Nendo Bathroom Collection

Japanese design studio Nendo and Italian brand Bisazza Bagno gave birth to this bathroom collection. The line includes a crate-like bathtub, washstand and mirrors that resemble droplets of water, sticks in a stand for a towel drier, diagonally patterned mirrors, stackable containers for plans, rotating storage boxes and a seating piece.

Lumen

Akos Major, currently residing in Vienna, is a freelance graphic designer and amateur photographer who produced this photographic winter series entitled Lumen.

Major looks to capture and display the spiritual and emotive textures that he sees in muted and often monotone landscapes across northern Europe.

Lichtkiste

Initially showcased at last year’s Milan Design Week, Clemens Tissi's Lichtkiste light box offers independent elements that enable “direct access to the subject area and volume, light and dark, light and shadow.” The user modulates the light by simply moving the individual elements.

Made from MDF with a white or light grey, hand-painted surface finish, Lichtkiste measures 37cm x 35cm x 34cm.

Moneywrap

This cash and cards holder by Daycraft is small, simple, light and compartment free. The piece, aptly called Moneywrap, is reduced to a singular folding principle. It wraps around your banknotes, which in turn are folded over your credit cards. The result is a sleek little item, that can fit in any pocket.

Kate Beck’s Form Surface

Maine based artist Kate Beck creates paintings and drawings coalesced of intensity, intimacy and silence that result from a systematic starting point of materials and geometric shape.

A particular illustration of Beck’s is the Form Surface collection. This collection of line drawings and paintings displaying subtle gradients of soft and subdued tones, include the application of poured oil, graphite on aluminium, linen and paper.

W-eye by Matteo Ragni

These wooden spectacle frames are the result of a collaboration between Milan-based designer Matteo Ragni and wood-enthusiast Doriano Mattellone of the MA-wood research laboratory. The glasses are called W-eye, and are made from layers of wood which have been coated with aluminum. This mixture allows the wood durability and flexibility, and makes for lightweight frames. The glasses are also hinge-free, with no hardware to interrupt the flow of sensuous wood. The glasses come in a variety of styles and are available in six different shades of wood: ebony, zebrano, mahogany, cherry, ash and walnut. Each pair of glasses is hand-crafted and guaranteed to sit evenly on the face, ensuring perfect vision.

Orange Hive Identity

Emanuele Cecini designed the identity and branding for new creative agency, Orange Hive, based in Frankfurt, Germany. The designs included the creation of a logo, print stationary, website layout and art direction of the branding photography.

The logo finds a surprising and elegant balance of lines and empty spaces, the branding is straightforward and uses a limited number of elements and information, and the pop of color provided by the orange accents gives the ensemble a nice twist, preventing it from being boring instead of the classy minimalism it achieved. I’m especially fond of the signage application!

Brand Spirit

Brand Spirit is a singular project developed by Andrew Miller.

It is really rather surprising how many brands are so easily recognizable by its products (Coca-Cola) and how they become aspects of our daily lives (American Express), or in the symbol of a generation (Nintendo), or a profession (Moleskine).

Shell Lounge

Bradley Bowers, of the studio PLZ DNT TCH, designed the Shell Lounge. Shell Lounge is a simple lounge that sits right on the ground. It can be used for indoor or outdoor use. The lounge curves around the user, protecting the user from the outside. The chair allows the user to relax; thus encouraging meditation and a balance between the mind and body.

Gaudi chair

Dutch designer Bram Geenen created the Gaudi chair as a follow-up of his Gaudi stool.

Like the Gaudi stool, the Gaudi chair is developed by using the same methods (models of hanging chains) as Antoni Gaudi used to find the strongest shape for his churches.

The construction of the chair is compared with the stool a bit more complicated due to the forces in the chairs backrest. That is why Geenen combined the chain models with a software script to determine a 3D printed structure of nylon ribs to distribute the forces of the backrest across the chair. The structure is covered by a thin shell of carbon fiber.

House in Koamicho

This house in Hiroshima, Japan was designed by Suppose Design Office. The house experiments with the boundaries of inside and outside; some of the rooms are inclosed, while others act as “garden rooms” and are exposed to the elements. The design allows the inhabitants to experience interior and exterior as a continuous flow of space, blurring the traditional distinctions between the two.

Two children’s bedrooms and the master bedroom are on the main floor, along with three garden spaces which are accessible from each room. The second floor holds the living spaces and looks down into the gardens on the lower level. The house is quite small, only six rooms in total. Nonetheless, it serves as a living space.

EiMIM Pen

Dallas, Texas based industrial designer Will Hodges recently introduced his Kickstarter project for the production of the designed EiMIM Pen. Hodges’s design makes use of 6061 aluminium material as well as the strongest Neodymium magnets commercially available.

The simple design of this pen has a solid, smooth surface, devoid of branding, which sits neatly into its magnetic base. Each pen will come with a choice of black or blue in 0.25mm, 0.3mm, and 0.4mm Pilot Hi Tec C insert. The EiMIM Pen will have a machined, glass bead blasted, and powder coated finish.

Sixties Lamp

Sixties is a table lamp designed by the industrial designer Maxim Maximov. As its own name indicates, the lamp has been inspired by the designers of the 1960s, particularly the works of Dieter Rams, as well as displaying a strong resemblance to a pipe or a bendy straw.

The design is very simple and has no unnecessary details, but at the same time the result is very useful because with its adjustable neck you can direct the light where you need it.

The Sixties lamp has been made in plastic and is available in a variety of colours.

Balance Lamp

This lamp was created by Netherlands based designer Mieke Meijer for the ‘Untouchables’ show by Dutch Invertuals. The idea of the exhibition was to portray the live we live in the rapidly changing world. Mieke Meijer’s respons to the theme was that finding the right balance is the key. The lamp she presented resembles the static equilibrium of a tower crane. She translated the theme of vulnerability into a lamp that consists of two balancing wooden posts connected by a single wire.

BOX stool & coffee table

Belgium design studio BIG-GAME – founded by Grégoire Jeanmonod, Elric Petit and Augustin Scott de Martinville – designed BOX stool and coffee table.

Inspired by the pleating techniques used in the cardboard and aluminium industry the Box stool can be folded away like a cardboard box. A hole is pierced in the centre of the seat making it is easy to carry. The BOX stool is made from  Folded lacquered aluminium available in yellow, medium blue, light blue and dark blue.

Air

London-based Héctor Serrano designed the Air: a plastic stool for the Spanish exterior furniture company Gandia Blasco. It is a compact and solid stool, but at the same time it looks light and slim.

This polypropylene stool is made by rotational moulding, which is quite unconventional considering its triangle midsection.

“The Breeder” Gallery

“The Breeder” Gallery, located in Athens, Greece and originally built in 1970 in an area where once there was an ice cream factory, the building was left empty and abandoned for many years before it was selected by the owners of the gallery to become their new creativity centre. The renovation was undertaken by the Greek architect Aris Zambikos.

The interior space changed a lot in order to become practical to its new function. On the contrary, the old, steel window frames were kept unchangeable contributing to the industrial character of the building. The introduction of a new concrete staircase’s design that helps spread the light that comes through the main skylight gives this project a new breath of life.

Sticks

Sticks, is a new project by Dutch product - and interior designer Gerard de Hoop. De Hoop’s work is characterized by simplicity, versatility and play of lines with attention to functionality.

Inspired by seeing a number of placards put aside he created a cabinet system with boxes, in four different widths and heights, standing on one leg. Sticks can be used for several occasions; a low board, a side board or a casual wardrobe. Loose you can use it as a small hall cabinet or bed side table.

AP Stool by Shin Azumi

London based Japanese designer Shin Azumi had to learn the concept of a chair. “I didn’t have a chair until I came to the UK,” he says.

The AP stool for Lapalma was initiated as an experiment, created from a single sheet of plywood. The naturalness of the seat and body of the stool that merge from one to other is a witty interpretation of an everyday activity, seating.

Monarchy

Monarchy is a crown-like shaped rocking stool, created by Yiannis Ghikas. Visually laconic and fun in use, the piece is convenient when you need extra seating. The design aims to offer freedom of movement to the user. Just by moving your legs and shifting your weight, you can change the orientation of the stool.

Pop for iOS

Minimal Tools have recently released their first iOS app, Pop – a simple notepad tool to allow you to conveniently write things down as you would on a blank piece of paper, reducing friction between you and what you are trying to accomplish.

Femme Chair

This chair is designed by Rik ten Velden. Bearing the name of “Femme Chair”, this chair is constructed from a single rope. Rick ten Velden is fascinated with sailor’s knots and all the different objects knots can create. He spent three months learning how to knot before he perfected the technique. Then he started the Single Knotted Collection, and is currently making objects all using these knot techniques. The seat of this chair is made of classic rope, and the rest is made of a single metal rod that curves into two circles, one to support the bottom and the other to support the seat. I love the simplicity of the two materials and how they work together. The use of rope in the seat also ensures durability.

Jorge magazine rack

Jorge is a magazine rack designed by Barcelona-based multidisciplinary studio Gauzak for company Quattria.

Part of a collection of three pieces (Marc, Camps & Jorge; a coffee table, an umbrella stand and a magazine rack, respectively), it’s executed in steel rods, a material that subtracts visual weight as it creates void volumes. It stands as a simple, straightforward structure, that could very well go unnoticed as it blends into its environment.

Combined with the leather handle, that provides it with a better grip for moving, both materials (steel and leather) have the quality to age well and be sober, lasting products, as intended by the designers.

black&black

K% is a new venture, born from the collaboration between famed Japanese design studio Nendo and K Projects from Singapore, with Oki Sato, Nendo’s prolific co-founder, as a design director. The début collection, K% is currently showing at Salone del Mobile 2012, is called black&black. Purposely reduced to one colour, the line explores the relationship between structure and function. There is no distraction of new techniques or unusual materials. All pieces are made out of wood or metal.

The black&black collection is comprised of 15 objects, all following Nendo’s minimalist aesthetic.

Collaborators for black&black are Singapore design firms Stidio JuJu and Exit Design. They each contributed an item to the collection.

Tuoli

Pasila Design, a recent founded small Finish family business design agency, created Tuoli. Tuoli is an ergonomic, minimalist, chair for parents making it easy for them to interact – on eye level -with a playing child on the floor. The chair is multi functional as one can create a slide for the child by turning it upside down.

Pasila design just finished their first furniture collection, a collection that consists of  timeless designs and classic furniture with a funny edge.

CO-OP at Barneys

It was recently unveiled CO-OP at Barneys, New York designed by Yabu Pushelberg. The concept behind Boy Meets Girl Barneys CO-OP is driven by merging the men’s and women’s sections and introducing a brand new cafe Genes@CO-OP into the space.

By looking at the streamlined, modern and almost gallery-like design, equipped with the feature of individual iPad stations promoting more convenient item finding under the seamless strip lighting above the interactive stations. The fluidity of the space allows for easy body progression within the store and is directed on sales increase.

Rock Chair

Studio Färg & Blanche have designed this rocking chair as a reaction to the dwindling rocking chairs available in the furniture market today.

The Rock Chair is sold in a flat pack that contains five pieces. The pieces easily fit together and the finished chair reveals its construction. Accordingly, the process of assembly becomes a design feature. The viewer understands the process by which the chair came together because nothing about the construction is hidden from sight. Rock Chair has an ease and simplicity about it. Rock Chair even comes with corresponding cushions in either leather or canvas, to allow to for the most comfortable and stylish of rocking experiences.

Toby Keller’s White Series

California and Chiang Mai based photographer and designer Toby Keller has created this series of white photographs. The White series is primarily focused on underground car parks and coastal lines, illustrating serenity and spaciousness.