Design style in the former communist East Germany (GDR)

There is no doubt that the former communist regime was repressive, and that its tentacles of control embraced design. On the other hand, the following article seems to suggest that consumerism is design paradise, which is a fairly apologetic view of consumer society. That is not to say, that functionality should be void of beauty, [...]

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With US lawmakers’ election campaigns bankrolled by the financial industry, what are the chances for change?

Who can we bank on, who can we trust, as the crisis sharpens?
By Schechter, Danny
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Washington seems tethered at the hip to Wall Street and does it’s bidding.
Can it possibly be true that the Congress can’t walk and chew gum at the same time? This question is prompted by the announcement that [...]

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Vintage signage

I haven’t seen them for yonks: enamel signs. In Germany I’m sure all road signs were made that way, but what’ really stood out were small advertising signs, and that would have been even more the case in the heartland of capitalism, the United States of America. I’m absolutely no fan of the brainwashing lies [...]

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Boscolo Exedra Hotel by Massimo Iosa Ghini – upper class beauty

The recently opened 5-star luxury hotel in the heart of Nice on the French Riviera demonstrates that the upper classes never runs out of cash, even in the most dismal economic times. The Boscolo Exedra continues to live the spirit of the original Belle Époque building – as the refurbished contemporary version of the creativity, [...]

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Tattooed table: Yakuza

A different take on tattoos: Yakuza is a digitally tattooed wooden table. In its design, the table is treated as a living body, receiving its character from a unique tattoo printed on its surface. The wood texture acts as skin, becoming a platform for expressing cultural and personal identity – which should be made easier [...]

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What goes around comes around

That is so true with every war!
Big Ant International have won a Gold Pencil for Design (Public Service Poster) at the One Show Design Awards held this week. Four posters were designed to wrap around poles, campaigning for an end to the war in Iraq, pointing to the Global Coalition for Peace web site. Grenades, [...]

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Eco-friendly makeup brushes & accessories

I’m not at all a fan of makeup, and would be very suspicious of its long-term effects on my skin even if I would have an interest. But if someone feels she (or sometimes he) has to use it, I guess it’s good to focus on natural AND eco-friendly products. Blisstree.com has a post not [...]

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Alexander McQueen’s bizzare fashion trasher

I know nothing about haute-couture but I do like the worlds of the darkish surreal with its oddly dreamlike sequences parading the bizarre and the fantastic. Just looking at Inhabitat’s borrowed (from the NYT) images of those weird and unreal yet startling looking models in Alexander McQueen’s “trashy production” for Paris Fashion Week, I immediately [...]

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Periodic table of typefaces

Finally a visually more exciting alternative to the forever boring (though) clickable list of fonts: the Periodic Table of Typefaces. It covers a number of major fonts and includes information about the family and classification of each, the designer, the year the font was designed, and a ranking as cribbed from a number of internet [...]

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Clocks made from old vinyls

There are the serious times for reflecting on the vile systemic expressions of capitalism (like the actions of CEOs or politicians), and there are other times when you enjoy the quirky beauty of design, especially when it relates to objects made from recycled materials. This is an example from The Grateful Thread blog: clocks made [...]

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The Satorialist – a fashion blog of a different kind

A friend of mine send me a link to a blog called The Satorialist, which is all about fashion but in a way that’s very different from what at least I think fashion blogs are. It’s not about haute couture and not even about designer labels. Scott Schuman takes fotos of ordinary people in the [...]

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Flexible electronic books to hit market soon

New Scientist, 23. February 2009
by Paul Marks
GADGET-makers have long promised us a flexible electronic book, but actually producing a robust, bendy screen has proved tough – until now. Plastic Logic, a display technology company based in Cambridge, UK, says it will launch the first flexible electronic book in January.
The two most popular e-books on the [...]

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Pieke Bermans – irregular mass production and viruses

Pieke Bergmans is a young Dutch industrial designer who seems to be best known for her “virus design”: infectious objects.  The forms she creates are organic, taking their lead from natural shapes as well as the occasional freedom of being able to flow into their final ‘gestalt’. Bergmans uses a range of materials for her [...]

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Siggi Eggertsson Grafiks

I happened to stumble across Siggi Eggertsson’s graphic design site; I find his style quite appealing.

Eggertsson says: “Ultima Thule is a typeface that I made with a good friend of mine, Sveinn. One night we were really bored and decided to make a typeface together. We worked all night and at 6 o’clock in the [...]

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Marc Newson’s Ikepod time

Like any of those Marc Newson Ikepod Design watches? You’ll need some spare pocket money in the vicinity of US$ 39.000. Better start saving.

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Loudspeaker aka cuckoo clock

 

There is design and design, the latter not winning a awards for usefulness but for eccentricity. Make features a a Stephane Vigny designed hybrid of cuckoo clock and large loud speaker. When the bass reaches high levels, the door opens and bottom woofer is catapulted out on a hinge mechanism, retreating once the bass volume rescinds [...]

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Workshopped 08

Workshopped is on again – this time at Chifley Plaza in the heart of Sydney ’s CBD (2 Chifley Square). The exhibition will be the largest single event of Sydney Design 08 and is co-presented by the Powerhouse Museum. The exhibition is open (free) to the public 13 – 23 August 2008. This year’s brief [...]

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Pixel Couch

 Royal College of Art graduate (UK) Cristian Zuzunaga has devised a fabric based on a ‘pixel’ concept, which is being produced by Danish manufacturer Kvadrat and sold through Moroso. 
[via The Cool Humter]

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Pile of Books – a bedside table

You’ll need a special bed to match this bedside table by Josefin Hellström-Olsson, but I think it looks gorgeous. I’m not a bookworm, so it doesn’t complement my pre-sleep habits; maybe a pile of laptops would be more appropropriate. I would go out of my way though to find a more excentric looking bed for [...]

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Wall Plant Holder – growing in small spaces

Make posted this wall-hanging plant holder to grow plants in your cramped apartment. How realistic endeavor is though does not only depend on design, but on price. Offered by Opulent Items, the price matches the attribute included in the business name: US$250 – which is rather steep. One might try, based on the above included [...]

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