Budget leaves ACID taste for designers...

Angus Montgomery from Design Week reports....

Chancellor Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report is ‘rather unhelpful’ to the design industry, financial experts say.

Darling’s report, which was announced yesterday, saw VAT climb back to 17.5 per cent after being cut to 15 per cent for a year, and National Insurance rise by 1 per cent instead of the 0.5 per cent that had been predicted.

The report also saw a planned increase in Corporation Tax deferred, with Corporation Tax on earnings from patents slashed from 21 per cent to 10 per cent. The Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme, which sees the Government guarantee loans to small businesses, has been extended for a further 12 months.

Ian Cochrane, chairman of management consultancy Tice Group, describes the report as ‘a bit of a non-event’ and ‘rather unhelpful to design businesses’.

He says the increase in VAT is ‘not very good news in terms of consumer spend’, adding, ‘For the man in the street there is now an increase in tax directly on purchases and on income [with the rise in National Insurance] and all, while salaries are being held.’

Cochrane says that while the deferral of the Corporation Tax is ‘welcome’, it will take a while to filter through as the tax is collected annually.

Amanda Merron, partner at accountant Kingston Smith W1, says the increase in National Insurance will ‘put pressure on costs’ for design groups, particularly when combined with the Government-backed national pension plan, due in 2012, which will see employers required to contribute 3 per cent of employees’ salaries to the pension pot.

However, she adds that maintaining the status quo in Corporation Tax is ‘good news’, while the cut in Corporation Tax on patents ‘is trying to stop intellectual property leaving the UK, which is good news for innovation and product companies’.

Referring to this move, Dids Macdonald, chief executive of Anti Copying in Design, says, ‘I think this is a step in the right direction. The UK is becoming a knowledge economy, and anything that Government can do to help produce intangible assets is good news.’

Meanwhile, the Technology Strategy Board welcomed plans to increase the roll-out of high-speed broadband, outlined in the report. Nick Appleyard, lead technologist at the TSB, says, ‘The TSB is already engaged in supporting research that will address the technical and cost issues facing the introduction of ultra-fast broadband within this timescale. Such a broadband capability would fundamentally change the way that British businesses operate and would give us a competitive edge.’

The argument for quality...read on...tribute to David Mellor

Hugh Pearman on Design week comments........

'Don’t be tempted by throwaway goods, when hand-finished pieces are within your reach. Hugh Pearman marvels at David Mellor’s perfectly balanced cutlery

Occasionally, I used to drop in on the hub of David Mellor’s empire up in Hathersage - near Sheffield, but actually in Derbyshire. Chances are - even if it was a weekend - if you peered in through the windows of the Michael Hopkins-designed circular factory building, there would be Mellor himself, wielding the knives he made, or attending to machinery.

Mellor, who died earlier this year, was seen off in fine style last month with a (wholly secular) memorial service at the marvellous George Frederick Bodley church of Holy Trinity on London’s Prince Consort Road - handy for the Royal College of Art, which is where everyone went afterwards for the party. Not just a party, but a complete pop-up David Mellor exhibition organised by his designer son Corin, who has taken over his father’s role in the business.

It’s important that the David Mellor enterprise continues to thrive, because the honourable trade of designer-manufacturer does not have so many members. I don’t mean designer-maker in the craftsman sense, because what they produce are mostly one-offs or very limited runs. What Mellor did was design for production, which he controlled. And while some of his pieces - the Embassy silverware or the church candlesticks - aren’t produced in great quantities, he designed for the common man, too. My kitchen drawers are stuffed with David Mellor’s basic Classic stainless-steel cutlery. I’m lucky/ I can afford it, when there’s a sale on.

It’s a tricky business, because this kind of production does not mean mass-production in the Fordist sense. David Mellor cutlery is properly made (I love the fact that the sales website offers you a thorough description of the manufacturing process) by a small English workforce with a lot of hand-finishing involved. What all this boils down to is that if you buy a large Classic knife, the list price is £12, with a 44-piece canteen £504. Other ranges, such as his famous Pride design, which dates back to 1953, are more complex designs that cost a lot more. The lovely, perfectly balanced carving knife I bought myself in the sale last year is listed at £48.

It is thoroughly worth it, I might add. This cutlery brings me joy every time I use it. But this is the price of retaining control over every aspect of your business, from concept sketch through manufacturing to sales, which entails positioning yourself upmarket in consequence. David Mellor’s Sloane Square shop in London was originally an ironmonger’s. Nice idea, but there was no profit in screws and nails.

This desire to achieve design for Everyman, coupled with the economics of small-scale production in an affluent nation, has exercised the minds of everyone from William Morris to Terence Conran. It can’t be done without that magic ingredient, economy of scale. Morris & Co, the Conran Shop, David Mellor/ their founders all aspired to equip Everyman, and all ended up selling to the well-off. Conran got further than most with Habitat, the loss of which he felt (and still feels) keenly.

But look at it this way: how long do you keep a bit of furniture from Ikea? That stuff is brilliant in its way, but it’s not for the long term. Mellor may have driven an E-type Jaguar in the 1960s, but he never subscribed to the 1960s notion of the throwaway society.

The concept of high-quality design and careful manufacture for the long term is more relevant today than it has ever been. Save up for David Mellor goods: you’ll have them for life.'

All wrapped up in them selves...new chair fron Cohda Designs

British design firm, Cohda Design, have created a video that shows how they make the RD Legs Chair that was designed by Cohda’s founder, Richard Liddle.

Besides simply being something interesting to look at, the chairs use a proprietary process that allows them to make the chairs from 100% molten plastic waste. For more info on their use of reclaimed plastic, read this article – here.

Watch them making a chair below....

Making the RD Legs chair from Cohda Design on Vimeo.

Fries in Bed?.............Award winners Fries & Zumbühl

Zurich based  Fries & Zumbühl have recieved an award.....

'Darling' bed at first had its first sight by some at last year's Stockholm Furniture Fair, where it gave a clear indication of its enormous potential. With its attractive design and the innovative simplicity of its construction it impressed  the jury of the 'iF Product Design Awards', who have now presented the two designers with one of their prestigious 50 'Gold Awards'. Consisting of two leg elements made of plywood and cross slats of various lengths as a base, the bed can be adapted to mattresses of various sizes with a few simple adjustments.

At the moment the bed is produced on a self-made basis, but a partner has recently been found for its future manufacture and distribution - 'Darling' will soon be added to the collection of the Swiss label 'Moobel'.

Fantastic Bio Plastic ...from Bert Karrer..

Seen on Architonic...

'Beat Karrer's work with bioplastics

When half a century ago designers such as Verner Panton and Luigi Colani revolutionised people's living rooms with their brightly coloured plastic furniture it crossed nobody's mind that this wonder material that could be formed into any required shape would one day come to become a symbol of global rubbish and the ecological crisis.

However, there is hope: for years now international materials producers have been working on sustainable alternatives and they are now ready to launch biologically degradable plastics which can be used for a range of applications. The long-term aim is to create those everyday objects which nowadays consist of countless materials from as few components as possible in order to simplify recycling and accelerate the natural degradation process.

Just as with 'normal' plastics these bio-plastics also consist of countless chains of molecules, the polymers, which in turn are formed from a large quantity of basic components, the monomers. In contrast to synthetic polymers, which are produced from fossil raw materials, the term 'biopolymers' refers to the origin of the basic components for the polymers, which come from renewable resources. Biopolymers are composed of materials derived from living organisms - in other words plants, animals or bacteria. These can be starches from potatoes, wheat or maize, cellulose from vegetable cell walls or proteins such as silk, spider's webs or hair. The properties of the material are determined by the length and molecular structure of the chains. Depending on the manufacturing process and the formulation of the material they can be regulated and optimised by additives such as natural fibres. The variety of bio-plastics which have been tested is already impressive today.

Creating the material is one thing but finding applications for it is another, because the cost-intensive development of new production materials is only justified by their use in series production. This is where the skills of product designers and manufacturers come in - above all those who are aiming at greater things.

One of these is the Swiss designer Beat Karrer, who together with the biochemist Michael Kangas experiments with new possibilities for processing biopolymers. The low-tech experiments in their Zurich witches' kitchen produced promising results and these were quickly built on by cooperations with a number of materials producers and a research institute.

"Because we don't have the necessary equipment we tend to limit ourselves to basic research and feasibility studies, as well as testing new areas of application. If an idea functions in our studio we contact a possible project partner, present the proof of concept and then discuss further steps [...] As designers we translate the application possibilities of the materials into products which can be marketed. Design is a language which everybody understands", explains Karrer.

Superfruits...made to make yourself...is this to your taste?

Seattle, Washington based Fruitsuper Design have pulished some photos of their new CH1 chair.

'The inspiration for this chair structure was derived from studying various forms that people create when seated unsupported. With reference to the human silhouette, CH1 is a straightforward lounge chair. Seamless construction, an honesty to materials and simplified details combine in an elegant seating solution. Using powdercoated steel tubing and maple with a soap finish, the CH1 chair is the first furniture piece by Fruitsuper Design.'

New Studio in Singapore by Austrailian designer Jarrod Lim....

From the 20th to the 30th of November, Singapore will be hosted the Singapore Design Festival 2009. Jarrod Lim Design will be held an official launch of its new studio in Joo Chiat Road with an exhibition of old and new works. The exhibition ran for 10 days to coincide with the Design Festival .

See more of this award winning designers work at Jarrod Lim's website

Folded design from Belgian architect Tobias Labarque

Spotted on Contemporist blog.

'Belgian architect Tobias Labarque has created an aluminium chair.

Tobias says:

'Cantilever-type chair made from a single piece of perforated aluminium plate. there are no joints, no connections, no welding, no details, … just a (meticulously) folded plate. The chair is stackable and is fit for both indoor and outdoor use.'

It looks quite aggressive, but sits very comfortable.'

Take a look at Tobias's web site for mor interesting folded style chairs or just get a piece of paper and see what you can create for yourself ....why not send them in to me...sorry no prizes but lots of praise available!

Compact living advice from Poliform

Italian furniture manufacturer Poliform has created an inspirational residential interior project called “My Life in 80m²” to show that the quality of a living space does not depend on the size.

Obviously they have no children and are exeptionally tidy!.........

New plans for 'G Plan'....70's icon in retail reorganisation

Spotted on Design week online...by Emily Pacey

Manchester-based consultancy The Market Creative is designing a retail concept for furniture manufacturer G Plan’s shop-in-shops.

G Plan appointed The Market Creative in June, after the consultancy approached it with ‘observational and experiential research that showed that G Plan was not optimising the shopping experience’, according to The Market Creative managing director Sue Benson.

‘The biggest thing that G Plan has missed is getting people to sit down on its products,’ she adds.

This observation forms the core of the permanent point-of-sale campaign that will launch in three weeks at an independent furniture store in Bristol.

‘We have taken the values of the brand, which are comfort, quality, heritage and craftsmanship, and tried to communicate them, which G Plan wasn’t doing before,’ says Benson.

The new retail concept will roll out to G Plan concessions in about 400 UK stores throughout 2010.'

Wired over from Germany ...light and airy table from Ismail Özalbayrak...

New work seen on Contemporist...

German designer Ismail Özalbayrak has sent us photos of the Wireframe table he has created.The frame is made of steel and the table top is made of medium density fiberboard. Ismail is currently searching for a manufacturer to produce the table.

Light and airy design , although would need to be tested to assess stability...How do those stools stay up??

Any thoughts?...

NIce Curves from across the channel.....new funiture launched by Victor Boëda....

As seen on Contemporist...

French designer Victor Boëda has created the Lilium sofa and chair for the Paris based furniture manufacturer Steiner.

'From the designer:
Lilium is a soft couch with a floral line. An assemblage of three sheets, one per function: seat, kidney-level support & back-rest.'

 
Nice curves here not unlike my own Airya chair I am working on at moment, although I would have probably treates the leg design dirfferently especially at the front where they give the impression of tipping forward and perhaps a little unstability....
 
What do you think?

New range from U.K based furniture designer Stueart Padwick.....

Seen on Contemporist blog

British designer Steuart Padwick has launched his own brand of furniture and lighting. For his new company, he has created a variety of new designs, which are featured below.

See more at Stueart Padwicks web site

Back to the furniture...1970's pieces to appear in Ecopod holiday homes...

Spotted on Design week online....

'Designers Anonymous has branded, worked on interiors and created a website for a new luxury geodesic dome retreat in Scotland.

Once complete, Ecopod Boutique Retreat, located on the west coast of Scotland near Loch Linnhe, will comprise up to five geodesic domes, supplied by German manufacturer Zendome.

The 100 per cent recycled domes, second-hand furniture and use of sustainable materials are intended to earn the retreat Green credentials. ‘I honestly believe we will have the lowest carbon footprint out of any self-catering hotel in the UK,’ says Ecopod’s co-owner Jim Milligan.

Ecopod appointed Designers Anonymous in early summer on the strength of a recommendation.

At first, the brief ran to creating a website for the retreat. However, the remit rapidly expanded to include rebranding as well.

‘The first logo was brand new, but it was like clip art and very poor considering the retreat is going to be aimed at the Wallpaper [magazine] end of the market,’ says a consultancy spokesman. ‘The client just trusted us to step back and take a look at the whole project.’

Designers Anonymous has created a visual identity (pictured above right) and designed vehicle livery already, and will create marketing materials and advertising for the company as the opening date of next spring approaches.

Milligan says the retreat will be marketed at luxury travellers, retirees, honeymooners and affluent gay couples.

Designers Anonymous, which has no completed interiors projects under its belt to date, also took on interior design for elements of the domes, including creating a camouflage print for the shells (pictured).

Each dome will feature an open-plan kitchen handmade by German furniture company Stadtnomaden, and a standalone, barrel-shaped bathroom pod clad in cedar pine. ‘The domes were looking very clean, but this softens the look a bit,’ says Milligan.

Milligan aims to have two domes in place by April. Located in a National Scenic Area, their removable nature helped to win planning approval for the project.

‘Initially, we were planning on marketing the retreat as 100 per cent carbon neutral, but soon realised that such a concept is impossible, and we didn’t want to be caught out,’ says Milligan.

ECOPOD BOUTIQUE RETREAT

- Will consist of five geodesic domes, each with a 10m radius

- Stadtnomaden is supplying free-standing, handmade kitchens

- Roger Wilde is making free-standing bathroom pods

- Furniture will be 1970s second-hand designer pieces

- Guests will use electric golf buggies to get around the site'

Objeti of desire?...versatile range of furniture from the U.S.A...

Seen on Contemporist blog

Objeti, a Cleveland, Ohio based furniture design and manufacturing company, have sent us their Aerialist Series of coffee tables that can convert into seating. With the turn of a lever, the surface of the table top transforms to reveal an upholstered cushion.

Not sure about the name for this range of pieces but i can appreciate its veratility and use of colour. Reminds me a little of my own Opposed frame range of tables and contemporary furniture.

See more at Objeti web site

Holon to your seats....New Israeli design museum by Ron Arad...

Seen On Design Week online by Angus Montgomery

'The Design Museum Holon in Israel, designed by Ron Arad Architects, is set to open in January.

The building, which has been under construction for four years, is opening as part of a programme to transform the town of Holon, in central Israel, into a culture and education centre.

The museum will be constructed from five bands of varying shades of Cor-ten steel and will accommodate two main galleries and a number of diverse exhibition and education spaces in-between.

Ron Arad says, ‘We created a hierarchy of outdoor spaces so you walk in under the building into a semi-covered yard, where you have a choice to take the air-conditioned route or one exposed to the elements. The building envelope is not just a pretty space – it’s also a structure.’'

Escher...Escher...bless you a new versatile coffee table from Toby Howes

Seen on Contemporist blog new table by designer Toby Howes

'As the name suggests, the design was inspired by one of Escher’s bird & fish tessellation sketches & proved every bit as difficult as it looks to perfect all the angles! I wanted to create a modern design piece that combined my usual simplicity of style with a real edge & this is the result. I’m a strong believer in William Morris’s design philosophy “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” & I hope the Escher table fits the bill on both counts.

Each of the three walnut inlaid arcs slide out to become side tables in their own right, leaving the central zebrano piece to become more & more sculptural as each arc is removed. The zebrano wraps around the inside of the funnels of each ‘arm’ of the central piece to form a funnel, rather like that of an old-fashioned gramapohone, that draws the eye in through the centre. This is especially effective if light is streaming through one of the funnels & I have been working on a version with a light actually built into the heart of the table to achieve exactly this effect. The flashes of red on the sides are completely hidden whilst the table is whole & are only revealed as the arcs are removed.

Dimensions 450mm high 800mm wide and deep
Materials Walnut and Zebrano'

More to see at Toby Howes web pages

Chinese manufacturer branches out?...Shrub table prototypes seen on web..

Spooted on Contemporist, a new way of Chinese manufacturing?....Chinese designer Zhili Liu has created the Shrub Tables.

'Chinese manufacturing is usually famous for large quantity, low quality and very limited new material and technology. So for Chinese designers, creating low quantity products with high quality in both design and manufacturing has always been a tougher task than it is in most other places. I have been trying to create high specification products with typical Chinese industrial materials and basic technics, through unusual design and engineering, and these tables are the first prototypes in this direction – which I believe could be another route for “Chinese design” aside from reinterpreting the traditional decorative elements.

The exposed sunken screws bolt together the table top with all the “branches” of table legs, forming dozens of stable triangles, which make the table top part of the frame to share the stress in the legs, thus material needed to make a table is minimized. the 2-metre dining table has a top with 6mm even thickness, from edge to centre, without any space technology or exotic material, just thin steel rods, aluminium sheet and a roadside workshop, and the randomnly spreaded fastening screws also become the decorative elements here. Cut, bent, welded and powder coated.'

See more at Zhili Liu' s web site..  Nice work but not sure about the Cornflake packet welding mask though...

Can't wait to see the rest of the train.....Cellulose meeting Pods by Paul Coudamy

As seen on Contemporist blog

French architect and designer Paul Coudamy has created the Cellulose meeting pods.

I'm living in a box..I'm living in a cardboard box.....by 80's pop group  'Living in a Box ' 1987, probably not quite what they had in mind.....

Any other Business?...lets sit on it...Skandinavian chairs up for show

Spotted on Contemporist blog...

Dialogue – A Chair That Is Up For Negotiation, is an exhibition on now until January 31, 2010, that is put on by the Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition, an association of Danish furniture manufactures and designers, who’s purpose is to develop and stage an annual exhibition of new and experimental furniture types with strong practical and artistic qualities and excellent craftsmanship.

Worth a look at the Danish Cabinet makers website

New look for classic art furniture website...Fornasetti gets make over

As seen on design week online...

'Micha Weidmann Studio is working on a new website for Italian design house Fornasetti.

Fornasetti was founded by Milan-based artist Piero Fornasetti, who designed the company’s products himself, and also collaborated with architect Gio Ponti. Following Fornasetti’s death in 1988, the company was taken over by his son, Barnaba.

Pictorial desk by Fornasetti

Micha Weidmann Studio was appointed to develop the website in July, according to creative director Micha Weidmann, who says the consultancy had been in talks with Fornasetti for about two years to collaborate on projects. It started work on the site in September. Weidmann says, ‘Barnaba has spent a long time repositioning the business in the right way, and this website is one of the first steps in establishing Fornasetti online. It comes with a look that respects and showcases the company’s design.’

He adds, ‘We didn’t want to create crazy new branding, we wanted to take what was there and make it work.’ The website opens with a woman’s face, over which hovers the cursor, which has turned into a bee (pictured). ‘Immediately, you enter the surreal world of Fornasetti,’ says Wiedmann. The screen also references a portrait of opera singer Lina Cavalieri, which appears repeatedly in Fornasetti’s designs.

Kiss cabinet by Barnaba Fornasetti

The website then splits into three sections, says Weidmann: story, creations, and shop and visit. The story section covers biographies of Piero and Barnaba Fornasetti, and tells the story of the company itself.

Weidmann says, ‘There is also a bee buzzing around on the screen, and if you click on it you get images of the cat at the Fornasetti house, or Piero’s erotic sketches.’ The creations section will provide a comprehensive round-up of the products on offer, while shop and visit will provide details of how to buy the products, and potentially an e-commerce site. Weidmann says, ‘Fornasetti is interested in timeless design - it’s not interested in what’s modern or trendy.

The company takes its time and does things right. The new website is set to launch in early December.

THE FORNASETTI STORY

1913 - Piero Fornasetti born in Milan
1935 - exhibits at Milan Triennale
1940 - works with Gio Ponti for the first time
1988 - Fornasetti dies, his son Barnaba takes over the company
2009 - reworks website with Micha Weidmann Studio'

Modern Mexican chique meets Mid Century Modern...Charlotte Perriand is on the guest list...

Another High quality article from Contemporist...

'Distrito Capital Hotel by Joseph Dirand

Surprising interiors, dazzling panoramic views and double-height ceilings are a few of the eye-catching highlights of Distrito Capital. Located in the highest area of Mexico City – the skyscraper district of Santa Fe – this hotel is a testament to how cool Mexico’s capital has become in recent years.

Designed around the idea of creative minimalism, the 30 well-appointed guestrooms and suites look more like chic art spaces than hotel rooms. Any visitor will be simultaneously awed by impeccable design touches and excited by personal service flourishes. Fashionable without being zeitgeist-y, the inviting décor allows visitors to truly kick back and relax.

The hotel is punctuated by vintage furnishings by Charlotte Perriand and other famous mid-century designers. And Parisian interior designer Joseph Dirand has also successfully created thought-provoking social spaces within the property, such as a lounge-friendly pool area, several spectacular terraces and a film projection room. In fact, the Enrique Olvera-curated restaurant on the fifth floor is one of Mexico City’s newest hotspots. Guests will feel like they’ve stepped into their dream apartment.

Visit the Distrito Capital Hotel’s website – here.

Park to breathe new life into iconic Mumbai interior...

Seen on Design Week website 12th november...

'The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, a luxury Mumbai hotel known globally since it suffered a devastating terrorist attack last November, will soon unveil new interiors by James Park Associates and others.

JPA claims that it was appointed just two weeks after the 60-hour siege, which killed more than 150 people, on the strength of its previous work for hotel group Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces. The group reports it was initially briefed to advise on the rapid reopening of the Taj’s least damaged building, the Tower wing. However, the remit soon expanded to include revamping and refurbishing most of the hotel, claims JPA.

‘The Tower wing was not that badly damaged, but the older heritage wing required a lot more work,’ says David Edwards, managing director of JPA’s Singapore office.
During the attack, fire ripped through the fifth and sixth floors of the hotel, destroying its dome. The core of the hotel was devastated by grenade explosions and many areas were peppered with bullet holes.

Although much of the damage was not structural, its extensive nature has given JPA an opportunity to strip away some late 20th-century design interventions ‘to take the interiors closer to how we feel the hotel would have been originally’, says Edwards.
The consultancy claims it renovated 280 rooms with 40 different configurations, which Edwards describes as ‘very challenging’. JPA has created five new colour schemes for the guest rooms.
‘Although the colours are more vibrant than those the hotel previously had, they are very Indian,’ says Edwards. The public areas will feature four further schemes.

JPA is also designing four of 16 themed suites, including one called Ravi Shankar. The suite, says Edwards, will not follow the ‘predictable’ 1960s theming he believes most would expect. ‘It is a fairly classical design, in keeping with the building, reflecting the diversity and number of generations Shankar has influenced’. The rooms will feature one of the musician’s sitars.
Other themed suites and some food and beverage offers are being designed by US-based architect and interiors consultancies Rockwell Group and Bamo, Singaporebased Lim Teo & Wilkes Design Works and Italian group Lissoni Associati, says Edwards.
A phased opening from now until February will unveil JPA’s redesigned guest rooms and executive suites, lobby and reception, grand staircase and central dome, poolside lounge, palace lounge and main lobby.

TAJ MAHAL PALACE IN MUMBAI

1903 - The Taj Mahal Palace hotel resort opens, built in Indo- Saracenic style. The hotel features a dome allegedly made with the same steel as was used in the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The Taj claims it was the first hotel in India to feature a steam elevator

1973 - Tower wing constructed as a separate building 26 November 2008 - terrorist attacks damage the hotel. The owner vows to renovate it at an estimated cost of INR5bn (£65m)'

Design Britain award ...finalists announced...

Designers of the future discovered at interiors 2010

Featuring this year’s hottest young design talent in furnishing, lighting, soft furnishing and accessories, interiors 2010 will be hosting this year’s New Design Britain finalists.
The New Design Britain competition is open to graduates and postgraduates and has two main categories in the competition: Made in Britain and Designed in Britain. Each of these has three subsections: Furniture, Accessories and Surface Coverings and Fabrics.
The finalists will be displayed at the show with the winners being judged and announced at interiors 2010 on Monday 25th January 2010.

The finalists are as follows:

Furniture:
Phil Crooks, Yu-Hun Kim, Tim Harrison & Lorna Wilby
Highly commended: Alec Macmaster & Francesca Mancini

Accessories:
James Cadogan, Helena Karelson, Allesandro Foglia & Celia Choryn

Surface Coverings and Fabrics:
Kate Simcoe, Lynsey Jean Henderson, Vaishali Patel, Tamar Balakjian, Polly Bell & Jennifer Jones

Judging the entries will take place by:

John Jenkins – Heals
Sally Bendelow – Marks & Spencer
Damien Walton – House of Fraser
Gareth Griffiths – Stuart Jones ltd
Martin Grierson – Worshipful Company Furniture Makers
Barbara Chandler – Freelance journalist and photographer

Previous winners of New Design Britain include Jason Heap, Rob Scarlet and Naomi Dean – all have gone on to have success within the interiors industry. To read more about their success stories click here.

Nice to see some of my old boys, Jason Heap and Alex Macmaster mentioned here...well done to both of them!

Get in Formation ...to see Joe Walsh's new work

Spotted on Contemporist....Furniture by Irish designer Joe Walsh...

He states....

'In this new work I will create a series of pieces that, while continuing to possess many of the values of my work to date, go on to explore form in a sensitive way. Through this work, I am seeking to emulate nature’s forms with a timeless presence as though they have evolved like a formation or erosion. The resulting composition of form, material and colour creates a sense of wholeness in each complete work.'

See more of this amazing collection at the Joseph Walsh website.

Design Museum moves, moving closer....

Spotted on Design Week online...by Angus Montgomery

'The Design Museum has launched an international search for an architect to work on the Commonwealth Institute building in west London, which is set to become the new home of the museum


The practice appointed would work alongside Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas’ practice OMA, which is developing plans for residential buildings around the CI building, now renamed the Parabola.
The Design Museum is seeking a design team, led by an architect and also comprising a structural engineer, an mechanical and electrical engineer, a construction design and management co-ordinator and a catering consultant to work on the museum fit-out within the Grade II*-listed building.
This work will include creating temporary and permanent exhibition spaces, education, event, catering and retail spaces, an auditorium and associated office storage, circulation, back-of-house areas, plant, and plant-related services.
The deadline for submissions of interest is 4 December, and a design team is expected to be announced in February, ahead of the Design Museum’s move from its Shad Thames home, which could take place in 2013.
Plans for the Design Museum’s move to Kensington were approved by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and English Heritage in September.'

Were wishing on a...Toby Howes new laminated chair design

Spotted on Contemporist Blog an elegant rocking chair design 'Wishbone'  by designer Toby Howes who talks about his new piece below....

'I like to use different materials when designing new pieces, to give me an alternate view on shapes & textures, & this one started life as a couple of pipecleaners! It’s all about the lines &, from the side, you can see every curve mirrors the others to give an unusual silhouette for a rocking chair. Originally, it was constructed completely out of maple but, by adding the walnut into the supporting curves, the two-tone now draws the eye through the chair’s lines.

The shorter than usual rockers mean it doesn’t take up as much floor space & the design can be ‘au naturel’ or upholstered to your taste. Although the design is contemporary, the woods used can be changed to fit in with a more traditionally furnished home as well &, I’m told, the wishbone is especially comfortable for nursing mothers.'

Dimensions 900mm high 550mm wide and 1100mm long. Materials: Maple and Walnut...

Whatever floats your boat ......what a corker of a seat...

Seen on Seeking designers website

Designer Daniel Michalik of DMFD discovered the natural flexibility of cork allows it to form fantastic, complex shapes no other material can match. At over 72 inches long, Cortiça is a full-size chaise longue with a place for head, heels, and everything in between. The pliability of the material allows the user of this lounge to rock gently from side to side or on her back with a great degree of stability. The result is a sensation of floating, weightlessness and total support. And the best part? The Cortiça also floats like a boat.

Starck reality ? ......Design week's Adrian Shaugnessy comments on the recent T.V show

Spotted design week online November 2009...

Philippe Starck’s recent TV show has been the subject of derision in the design world, but there was wisdom among the buffoonery, says Adrian Shaughnessy


'Philippe Starck is a bona fide genius, and his BBC Two show - Philippe Starck’s School of Design - was a brilliant ad for design. There, I’ve said it, and it feels good. Of course, I realise this is heresy. In Design Land it has become obligatory to savage the show. Stephen Bayley said it shared the same genetic code as Opportunity Knocks. And in the civilised pages of Design Week, Starck has been called ‘an idiot’ and the ‘worst type of stereotypical designer’ (Letters, DW 15 October).

Designers will debate the merits and demerits of Starck until the cows come home tinkling their Starck-designed bells. Yet despite occasional bouts of buffoonery, the great Frenchman emerges from the show as a well-formed receptacle of good sense and design wisdom, and I can’t help wondering how many of his critics could survive the scrutiny of a TV crew and ratings-hungry producers.

It’s true that a great deal of what Starck stands for today - ‘democratic design’ and his insistence on products having a ‘reason to exist’ - is contradicted by his past. I’m thinking of luxury yachts and his beautiful, yet surely inessential, Perspex ‘ghost chairs’. But designers are allowed to change their views, and beneath the Asterix-like bluster and the infelicities with the English language, Starck makes some razor-sharp points about sustainability and the importance of ‘generosity’ when designing a product.

His decision in the opening episode to send his ‘pupils’ on a shopping trip to choose essential and non-essential items was smart. Nearly all 12 candidates failed this simple test, proving at a stroke their unpreparedness for the bigger task of actually designing something worthwhile. If some of them had listened to what Starck told them at this point, they might have lasted longer.

But reality shows rarely have anything to do with reality. They are entertainment, just like any Saturday ratings smash. And it was here, in the game-show aspect of the series, that Starck’s attempt to award a six-month internship to a young UK product designer was at its most vulnerable to criticism and ridicule.
Yet the fault clearly lay not with Starck, but with the programme-makers and the vapid conventions of reality TV. It’s obligatory in these shows to manipulate the action shamelessly to create tension and phoney drama. Starck’s candidates were prompted to parrot the usual insincerities about self-belief and the will to win, and simple tasks that would hardly tax a foundation-year design student were ramped up into TV melodrama.
The show wasn’t helped by the inability of the candidates to explain their thinking. With the exception of one individual (the eventual winner), the wannabe Starckers were woefully inarticulate. But unlike the show-offs and fame junkies that clog up The Apprentice, each of Starck’s candidates seemed genuine in their desire to be a designer - even if some of them are going to have to reconsider their career goals.
In the end, I watched the show for Starck. His moralistic approach to design was refreshing and unexpected. Mercifully, he isn’t the sort of identikit designer with a white board and a fondness for the findings of focus groups. Starck is a visionary - and with that comes a lot of messy baggage and an industrial-grade ego. But he’s not an idiot, and nor - thank God - is he a stereotypical designer. Although I can see a bit of Hughie Green in him.'

Interesting comments but it seems when anybody is put under the spotlight of television the desires of the creation of watchable t.v rather than actual reality must always prevail???

What do you think?

Roll up...Roll up...building bridges with design

Spotted on design week website by Angus Montgomery...exciting bridge design to star at show


'A scale model of Heatherwick Studio’s Rolling Bridge at London’s Paddington Basin will feature at the Lord Mayor’s Show.

The scale model, made from laser-cut aluminium and timber, will comprise 40 moving segments which will roll and unroll dozens of times during the procession on 14 November.

The project is being led by community engagement organisation the Building Exploratory, and involves pupils from Sebright Primary School in Hackney. It has been commissioned by the City Bridge Trust.
Thomas Heatherwick, founder of Heatherwick Studio, says, ‘The City Bridge Trust and the Building Exploratory have introduced us to a new generation of potential bridge builders and engineers in the guise of pupils from Sebright Primary School.
‘We had an incredible response from the children, and it’s been exciting to see this large mechanical bridge taking shape in our workshop.’

look forward to seeing this..

Keep an eye out for this one...Dieter Rams at Design Museum London..from 18th November

Spotted on Iconeye website  by Johanna Agerman, upcoming exibition by Dieter Rams one of the most highly influential designers of last century.

'DIETER RAMS: LESS IS MORE

18 NOVEMBER – 7 MARCH

As head of design at Braun for almost 30 years, Dieter Rams is one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. Before Rams, electric razors were bulky and radios didn’t need a second look, but Rams made electronic products works of art, albeit practical and minimal works of art. Now the Design Museum is holding a retrospective, so that you can take a closer look at pieces such as the SK2 radio and the 606 shelving system for Vitsoe. '

Design Museum, London

Desk by Dieter Rams

Phono Super by Dieter Rams

Design Museum  Dieter Rams exhibition press release

Photos courtesy of VADS

All about Me!....Spotted down under...

Spotted on Kanchi magazine web site you source for the best in contemporary design and fashion from Australia and beyond some fantastic comments about yours truly.....

Entitled...'In the Chair'...

'Sticking to a philosophy of using “minimal materials to create maximum impact” is what makes the contemporary furniture created by designer Kevin Hallsworth so ingenious.

Aptly named Industryindesign; his brand showcases his keen interest in the study of; modern industrial architecture and its related environments.

His designs reflect this industrial inspiration; as he creates high-end bespoke pieces for individual and corporate clients; to suit both the domestic and commercial environments.

These elegant pieces are ergonomic and made in Lincoln, United Kingdom; with carefully selected materials and a heavy dose of beautiful detailing. '

Didnt realise I was so good! .......cheers Kanchi

A little 'Exta' to sit on from aluminium extrusions?

As seen on Designboom website quite an interesting contemporary chair design made from aluminium extrusion.

'The Exta chair by Tarazi studio is constructed from a single aluminum profile. It is produced through an extrusion process, which results in a transformable-width chair that can also become an endless bench when multiple pieces are put together.

The structure transforms its purpose according to its position - as a back-rest, seat or foot rest. each component is realized by one of these functions(dent, arch and notch). the way the chair is made allows it to fit to any body size.

The chair was first constructed as a prototype in 2007, and is now being produced in a new 2009 edition.'

Quite an interesting and adaptable design using the same design principles and adaptability used in my own Industryindesign collection.

Hello Mom...yes its me on the telly...get your designs noticed now!

Spotted on Design factory news...your fifteen minutes could be here.........

UK production company Two Four Broadcast is currently working on a new design series to be aired on BBC1. Currently, they are soliciting contestants (from the UK) that have designed something they "want to take to the next level." The show will then provide a team of top industry experts who will be on hand to help the selected individuals make their product dreams real.

Here's their brief:

Have you slaved away over a product which you dream could be the next big thing? Maybe it's a new toy or game, a tasty twist on food or drink, a design sensation or something special for the home and garden? BBC1 would like to follow the people who think they have what it takes to make their dream come true. Are you up for a challenge? Can you impress top industry experts? If so this could be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Interested? A resident of the UK? Get in touch with them by emailing newbrands@twofour.co.uk.

Dont forget to mention me in the credits too!

Leading light leaves the furniture world...a tribute to Alan Peters O.B.E

Spotted on the Designermakers.org website, a fitting tribute by Jeremy Broun about Alan Peters renowned furniture maker...

'Alan Peters, the celebrated furniture, maker died on 11th October 2009 at the age of 76. He had been ill for some time. His funeral service will be held on Friday 23rd October at St Michael's Church in Minehead, Somerset at 2pm.
Alan Peters was born in 1933 in Petersfield, Hants, the son of a  precision engineer. In 1949 he was apprenticed to Edward Barnsley and became one of the few direct links with the Arts and Crafts Movement, pioneered by William Morris. In 1962 he set up his first workshop in Hindhead, Surrey and in 1973 he moved to Kentisbeare in Devon where he worked for the major part of his career until moving to Minehead in Somerset in 2002.
Amongst the many awards he received was an OBE in 1990 for his services to furniture design. He was known worldwide for his simple understated yet clearly distinctive modern furniture designs, but also for his tireless efforts as a teacher, writer and assessor. To a generation he was arguably the foremost British furniture designer maker.
A turning point in his work was a scholarship to Japan in 1975 where he was influenced by the simple vernacular architecture.He also said: "If some day someone regards a piece of my furniture as a work of art, that's fine, that's a bonus, but it's not my motive in producing it; that has always been to produce a piece of  furniture to which I am happy to put my name." But in reality he made an art of his craft and his legacy to woodworkers is underpinned by his integrity as a person and as a craftsman and his deep understanding of wood.
He is survived by his wife Laura who supported him throughout his career and his daughter Christine (42) and his son David (41).

MAJOR AWARDS
1959: Elected to the British Craft Centre
1968: Elected Fellow of Society of Designer Craftsman.
1975: Crafts Council Bursary to visit Japan
1978: Winsor & Newton Craft Award
1979: Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to visit South Korea,  Taiwan and Hong Kong
1988: Centennial Medal of the Society of Designer Craftsmen
1990: O.B.E
2000: Academician of South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts
2002: Award of Distinction, American Furniture Society.'

Jeremy Broun FRSA

Our condolences to Alans' family

photograph courtesy of Amazon.co.uk

Off your rocker into another Green World?...spotted winning entry in Green Life competition

Spotted on Design boom webite, one of the winneres of the Green Life competition the Murakami Chair, designed by Rocus Jacob from the U.S.A.

'designer's own words:

I was looking for opportunities to generate energy through activities we naturally do. The final result is a rocking chair that enables the user to experience production and consumption of electricity in a gentle and rewarding way. An abstract process becomes tangible and eventually cultivates natural awareness. Complexity is covered by simplicity. Advanced nano-dynamo technology which is built in to the skids of the chair and more efficient light sources such as the newly developed OLED generation makes it possible to build a rocking chair with a reading lamp running on electricity generated from the rocking motion. During daylight the energy gets stored in a battery pack. The construction of the flat and bendable organic light emitting diodes allows new form factors such as using the traditional shape of a lamp but instead of having a light bulb the lampshade himself turns out to be the light source. To have a drastic reduction of consumption the big challenge will be to make consuming less feel like getting more.'
 
Sounds fun, lets see what else this designer will come up with... Nice to see some new design from across the pond. This design came alongside a rush of entries from Far Eastern designers, sign of things to come no doubt as this area drifts more towards design lead projects rather than concentrating on manufacturing alone?

Gather round now....the worlds most beautiful object?

Seen in Design Week online this week...by Jack Jones

'The Gyrofocus fireplace has been named as ‘the world’s most beaufiful object’ by the Pulchra design contest. It was by France-based designer Dominique Imbert, founder of Focus Fireplaces.

The 1968 design was voted for by a majority of the 74 425 respondents asked to select a top ten from the 100 objects shortlisted by the Pulchra jury.

An example of the hanging, rotating fireplace will now be preserved for posterity alongside the other nine winners, in an archaeological ‘time capsule’.

The articles, which include an Illycaffé coffee machine, a Philips TV and a Sony Ericsson phone, will be sealed in a stainless steel container and buried in a public park in Italy.

The Gyrofocus has previously been exhibited in the museums of contemporary art in Bordeaux and Grenoble, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

The design contest, an annual ‘beauty prize for objects’, was launched in 2007 in Italy by the architect Sandro Silvi. Every year it gives away €10 000 (£9165) in gold coins to the public voter whose choices most closely match the final results.'

Strange it may seem to some that an object sating as far back as 1968 can still hold it's own amongst, and even beat, more contemporary designs. Just shows how classic design endures...

what do you think?

Sir Terry recognised in Hotel awards......

Spotted on Design Week online this week...by Jack Jones

'Sir Terence Conran is to be honoured at next month’s European Hotel Design Awards.

He will receive the Outstanding Contribution Award, which will be presented at the London Hilton on 2 November.
The accolade is in recognition of Conran’s work across the Continent. His consultancy Conran & Partners has been responsible for Das Triest in Vienna, the Fitzwilliam in Dublin, and the Great Eastern hotel in London.
The consultancy’s latest work, The Boundary Project in London, is also nominated in the Best Conversion and Best Bathroom/Bedroom Interior categories.
The converted Victorian warehouse opened in January and features a rooftop restaurant, bars, bedrooms, suites, and a ground-floor bakery and food store.

Also nominated in the Interiors category are Richard Daniels for The Augustine in Prague, and Richmond International for the Langham in London.

This year’s ceremony will be hosted by Mariella Frostrup.'

Well done Sir Terry!!

Oh I would like to be beside the seaside....in something like this maybe?

Spotted on Design Week Online...October 12th...by Emily Pacey

'A £35m project to build luxury beach huts at coastal resorts throughout the UK is to roll out from next year, using local design groups to work on interiors at each development.

Newcastle-based consultancy Kensington & Partners is designing the interiors for the first development of beach huts, which will open next summer at Whitley Bay.

The huts will sleep four to six people, feature separate bedrooms, fitted kitchens, bathrooms and a 24-hour concierge service. They will resemble ordinary beach huts from the outside, with one hut being modelled to look like two or more.
The company behind the development, Beach Hut Resorts, claims to be ‘in advanced discussions’ with councils and land owners to develop sites across the UK, and is expecting to announce its second deal in two weeks.
‘By then we should have a much more detailed plan of how we are going to work with local design groups, which is something we want to do to put money back into the local community and to ensure that we get a local feel for the interiors at each site,’ says a spokesman for Beach Hut Resorts.
It is also looking to work with local groups for each development, ‘wherever possible’, according to the spokesman.
Many of the sites are ex-industrial land on the outskirts of beach resorts, ‘on bits of land that no one has known what to do with for a long time’, says the spokesman.

Time to get you painted seashells out designers??, maybe some nice duck-egg blue furniture too??, or will they be looking at a more contemporary interior look with high end furniture designs and fittings??

We will have to wait and see how this potentially very interesting project could go.

Are you sitting comfortably?...chairmaking with Jeremy Broun

Spotted on U Tube a video by furniture designer maker Jeremy Broun. All about chair making with special guest appearance by Borat?

Take a look..


More contemporary chair designs

Rover Chairs or a ticket to Tel Aviv....Ron Arad speaks

Interesting article spotted on Icon eye website about  Ron Arad, iconical designer who speaks about his origins in London, his independant attitude to design and his go out and get on with it attitiude....read on

'Ron Arad I came to London in ’73. I’d spent a year at art school in Tel Aviv and I needed a break. I didn’t even pack my LPs – they were very important to me. So I came to London for a break – and I’m still on my break.

I found myself studying at the Architectural Association. I didn’t plan to study architecture but it seemed the action was at the AA – more exciting than the Slade or the Royal College. Zaha [Hadid] and Nigel [Coates] were a couple of years before me. Will Alsop was teaching there, so was Peter Cook, so was Rem [Koolhaas] … something was happening.
Then punk happened of course. When I started to work I was described as punk by lots of mainly foreign writers. But I wasn’t punk. Punk was from deprived council estates, it was angry – I wasn’t angry. I was always over-privileged. I came from a very cultured background [Arad’s parents were leading figures on the Tel Aviv art scene].
I wasn’t shouting about anything. My concrete stereo project [1984] was a piece about looking for beauty in an unexpected place; about making a connection between pebbles and electronic components. It wasn’t advocating destruction, but lots of people dubbed it “Beirut style”; “heavy metal”. Lazy interpretations.
If someone at the AA had said I was going to be a furniture designer I would have laughed them off. I tried when I graduated from the AA to work for a firm of architects but I just walked away one lunchtime and went to a scrapyard and made the first Rover chairs and became a furniture designer. I had nothing to lose, I was about to be deported – I didn’t have a work permit.
I couldn’t have done what I did anywhere else but London; absolutely not. Say I had gone to Milan instead of London; it would be no problem for me to design forks and chairs and things and find manufacturers to do them and – va bene! – I would have become another Antonio Citterio.
I remember once looking at the Vitra poster – you know the one with all the chairs? – with Citterio and he said to me “I’ve been working for Vitra for so many years and I don’t have a single chair on this, and you have six.” I think that’s because he grew up in a place where there was an industry and there was a happy symbiosis that didn’t breed a lot of excitement; didn’t push the boundaries.
But here in London I had to invent my profession. There weren’t any role models. Who would be a role model? There was fashion: Biba, Mary Quant, the mini – I mean the mini skirt, not the car – but who were the designers? Who could I look at?
There was no manufacturing in London. This bred the designer-maker thing, people like Tom Dixon, people who designed and produced themselves; actually welding and making and crafting. André Dubreuil and people like that. In those days we had to do everything ourselves.
It came with a certain look. It coincided with people like Nigel Coates talking about neo-baroque, so they went to the scrapyard to find raw materials and old winged fireplaces that they turned into something else.
So there were the designer-makers, and the others had to travel to work. Jasper Morrison’s work was abroad, Ross Lovegrove’s too … and they made a name for British design, people started to talk about British design. It has a lot to do with the lack of British manufacturing.
Is it British design or is it London design? I think it’s London. Look, London is one of the centres of the world. I think in all fields it creates ideas, ideas that have resonance. There are very talented people in New Zealand, in Tel Aviv; you can find very good design schools abroad – and in this country, such as Sheffield Hallam – that are doing work that is better than at St Martins and Ravensbourne. I see them coming to the [Royal] College [where Arad is head of the Design Products course], these people, and they come here better informed, better educated.
But here, people are in a place where Swarovski is, where Bombay Sapphire is, where icon is, where the Royal College is, all these people … that’s why someone like Paul Cocksedge – who’s from Sheffield, by the way – can thrive. He has to be talented, he has to have drive – I don’t take anything away from him – but he needs the facilities of London to get the resonance for what he does. Had he grown up in Bratislava, we wouldn’t have heard of him. He wouldn’t have created as good work as he has here.
Sixty per cent of RCA students come from abroad. It has a very good reputation. Some people from Asia come just to get the diploma, they think it will be better for their career in Korea or Taiwan … but we try to spot that. A lot of them come because it’s London. Somehow, they’re not likely to find a better group of people to spend two years with than the international group that comes to the Royal College. We have brilliant students every year not because of us but in spite of us. It’s very easy to get complacent and lazy and too pleased with yourself. The Royal College runs on inertia.
Anyway, it used to be that for all the Italian companies, nothing happened here; they didn’t sell anything. There was absolutely no interest in design. But the place has changed. Now they’ll all tell you that London is one of the most important markets for them.

First of all it’s related to the economy. But also awareness – there’s quite a number of design magazines now. Back then there was Design Week, which we never took seriously, and then Blueprint started roughly when I started. We were quite dependent on each other. I had stuff to publish, they had stuff to write about.
I think there’s an advantage to not seeing the manufacturers every day. And London is exciting for them; it’s an exotic place for Europeans. We are also so lucky that English is the computer language. It gives us a great, great advantage. I just sent a [digital] model to Vitra. We design them here and they manufacture them in Weil am Rhein. I don’t need to live in Switzerland to work for Vitra.
London is so rich and so big and so amazing. It’s nice to see new areas getting discovered, until you’re fed up with them. The fact that there isn’t an obvious centre to London allows more things to happen. There’s definitely a new street life to London that didn’t exist before. Now when you go to Soho you think, oh, there’s a party going on!
But I’m a very lazy user of London. I live within walking distance of here. My local area is not the most exciting – Hampstead, Belsize Park; this part of Camden; Primrose Hill. Cosy and pleasant and comfortable.
But London is an expensive city. Jasper [Morrison] moved to Paris, Marc Newson moved to Paris; they were driven out of here. Young designers – why do they live here? The cost of getting to work … and rent and transport and food. All the German students at the Royal College used to stay in London, but now they are moving back to Berlin. We’ll see what happens now – with the panic.'

It would seem that London perhaps remains the centre of design life in this country, until at least the burn out syndrome takes over and people move away or the capital just gets too expensive to be a viable base?

your comments welcome...