Built for an e-waste competition, Istanbul-based designer Yasemin Artut made these “E-letter” signs for Kadir Has University. The sign is made from one piece of aluminum with circuit paths etched on the surface. The circuit boards come from former PC motherboards, mice, and remote controls, and have been cut to fit the respective lab letter. The letter is then backed with LED lighting.

While I personally try and re-purpose working electronics for as long as they’ll keep pumping electrons (which makes me something of a hoarder, but also a master storage packer), eventually they will die out. What to do with them next will always be a problem as long as they exist. Shaving these circuit boards no doubt produces another type of waste, but I’d rather see the world populated with upcycled aesthetics, instead of simply recycling everything because we can.