Tom Dixon’s new stools and showroom

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Tom Dixon is opening a new showroom in London which wil permanently display the full Tom Dixon collection. The showroom opening, coincident with the London Design Festival, will include the launch of two new stools.

The Offcut stool, introduced in Milan earlier this year, makes use of offcut oak scraps, which, according to Dixon, are the most interesting parts of the wood: “The ‘wayney’ edge is the roughest, most characterised bit underneath the bark which is normally discarded for its inconsistence, but just like pork crackling, for us it’s the tastiest bit.”

The brand new Slab stool is made from specially crowned oak, like the rest of the Slab collection, but also includes a cast iron foot, that “reinforces and adds strength to the structure of the chair.”

View these pieces and more at the new showroom during the London Design Festival!

Tom Dixon during London Design Festival
Wharf Building, Portobello Dock, London
Preview: Thursday, September 24th

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Matt Webb and Bruce Sterling at reboot11 in Copenhagen

Matt Webb and his opening presentation at reboot 11. Scope – Design and contributing to culture; ourselves as individuals and the big picture; taking action.

Bruce Sterling’s closing talk at reboot11 on Favela Chic, Gothic High Tech and where we are heading.

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Bread Butter 2009 – Back Home at the Berlin Tempelhof Airport

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“Thousands of fashion minded people at an airport and no one is flying off?” Exactly, after few years of Spanish sun, this year’s BREAD & BUTTER trade show takes place from 1-3 July at the historical Tempelhof Airport in Berlin.

Last Tuesday, the Swedish rockers Mando Diao kicked off the event with some great songs. The rock concert is followed up by an even bigger trade show where hundreds of brands such as Adidas, Marc O’Polo, Dickies, Lee, Nike, G-Star, Wrangler, … (see brand bible), are showcasing their latest collections for the upcoming year.

Have you ever seen a super size fashion show at an airport? More photos after the jump!

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This Just Inbox: Materia by Nicolas Le Moigne

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NextLevel Galerie presents Materia, French designer’s Nicolas Le Moigne’s first solo show.

Materia gives Nicolas Le Moigne a golden opportunity to ennoble four raw materials.
Wood, glass, clay and steel disguise themselves and become the centrepiece of an exhibition
devoted to the duality between art and handcraft, between highly refined objects and the
commonplace.

Matera by Nicolas Le Moigne
NextLevel Galerie, Paris
through July 25th

More pics after the jump.

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And the winners of the Alice.com $250 shopping giveaway are …

Thank you to EVERYONE (all 1,313 of you!) who participated in our Alice.com $250 shopping credit giveaway. Now let’s get on to the good stuff …

At 10:00 a.m. ET this morning, I closed the comments and counted up the entries. Then, I headed over to the Random Integer Generator at random.org and entered in the data:

Out popped the following numbers:

94 — Aliya

811 — David

I have contacted the winners and they will be receiving $250 credits in their accounts at Alice.com. (I’m a wee bit envious!!) Congratulations to our winners and thank you to Alice.com for their generosity.

Alice.com giveaway

As a “thank you” to us for testing their service in the private beta (gamma?) launch, Alice.com has given Unclutterer TWO $250 credits to give away to our readers. If you’re a winner, $250 will be credited to your Alice.com account for you to spend through their service. And, because they have nice low prices, you can actually get quite a bit of stuff for $250 (and you don’t have to spend it all in one trip, any balance will remain in your account for another shopping session). I love generous presents for our readers!

To enter for a chance to win one of the $250 shopping credits, simply leave ONE comment to this post indicating that you want to participate in the drawing. On Thursday, July 2, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. ET, I will enter the number of comments into the Random Integer Generator at random.org and select two random winners. Good luck!

Warning: If you leave a comment to this post that isn’t an entry, I will DELETE it. Nothing personal, I just don’t want to select a winner who isn’t interested in participating in the giveaway.

(Just so you know, I didn’t receive any credits or payment when I tested their service, nor am I receiving any now. Unclutterer readers are the lucky ones!)


Ready Those Sleeping Bags, Type Camp Returns This Summer

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Assuming you aren’t a child reading UnBeige right now (which is quite possible, given roughly 60% our readership are people under the age of 15 — we’re guessing it’s because we talk so much about Jean Nouvel, who is a pre-teen heartthrob), you’re possibly spending these hotter months in an air conditioned office, longing for those simpler times, when warm weather meant summer camp. But before your despair grows any larger, we remind you that Type Camp happens around this time each year and 2009 proves to be no exception. Although we’ve not had the chance to attend one yet, we love the idea and are desperate to one day go. Each year, Type Camp takes on small groups of designers, who gather together in some idyllic place and talk type and design and work together in becoming better at what they do (we imagine there are also s’mores involved at some point). Registration has opened up for the 14 slots in August, which will take place in Canada and it looks like a doozy. Here are the details:

At Type Camp Galiano, differing and convergent approaches to typography will be presented in a relaxed but structured program over five days. The instructors this year are: Dr Shelley Gruendler, international typography instructor and founder of Type Camp; Stephen Coles, Type Director at FontShop; the well-known typographic expert aka “TypeGirl,” Tiffany Wardle; and a visit from international type superstar, Marian Bantjes. All four will share their professional processes and typographic knowledge to help you become a better typographer and designer.

RCA’s Design Interactions Thesis Show 2009 opens today!

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The annual Royal College of Art Thesis Show opens today, and, as usual, the projects are awesome. Ranging from a system that creates clouds that snow ice cream to archival burial vessels, each project takes a close look at the cultural potential for technology now, in the future and in the fictional pas.

You already saw Thomas Thwaites’ Toaster Project, but pictured above are Hayeon Yoo’s Compass Phone, which indicates the direction and proximity of the person you are trying to reach instead of letting you talk to them, and Will Carey’s Gifted, a series of objects and scenarios that allow children to imagine and work towards abilities they may want in the future. Finally, the process behind the development of Dot Samsen’s Coin Flipper (a decision making device) is illustrated in the following below:

If you can’t make it to the show, you can check it all out on the website.

Design Interactions Thesis Show
Royal College of Art
June 26th to July 5th 2009
11am – 8pm
(closed 3 July; exhibition will close at 5pm on 30 June, 1 July and 5 July)

More projects after the jump.

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Pen Club!

Pen Club from UPPERCASE gallery on Vimeo.

An evening with Toronto-based illustrators Aaron Leighton and Steve Wilson who brought some Pen Club fun to Calgary.

 

Makers Market at Socrates Sculpture Park this weekend!

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The Makers Market is a new open air marketplace presented by American Craft, The Noguchi Museum, R 20th Century in conjunction with the Socrates Sculpture Park State Fair in Long Island City this weekend. The 30 makers and craftsmen exhibiting come from around the United States, selling objects as diverse as textiles, ceramics, and motorcycles.

Participants include:
Andrea Corson, Atlas Industries, Batle Studio, Circle A Cycles, Craig Watson, Daniel Michalik / DMFD Studio, Elyse Allen Textiles, Eric Bonnin Ceramics, Eric Silva, Esque Studio, Found My Animal, Garnish by Kara Hamilton, Gratz Industries, hivemindesign, Hope Ginsburg / Sponge, Jane D’Arensbourg, Judith Trezza, Kitty Jones, Neil Hadlock, Palo Samko, Patrick Weder, Platform, Produce, R 20th Century, Sanam, Emami, Satomi Kawakita Jewelry, Shelton Studios Inc, Spring design&art, Teroforma, Thaddeus Wolfe, Urban Aesthetics, LLC and Walt Siegl Builder

Andrew Wagner (American Craft/Readymade Magazine) will moderate a discussion between the principals of R, The Noguchi Museum and Socrates Sculpture Park on Saturday at 3pm.

Makers Market at Socrates Sculpture Park
Preview Event: Friday 26 June, 6-8pm / $50 per person*
Saturday 27 June, 11am – 7pm / Free
Sunday 28 June, 11am – 5pm / Free
Panel Discussion: Saturday 27 June, 3pm / Free

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