Archive for the “Designers” Category
Posted by Andy in Designers, tags: design
 French designer Julien Carretero did a Master’s degree at the Eindhoven Design Academy under tutor Gijs Bakker of Droog Design. He then worked two years with Maarten Baas before setting up his own studio in Eindhoven.
Julien explores the possibilities of artisan creation in objects that are lively, vibrant and in constant phase-change.
Computers, cars, ventilators… all use fans, which although usually hidden by a grating shield are components of many everyday objects. ‘This is a Fan’ proposes an alternative presentation of this device, which is as functional as it is discreet. A protecting cage designed as a case/support in which the fan is simply strapped suddenly brings it to life. Fragile and naked.
The guideline of Julien’s work is the production of objects considered as a process in perpetual development: alive and unpredictable.
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Posted by Andy in Designers, tags: Art
 Maja Mesic, an industrial designer from Croatia, recently won the Red Dot award for his project Alatka, a drawing instrument.
As opposed to the restrictive form of pencil-shaped drawing tools, Alatka’s ergonomic form has been devised to allow a more natural and expressive approach to drawing.
 Despite the fact that the dot is the basis of every drawn line, form or coloured surface, one does not draw millions of dots to form a line or shape. Instead, these lines are created with the drawing tool, which moves in sync with the hand. However, most of the drawing tools available on the market are primarily created for writing, and are not suitably adapted to drawing.
If one wants to colour a surface, one needs to fill the surface with lots of lines. This is because the stick-type tool can feel unnatural to draw with; it restricts the movement of the hand.
 Alatka presents an innovative approach to drawing with a form that can adapt to drawing lines as well as coloured surfaces. With its tear-drop form, it allows the wrist to be free without having to conform to the movements dictated by other more restrictive shapes.
The user is able to naturally use Alatka and position the hand as they wish. The movement of the wrist is more fluid and thus, the user is able to achieve balance and stability by easily adapting to its form.
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Posted by Andy in Designers
 I was sad to hear that designer Pierre Paulin, famed for his unusually shaped chairs and a favourite of presidents, has died at the age of 81 in Montpellier, south-east France. He will remain in all our memories as one of the major French designers of the 20th century. He leaves us with great classics, most of them produced by the Dutch company Artifort – ‘the Tongue’, ‘the Ribbon’, ‘the Oyster’ and many others.
Pierre Paulin was also known for having created furniture for two presidents of the French Republic, Georges Pompidou and François Mitterand.
Born in Paris on July 9, 1927, Paulin was influenced by Japanese drawing and American designers Charles and Ray Eames. This led him to create furniture which was simple, functional and hard-wearing.
His cremation takes place today after a private ceremony in Nimes.
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I found these intriguing furniture pieces this morning. Stylish? Certainly! Comfortable? Most probably! Would I want them in my home? Not sure. For the garden? A resounding yes!
 Designed by Los Angeles based Stuart Fingerhut, Philadelphia born Stuart has an interesting background and an even more interesting website which takes the form of a “community” blog.
Crème, the sofa – The taste of comfort has never been smoother! Crème is a refreshing change from the uncomfortable seating found at home or at the office.  Crème’s soft curves and flowing form are fabricated from rotomolded polyethylene coupled with a rosewood insert that captures the beauty of nature. Crème is an eye catching and soothing form that invites you to sit and stay a while.
Crème, the chair, or is it a stool? – Crème chairs capture the essence of the Crème couch while providing a seating element for individual use.
Take a look at Stuart’s website.
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Posted by Andy in Designers, tags: design
This piece started out to talk about the Brave New World Lamp but, having now looked at the designers website, they offer so much more.
 However, firstly, the lamp! Marcus Beck and Simon Macro from Freshwest Design in Wales have designed this huge lamp for Moooi made of notched and pegged timber strips and two cast-iron counter weights. And when I say huge I do mean that as the lamp stands 1.8m high!
The Brave New World Lamp started as a concept piece of random, thought-initiated, construction. Following the example of old Far Eastern bamboo scaffolding the Brave New World Lamp was developed without a design or plan in place however each piece of wood is carefully notched and pegged together to form an integral part of the overall mechanical structure. The limitations of using small pieces of wood to create a large form allowed the design process to be as responsive as possible. Much like a sculptures’ relationship to their material.
OK, enough with the lamp. If you like the lamp you will love the Brave New World Table! I probably wouldn’t want it in my house but I do “get” it nonetheless.
 What about their Contemplates? A set of eight plates with individual images of anonymous figures collected from various Pembrokeshire beaches throughout a year. Each plate is based on an actual event with the time, date and beach location printed on the back of the plate! Fabulous!
And then there is the “For Two Hours Only” fruitbowl where a small section of beach has been recreated, capturing a form that existed for just two hours. As with the plates, you will find the time, date and location on the back. Inspired and inspiring!
Take a look at their website. You won’t be disappointed!
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I’ve been taking a look at Swedish designer Cecilia Lundgren and her latest collection. Her work will be seen at Salone Del Mobile in Milan, 22 – 27 April but for those of us that can’t make the trip here is a preview:
 Greener Grass: Her new sofa, Greener Grass, suggests that we can either look upon life from a rather greyish perspective – or from a more colourful one. We simply choose that for ourselves. It takes but a fraction of our lifetime to observe the furniture, though its design speaks of eternity.
 Mr Buongiorno: So often things in our daily lives things are not quite how we expected them to be! The aim of this piece was to interpret, with a wink, the philosophy of human life into a mundane object and thereby associating it with a character, all whilst it is preserving its original identity and function. Mr Buongiorno is developed by Cecilia Lundgren, Julia Bühler and Marten Helwig.
 Vika: Vika is a coffee table inspired by the Japanese paper folding art Origami, hence the name Vika means “fold” in Swedish. Even though the table’s shape is very complex, it is actually formed by a folded rectangle with one cut in each corner. Vika is made of white lacquered aluminium representing that the art of Origami originally used thin and fragile paper.
 Passepartout: Passepartout is a shelf inspired by walls full of frames and paintings. The shelf contains different kinds of modules with magnets built-in on each side and this function offers endless and creative possibilities of matching and building the shelf according to the users needs, just like paintings on the wall – only the imagination limits the final effect.
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Posted by Andy in Designers, tags: design
 With all the doom and gloom in the news I had to smile this morning when I discovered Netherlands based Freaksunited and designers Jorine Oosterhoff and Egbert-Jan Lam, two multifaceted designers; one a storyteller, the other an engineer.
They appear to specialise in quirky tablewear and unusual home accessories. In fairness, their offerings will only appeal to a certain niche market but that’s fine – as the saying goes, “if we were all the same…. etc etc etc”
The item that caught my eye is their pig snout cup. Sat on the table it has a certain appeal but the fun starts when somebody drinks from it. Nothing awful happens. The cup works, so to speak, but it is sure to raise a smile in others!
Check it out! No idea where these can be purchased so if anyone does know please let me know!
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Posted by Andy in Designers, tags: furniture
  Austrian designer Thomas Maitz, working with Graz, Germany, based manufacturer, perludi, has introduced AMBERintheSKY, a space age bed cum play area.
With its innovative design and the aesthetic character of natural materials, AMBERintheSKY has won over children and parents alike.
Innovative construction techniques and quality workmanship are combined in the bed’s modern yet timeless, uncluttered design. The bunk/loft bed is made out of a newly developed composite material consisting of European birchwood and Austrian loden fabric – an unusual and innovative combination of materials for a completely new approach to furniture design.
perludi’s tag line is “great design for small people”. Based on what we have seen so far, they seem to have chosen the perfect mantra!
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Posted by Andy in Designers, tags: design
We seem to be focussing on bikes at the moment. I wouldn’t usually feature another bicycle quite so quickly but I just saw this and think that it definitely merits an airing! How fab is this?
Conceptual? Yes. Sexy? Definitely! Practical? Time will tell I guess.
 Torkel Döhmers’ “This Way” concept has just been chosen as the winning entry in the “Commuter Bike for the Masses” competition.
Torkel comments “I have made an emphasis on automotive qualities in the design, to attract non-previous cyclists used to cars and motorcycles.
Another selling point to attract more people to riding a bike, especially here in Europe, is weather protection – the bike has a roof!”
Built in composite materials (carbon or flax fibre) and hydro-formed aluminium, this vehicle is very lightweight (approximate 11-12kg), has built-in LED lights front and rear powered by a rechargeable battery that gets its power from solar cells on the roof. The bike has a built-in belt drive. Riding position is lower than a traditional bike to keep a low centre of gravity and for optimal aerodynamics.
 In the rear of the frame is a “luggage connector”, where the user plugs-in his or her attaché bag. The design also benefits from flexibility and comfort for riders of different sizes, as the crankset and seat is adjustable in length and height.
Although this design is more expensive to manufacture compared to its traditional rivals, it is still just a fraction of the buying price of cars and zero in running costs…
On the basis of what I have seen so far I absolutely love it and might well be the first in the queue when and if it does go into production!
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