Hasta La Ideas

Tumblr’s first retail blog taps new Los Angeles label RTH as its next designer du jour

Seven months ago, college friends Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo launched Of a Kind, the first retail site on Tumblr and “online art gallery for emerging designers.” Since the explosive debut, the site has racked up thousands of followers, unsurprisingly attracted to the platform’s simplified interface and rotating cast of exciting new talents.

The pair’s knack for touting appealing up-and-comers isn’t the only reason the shopping portal remains ahead of others in the field of e-commerce. Offering up exclusively-designed items—in runs spanning five to 50 pieces—each piece is signed and numbered by the designer. As a supplement to these limited editions, Of a Kind publishes a series of editorials lending insight on each designer’s process and inspirations. This intimate approach to retail enables readers to be virtual experts on every Of a Kind edition and designer.

This week’s featured edition comes from the new Los Angeles company, RTH, which crafted an edition of 30 soft leather wallets, evocative of founder Rene Holguin’s Texan upbringing. Made in his dad’s El Paso boot factory, RTH finishes each with leather treatment, an added strap and a Southwestern pattern of holes punched on the flap.

Sign up for the Of a Kind newsletter between today, 15 June, and Monday, 20 June 2011, for a chance to score one of the unisex wallets in a special CH giveaway or pick it up from Of a Kind for $101.

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The members of Cherga Design Group, a group of young Bulgarian designers, are currently showcasing their latest products in the Lozenets Water Tower for Sofia Design Week. The water tower is an amazing place with a long winding staircase and various levels, presenting an interesting mix of great projects.

Featured above is Velichko Velikov “Lastika” chair that he created for the Italian furniture company Lago.

Looking down from the first level of the water tower.

Topographic lampshade by Volen Valentinov

Felt toy characters by Nevena Todorova.

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In this Dezeen movie London interior designer Linda Morey Smith, one of the judges of the Inside awards, talks about designing the headquarters of drinks brand Red Bull. Watch the movie »

Dezeen readers can save 25% on the price of entering the Inside awards and attending the festival in Barcelona from 2-4 November – simply quote VIP code DEZEEN when entering online at www.insidefestival.com. Entries close on 30 June.

Got data but need knowledge? Then get to know Ben Fry. A veteran of the Media Lab at MIT, where he received his doctoral degree, Fry has made a name for himself—and his Boston-based firm, Fathom Information Design—with elegant and mind-boggling visualizations of everything from global population trends and all of the streets in the lower 48 states to optimal triathalon training regimens and dietary preferences in Saudi Arabia. Even the beverages at Fathom are not immune to the data deluge: a recent “test kitchen” project resulted in lattes topped with bubble charts—stenciled in cinnamon. Fry’s exceptional work using digital technology has earned him the 2011 National Design Award for interaction design.

So how did he react to the big news? “I was very pleased, particularly the part of me that studied design as an undergrad and vividly remembers the ups and downs of the experience,” Fry tells us. “It’s fantastic to have taken an odd route through the field and yet receive such an honor.” His resume includes a postdoctoral fellowship in genomics at Harvard and MIT’s Broad Insitute, two published books (Visualizing Data and Getting Started with Processing, written with Casey Reas), and appearances in the Whitney Biennial and the Cooper-Hewitt Design Triennial. “The best part is being included with others, both winners and finalists, whose work I love: Matthew Carter is a hero, Hoefler & Frere-Jones do such outstanding work, plus the guys at Project Projects…I could go on.” Next up for Fry: a trip to Washington, DC, for the annual National Design Awards luncheon, hosted by the First Lady. “I’m looking forward to the possibility of a trip to the White House, and hoping that my wife will be able to join me,” says Fry. “If not, I may need to feign being ill so that I can send her in my place, since lunch with Michelle Obama without her might be unforgivable.”

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