Humidifiers

This collection of ceramic humidifiers, produced by Italian company Il Coccio, is a tribute to the historic piece, designed by Achille Castiglioni in 1998. Eight different designers, including such celebrities as Giulio Iacchetti, Patricia Urquiola, Denis Santachiara, Alberto Meda and others, contributed to the project. All pieces follow Castiglioni’s minimalist aesthetic and explore the idea of using the existing radiator as a base. The objects sit on, hang from, or wedge behind it, creating  dynamic between two elements.

Corter Leather

Corter Leather is a small, one-man operation based in Boston, Massachusetts. Every leather product is 100% hand-made by maker Eric Heins.

Devoid of typical branding and patterns, the slim and functional Field Notes Sleeve, composed of vegetable tanned leather, which features a loop at the spine for holding your writing utensil. The natural Classic Bifold featuring seven pockets is a slim stitched wallet. Another piece, is the versatile Folded Bifold wallet with two pouches and inner flaps for extra storage. This piece only has one stitched seam and will darken to a carmel with age.

Tromby Bag by Otaat

Los Angeles based design studio Otaat, directed by creative Albert Chu, have produced the minimalist Tromby Bag.

The long tote bag features a body with two straps – one exterior & one interior, as well as a single inside pocket, which lines the complete interior. One can carry the Tromby Bag as an extra-long tote with a single opening, or as a medium-length tote with a divider making two pouches.

Available in natural and black cotton canvas as well as Japanese indigo-dyed denim.

Jean Clock

Designed by Pierre Favresse, Jean is a small and minimal bubble of time, a dome of lightness struggling with weight, a 21st century digital tribute to the mechanical heaviness of Napoleonic clocks beneath bell jars.

Edited by Super-ette, Jean is as precious as the symbolic values, which vary between contrasting functional and playful, light and solid. Each clock is accomplished with a single and unique blow.

Surface

Terence Woodgate and John Barnard teamed up to create Surface table for British manufacturer Established & Sons, and after the success of the project added a chair to it. Both pieces are made from the same layered carbon fibre material John Barnard famously introduced for the McLaren Formula One car chassis in 1981. Thanks to the lightweight durability of the material, the table can span 3 meters while remaining super thin (the piece has a thickness of just 2mm at the edge).

HiddenRadio

Industrial designers John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen from Australia and Vitor Santa Maria from Brazil have collaborated to design the HiddenRadio, which is currently being funded through Kickstarter.

The minimal HiddenRadio & Bluetooth Speaker design connects and captivates the user through its intuitive functionality. When asleep it hides all its functions. To turn it on you simply twist and lift the cap. The further you lift the cap the more internal volume is created and will amplify to over 80dB of crystal clear sound. The battery life is also an impressive feature, offering over 30 hours of power.

Hudson Bay Axe

The minimal, portable and razor sharp Hudson Bay Axe by Best Made Company is very versatile as it combines the strengths of a larger axe for chopping and the finesse of a smaller axe for delicate work. The combination of the sharpened head of carbon steel and the unfinished helve of Appalachian hickory enunciate an honest tool made of honest materials!

Stuttgart City Library

Korean architect Eun Young Yi was declared the competition winner in 1999 for the new central library of the city of Stuttgart from 235 competition entries. The opening ceremony took place recently after three years under construction and a 80-million Euro budget.

The building is essentially a white cube with two underground floors and nine above. The main library floors circle an open-plan design, which are connected through open staircases, and the books are stored mainly in racks mounted to the walls.

Shadow Art

Japanese artist Kumi Yamashita (1968) is known for creating realistic imagery from invisible sources. Her shadow art has earned Yamashita international recognition with works appearing in such venues as Seattle Art Museum, Boise Art Museum, Yerba Buena Centre, San Francisco, the Esplanade in Singapore, Hillside Gallery in Tokyo and the Kent Gallery in New York. The pieces are comprised of ordinary everyday things and a single light source, which brings these objects to life. Alphabets and building blocks, scattered across the wall, become realistic human figures, coloured resin plates give shape to facial silhouettes, and credit card imprints create portraits.

Kumi Yamashita will be having solo exhibitions at the Sato Museum, Tokyo and the Dillon Gallery, New York in 2012.

Composition Light

Composition Light is a project recently completed by Canadian born designer Miya Kondo. The collection is comprised of a series of light sculptures that vary in size and colour. Used in combination, the objects can create different effects. Depending on the position of the elements and their relation to each other, the quality of light is modified and the ambiance of the space altered.

The installation of the Composition Light project recently took place during the Dutch Design Week 2011.

Mini Ceramic Fan Heater

Japanese design studio Plus Minus Zero (±0) who produce household electrical goods and household items, released their latest product – the Mini Ceramic Fan Heater. Compared with their original ceramic fan heater, however the mini version is of course smaller, thinner (H210 x W105 x D148mm), lighter (1.2kg) and less expensive.

Tina Frey

Tina Frey is San Francisco-based designer creating modern designs in resin. Besides jewellery, her collection also includes everyday objects. The pieces in the collection are hand sculpted and when the clay design is completed, hand-made molds are created for each object. The molds are used to cast each item individually by hand in small batches by color. After the pieces are cast and removed from the mold, they are hand sanded.

Animali Domesticki

French designer Jean-Sébastien Poncet and ÉSÉ present a series of abstracted wooden animals based on an extremely simple and minimal concept. Pieces of wood, cut in simple geometries, are put together in order to create archetypal animal forms, a doe, cow, bull, rabbit or a stag.

The resulting objects recall the impromptu toys of our childhood, when a few pieces of wood and a lot of imagination resulted in endless creative play-time and improvising narratives.

The Animali Domesticki series form a home accessory or children’s toy. Jean-Sébastien Poncet also decided to scale up one of the series elements to transform the original piece into a sculpture.

Ballpoint

Minimalux of London is a design brand, who produce modern collections of desk accessories. Minimalux’s latest creation is the simple Ballpoint – a variant of the common, disposable ballpoint pen, made from a single fluid sleeve of lasting solid brass.

The pen is not plated or lacquered, which allows its surface finish to change with use and age becoming uniquely personal. The ergonomic design pays careful consideration to weight and balance to deliver a smooth and fluid line with very little applied pressure.

Photography by Peer Lindgreen

Sculpting Sound

The Swiss artist Zimoun is currently exhibiting his latest installation at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida (USA), which runs until January 08 2012. Zimoun builds architecturally-minded platforms of sound using simple and functional components, which result in unique soundscapes.

The Sculpting Sound installation, curated by Matthew McLendon is an example of structural simplicity in an industrial-like setting, which reveals an intricate relationship between the artificial and the organic. Zimoun’s creations often use multiples of the same prepared mechanical elements to examine the creation and degeneration of patterns.

bs 50 Tribute

To mark the occasion of its 60th birthday, the well known speaker manufacturer Elipson is honoring the landmark models that have shaped its history. The first speaker to gain fame was the famous bs 50, an acronym for its full name Staff Ball, 50 cm diameter.

Designed in 1953, the bs 50 was created for the first sound and lightshows at the Château de Chambord in France. Its ear allowed for precise sound diffusion.

Hoop

Hoop is a pendant lamp recently designed by the Belgian lighting manufacturer toosB.

I think they have designed a smart and simple product using a flexible LED strip, which hides inside the steel ring. The result offers a great softness through the indirect light created, dispersed by the surface.

It is finished in a matte white paint, can be equipped using RGB full-color LED’s and available in 16W, 45W and 90W.

Libratone Lounge

Copenhagen based audio company Libratone have simply one purpose – to liberate sound. Libratone adopt three factors in their single sound source development approach – wireless technology, hi-fi quality and Scandinavian design. Their aim is to deliver a minimal alternative to the typical cluttered sound system without compromising the audio experience.

This approach resulted in the design of the Libratone Lounge. A sound system, which allows one to stream audio wirelessly from an iPhone or iPod through AirPlay.

Shelf System A

The work of the artist Liam Gillick breaks through the genre- and media-specific boundaries of the visual arts. He undertakes architectural and structural, spatial interventions as well as creates minimalist objects.

Shelf System A is made of six powder-coated aluminum elements to be mounted onto the wall, three different color combinations. Produced by Schellmann Studio, limited to an edition of 100.

Kiri

The Kiri wristwatch is the creation of Japan’s industrial designer Masayuki Kurokawa. His minimalist aesthetic and respect for simple textures is fully pronounced in this piece. Kurokawa is known for taking the most undervalued materials and turning them into something exquisite (some of you might recall his GOM rubber series, now displayed in MoMa’s permanent collection). The dial, made from mineral glass, mirrors the semi-opaqueness of the silicone bracelet and completes the look of the piece.

Christofle

Ora-Ïto, the brand name of Paris based designer Ito Morabito, created a mineral-inspired letter opener and paperweight set for Christofle. The letter opener has a primitive form and recalls a flint eroded by time. The paperweight looks like a cobble polished by the sea with its soft, round, shapes.

Miss

Miss is an LED suspension lighting fixture, designed by Davide Groppi studio. Its slim and simple form (the item is only 1.25 inches in diameter) is able to deliver dramatic effect. Balancing between light and shadow, this piece gives targeted concentrated illumination to objects and surfaces. Used in groupings, Miss is able to create an even stronger impact. 

An understated piece, purposely reduced to a single line, gives depth to the space it occupies. The lamp comes in matte black and white.

Reindeers and Snohetta

The Norwegian Wild Reindeer Center in Dovre was designed by Snohetta. The site itself is 90 square meters, has comfortable seating area, features a fireplace and a glass facade that is supported by steel fins. The Pavilion was constructed by using Norwegian Shipbuilding techniques. The waving effect was achieved by using 10 inch wooden beams that were milled and assembled by making good use of pegs.

The beautiful and innovative execution of the Center was left to the surroundings, panoramic views and really, the existing “architecture” of nature.

Colour Nativity

Continuing his research into the meaning and use of colour in objects, Sebastian Bergne has made a small studio edition of a contemporary Colour Nativity set. Each of the characters is a minimal wooden block that is recognisable by it’s colour, proportion and place in the composition.