Christian Hallerod and Johannes Svartholm Mobile Office & Art for  arts organisation Mossutställningar. A conceptual piece consisting of four unique modules representing archetypes from the office contained within a frame. The pieces can be used separately or in formation to create a complex labyrinth.

2D LED by ding3000 A simple outline of a lamp made in aluminium and rubber. The light can be bent over to provide directional lighting from the LED contained in the outline of a lampshade. It turns from a graphic icon of a lamp into an animated character with a tilt of its neck.

Chicako Ibaraki – Weave Bookshelf.  Tokyo designer Ibaraki devised a bookshelf that can hold up to 200 books Interlocking steel frames have been set at angle to allow the books to be slotted in. The steel frame has been coated with a rubber paint to prevent the books from slipping.

Loop Stand by Leif Jørgensen for HayThe Loop collection is inspired by traditional trestles that have been stripped down to emphasise the 3D and give a graphic look. The range consists of trestles tables in three heights and and a wardrobe pictured here. I guess “wardrobe” is pushing it a bit but there you go!

Thin Black Lines byNendo Exhibited by Phillips de Pury & Company at the Saatchi Gallery during the London Design Festival and Frieze Art Fair.“Slight black lines like the traces of sketches drawn in the air made transparent surfaces and volumes appear, which we assigned practical functions.The designs gently break the relationship of before and behind, and traverse at times the space between two and three dimensions. Multi-faceted and constantly morphing, they move alternately between the becoming and collapse of form.”

The incandescent bulb is nearing the end of its life. Across the world governments having been passing legislation in favour of more energy conserving alternatives; and here in Europe a ban on selling 100watt bulb has been in place for a year.

We’ve mostly switched to the rather ugly compact tube fluorescent tube (CTF) and the ban on the frosted incandescent so infuriated lighting designer Ingo Maurer he had to come up with the Euro Condom pictured above (not sure if come up was quite the right phrase there!) The opaque condoms fit over clear incandescent bulbs – which are not affected by the guidelines – to give a similar effect to the banned bulbs. Its an amusing poke at European bureaucracy but when you look at the carbon emissions saved by getting rid of the old bulbs never mind the money saved on your electricity bills it makes sense to make the move.

So here are a few lights that have taken a little inspiration from the old bulb but been updated to comply with strict EU guidelines – its quite heartening to think bureaucracy can move design! America take note your Federal bureaucracy is years behind….

I don’t think you could have failed to notice Hulger’s Plumen lightbulb launched this year and billed as the worlds first designer energy saving light bulb. It uses 80% less energy than the traditional incandescent light bulb; and just like its ugly older brother (the compact tube fluorescent) it keeps down electricity bills and lasts around 8 times longer.  Hulger’s work came from the frustrations of the CTF; not only did it look ugly but the kind of light they give off is pretty poor.

“Make the bulb attractive and people will spend a bit more and enjoy a better quality of light and a design they appreciate every day. Glass tubes can be bent is many different shapes so why are there thousands of manufacturers but only three designs? We believe the answer is in the design.” The bulb is available in Europe with plans to launch in the USA early 2011.

Marcus Tremento is an artist who uses light as a  medium to express his work. His highly graphic and illustration based pieces draw inspiration from French Pop comics of the 1960’s his use of simple lines suggest three-dimensional form but in keeping with his source of inspiration he actually uses paper  – of a rather special kind. These lights employ Electroluminescent paper, which consists of an organic material that emit photons (light) when excited by an electric current, sandwiched between two thin layers of plastic. This method of producing light is distinct from standard incandescent lights in that there is no emission of heat. Electroluminescence was first developed in 1960 for use in automotive instrument panel backlighting.

Diamond Light by Eric Therner is a particularly beautiful alternative to the old light bulbs

“I’d like to see them as sculptures, with a function. Diamond Lights play with the concept of the light bulb. Stylewise, the common light bulbs look brilliant. I’m not sure though, if it is the shape, or it’s iconic value that makes it so beautiful.

The fact that it was “a” first, and what it meant to people when it first arrived, has surely played an important role during the years from product to icon. Diamond Lights is not a tribute or an attempt at making a better light bulb than the already existing one. I simply want to offer another choice.”

The result is an environmentally friendly, e-27 halogen lightbulb with a warm 15 watt glow and 2000- lifehours.

Pieke Bergmans Light Bulbs

Pictures at the top of this post the Light Bulbs are a series of crystal lamps, designed by Pieke  in a collaboration with Royal Crystal Leerdam. The lamps are all unique handcrafted crystal pieces, equipped with leds by Solid Lighting Design. They followed on from Pieke’s “Virus” series where she manipulates molten glass over various objects letting them gently ooze in a organic satisfying way.

There’s a bit of a blur in the distinction between art and design. Functional products and merchandise can’t be classed as art can they?  Both go through a creative (and sometimes torturous) process  and then get tangled up in methods of selling and the exchange of money. Art and Design products use the language and methods of each other to do exactly the same thing to sell, to engage with an audience and to confront us with another way of seeing, making and living. And this language and process is even seeping into the high street; stores offer  “a range of carefully curated products” displayed in an almost gallery style by a named artist or designer.  Meanwhile in a bid to connect with a wider audience Art galleries shift from their intimidating surroundings to Fairs and Markets. Within all of this is the need to reflect a changing world, with Art, Design, and down the the business end Retail, all responding to a changing expectation from consumers; they’re wanting an experience, an emotional reaction, not just a passive presentation of products and work. So to provide the unexpected Art goes to the market Design goes to the gallery. You could even argue that retail’s love of the pop-up is like the underground art event. With all this borrowing from each other its difficult to see where art and design differ, collectors have become attracted to both further blurring the Art Design debate.

Last week Frieze Art fair popped up  in London and generated tens of millions of pounds of Art sales in a tent in Regents Park. You could not only see the work of  the artists  but also meet and even get temporary tattoo by one of them. Here’s David Shrigley tattooing I love O’s onto a willing participant.

At the same time as Frieze Super Design, now in its 4th year offered a smaller design alternative ; a show that brings together galleries and their limited edition pieces by some of the most innovative designers.  Super Design borrows the style and presentation of the art show to allow us to critique the work in the manner of a work of art . But its not art and its not really pretending to be art.  That’s not to denigrate the work on show here.  It simply has a function that art does not need to play. Art has no practical function; it grabs us on another level and draws on a range of  emotional reactions, amongst them the ability to shock. One of my favourite “reactions” from Frieze last week was another visitors exclamation “Ughhh! What is going through these people minds!?!”  Now to me the little animations we were peeping through holes to view were not that shocking at all; but it just shows how we all have our own thoughts on what art is.What Super Design does show is how designers have been experimenting, pushing the boundaries of what is functional, and playing with our curiosity  by appealing on a playful, aesthetic and emotional level.

On a playful level here is the work of  Marcus Tremonto,  he showed a number of his electroluminescent film lights, but here is his more mischievous work he did with Kidrobot’s Munny character.

The show owes more to theory behind Critical Design offered by London based design duo Dunne & Raby.  Designers have been pushed into creating products that conform to functional requirements and the means of mass production. Critical Design challenges this conformity and encourages experimentation on every level. As Dunne says “One of its roles is to question the limited range of emotional and psychological experiences offered through designed products. If you decouple design from the mass market, what do you get? A change of attitude and approach. So the role of Critical Design is to make us think and to raise awareness , expose assumptions, provoke action, spark debate – a way of looking at design and re imagining its possibilities beyond the narrow definition presented through the media and in shops.”

Grey Derivations by  Maarten Baas for Mitterrand+Cramer Design is a response to the edition process in relation to the production process. The man hours spent creating each piece and nuanced changes from the method of production made the notion of each being an edition nonsense. Apart from the desk light which can be created using a mould the other5  pieces in the series are unique. This approach has given Baas the freedom to create work in a spontaneous intuitive way  in his studio in the Dutch countryside.  The desk shown here would never be allowed to go into mass production, it wouldn’t be allowed in a shop. Once the desk is closed the two red front legs become horns poking out of the lid -you can just imaging the “health and safety” issues! Using design as a means of self expression doesn’t mean that work has to be handcrafted and exclusive. After all it was Baas who sold the cheapest design product of the Milan fair with his 99cent Iphone app.

Studio Makkink & Bey showed their De Amersfoot Chair. An advocate of Critical Design here are Jurgen Bey’s thought on the idea. “Critical Design is an area where I feel comfortable because I think it’s important to make your voice heard through design. Its not about being against things but about staying critical, particularly in the case of sustainable design. It’s about finding the right balance with progress. To change someones views you need to make them more curious . Its what I like about being a designer. You’re allowed to question things. Its not an exact science and there’s a big area where you can move quite freely and come to your answers. If you rethink things, the answers are about what you can do and how you can do it. You have your questions and ask what if….?’ Then you follow where this takes you.”

Dimitri Vangrunderbeek’s Lacquered Steel Cabinet (pictured below). Figures have been cut out of the steel and stride across the surface of the work casting shadows as light hits the piece. You get the sense of the figures moving as you walk past the piece.

Gareth Neal’s Urban Picnic transforms the ubiquitous bench. We’re familiar with the design but the only hand treatment we usually see on it is hand carved graffiti not intricate marquetry. The piece was a response to the question of “The Great British Weekend” and was originally displayed as a pop-up urban picnic in the east end of London

Art Deco  by comparison to its younger sibling, has been unappreciated; I say sibling but really Art Deco is more of the grand dame of Modernism. I’ve been sitting on this Art Deco piece for months but with the re-opening of a true grand dame of the period the Savoy Hotel,  its seems timely to post this.

So here are a few products that have either been re-issued or have features  reminiscent of  the period.

Lee Broom One Light Only. Launched last month at the London Design Festival the work is inspired by Art Deco jewellery and also decadent 70’s photography. Stylists from the 70’s weren’t averse to referencing the Wiemar years (think of the film Cabaret) so you can see the connection. The use of facets and gold are certainly Art Deco 

Himmeli Chandelier by Paul Loebach  for the new American lighting manufacturer Roll & Hill

The inspiration for the piece actually came from a traditional Finnish craft of making Christmas ornaments but I certainly feel that the geometry, facets and particularly use of the glass lanterns gives a certain Deco-ness to the work even though the intention lay elsewhere. That said; Artek (mentioned below) is a Finnish company and the classic chair uses a traditional bent wood technique  -so there is a connection of sorts!

Two Art Deco classic were dusted down, re-issued and re-worked earlier this year. I doubt they’ve ever been out of production but the were both given the attention they deserve.

Artek re-issued the 1936 Armchair 400 by Alvar Aalto but in a new spectacular Missoni cover. The chair was shown a Spazio Rossana Orlandi amongst the eclectic mix of beautifully designed products that span all eras of design history.

Vanity Fair by Poltrona Frau is a reissued classic from 1930. An original that spawned a thousand copies it seemed appropriare that little minatures were dotted about the stand to emphasis its classic status.

Glas light from  Diesel  and  Foscarini is a work that has a more of an industrial Deco feel. Although personally I prefer the rather wonderful original examples you can find over at Skinflint Design

Finally still on the industrial tip heres Tom Dixon Pressed Glass Light Bead . The glass has been produced in a factory more used to manufacturing industrial glass. It was launched last year as part of the Industry Collection.

DickVan Hoff has emphasised the use of joints in his The Beams series comprising a chair (pictured here) and sideboard. I have to profess a particular love for this incredibly comfortable chair having sat in it rather a lot during the London Design Festival. I was a little wary at first;  its quite a sturdy statement. Having sat on it, walked around it, prodded and stroked it, I love it.   Its rather ironic that having enjoyed the chair I should read this statement on his work.  “Vanhoffontwerpen keenly focus on how a product works, the intuitive movements of the user and the enjoyment of use. Functionality, quality and the relationship between the product and the user are of paramount importance. A chair will always sit well when it is Vanhoffontwerpen. Functionality is more important than aesthetics, but that does not mean form follows function. The designs are icons that capture your heart, often robust in shape, yet reflecting subtle detailing. . .”

Keel Furniture by Oscar Narud has broken with conventional furniture typologies. Using detachable legs inspired by the drop down keels used for small sailing boats.The piece continues a series of furniture Narud has developed recently, inspired by the simple construction of traditional Norwegian furniture. The addition of the keel motif, taken from boat building, refreshes the tradition. Again like Van Hoff’s work these are sturdy pieces, the application of the joinery emphasis this.  Despite their sturdy features they are relatively easy to disassemble, to move or (should you ever need to)repair.

1-2-3 Sit by Thinkk Studio is a flat pack, easy as to assemble stool – as easy as 123 hence the name!  The steel seat has a dovetail joint that neatly slides into the Oak legs. The use of the different materials is high lighted by contrast in colour, the light Oak and the sheen of the black powder coated steel.

Chunky Joinery by Mathias Hahn (like OscarNarud another member of Okay Studio) and shown at their London Design Festival Presentation. Each designer produced a piece exploring the concept of the ‘Visitor’ . Mathias a set of occasional furniture that can be used in different situations. His sturdy piece can be used as a stool, side table, foot rest, I guess you could use it as a step it looks sturdy enough to take a fair bit of weight! 

Royal College of Art graduate Felix De Pass created Boundary Desk with the key storage elements slotting into the aluminium frame. I particularly like his bold use of colour to emphasis the different  shelves. The individual pieces, the draws, cable management and and also a privacy (not shown here) slot into the frame, which can also be made to the users required size. 

Ronan & Erwan Bouroullechave created a bathroom range for Axor that takes into account our own organising needs/ foibles.  The collection is not constrained by a rigid set of fixtures. With over 70 pieces in the collection the individual can build up the pieces as they need. Shown here separate shelves integrated into the basin allow the tap to be positioned where you like and additional shelves can be arranged freely.

In the kitchen Gitta Gschwendtner’s Drawer Kitchen for Italian brand Schiffini appears to be a stack of random boxes. Its only round the business side of the island uit where you would actually work that you understand the function of the piece. And it has been designed to be a functional piece although personally, I have my reservations. Yes it does function but it could also drive you crazy. I’m sure that those with the budget to buy it wouldn’t have the nightmare job of cleaning it. Imagine all those food bits that’ will get stuck. I’d also imagine that it would make a superb – if a little dangerous climbing “challenge” for toddlers. I’ve come over all practical; but to me the test of a good design is its seamless integration into your life. I  find this too confrontational, I do love designs that visually smacks you in the face but not one that you’d just keep smacking into. I have to say though this is a concept rather than a production piece.

AF Designs created Elementi Cabinet, a sculptural handcrafted piece that’s is at the same time wholly functional.  Panels have been covered in copper  that have been aged and treated in different ways to build up a mosaic. Two panels open to reveal cupboards and others are drawers, its a bit of a trick to discover how each panel opens. Its a beautiful piece that, with its use of material could sit as happily in a period house as  in a modern.

Modern architecture has often accused of  stacking  people on top of each other in a soulless little boxes. So it is a little ironic that this Hotel project by WAM architects in Zaandam Holland really has stacked a number of “houses” on top of each other. As yet there are no interior shots but its due for completion this Autumn. I would soooo love to stay there but I have a sneaky feeling its a little out of the way for Dutch Design Week. *runs off to check map of Holland*

There was a time when you either used synthetic materials or natural and which ever path you followed the two should never be mixed.  The idea that something natural should be tainted by dare I say it….plastic! No no no…..But why? We don’t have to be so polarised in our treatment of materials. And well; plastic in its various forms isn’t a new material is it?  It’s moving into the realms of collectible antiques and with that we are also becoming well aware of its durability. Apparently there is huge mass of plastic floating in the Pacific stubbornly refusing to decompose. Perhaps one day this floating mass rubbish will be recycled, up cycled and converted back into something useful again. I like to think that its become home to a whole range of sea creatures evolving in their own weird way but in the mean time here are some designers who have more logical thought process as regards mixing natural with synthetic.

Pictured above and seen here is  Rawtation by Adi Zaffran Weisler

“As I was learning the industrial process of plastic rotational molding I discovered the potential for combining raw organic elements in the process. I tried creating a method where the meeting point between the organic and the synthetic is made by the rotational molding process without the need for cold joints or complex adjustments. The manufacturing process uses pruned branches, trunks and foliage combined with plastic which creates the joints.”

TransPlastic by the Campanas’ brothers are pieces that use a combination of plastic and a Brazilian fibre called apui. Left unchecked apui wraps around and slowly suffocates the trees on which it grows. An so with a clever bit of irony and handicraft the fibre is reworked in wicker to “suffocate” the plastic chair. The Campanas’ brothers have continued to work with this fibre combining it with glass for their exhibition with Venini at Waddesdon Manor this year

Skull rug by Timothy Liles- Having previously worked for Converse as a footwear designer Timothy has turned his hand to product design. Here he has combined the pop icon with a tradition of technique. This is a thick, double-sided, wool rug  made by the extremely skilled workers at Country Braid House in Tilton NH. They’re more used to making traditional rugs but they’ve applied the same technique to totally different subject matter creating a modern heirloom  countrybraidhouse.com

Edging back toward the macabre Stefan Strumbelhas taken the traditional cuckoo clock of his homeland, the Black Forest in Germany, and applied objects of popular culture soaked in bright and acidic colours.  Strumble has moved from being a graffiti artist into 3 dimensional work.

His work looks at the German concept of Heimat, roughly translated as homeland  “There is no English word for Heimat,” Strumbel explains. “Some people link Heimat to a place, for others it is a feeling.”  Strumble has replaced motifs associated with his homeland with items of popular culture that have no geographical link.

Skulls by Beware the Moon This is a quality wallpaper; each roll is handmade with a “no expense spared” attitude from the makers to keep the print as close to the original art work as possible.  And they’ve chosen a quality gent to high light this.. Insouciant, sartorially superior ,eyebrow quizzical, pondering the taste of his fag – sorry cigarette. Or possibly he’s standing opposite a wall hung with one of the more risqué papers in the range “She” featuring a naked lady. I’d say he’s pondering the latter.  Beware the Moon have a refreshingly witty approach to wallpaper design and production , hopefully some new designs are coming soon

I’ve mentioned Studio Job’s Industry in in earlier post on Marquetry but they’re always worth another look. In the beautiful work seen here they’ve interwoven skeletons and skull/gas masks onto the surface of their wardrobe.

Its that time of year when a fresh batch of graduates leap out into the real world. After years of focusing on the final degree show; that’s it. Its over.  Done. Time to figure out what the heck to do next. Do you set up on your own or will you be plucked from the thousands of other graduates for a dream job. New Designers held at the Business Design Centre in Islington North London is a showcase for this years graduates from colleges across the UK. Its great opportunity for this years batch of graduates to showcase their work; make new contacts and find out from last years graduates, over in the One Year On section, just how hard it is out there in the big wide world.

Week 1 focuses on Textiles, Fashion & Accessories, Ceramics & Glass Contemporary Applied Arts.

Week 2 its over to Product & Furniture Design Visual Communications ans Spatial Design.

I can’t honestly say I looked at every aspect – its just too vast; but here is a taste of what caught my eye.

Eva Joly’s Textile designs transform mundane household items into amusing contemporary patterns (1st image and below).  Using a dolls house scale to present the images of domesticity added to the sense of fun her design have. But aside from the fun;  its a commercially viable design and I’d love to see her work in various textile and paper forms.

Another textile designer whose work I admired was Anna Jensen from Bath Spa University. I’m afraid I can’t show you any images of her work they’ve been bought up- she’s done so well she won the Harlequin award which means they now own her work. A version of her work shown at New Designers will be produced but….  Well, hopefully it will see the light of day and not get chewed up and spat out in some watered down version.  That is the thing about graduate shows you just worry for them – or I do.

Bulrushi Ercol Marita Szkutnik is a rather happy result of a project set between Ercol and Bucks New University. Marita’s wooden bench has wood dowels with flocked “bulrush” tops that can act as a coat stand. They don’t look sturdy but are surprisingly strong and when you brush your hand across them they wave about in a very pleasing natural way.  I think ; actually I know this was my favourite of the two shows. The picture doesn’t do it justice, but then it is a tactile piece. Marita is off to Rotterdam next, on a work placement – which is fantastic, shame I can’t remember with whom!

The stand (pictured above) for the Northumbria University 3 Dimensional Design was incredibly impressive. I guess I was stuck by the graphic on the back wall and overall presentation of the stand. Any manufacturer would be proud of it never mind a University on a budget. But it was not only the presentation that was outstanding, it was the quality and craftsmanship of the work. It was all really beautifully made.

I particularly liked the work of Ellen Thomas (above),she showed her MILK stools, created as a response to a brief on value and what makes things valuable. Her response it a humourous mix of traditional craft techniques and contemporary aesthetics. Each piece has a etched pattern on the underside and one leg harks back to more humble milking stools.

Over on the Brighton University stand the work of Adi Chambers from caught my eye.  I loved her beautiful Chippendale cabinet made from laser cut cardboard. Just as in the 18th Century apprentices made samples in minature, this piece was the same – but you could see exactly how it could be impressively transformed to life sized.

She also showed and inventive piece using discarded draws mounted onto a metal frame.

This sample of New Designers is just a snippet of what was on show; and strangely I’ve selected an all female cast of high lights. This is in no means deliberate. But I would like to think that; particularly in 3D design where there has been a traditional male dominance; this is a thing of the past and we’re looking at an area of equality now.

There was so much more to explore at New Designers do take a look over on their website  http://www.newdesignersonline.co.uk/

Using a strap to tie things together is not a new idea and interestingly many of the products featured in this post have their roots in traditional crafts techniques and ideas. Just strapping a few bits and bobs together this ain’t. Its partly about learning from the past but also out of necessity and practicality, applying a simple device to create a useful functional ethical product.

Simon Hasan has used leather straps to hold integral parts of his work together. The welded box of the cabinet is held onto the oak stand and the cushion on the stool is held in place by the use of leather straps that have been boiled to give them strength.

His work was inspired by reading about the technique of boiling leather (cuir bouilli) that turns soft mallable leather into a much harder material without the use of any resin or other chemical treatments. The strength and durability of the leather is such that this medieval process was used for amour and drinking vessels. Simon has combined this process with another ancient crafting skill that is wood cleaving.

Chairless byAlejandro Aravena for Vitra. Again taking inspiration from the ancient , Alejandro’s strap is an idea developed from the Ayoreo Indians of South America. Aimed at the “modern nomad” its very light and easy to pack down and is meant to by used when chairs are in short supply.The strap takes the strain and relieves the back and legs, and keeps your hands free for reading, eating, tinkering on you laptop etc. I’m sure this will be hugely copied, anyone going to a music festival in the next year will suddenly see them everywhere. They do take a bit of practice so it could be entertaining watching people getting tangled, rolling around…..

Bungee straps, those super strong stretchy bands loved by the camping and trekking fraternity to attach all manner of necessities to the car or bike have also been appropriated by designers .

Blow Sofa by Malafor.  It is an environmental product; made from 100% recyclable dunnage bags, the inflateable bags sit on a frame held together by bungee straps. It looks a little precarious to sit on, but as long as its not over inflated its rather comfy. The bags are paper covered so you could add your own doodled design to them.

 Lukas Franciszkiewicz’ Stool FRNKWZ* also uses a steel frame as its base with a black bungee strap to hold the square cushion in place. The sense of instability from the straps is offset by the structure of the pyramid steel frame – theres a bit of give in it but its not going to slip off.

Mugrosita by Liliana Ovalle took inspiration for her work from the way street vendors in Mexico City held their stalls and tangled bags of merchandise together by straps and knots. The wooden frame of the couch is overlaid with a serise of beanbags secured by ropes.

Autarky by Studio Formafantasma shown in Milan at Spazio Rossana Orlandi follows on from their work mentioned in my Earth post.

Again using natural materials to create the vessels the strap is used to hold things that accompany the meal either spoons, bread or biscuits.