Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne showcases its talented grads
During last week’s Swiss Design Days, Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne—more commonly ECAL—debuted “ECAL Diplomes 2012,” a conceptual yearbook showcasing student thesis work from the past academic year. With sections devoted to everything from photography to industrial design, the book offers a comprehensive look at the school’s top-notch talent….
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Memories preserved in the physical form by UK design grad Greg Smith
Commemoration, a range of poetic capsules designed by recent Kingston University grad Greg Smith, preserves nostalgia in a tangible realm. Smith’s elegantly crafted airtight vessels “preserve traces of personal scents to trigger memories” after a person has passed away. The secular series not only allows for greater personal sentiment,…
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Party games that go from summer to fall with Tanqueray
Advertorial content: Nothing livens up the night like a dash of friendly competition. The sophisticated host will know how to keep party guests on their toes, so in that vein Cool Hunting has picked a handful of ace party games for your next gathering. Played well with a Tanqueray cocktail…
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Decorative objects hand-cast in metals, marble and wood
First introduced this year at Maison et Objet, Eclectic by Tom Dixon, a new line of accessories by the influential British design studio, officially launches mid-October 2012. The aptly named line comprises miscellaneous “decorative artifacts” molded in heavyweight copper, brass, marble, cast aluminum and wood, modeled on actual trinkets…
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Tell off the jerks around you with a cheeky little tool from Good Worth & Co.
Putting the proper patina into the age-old ritual of flipping the bird, the Best Wishes Key is a solid brass key for doing just that. The clever, ironically named little trinket comes from the creative minds at Good Worth & Co. More than just a keepsake to clutter your…
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Our conversation with the Spanish design group on rethinking common objects
by Matilde Angelucci Aránzazu Moreno B, Alejandra Salvatore and Sofía Uquillas are the founders of Antiatoms, a multidisciplinary studio located in Madrid. Since 2005, they have integrated their respective skills to develop projects focused on fashion and product design. Their works are conceived through a rigorous conceptual process which, along…
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Seamlessly trek the globe with all your essentials intact
Any seasoned traveler knows that a system for securely stashing credit cards, cash, tickets and a passport in one easy-to-access place greatly reduces stress while on the road. Unfortunately, this typically means wearing a bulky travel wallet around your neck or shoving all of the loose items into a large pocket in your bag, where they’re often free to fall out when you’re running for the plane.
A small company intent on tackling this problem is Bellroy, with a new travel wallet so slim, at first glance it seems unlikely to fit everything within its beautiful leather folds and slots. The superbly crafted wallet is fashioned out of vegetable tanned leather, which promises to age gracefully and beautifully reflect your time spent traipsing around the globe.
Features like four “quick access” card slots, a passport sleeve, internal slots for cards used less frequently, a back fold that fits boarding passes and currency notes of any size, and an ingeniously hidden micro pen make traveling a breeze. Everything folds without creasing and slips as easily into your back pocket as a regular wallet would.
We used the Bellroy Travel Wallet on a recent trip and became increasingly fond of its sleek design with each airport encounter. Thanks to the micro travel pen hidden in the center of the wallet, filling out customs forms on the plane is a snap. The days of rooting around in the bottom of your bag for an extra pen or five euro note are gone.
Bellroy offers its clever little creation on their website for $120, available in both Midnight and Cocoa hues.
Our interview with minds behind the Italian company making products for the “urban nomad”
With backgrounds in architecture, landscape and graphic design, the minds behind DDP design studio have spent their respective careers observing the very intimate impact their work has on our everyday lives. From these undertakings DDP joined with italian manufacturing company Elmec to create Almove, a product design company making goods for the demanding life of an urban nomad. By sticking to clean lines, essential forms and lightweight materials, Almove’s products each solve a different singular need.
We were drawn in by the intriguing simplicity of wares like the contracting coat hanger while attending the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, and spoke with co-founder Gabriele Diamanti to learn more about what he and partners Lorenzo De Bartolomeis and Filippo Poli are doing with Almove.
When we invented this brand, we started from the philosophy of the urban nomad, trying to find a concept that would be very up-to-date with the daily life of the modern society, which is deeply influenced by the 2.0 culture: travels, interaction, mobile work, connection with friends and colleagues things are not only immaterial experiences, but also tangible objects.
As young people always in motion, and also passionate about traveling in our free time, we thought that the “new nomadism” was the ideal concept for the brand, continuing the reality of “liquid modernity”. That’s why we even put the concept of movement in the brand name.
It is a strong concept and it’s also very inspirational for new designs and innovations because the life-in-movement presents a lot of unsolved issues that are a very good starting point for a designer’s mind.
Every designer always tries to invent something new. But there’s more in our products: we try to create new typologies. If one designs a new chair, it will be mostly recognizable as a chair. Of course an innovative one, but it still is clearly a chair.
With the Almove brand, we mostly try to invent new kinds of objects, something that didn’t exist before. This is very exciting, but it also carries a drawback: sometimes people don’t understand a product until we show them how to use it. So we have to spend a lot of effort explaining and communicating our simple innovations.
We use aluminum as the main material for the Almove products. This is for two reasons: the first one is the lightness and strength of the material that make it ideal for carrying in suitcases, pockets, backpacks, etc. Secondly, the company we collaborate with is really highly skilled in the cutting, bending and milling of metals… so we want to show off this talent and turn it into beautiful things.
Of course, we don’t preclude the possibility to use other materials, but the visual language of our products is mainly based on aluminum, with details and other parts made of textiles.
Definitely. This is always in our minds because we really want to create a new user experience when we design a new object. So when we think about a problem to be solved, we always think about it in a global way, keeping in mind that with design, it’s not about the object itself but it’s about the needs of its user.
The urban nomads, as described in the first answer, are people of very different age, culture and gender. Many times we discovered that fresh and smart objects, like the walk around bookmark, that we initially intended for young people, are also really appreciated by people in their 60s and reach a wide range of users.
So we can say that Almove items are for young people of every age. Whatever their age, our clients are always people that are careful to details and high quality products.
In the past the biggest needs of a nomad were related to surviving. For example, the need for eating, drinking and shelter. The needs of the new urban nomad are more related to the social life: to communicate with other people, to work out of the office, to enjoy travel in the lightest possible way, or simply to solve more ephemeral problems encountered in the nightlife of the city, moving from a place to another.
Well, we are Italian! Joking apart, the Almove adventure is born in close collaboration with the Italy-based company Elmec, which decided to trust us as art directors. Moreover, this partnership rapidly turned into a friendship, so we would never want to go elsewhere to propose our ideas. We believe in the values of quality and highly skilled craftsmanship, and this company, like our country, is permeated by those values. Of course, that implies higher costs and higher prices, but we think the Almove client can understand this added value very well.
Yesterday we were in Stockholm, today we are answering your questions from Barcelona. The day after tomorrow we will be back in Milan. So, who knows?
Function meets form in these handy items soon to hit shelves at the Museum of Modern Art
Perpetually stocked with an exciting supply of functionally clever items, the MoMA Design Store is a never-ending source for curious shoppers. Each season the amped-up museum gift shop adds even more well-curated wares to its inventory, spanning jewelry, gadgets and more.
Here we highlight three items culled from 2011 that stand out for their equally appealing aesthetic and ease of use. Keep an eye out for these on MoMA shelves and online in 2012.
Created by Stephan Jaklitsch, the architect behind several Marc Jacobs stores, the crafty Terrain Vase features a removable lid that easily slides off the reservoir at the base. The 11 interlocking dividers keep the stems intact even when disposing of the dirty water that has collected at the bottom, ensuring your arrangement never has to be reconfigured. Made from biodegradable cornstarch-based PLA plastic, the vase can also be positioned in two different formations for a wider variety of display. $48
The Verso Snack Dispenser is not only a sophisticated way to pass Skittles around the office, but by keeping hands out of a communal bowl, it’s also a healthier system for sharing treats. Created by skilled designer Mario Taepper, the German-made dispenser stands upright—working as an elegant, petite vase when not stocked with snacks—and is crafted from 18/10 mirror-polished stainless steel. $85
Joe Kent adds a handy element to the ubiquitous cutting board with the simple addition of a removable bin. Dishwasher safe and leak-resistant, the receptacle catches scraps pushed off the edge of the slip-resistant board. $25
Filament winding, forging, hydrodynamic machining and more in a material specialist’s latest look at manufacturing processes
While specifically targeting industrial designers, Making It: Manufacturing Techniques In Product Design makes a valuable resource for anyone interested in learning about the production processes of nearly anything. Originally released in 2007, this second edition sees author and designer Chris Lefteri add 10 new processes to the already-extensive list of concise guides, updating readers on how these industrial tools work, how much they cost and how they can be used.
Lefteri breaks down almost every major production tool currently available to industrial designers, from rotary swaging to gas-assisted injection molding. Each of the processes is documented with a detailed commentary on the relevant materials, volumes produced, capital investment, scale, tolerance and more. There are also copious diagrams and photos to help clarify oft-complex methods for both the serious engineer or more casual tinkerer.
This latest edition also includes a new section on finishing techniques. Offering little-known facts in an easily digestible format, Lefteri discusses in characteristic detail the final steps that give products—whether decorative or functional—that attractive sheen or protective coating.
“Making It” is available March 2012 from Laurence King or for pre-order on Amazon.
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