Furniture Inspired by Japanese Stone Gardens

Le designer japonais Teruhiro Yanagihara a récemment présenté Osaka, sa dernière série de meubles pour OFFECCT, lors du Stockholm furniture fair 2020. Il s’est en partie inspiré des traditionnels jardins japonais en pierre, afin d’obtenir un résultat à la fois intemporel et empreint de simplicité. Cette collection comprend notamment des tables et des poufs constitués de matériaux simples et clairs qui peuvent se combiner de différentes manières, le designer ayant également pour but de faciliter l’installation et la disposition de ses meubles, pour une meilleure adaptabilité.






 

 

 

Festool's New Folding, Mobile Sawing Table

For the traveling, on-site craftsperson that is Festool’s target market, handling large sheet goods can be tricky, particularly when you’re a one-man or one-woman show. Table saws are impractical to lug to jobsites, and even if you had one there, muscling a full sheet of plywood into the blade is difficult to do safely. In this case it’s better to bring the tool to the workpiece, which is why the tracksaws pioneered by Festool (and now manufactured by everyone) have become a wild success.

Which still leaves the problem of working with large sheets. Festool’s answer is the STM 1800, a portable workstation that folds up to fit neatly into trucks, vans and jobsite elevators.

When unfurled it offers approximately 6′ square of support area, if you want to place a sheet onto it to use as an assembly table. If you’re placing a sheet up there to cut, the table can effectively accommodate sheets as massive as 3100mm x 2150mm (roughly 7′ by 10′, or a good deal more than a yankee-dimensions 4’x8′ plywood sheet).

A neat feature: The table is designed to be tipped onto its side, allowing the user to place a large sheet onto the supports, then tip it back into a horizontal position.

The height is adjustable from 27-5/8″ to 35-7/16″, allowing both the short and the tall to work in comfort.

Here’s what it looks like in action:

Festool hasn’t added the product to their website yet, but Joel from Tools for Working Wood (a Festool distributor) has the skinny on it here.

Beautiful Collages by Hollie Chastain

Hollie Chastain est une vraie amoureuse du papier. Illustratrice, elle travaille à Chattanooga, dans le Tennessee. Dans ses créations, collages mixed media, elle arrive à allier harmonieusement différents matériaux trouvés : des éléments graphiques, d’autres plus rétros, mais aussi modernes. La configuration de ces derniers donne un aspect spécial qui lui est propre, à savoir des nuances parfois mélancoliques, relevées par d’autres plus piquantes, mais encore une fois, toujours en douceur. Savamment pensées, elles racontent des histoires, des pensées que le public peut interpréter à sa guise.

Une stimulation de l’imagination, inspirée par « le folklore, la musique et l’inconnue », comme l’explique l’artiste, qui a une « passion pour l’art populaire et les artistes autodidactes ». Dans plusieurs de ses oeuvres, elle crée sur des couvertures de livres anciens, ce qui rajoute un charme certain à son travail.

En 2017, Chastain a publié un livre, intitulé If you can cut, you can collage. Une façon de partager son amour pour son art, et de partager ce dernier avec les autres. Dans le résumé, elle explique d’ailleurs que « Le collage est un merveilleux exutoire créatif, en particulier pour les personnes qui veulent faire de l’art, mais qui n’ont pas le sentiment d’avoir les compétences ou la confiance nécessaires pour d’autres projets. Vous pouvez toujours explorer et expérimenter avec la couleur, la composition et divers thèmes et vous retrouver avec des résultats passionnants et souvent inattendus ».

Ses oeuvres et son univers sont à retrouver sur son compte Instagram 

 

 






 

 

Your pets and you will totally love these product designs: Part 3

Our pets are basically our lifelines, and we would never compromise when it comes to taking care of them. We want to provide our pets with the best products in the market, whether it’s a comfy bed, a private pet house, the best toys, innovative litters and etc. There’s no holding back when it comes to attending to the needs of our furry friends! Hence, we’ve curated a collection of super awesome and cute pet products that will keep your pet babies completely satisfied. Dive in!

This dog house is your pet’s dream house, it’s crafted with Brazilian teak wood responsible for the classy look which rests on a powder-coated steel frame so it’s sturdy. To make it long-lasting, the base of the dog house is made from concrete which also adds to the existing strong structure. The MKD9 Dog Haus gives interiors the same importance it gave to the exteriors, it comes with a custom bed by Jax & Bones which is made of an ultra-luxe memory foam pillow because your best friend deserves nothing less – he can choose the color too!

The Cat Flat has been carefully designed based on the advice of Sweden’s first cat psychologist, Susanne Hellman Holmström, who brought to light the 10 necessities apart from basic essentials that cats need for the best emotional and physical health. It looks like an organic wooden storage cabinet crafted from walnut veneer with dross having vertical slats at different angles to give it a lift. It has three levels for your cats inside complete with stimulating elements and toys.

The Wool Lodge is a safe haven of sorts for your pet. You can arrange and form the flat-packed structure by yourself easily. The lodge features a merino felt roof, with the rest of the structure being made from wood. Spacious enough to fit your cat’s litter box, the lodge shelters the box within its structure. Your cat can sneak away, and pee or poop in privacy, away from any prying eyes. On the other hand, you can install a soft cushion or mattress instead of a litter box in the lodge.

Literally titled the Fetch House, this doggy-kennel is made from a 3D-printed skeleton that holds a thousand tennis balls to make what I can only describe as canine paradise. I mean look at how pleased the dog looks in the picture above! The house comes with a modular internal structure that allows you to compression-fit as many as a 1000 tennis-balls into it. The balls can randomly be pulled out of their individual enclosures for the purpose of playing fetch (hence the name), and can easily be press-fitted back in when done.

The TailTalk Water Dispenser is a built-in water purification system that allows for the continuous flow and circulation of water, eliminating water scale build-up, whilst four layers of filter remove any large particles from the water. All of this occurs whilst the Intelligent Water Quantity Monitoring System simultaneously tracks the intake of water; a gravity sensor that’s housed within the base of the device monitors the water volume, which is then clearly displayed on the side of the product!

Product designer Yoh Komiyama collaborated with Tokyo-based Rinn to create the NEKO Cat Tree.  Wood sourced from the forests in the Hida region of Japan was used to craft the series of dowels that make up the majority of the column. The ancient Japanese technique Dabo was used to create this piece!

Although designed for pets with hind-leg disabilities, and with the ability to adapt to a growing pup, Petdali’s Pet Wheelchair is not radically different than the ones we see in the market today but is a refined version of them. The harness looks a lot easier to use and so is the construction of the back limbs straps. Comfort and adaptability being the keywords here, I’m looking forward to seeing this in the market soon.

The Cove is a minimalist Scandinavian-styled litter box that complements your home decor. Made from non-toxic recycled plastic, the litter-box comes with a simple, clean, off-white design that integrates a scooper along with a dust-pan and brush into its form. The box comes with vertical walls that prevent litter from accidentally spilling out, or the tray being overturned, along with a silicone base that keeps the tray from accidentally slipping or moving around the floor.

A Cat Thing by Chacha and Lily is the perfect sanctuary for your beloved felines! It’s the ultimate playing heaven with different modules for different sections of your home. This mini playground is a must-have for your kitties.

Okay, let’s admit it this banana bed for cats by Petgrow is absolutely adorable! And not to mention it looks super cozy and completely snuggle-worthy.

If you’re interested in more adorable pet designs, check out Part 1 and 2 of this series!

Special Projects distills essential smart phone functions into a daily Paper Phone

Special Projects distills essential smart phone functions into A4 paper

London design studio Special Projects has developed an app that condenses important information such as contacts and maps onto a paper print out to help people live without their device for a day.

The app lets users select things from their phone that they will need that day – whether it’s their calendar, a to-do list or tickets – and formats them into a simple grid that fits onto a single sheet of a A4 paper.

This can then be printed out and folded into a pocket-sized booklet that also has a slot to keep your credit card, so you can make contactless payments.

“We interviewed a lot of people to ask them about the ways they balance technology, and about the things they would class as essential on their device,” explained Special Projects co-founder Adrian Westaway.

“It was those insights that informed the content of the paper phone and you’ll see playful elements in there such as games, which were directly inspired by the interviews.”

The preliminary interviews showed that, although most people might like to leave their phone at home for a day, but they’re afraid of not having access to the necessary, day-to-day information it contains, like public transport routes or a parent’s phone number.

Paper Phone aims to be the answer to that, as a “gentle, empathetic way” to ease people into a digital detox, with a user experience that’s centred around playfulness rather than the feeling that something is lacking without their phone.

“In the studio we have a mix of backgrounds, in engineering, design and also magic, and there is always a small element of delight or ‘magic’ in what we do as long, as it stays anchored in reason and function,” Westaway told Dezeen.

In this case, the key was striking a balance between making the Paper Phone fun to use, while not overcrowding it with extraneous functions.

“People used to demand more features, but now things have changed and instead we want technology to take a back seat and dominate our experiences less,” he explained.

“Calm technology was first coined in the mid-nineties by Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown, and it’s just incredible how on-the-rise it is today. We are always trying to take the technology part out and instead focus on the experience someone has, to transform your device into a calmer, quieter, simpler version of itself.”

The project was created as part of Google’s Digital Wellbeing Experiments, which seek to help people find a better balance with technology. This means that the app is currently only available on Android phones.

With the aim to make the project as accessible, low cost and sustainable as possible, the app is completely open source and can be adopted and adapted by anyone.

“If you worry about the environmental impact of printing a sheet of A4 every single day, you’ll be surprised to know printing one page per day would produce approximately 10 grams of CO2 in a year,” said Westaway.

“In contrast, using a mobile device for one hour a day produces 1.25 Tonnes of CO2 at the end of the year, taking into account network and server infrastructure energy requirements.”

Special Projects distills essential smart phone functions into A4 paper

Elsewhere in the space of calm technology, design studio SF-SO has recently reverted speakers, radios and smart door locks back to their sensory, analogue interfaces, while researchers from MIT Media Lab have wired plants to act as motion sensors and displays to offer a more nourishing alternative to electronic screens.

The post Special Projects distills essential smart phone functions into a daily Paper Phone appeared first on Dezeen.

Architecture Club builds cast-concrete studio for sculptor Monika Sosnowska

Atelier Monika Sosnowska by Architecture Club north elevation

Architecture Club has completed a sculpture studio for Polish artist Monika Sosnowska, featuring board-marked concrete walls and huge windows.

Located in Warsaw, the 150-square-metre studio is described by its architects as “a generous light-drenched space for undistracted experimentation”.

It is a five-metre-high concrete box, with large, bespoke window walls on both the north and the south sides.

Atelier Monika Sosnowska by Architecture Club south elevation

Obscured, reinforced glass features on the southern elevation, facing the street. This prevents passersby from seeing what’s inside and prevents distractions to Sosnowska while she works. It also helps to subtly diffuse the bright midday sun.

Glazing on the north side of the building is low-iron, making it extra transparent. It offers clear views of the garden, which serves as an ever-changing backdrop to the sculptures on display inside the studio.

Atelier Monika Sosnowska by Architecture Club north elevation

“We presented three options during our first discussion and a solid cube was one of them,” explained Pawel Krzeminski, who leads Architecture Club with partner Karolina Slawecka.

Krzeminski said that this concept, of a basic volume defined by a few walls and a roof slab, was the one that felt right. They even simplified it further as the project developed.

Atelier Monika Sosnowska by Architecture Club oak furniture

“By introducing two large open facades, we were left basically with two walls and a roof slab,” he told Dezeen.

“The project has nothing to do with trendy extrusions,” he added. “It is about bringing architecture to the basic concepts, to a minimal design alphabet of walls and slabs. The rest is the space between.”

Atelier Monika Sosnowska by Architecture Club interior

The concrete walls and ceiling were cast against wooden boards, creating an organic texture both inside and out. This contrasts with the smooth finish of the polished concrete-aggregate floor.

Three steel I-beams support the roof and incorporate lighting fixtures. But they are designed to also carry additional weight, so that Sosnowska can use them as a crane to hang her work from.

Atelier Monika Sosnowska by Architecture Club concrete wall

A few large wooden elements were also designed for the space. A free-standing oak partition contains a kitchen, a toilet and storage, while a six-metre long table runs alongside the north window.

Other details include a south-facing window seat with a heating and cooling system concealed within it.

Atelier Monika Sosnowska by Architecture Club south elevation

“Introducing south light into an artist’s studio was experimental, but conceptually it was what we wanted,” said Krzeminski.

“In the end, the mixture of north and south light turned out to be extremely interesting for the space.”

Atelier Monika Sosnowska by Architecture Club night

Krzeminski and Slawecka founded Basel-based Architecture Club in 2017. They completed Atelier Monika Sosnowska in 2019.

The project also included the construction of a timber storage shed, which also faces the garden.

Photography is by Hélène Binet.

The post Architecture Club builds cast-concrete studio for sculptor Monika Sosnowska appeared first on Dezeen.

Minimalist Compositions with Colorful Patterns

Fubiz et Adobe s’associent avec différents artistes pour qu’ils imaginent des créations en collaboration autour des thèmes et des tendances 2020 identifiés par Adobe.
Cette année, la tendance “Handmade Humanism” a été abordée et sélectionnée pour que des illustrateurs réalisent des oeuvres autour de ce thème.
C’est une tendance selon laquelle les artistes recherchent une touche naturelle et créent un style émotionnellement accessible en se distinguant par la simplicité et un ton artisanal.

Pour cette collaboration, 2 illustrateurs 2D ont collaborés :
Sacrée Frangine, 2 illustratrices au style minimaliste et la contributrice Nadezda Grapes qui réalise des patterns et des illustrations très colorées.

Sacrée Frangine a réalisé 2 créations originales en reprenant son univers et en y intégrant des motifs de la contributrice Nadezda Grapes.
Elles ont repris le travail de la contributrice en choisissant des créations qui les inspiraient et ont opté pour l’intégration de motifs afin de donner de la texture à leurs créations originales.

Pouvez-vous vous présenter en quelques mots et nous en dire un peu plus sur votre univers créatif ?

Sacrée Frangine : Célia et Aline, 26 ans, amies d’enfance, Frangines depuis 2 ans, illustratrices et créatives dès que possible, amoureuses des couleurs et amatrices de thé menthe.

On imagine des compositions qui rassemblent, des portraits familiers. On aime illustrer des moments tendres, des interactions, figer la douceur simple du quotidien.
Nos œuvres expriment des thèmes positifs tels que l’amour, l’amitié, le vivre ensemble ou encore le partage. On essaye de retranscrire une vision bienveillante du monde et du quotidien à travers des images qui peuvent parler à tous et dans lesquelles chacun peut s’identifier, identifier son couple, un proche, une connaissance…

Nadezda : Je dessine depuis ma plus tendre enfance et j’ai toujours su que c’était ma passion et que j’en ferais mon métier. J’ai suivi des études dans un institut d’art et me suis spécialisée dans le design graphique.
Alors que j’étudiais dans cet institut, je travaillais comme vendeuse dans un magasin de mode. Ce fut une longue et excitante expérience dans l’univers merveilleux de la mode. Je suis passée de vendeuse, à décoratrice de vitrine puis à directrice artistique. J’ai travaillé avec de grandes marques russes dans la production de vêtements à la mode : J’ai créé des campagnes publicitaires, développé des concepts de magasins et c’était incroyable, mais au fond, j’ai toujours voulu dessiner et être complètement libre. Je ne voulais dépendre de personne. J’ai quitté mon travail et je suis devenu illustratrice indépendante. Et je suis vraiment heureuse maintenant.

Sacrée Frangine, vous réalisez des portraits minimalistes aux couleurs chaudes. Comment en êtes-vous arrivées à cet univers ? Et quelles sont vos inspirations ?

Notre amour des couleurs vient certainement de nos origines et de cette notion de mélange qui fait partie de notre histoire.
Célia est algérienne/hollandaise et Aline béninoise/française. Cet héritage métissé influence beaucoup nos portraits, on adore mélanger les gens et les couleurs. Du beige rosé au brun, ces carnations chaudes sont très souvent le point de départ de nos créations et déterminent en grande partie notre palette de couleurs.

Les travaux d’Henri Matisse, essentiellement ceux en papiers découpés, ont également beaucoup influencés notre style illustratif.

On s’inspire de détails, de toutes les petites choses à première vue banales mais qui peuvent offrirent un beau sujet à illustrer si on prend le temps de regarder de plus près; un coin de table en été, une accolade, un sentiment, une phrase, un paysage de notre dernier voyage,…
Mais la Femme reste sans doute notre sujet de prédilection car c’est le thème le plus récurrent de nos œuvres. Énormément de femmes nous inspirent au quotidien et ça se répercute forcément dans notre travail.

Nadezda, vous choisissez de réaliser différents types de compositions qui touchent à la fois à la création de motifs ou aux illustrations au style minimaliste. Quelles sont vos inspirations?

Je pense que l’amour pour les patterns est lié à mon expérience passée dans l’industrie de la mode, mais pas seulement … C’est fascinant de penser que le motif que vous avez créé peut être sur n’importe quelle surface, sur laquelle vous pouvez appliquer un dessin – papier, tissu , papier peint, décoration intérieure, etc. Et sur chaque surface, le motif sera différent, vivra sa propre vie. C’est incroyable!
L’illustration me donne l’occasion d’exprimer pleinement mon regard sur le monde.
L’inspiration vient de partout: les voyages et la nature, les tendances de la mode, les nouveaux films, les livres, les campagnes publicitaires et bien sûr les talentueux illustrateurs et designers – tout cela donne de nouvelles idées pour le dessin. «Gardez les yeux ouverts et scannez l’espace autour de vous» est la clé de mon inspiration.

Comment s’organise votre journée type de création? Où vous sentez-vous le mieux pour créer ?
Pouvez-vous nous en dire un peu plus sur votre processus créatif?

Sacrée Frangine : Nous n’avons pas réellement de journée type de création. On se partage énormément d’inspirations, on échange nos idées, on dessine, parfois à distance, on parle de nos prochains projets, on parle de nos vies, on commande libanais, on écoute de la musique, on dessine encore.

Le meilleur endroit pour esquisser nos illustrations reste le canapé rose de Célia, accompagné d’une tasse de thé et d’une playlist Spotify des années 90.

Nos travaux se construisent davantage comme une composition qu’un dessin figuratif. On est constamment à la recherche de l’harmonie parfaite entre les formes, les couleurs, les gens.
Après un croquis préliminaire nous travaillons d’abord en masses de couleurs avant d’ajouter de la texture et peaufiner notre palette de couleurs. C’est réellement cette dernière étape qui donne vie à nos illustrations. La couleur a ce pouvoir de transmettre une palette infinie d’émotions et c’est par ce biais qu’on prend le plus de plaisir à s’exprimer.

Nadezda : Le processus créatif est étroitement intégré à ma vie, c’est en fait ma vie. Je ne fais pas de distinction entre le temps de travail et le repos. Même en voyage j’ai toujours un ordinateur, une tablette graphique, un carnet et des crayons avec moi, c’est ce que j’aime vraiment faire.
Quand je suis à la maison, j’aime commencé dès le du matin pendant 2/3 heures. C’est le meilleur moyen, pour moi, de démarrer une journée. Je travaille principalement à la maison, c’est pratique, j’ai tout ce dont j’ai besoin ici. Parfois, je travaille dans un espace de coworking, mais ça se produit uniquement si j’ai besoin de me concentrer sur une tâche spécifique.

Sacrée Frangine, pour ce travail vous avez collaboré avec Nadezda, qui a une palette de créations très diverse, dont certaines peuvent se rapprocher de votre travail. Que vous a apporté ce travail collaboratif?

Nos compositions ont une esthétique assez minimaliste, on utilise habituellement de larges aplats colorés et des formes simples. Cette collaboration a permis d’apporter une nouvelle dimension à notre univers, de nouvelles formes, de nouvelles textures, un nouveau regard. On adore le concept collaboratif, faire naître un projet, une création ou une idée par la rencontre de différentes influences et différentes sensibilités. C’était un vrai plaisir de mixer nos univers et d’habiller nos formes avec les jolis patterns de Nadezda !

Nadezda, vous êtes une contributrice d’Adobe Stock. Selon vous, quels sont les avantages pour un artiste de publier ses créations sur la plateforme?

Je pense que l’idée en elle-même est une excellente occasion pour les illustrateurs, les concepteurs et les photographes de vendre une licence pour l’utilisation de leur travail créatif sur de grandes plateformes de stock. C’est ingénieux.
Les personnes créatives peuvent réaliser leurs travaux et en tirer de bons revenus. Grâce au soutien des auteurs et au marketing compétent qui attire les acheteurs, les ventes sont en constante augmentation.
De leur côté, les acheteurs ont accès à une immense bibliothèque de contenus de qualité.

Adobe a sélectionné dans les tendances 2020 le thème d’”Handmade Humanism”.
Les artistes recherchent une touche naturelle et créent un style émotionnellement accessible se distinguant par sa simplicité et son ton artisanal.
Selon vous, qu’est-ce que cela représente ? Comment cette notion peut se rapprocher de votre univers et comment s’intègre-t-elle à votre art?

Sacrée Frangine : Les nouveaux outils ont permis à l’art d’être accessible à tous, on peut aujourd’hui créer partout, plus vite, plus facilement. Mais ces nouvelles techniques ont également lissé la création et la créativité. On retrouve de plus en plus de styles et d’univers qui se ressemblent.
D’un autre côté le fait main permet à l’artiste d’apporter sa propre sensibilité, sa « patte ». Cette touche permet naturellement de reprendre la main sur la création, de s’éloigner de ce moule poli et de revenir à des émotions plus simples.

De notre côté nous utilisons principalement des outils digitaux pour réaliser nos œuvres mais on aime travailler des formes et des couleurs organiques, ajouter de la textures, illustrer des sujets qui incitent à prendre le temps.

On trouve aujourd’hui de formidables outils qui permettent de réconcilier ces deux mondes du fait main traditionnel et du digital, réunis finalement par la main humaine.

Nadezda : Je pense que cette tendance reflète une tendance universelle – le désir d’être simplement soi-même, de ne pas vouloir paraître meilleur mais de respecter sa personnalité et de s’aimer.
Concernant l’illustration, je peux m’exprimer dans des lignes inégales, des formes imparfaites, des textures dessinées à la main. C’est tellement vivant et sincère.
Ce style, sans idéalisation, permet de jouer, fantasmer et raconter sa propre histoire.

Si vous pouviez résumer votre travail en une phrase, quelle serait-elle ?

Sacrée Frangine : C’est une invitation à la « douce vie », prendre le temps d’apprécier le monde qui nous entoure, donner plus d’importance aux moments simples du quotidien.

Nadezda : Ceci est mon histoire, teintée d’ironie, multicolore, qui vit au travers d’images et de motifs.


Super Heavyweight Checkered Rugby

Modeled after bygone iterations, NYC-based Rowing Blazers’ collection of Rugby shirts is cut from 100% super-heavyweight cotton. The 12 gauge knit (which describes the number of stitches per square inch) ensures that it’s a bit warmer and longer-lasting, too. This one features a navy and white oversized checkered pattern, with subtle details under the collar and where the buttons meet. It’s a slimmer silhouette—for an oversized fit, the brand suggests ordering one size up from what you usually wear.

Ten Delectable Chocolate Treats That Defy Expectation

From the utterly odd to the refreshingly simple, welcome variations on standard issue bars

We believe chocolate goods can be assessed by a succinct set of criteria: the amount of ingredients they employ, which state of cacao they use as their basis, and the inventiveness of the accoutrements. While chocolate purveyors adhering to fair trade certifications and committing only to all-natural ingredients and no additives, used to be few and far between, those that impress with quality and conscience are now in abundance. From Hawaiian chocolates that employ local ingredients to fairly-priced ones that use Dragonfruit and Black Lava salt, here are a few of those that we’ve tried, enjoyed, and remained impressed by after surveying their ingredient lists.

by Evan Malachosky

Fossa Chocolate’s Sake Kasu

An ultra-limited release, Singapore-based Fossa Chocolate‘s Sake Kasu bar ($12) employs leftover lees from the process of making KuroKura sake as finishing touches. The bits, which are a bit chewy and certainly intense, impart an umami flavor with an undertone of dried fruit. The denseness is contrasted by the 75% dark chocolate’s lush flavor and smooth texture. It’s an altogether surprising offering that will please Japan-lovers and treat-eaters alike. The bar is available now, but limited to 250.

Only Child Chocolate’s Best Fronds Forever Milk Chocolate Fennel Bar

Atypical ingredients like dried coconut pieces, fennel seed, and cayenne pepper perfectly complement the milk chocolate and peanut base here. Only Child Chocolate’s Best Fronds Forever bar aims to surprise, and does so with surprising simplicity, courtesy of the subtle emergence of the ingredients listed and not an all-out barrage on your palate. Plus, the ingredients present quite beautifully atop the chocolate. This bar ($8) is available now on the brand’s website.

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by Evan Orensten

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Puna Chocolate Co’s Strawberries and Peanut Butter in 50% Dark Milk Chocolate

Produced on the Big Island, Puna Chocolate Co‘s complex, three-act chocolate bar comprises 50% dark chocolate; flavorful, freeze-dried strawberries; and a combination of peanut butter and rich Midwest cream. Final touches include orange liqueur (which adds a spiced layer) and Demerara sugar, rendering the finish not too much of any one ingredient. Though this particular edition is not available in their online site, we were able to find a bar at a few shops on the Big Island.

Areté Fine Chocolate Gianduia Bar

Areté‘s English Walnut chocolate bar might be the simplest texturally on this list, but its understated essence offers the flavors of its primary ingredients—English Walnut Flour, whole English Walnuts and cocoa beans—without fuss. If food texture often prohibits you, or those you know, from enjoying bars with crunch, bite or chew, Areté’s bar will please with its sheer simplicity. Though not available online now, the bar can be found in retailers like The Meadow.

Pono Chocolate’s Dragonfruit and Black Lava Sea Salt Bar

Paia-based Pono Chocolate employs 38% cacao in their Dragonfruit and Black Lava Sea Salt bar, Haleakalā ($12). The result is a harmonious combination of sweet, salty, exotic, and seemingly familiar, without being too much of any of the aforementioned. This balance comes courtesy of a broader philosophy called “Pono,” “a state of harmony where all things in the universe are in perfect alignment.” Each ingredient is responsibly-sourced and well-used in their respective instances.

by Evan Malachosky

Askinosie Chocolate’s Gingerbread Dark Chocolate

Though currently unavailable due to its seasonal availability, Askinosie Chocolate‘s Gingerbread Dark Chocolate bar embeds the warmth of winter spices into a single origin dark chocolate bar. Five spices and unrefined cane sugar contribute the flavors, rendering this treat a matrimony of dense richness and spicy bite. Ginger, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg and clove round out the roster, and will likely return, in a similar iteration, next holiday season.

Hana Gold Maui’s Milk Chocolate with Bananas

Hawaii-based plantation Hana Gold produces a chocolate bar ($8) that features local bananas and plantation-grown cacao. The pair form a nice balance between fruitiness (from the chocolate) and light sweetness from the banana bits. A rarity on this list, the company adheres to a process categorized as “branch to bar,” meaning the owners oversee the growing of each tree and the molding of each bar. It’s intensive work that yields a delightful milk chocolate snack.

Eat Chic Chocolate’s Vanilla Tahini Cups

A riff on the ever-popular peanut butter cup, Eat Chic Chocolate’s Vanilla Tahini Cups ($8) use a familiar chocolate exterior but substitute the peanut butter filling for one composed from dry-roasted sesame seeds, unrefined coconut sugar, pink Himalayan sea salt and vanilla bean. The result is a bite that’s a bit grainier, albeit different entirely, in texture. There’s far more chew but there’s a complexity that is otherwise missing in a cup that relies on the traditional formula. The 79% dark chocolate offsets any savory notes, and lends the well-known richness cacao offers.

by Evan Orensten

Morito Chocolates’ Salted Peanut Sticks

Morito Chocolates‘ salted peanut sticks ($8) marry a chocolate coating to a creamy peanut filling—and, a pink Himalayan salt dusting. Each stick is handmade in Brooklyn and packaged in sets of four, and prove to be vegan, organic, and gluten-free. Seemingly simple—just five ingredients make up each stick: organic cacao beans, organic cacao butter, organic sugar cane, organic roasted peanuts, and pink salt—yet incredibly enjoyably, these are a snack you can feel positive about buying, as they’re made with an emphasis on ingredients and small-batch production.

Dandelion Chocolate’s Two-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups

From CH favorite Dandelion Chocolate comes another simple riff on a sweet classic. Their new Two-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cup ($5)—which could very well be the world’s first—is made of just 100% Ecuadorian Camino Verde cocoa beans and roasted Valencia peanuts. That’s it. There is no added sugar and, like all of their chocolate, you won’t find any soy lecithin, emulsifiers, cocoa butter or other additives. They partnered with Feve Chocolates, also in San Francisco, to create this peanut butter cup, which tastes subtle, natural and delectable. It’s an uncomplicated taste sensation that we’re (sadly) not very used to.

Hero image by Evan Malachosky

New exhibition celebrates advertising’s rich heritage

1930 poster for the Morris-Oxford Six

Over 200 years of visual heritage is brought together in the show, which serves as a reminder of just how far advertising’s come. Some of the oldest examples date back to the mid-18th century, and come in the form of trade cards – which let stores and tradesmen advertise their wares.

These early ads favoured longform copy, accompanied with some tasteful copper engravings or woodcuts. A 1742 trade card for perfumer William Roberts came with an illustrated civet cat – whose pungent musk evidently made it a good symbol for the fragrance business. At this stage, there seemed to be little play on words, with advertisers instead showing exhaustive lists of what they had for sale – which for William Roberts ranged from all sorts of hair and tooth powder to French chalk and cold cream for the face. 

1742 ad for perfumer William Roberts
1895 advert for Stower’s Lime Juice Cordial
1892 advert for Edward’s Harlene hair products, all images courtesy the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford

Things get a little more sophisticated as time goes by, with early 19th-century window bills taking advantage of new printing techniques and type. And while these ads look antiquated, their messages aren’t all that different from what we see today.

Take an 1884 Lutticke’s cold water soap ad, which promises to get washing done in a third of the time, and all without heat, steam or chapped hands. They’re also not immune to a bit of creative bombast, with another soap advert promising to ‘arrest all dirt’ and give ‘perfect satisfaction’ with daily use.

Other tropes are apparent. An 1892 advert for Harlene hair products feels depressingly familiar, playing on women’s worries about their appearance.







Aside from realising that advertisers have been relying on the same tricks for literally hundreds of years, are there lessons to be learned here?

While some of these examples feel dated, many of them are as charming and visually satisfying as they must have been in their own era, suggesting that good creativity doesn’t have an expiry date. More than that, it’s fascinating to see how historic advertising responded to and reflected the cultural and social developments of the time.

The Art of Advertising is on at The Bodleian Libraries from March 5 – August 31; visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk

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