Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen has teamed up with lifestyle publication Kinfolk to give five readers the chance to win a copy of its new book, which features over 40 interviews with entrepreneurial business owners.

The Kinfolk Entrepreneur details the journeys of different creative business owners, such as the founders of online platform Hypebeast and streaming service Mubi.

Fields of work explored within the book include architecture, design, fashion and publishing.

“The myth of entrepreneurs as individuals who have pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps is challenging as more people realise that a good team is what makes a company strong,” said Kinfolk.

“Becoming a successful entrepreneur extends beyond the strength of one’s ideas and the ability to profit from them,” they continued.

With topics ranging from advice on how to motivate personal success to managing a balanced quality of life, the book aims to offer guidance for future business owners.

It is the third in a series of publications that Kinfolk has released, following a cookbook named The Kinfolk Table, and The Kinfolk Home, which offers an insider’s look into the homes of different creatives.

“The Kinfolk Entrepreneur examines how visionary ideas take root and ripen into careers, and offers tips and inspiration for the next generation of entrepreneurs,” they explained.

Founded in 2011, Kinfolk is an independent lifestyle publication with an online platform and a quarterly magazine.

Five readers will each win one copy of The Kinfolk Entrepreneur, which can also be purchased for $35 (£26) from the Kinfolk website.

Competition closes 15 January 2018. Five winners will be selected at random and notified by email, and their names will be published at the top of this page.

The post Competition: win a copy of The Kinfolk Entrepreneur appeared first on Dezeen.

Sit back, light your cigar, swirl your whiskey and listen to some soothing Beethoven on your Mercedes-Benz wireless speaker. Oozing with elegance and class, this wireless speaker is designed with the raw sophistication of the brand in mind. Stealing your attention from the first glance, the dominant emblem speaks on behalf of the user regarding their lifestyle.

The usability of this speaker is straightforward – using a series of 3D dots to indicate what the user is touching (volume up, volume down and turn off), the speaker does not overcomplicate the experience. Hiding behind a waterproof flap in the rear of the speaker is the charging dock unless of course, you wish to use the wireless charging pad instead. The smart choices made by the designer of the Mercedes-Benz Wireless Speaker Anshuman Kumar are that of the material and color finish here – the satin finish and rich choice of colors compliment the brass emblem and make for an expensive looking product. Going off the premium look here, I think I’d get in trouble if I asked for one for Christmas.

Designer: Anshuman Kumar

Exposed rafters support a pitched roof incorporating a large skylight that allows daylight to flood into this rear extension added to a Victorian house in south London by local studio Grey Griffiths Architects.

The studio founded in 2016 by Tom Grey and Michael Griffiths was asked to oversee the renovation and extension of a terraced property in a conservation area in Clapham.

The one-bedroom garden flat featured a typical Victorian layout, with a series of rooms arranged off a corridor that extends along one side of the plan.

“The brief was to enlarge and reconfigure the property to achieve a second bedroom, create a bright open living area, and to add architectural interest to the space,” said the architects.

An uninsulated bathroom at the rear of the house that was only accessible through the kitchen epitomised the neglected state of the interior and the need for extensive modernisation.

The property’s location within the conservation area meant that an appeal was required to achieve planning permission, with the inspector ultimately agreeing that the proposal would enhance the rear of the house.

The shape of the new addition references the slanted roof of the existing closet return in the angles of its asymmetric profile.

The pitched roof also lowers the height of the eaves and therefore minimises its impact on the neighbours on either side.

Inside the extension, the vaulted roof form is highlighted by exposing the timber framework and suspending a series of industrial pendant lights from the rafters.

“The internal roof structure has been left open to increase the volume of the internal space,” added Grey and Griffiths.

‘The visible oak rafters add a warm, repetitive interest to the space and draw the eye up to the internal ridgeline, enhancing the feeling of space.”

The extension now covers the full width of the building’s rear facade, creating space for a lounge area and kitchen on either side of a partition spanning the space between two supporting pillars.

Large glass doors on either side of the brick pillar to the rear of the space provide a view out towards the garden and allow natural light to flood into the interior.

Timber that complements the roof structure is used to frame the doors, which can each pivot to open the whole room up to the outdoors.

To enhance the bright and open feel requested by the client, a long east-facing roof light is incorporated into the ceiling above the kitchen.

A new bathroom is positioned off a central transitional space between the two bedrooms to the front of the house and the kitchen and living space.

Oak rafters are also left visible in the bathroom, where a skylight above the shower and a window looking onto an internal courtyard draw daylight into the room.

The courtyard can be reached from one of the bedrooms. Another window looking onto this outdoor space allows light to filter into the transitional area, which is designed for reading and accommodates a stove and storage.

Photography is by Adam Scott.

The post Grey Griffiths Architects completes London extension featuring exposed oak roof structure appeared first on Dezeen.

UPDATE: Less than 48 hours left, grab yours now!

It took this world a long time to reach this moment in time where we have a product like the Voyage Pillow. Matt Benedetto’s keen eye and urge to solve problems that no one else is solving gave us an incredible product in the Voyage Pillow, that’s part pillow, part eye-mask, and full awesomeness.

Matt’s problem solving approach is rather optimistic in the sense it takes on multiple challenges, combining different plus-points, and oftentimes different products into one solution. The Voyage Pillow solved more than two problem statements and the resultant product saw itself fitting into multiple scenarios. The Voyage Bag is no different in the sense that it tackles multiple problems, becoming a product that morphs into multiple variations as a result, and honestly, that’s a really neat approach because it makes the bag appeal to multiple user personas.

The Voyage Bag is literally a bag that accompanies you on your voyages no matter what they are, short or long, big or small. It seamlessly transforms from a spacious backpack with enough storage for an entire weekend out, to a duffel bag for a quick business trip, to even a gym bag. The bag comes with multiple handles for easy carrying in both vertical and horizontal configurations, a single shoulder sling-strap that can be detached and attached on convenience, and two hidden backpack straps that you can unzip to reveal. Depending on your type of journey, the Voyage Bag changes its avatars to make traveling comfortable for your ever-changing needs. On the inside, the Voyage Bag takes care of every need. The spacious duffel comes with a laptop slot and even a smaller slot for tablets, ebooks, or regular books. Aside from that, it even has two slots for an extra pair of shoes. The circular shape of the bag proves more than ideal for sports equipment. The insides of the bag come in an electric blue fabric, allowing you to see inside the bag clearly, and spot the items you need… another testament to Benedetto’s keen problem-solving eye! The bag’s outside comes in a durable, water-proof fabric (including the zips). Available in a grey/black melange, the bag sees itself being easily used everywhere from leisure to work, to even the gym. What’s more, the bag comes with easy access outer pockets for all your necessities, and a size that makes it just ideal for stowing away on overhead cabins in planes. Pair that with the Voyage Pillow, and you’ve got everything you need to travel with absolute peace of mind!

Designer: Matt Benedetto of Sondre Travel

Click here to Buy Now: $79.00 $109.00

The 2-in-1 design allows you to adapt the Voyage Bag mid-trip to allow for the most comfortable traveling experience.

The included shoulder strap quickly clips onto the two black metal rings to comfortably carry the Voyage Bag across your chest.

Two easy to grab handles are located on the top and middle of the bag for those times when you want to head out in a flash!

For longer trips, the Voyage Bag is compatible with your roller luggage!

We wanted the Voyage Bag to adapt to your life for any occasion from your daily commute, heading to class, a weekend carry-on, camping, and any adventure you could imagine!

You can easily store your shoes, separate clean and dirty laundry, keep your water bottle in place, pack carry-on essentials, or simply not use them at all! The possibilities are truly endless!

The interior zip pocket is perfect for those small valuable items you want to keep safely inside and away.

Click here to Buy Now: $79.00 $109.00

UPDATEL: less than 72 hours left, grab yours now!

The NYSW, like all analog smartwatches fuses the best of both worlds into a single timepiece. It retains the timeless elegance and class of an analog wristwatch, but introduces to it technological functions that you’d find in most smartwatches and fitness wearables. The advantage remains however that you aren’t forced into wearing a techy, metallic or silicone bracelet with some sensors, a battery, and a bunch of pixels on it.

While most analog smartwatches embrace their true heritage i.e., the classic analog timepiece, the NYSW was designed to redefine what an analog smartwatch should look like. Designed to look like a dashing, classy watch, upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that the NYSW takes a hybrid approach to aesthetics. Camouflaged as a stylish timepiece you can wear to work, or show off at business presentations, the NYSW is secretly your key to staying connected to all your apps while looking absolutely dapper. It comes with a regular hours/minutes/seconds watch face and a date window, but even with three subdials that work as a notification center for your apps, as well as a fitness tracker and pedometer. The watch possesses a biometric heart rate monitor at its base that tracks your health, as well as connects to your phone, allowing you to, at a glance, look at your notifications, your fitness levels, and the time. You can even set your own alarms and notification alerts on the watch, allowing it to remind you when to take medication, or to drink water.

Its technological capabilities aside, the NYSW looks like a smart timepiece, with its 316L Stainless Steel body and back. Sitting atop the dial is a sapphire crystal glass that gives you a view into the smartwatch’s remarkable face designs. Available in three styles, you can choose a watch design that suits your personality, going from the classy contemporary Soho, to the Manhattan style that sports a rather dashing woven carbon fiber watch face, to the Times Square variant that boasts of a crystal encrusted dial, giving your watch a dazzling shimmer that lets the watch stand out against your wrist.

The watch also boasts of being waterproof up to 5 atmospheres, and even performs auto-time-syncing depending on where you are. Unlike most smartwatches that need charging every day, the NYSW runs for two weeks on a full charge and will continue to work as a regular watch without smartwatch features when it runs out of battery. This gives it a massive advantage over a regular smartwatch, that needs periodic charging, and looks like the 2017 equivalent of a Casio calculator watch on your wrist… while its advantage over the analog watch remains that it can track your health and fitness for you, and even notify you every time you get a tweet, message, instagram notification, or an email, because it’s rude to be tethered to your smartphone when in the company of friends, colleagues, and business partners, but a casual glance at your stylish wristwatch is always the mark of a classy businessman who values time!

Designer: David Luk

Click here to Buy Now: $179.00 $358.00

For the business man, the office worker, the hustler. Enjoy wearing the latest technology in a way that complements your business wear or work uniform.

Simpler, relaxed, lifestyle of the casual New Yorker.

Click here to Buy Now: $179.00 $358.00