Reviving The Past

 collaborations, furniture, inspirational, interiors, nice things, product design, shops, textiles  1 Response »
Jun 292012
 

G Plan Reviving The Past

Before you all run off screaming, this isn’t yet another blog post about up-cycling, I promise. This post is a look at the collaboration between three parties, all of whom are iconic in their own right, three British hero brands forming a collaboration which makes them all shine. HemingwayDesign (complete with daughter, Tilly) and G Plan (ultimate furniture maker of midcentury design) have created a ‘capsule’ collection of 5 pieces inspired by previous G Plan designs, recreated using modern fabrics and complimented with accent cushions with HemingwayDesign printed textiles. And to the final guest to this marvellous party is high street favourite, John Lewis, where they are being sold. Handcrafted in Melksham, Wiltshire, you can’t get furniture more British than this (whatever that means considering this splendid little island has been built on eons and eons of invasions and immigrants) and if you were wanting a bit of iconic design but don’t fancy either the early starts of antique fairs or trying your hand at upholstering, this is the answer. A prime example of post-modernism for a generation of modernists. Get me.

From top: The Sixty One, The Fifty Three, prices start from £1,200, and finally, The Sixty Seven, prices start from £1,400. Made to order, with a lead time of 6 weeks. Available in a choice of 17 upholstery fabrics.

Dear Prudence

 colour, decorative, Designer-Maker, exhibitions, homewares, interiors, London, nice things, paper, pattern, product design, shops, textiles  No Responses »
Jun 282012
 

Rachel Powell Dear Prudence

Looking at her work and her new online shop (went live today), you wouldn’t believe that Rachel Powell only graduated as a print designer a year ago. She was part of New Designers 2011 at The Business Design Centre in London, and this year sees Rachel returning to New Designers (part two) as part of the ‘One Year On’ where she will be launching her new wallpaper collection. It currently features two designs; ‘Woodstock’ (top right) and ‘Prudence’ (top left) available in the colour ways seen in the bottom image. It’s a strong beginning which hopefully signals the way she intends to continue, and strong she will have to be to make room for herself in an already competitive area of design that is filled with numerous well-established designer-maker brands. Not content with playing with wallpaper alone, she also has a charming range of pendant lights and even has a tea towel or two. For those of you looking for a pared-down contemporary take on a midcentury style that’s a little bit more sophisticated and a little less shouty, then this is your gal. I shall look forward to seeing the next range of designs and colours.

‘Woodstock’ and ‘Prudence’ both £68 per 10m roll, available to buy on her website. Rachel also offers a bespoke colour-matching service, £80 per 10m roll, minimum order 4 rolls.

The Apple (Green) Of My Eye

 colour, fashion, homewares, interiors, jewellery, nice things, shopping, shops  3 Responses »
Jun 272012
 

Green The Apple (Green) Of My Eye

I’m no teacher but I do like an apple and I say that Apple Green is for all. Cheery, calming and happily confident, this full-bodied tone of the popular hue is really rather dashing in all forms. It doesn’t shout or demand attention and works as well in the home or on the person. Seriously undervalued and underused, this colour brings sophistication to a grown up palette and once you start looking, you won’t stop spotting it everywhere you go. And rightly so. The colour of Wimbledon, I can’t think of a better time to celebrate it. I bow down to you, apple green, long may your reign continue. Here are my top picks from the UK high street of this fresh and juicy colour.

Product credits: 1.) Fresco Tumbler and Hi Ball Glasses Lime by Ella Sabatini, prices from £3.50 (sale price), Heal’s, 2.) Isabella shoulder bag, £199 (sale price), Mimi, 3.) Evoke Mio radio in sage, £129.99, Pure, 4.) Tube by Tom Dixon, £POA, The Rug Company, 5.) Supreme Supima towelling in ‘Green Tea’, prices from £3.50 for a face cloth, Christy, 6.) Parakeet brooch, £36, Tatty Devine, 7.) Siirtolapuutarha cushion by Marimekko, £40, Skandium, 8.) The Grid leather trainers in ‘Iceberg’, €110, Veja, 9.) Kenneth sofa, Designed by Faudet-Harrison, £2,052.80 (sale price), SCP

The Secret World of Dressmakers’ Pins

 animation, fun things, textiles, texture  No Responses »
Jun 262012
 

PIN from Elise Fachon on Vimeo.

PIN by Elise Fachon. Final for Intermediate Stop Motion Fall 2011.

I have to confess, I’m not entirely sure what this one is all about but I like it. PIN was an entry into Vimeo’s 2011 challenge to create characters from the simplest shapes and forms. This definitely does that. A nice black ‘sky’ with ‘moon-like’ mounds covered in a tiny-gauge cream knit makes for a most effective and instantaneous scene. I like dressmakers’s pins and I like the texture of knitted wool. So, throw them together with some funny noises and a bit of a story (if you can enlighten me, that’d be great) then I’m yours. It’s like a texilean (yes, I made that up) Clangers. I do especially like the final clip where the headed-pin growls, but I shan’t say any more than that so I don’t spoil it for you all. She’s in her final year of college at the Rhode Island School of Design and she’s got some other fantastic animations on both her Vimeo page and her website, so do have a look. Clever lady.

To Twist (An Altered State of Being)

 ceramics, collaborations, decorative, Designer-Maker, events, homewares, interiors, nice things, product design, shopping, shops  2 Responses »
Jun 152012
 

Reiko at Dalani To Twist (An Altered State of Being)

Reiko Kaneko is especially well known for her ceramic baubles which are playful and fun, with magnified cat and dog faces (amongst others) peering out at you, nose first. Never one to shy away from bight and bold colours usually, this feels like a new side to Reiko, one that I haven’t seen before and I like it. It’s clean, cool and edgy with angles. It’s tough yet elegant with understated sophistication. This range ‘Twist’ (the decanter and both of the tumblers) is quite a far departure from her bolder, more obvious graphics, exploring the silhouette and the shape of a structure who’s variations we all know so well. Taking the outside of a vessel and realigning it in a way that both detracts and attracts the attention away from the form. A curious play on the eyes. And the other is a more obvious ‘Reiko’ with it’s ‘Crack of Thunder’ jagged bolt in gold, tearing across the crockery. Very nice. And lucky for you, these babies are going to be on Dalani on sale, from Monday. So, you have a week in which to smash open that little fat piggy upstairs, count up your pennies, register (if you haven’t already) and bag yourself an item of splendour of your choosing. And if that piggy is truly fat, get yourself the lot. Go on, you know you want to.

Reiko Kaneko’s ‘Twist’ range; high tumbler, £8, wide tumbler, £8, decanter, £10; and ‘Crack of Thunder’ crockery, dinner plate, £11, on sale from the 25th of June 2012, on Dalani

In With The Nerd

 competitions, Designer-Maker, furniture, homewares, interiors, nice things, product design, shops  No Responses »
Jun 142012
 

David Geckeler In With The Nerd

The Nords (new collective term by me) have done it again. This is the third year in a row that Muuto have hosted the annual design competition for Nordic design students. This year’s has been the biggest yet with over 400 entrants from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland, the Muuto judging board had their work cut out for them. All categories from furniture, lighting and accessories were submitted. Having judged my first product design competition recently, I can only sympathise with the judges’ task. However, a winner was picked, hurrah!, as were two runners up. The 1st prize went to David Geckeler from the Royal Danish Design School for his sleek little number ‘Nerd Chair’ (2nd prize: Caroline Olsson, Akershus University, Norway – Bambi Table; 3rd prize: Marte Straalberg, Bergen National Academy of the Arts, Norway – Sprinkle Lamp). The Nerd chair is a soft-edged design made from a simplistic two pieces of thin curved wood, slotted together on four smooth pole legs. Available in plain wood, obviously, and a range of subtle and bold colours, spanning from black and secondary colours all the way over to pretty pastels. At least one there to please everyone. I look forward to seeing what comes next from Mr Geckeler.

I Scream and You Scream For The Icecreamists

 books, chocolate, food, fun things, nice things, shopping  No Responses »
Jun 132012
 

The Icecreamistscover I Scream and You Scream For The Icecreamists

recipes I Scream and You Scream For The Icecreamists

You can well imagine my unbridled joy when The Icecreamists book came through my letterbox, and the joy continued when I opened it up to reveal sublime photography (Anders Schonnemann) and superb styling (Rachel Jukes). A job with excellent enjoyment factors; exciting ingredients, adventurous nature of both author and subject, the potential for lovely props and the little perk of trying all the flavours (subtle hint there to both The Icecreamists and Octopus Publishing in case a second book is in the pipeline). Who wouldn’t want to work on it? But I digress, for this blog post isn’t an opportunity to do my props stylist pitch but to tell you all about the gloriousness of a book full of tantalising recipes. My ice-cream maker has sat unloved and unused on my shelf for over a year due to being unable to find a recipe that I knew I could trust that ticked all my boxes. Then this came along containing more than I could possibly cope with (without going into recipe-choice meltdown). I started with the simple looking ‘Mint Condition’ recipe. With a straight forward list of 5 ingredients (that included After Eights. They’re not just for Christmas, you know) Mint Condition made for an appealingly easy starting point. Delicious and devoured hours later by me and my very pregnant friend, Mimi. Simply written with easy to follow instructions, there’s definitely a recipe in there for everyone, even if not all of them are to everyone’s taste. Next one on the list? Hmmm, not sure, either ‘Completely Peanuts’ or ‘A Chocwork Orange’ or ‘Vanilla Monologues’ or ‘Nuts About Chocland yard’ or ‘Espresso Yourself’…

The Icecreamists I Scream and You Scream For The Icecreamists

Product details:
The Icecreamists by Matt O’Connor

  • Hardcover: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Imprint: Mitchell Beazley (4th June 2012)
  • Language English
  • ISBN: 9781845337063
  • Price: GBP 16.99
  • Product Dimensions: 246 x 189 mm

Ice Cream Duo, Model number: ICE40BCU, RRP £100, Cuisinart
Pink ‘n’ Mix ice-cream bowls, Code: PK-BOWLS, £6.95, Talking Tables

Images with thanks to Octopus Publishing/ Mitchell Beazley

Finger On The Pulse

 animals, ceramics, decorative, Designer-Maker, events, fun things, homewares, interiors, London, nice things, paper, product design, shopping, textiles  No Responses »
Jun 122012
 

Pulse Finger On The Pulse

Here are my top picks from this year’s Pulse exhibition all of which are new to me from the show. It’s always nice attending shows as I get to see a healthy mix of old friends and get introduced to new favourites which is exactly how it ought to be. I also got to put a few faces to Twitter handles which was super, and none was I more excited by than by finally meeting fellow stylist, Poppy Norton. Lots of good stuff and a perfect way to spend a grey and chilly Sunday. My selection is not short of the graphically strong which is no surprise coming from me, there’s a bit of paper, bit of textiles, smidgen of textiles and even some kid’s stuff. Nearly all of which are designer-maker. All of my picks are on-line and most of them sell on-line too. If not, it’s worth getting in touch to find out where their stockists are. Happy Pulse-inspired shopping!

Product details 1.) ceramics by Jill Haddock, 2.) cushion by Mengsel, 3.) duffel bag by Laura Spring, 4.) paper pom poms by Miss Etoile, 5.) rabbit slippers by Sew Heart Felt, 6.) wooden postcard by Timbergram, 7.) Urban gridded notebook by Walking Things, 8.) embroidered throw by Sophie Pattinson, 9.) cushions by My Friend Yarn

all images with thanks to the exhibitors included

The Bold, The Bleak and The Beautiful

 Art, collaborations, colour, inspirational, nice things, photography, random, texture, things to do  No Responses »
Jun 112012
 

Rapha Continental: Assynt from RAPHA on Vimeo.

This may be just a feature-length long advert for Rapha road wear but if you’re gonna do it, here’s how to do it. The Rapha Continental have a series of short films of cyclists around the world and this time they’re in the UK. This truly is a beautiful piece of work. From the colours of the surrounding rugged rocks and mountains, lochs and sky to the relatively delicate texture of the man-made road, there is so much to look at and admire. The grey of the sky and how it meets the grey of the Loch with only a shimmering reflection of light off the water to help you differentiate. A cold April in north-west Scotland might as well be Winter for all its closeness to Spring, these boys battled their way through rain, hail, snow and force 7 gale winds. The words and soundtrack of the video are from ‘The Idea of The North’ which is part of a series of sound essays called ‘The Solitude Trilogy’ which were made by the pianist and artist Glenn Gould as experimental radio documentaries. And perfect they are for the environs and mood of the piece. Now, I’m no cyclist but this truly has me twitching. It looks amazing even in all its obvious pain. The exhilaration and endorphin-crazy buzz of such a ride must be intense and well worth every minute.

Film by We Are Superglue

Read here for more films and information on this video.

Bubblicious Delicious

 colour, fun things, inspirational, nice things, photography, treats  1 Response »
Jun 082012
 

bubblegum Bubblicious Delicious

This post is truly Bubblicious Delicious (with a nod to Camden Underworld’s Monday club night of many-a-moon ago) and all in the interest of the up-and-coming test shoot. I can’t wait. Obviously, I’m not going to tell you the plan now as it won’t be a surprise when I do. But do I shall when I complete it. However, in the mean time, what I will give you is a suggestion of potential colour palette. And this is it: Bubblegum pop. I’m thinking 50s bubblegum pop in candy floss pinks, apple greens, disco orange and azure blues. I want jars of gobstoppers, morello cherries, stripy straws and sweetie bags, shopkeeper’s awnings, and cherry doilies. Bright and zingy, fun and silly with a scattering of class and a healthy dollop of sophistication. I’m thinking cheeky like Kelis’ ‘Milkshake‘ video, a little bit less brazen and with a smattering of old school Americana. I’m biting at the bit to tell you but I know it won’t be as good than if I wait. It’ll be worth it though (I hope). This little test shoot is my first collaboration with the talented photographer Simon Bevan and I am very much looking forward to it. May the propping commence. Watch this space.

images with thanks to We Heart It

pixel Bubblicious Delicious
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