a container and a desk sculpture

Despite the rising ubiquity of wireless earbuds, many people still prefer over-the-ear cups, whether they come with wires or without. We’ll leave the debates to the sound experts, but audiophiles, gamers, and everyone in between still swear by the quality produced by these headphones. That said, these audio accessories sacrifice portability and convenience for performance, and they can quickly become clutter on your desk when left unchecked. There are quite a number of headphone holders that hang those headbands up for everyone to see, but that’s really all that most of them do, which means also taking up precious desk space. We’ve come across a few ideas on how to maximize the space that these objects occupy, and this particular concept combines three functions in one to give a home for your headphones and a few other things.

Designer: Carl Liu

Headphone holders put your headphones up high for two primary reasons. First, it tries to reduce the potential wear and tear that comes when parts of the headphones are always in contact with a surface like a desk. These holders also put your headphones on display, which might be an eye-catching or expensive pair or both. There is no rule that says that these are all that holders should do, and if they are occupying space on your desk, they might as well perform other functions to make up for it.

Reck_Cone is one such concept design that tries to combine different products into a single artful piece. It is, of course, a headphone holder, but you might not immediately identify it as one because of its shape. Unlike typical holders, it does hang the headphones down but instead lets them wrap around the almost conical structure. In this manner, it looks like how headphones would hang around a person’s neck, giving it a more natural appearance even in that unused state.

The headphone holder, however, can also serve as a container. The large empty space in the middle is an obvious place to put items, and it’s easy to imagine it holding pens, rulers, and other long objects. The base, however, also separates from the body to reveal a shallow basin where smaller items like paper clips and pins can be hidden. Of course, these spaces can also be used to store cables and other accessories for the headphones.

The Reck_Cone’s form is eye-catching, and even without the headphones, it displays an unusual shape that looks like a vase with a “wing” on its back. It’s a pleasing shape that doesn’t scream for attention, and it’s a tempting addition to your desk setup, especially since it can take the place of a few other containers in your workspace.