There’s a rich, masculine beauty to the two new lines of decorative pillows from home décor brand La Chasse | The Hunt. Having gained attention for developing custom products for interior design, architecture and development firms,…
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La designer Elisa Strozyk imagine de superbes compositions en combinant le bois aux motifs géométriques. Avec une texture appelée « Wooden Textiles », l’artiste nous propose des assemblages réussis, jouant entre rigidité et souplesse, et donnant ainsi un travail en 3D grâce au découpage des chutes de bois au laser.
While navigating the endless aisles of tech brands—both young and old—at CES last week, we came across Ora Ïto, a design-driven accessory brand we first noticed back in 2006. Led by celebrated French industrial designer…
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A shared admiration of well-tailored form and exceptional fabrics, stemming from a chance encounter at Barcelona–El Prat Airport in 2004, led Andrzej Lisowski and Stephen Hartog to co-found Delikatessen. Remarkably, it was just a five-minute conversation…
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Movie: Dutch designer Hella Jongerius explains why she enjoys working with colours and textiles rather than designing full pieces of furniture in the third video interview we filmed at her studio in Berlin.
“It’s just one solution for design, making stuff,” says Jongerius, who works with Swiss furniture company Vitra as creative director of colours, textiles and surfaces. “You can do so much more with your talent and brains [as a designer].”
Jongerius has worked on refreshing the colour palette Swiss brand Vitra uses for its furniture, including famous designs by Charles and Ray Eames and Jean Prouvé.
“Vitra have great stuff,” she says. “Why do they need me to create another piece of furniture? They need me on another level.”
Jongerius says that she enjoys working with textiles for the same reason; they enable her to express her creativity without designing a new product from scratch.
“If you design a textile you don’t have to design a full new piece,” she says. “Just the skin can make the new design. That’s why I find textiles interesting and also a nice subject for the future. There are not many designers that are good in textiles.”
However, Jongerius says that many companies are resistant to using new colours or textiles in their products, valuing consistency and durability over quality of colour or texture.
“There are very many colours to choose from,” she says. “But [the colours manufacturers use] only come from a certain scheme in the whole colour world: colours that do not change due to daylight. That’s what they think consumers want, colours that stay the same from morning to the evening and I think that’s really a mistake.”
She continues: “Testing in the industrial world is really so outdated. It’s all about the functional level. If you ask people if they care that a colour changes during the day, or if a fabric wears out after some years, I think there are many consumers who will see that as a quality.”
“But still we are testing as if you are wearing velcro on your jeans all the time, or you [will] invite an elephant to sit on your armrest. A lot is lost because of the testing.”
Despite the difficulty in convincing manufacturers to change their approach to colours and materials, Jongerius believes it is a worthwhile pursuit.
“It’s very difficult to sell,” she says. “But it’s a topic where I can use my brains and talent to change something in the industrial world. If you design the skin you have a new product and you don’t have to have a whole new table or a whole new sofa.”
See our previous story about Vitra’s updated Prouvé range »
See all our stories about Hella Jongerius »
The post “Why create another piece of furniture?”
– Hella Jongerius appeared first on Dezeen.
Movie: Dutch designer Hella Jongerius explains why she moved to Berlin and discusses her latest projects in the first of a series of exclusive video interviews Dezeen filmed at her studio in the German capital.
A Design Academy Eindhoven graduate, Jongerius set up her studio Jongeriuslab in Rotterdam, where she continued to be based for 15 years. In 2008, she left her native country and relocated to Berlin, a move she explains was based on her need for a fresh start.
“I had a beautiful house, a studio round the corner, a nice team and good clients all over the world,” she says. “[But] it was not inspirational for me. I like to be a starter; I’m good when I’m a starter, when I’m young and new in a field or in a culture.”
Despite not having a large design scene, Jongerius says that Berlin’s green spaces and relaxed attitude towards money drew her to the city.
“We decided to go to Berlin because it’s a green city. It’s a big city but it feels like a village,” she explains.
“But the main thing is that it is not about money. There is not the stress of money in the city. It has a relaxed environment, which also makes it creative: things are moving and there’s a young crowd. There’s not a huge design crowd, but I’m not interested in having that close to me.”
Jongerius prefers to travel around the world to meet her clients, which she says she purposefully restricts to a select group.
Alongside longstanding relationships with Maraham, who she designs new textiles for each year, and Vitra, where she is creative director of colours, textiles and surfaces, Jongerius is currently working with airline KLM on its passenger plane interiors and is part of a team of Dutch designers, including Rem Koolhaas and Irma Boom, chosen to re-design the North Delegates’ Lounge at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
“This is the group of projects that I’m now working on” Jongerius says. “I have a very small group of clients; I really am very picky with who I work with. I want to have a longer relationship with clients so that you can build a collection together.”
Working with a few large, established companies also allows Jongerius to keep her studio small, she says.
“I don’t have a hands-on workshop in the studio,” she explains. “I had that before, a large one, but now that I work with larger companies there is a huge team who are doing the hands-on work.”
Jongerius concludes: “I’m spoilt, because the clients do their own research and development for me. It’s a huge network and I am the spider.”
See our previous story about Jongerius’ interior for KLM »
See all our stories about Hella Jongerius »
The post “I work best in a new field or
culture” – Hella Jongerius appeared first on Dezeen.
We first came across Upstate back in 2010 and were intrigued by their intricate tie-dyed run of flowing garments. Recently, we had the chance to revisit the duo behind the dye at their studio…
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If you’ve ever looked closely at a sewing machine, then you know they are generally quite daunting with all their knobs, buttons, gizmos and other gadgets. Susanne Eichel’s latest creation, however, might just be the Apple iPad of sewing machines. With its aluminum unibody, minmal aesthetic, straightforward controls, and overall user-friendliness, it makes sewing seem within reach to anyone. So simple that the knobs’ labels are even in German and you’ll still know what they do!
Designer: Susanne Eichel
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(Sewwwww Cool! was originally posted on Yanko Design)
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As the Helsinki-based brand gears up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its iconic Unikko (poppy) print, Marimekko is still very much the prolific and relevant design house that it was when it was founded by…
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Around a month ago I had the privilege of visiting Sri, a private gallery owned by Stephen Szczepanek that houses an incredible archive of rare vintage Japanese textiles. While the experience was educational and fascinating, it did little to curb my appetite…
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