seven years bad luck?

As my obssession with mirrored furniture continues, I discovered the work of Fernando and Humberto with their 'scrigno' family of shattered glass objects. They have such a high aesthetical quality to them but at the same time I dont think it is too in your face, standing out in any environment for the wrong reasons. Its simple and clean and the cut shapes make it catch your eye. I love how they can reflect objects and light around your environment, making them in a way blend in with your current surroundings. I love pieces like this and if its in anyway possible I would definately consider trying to do something like this for my final project next year.

jealous of jake....

Wow! So at work yesterday we had our monthly subscription of ELLE Decoration arrive, the stunning work of Jake Phipps definately stood out for me. I was greeted on the contents page by 'Stellar' a beautiful, polished stainless steel piece, that is encrusted with 900 mirrored sections that run all the way through the piece. I would absolutely love to design something like this! A modern contemporary piece that isnt just straight lines, but a stunning mixture of clean cut lines and all the charm and beauty of a highly decorated piece. Unfortunately I dont think I will ever be able to own one of these, as there are only 25 variations available, reflecting on the price tag of £11,500! But if I ever win the lottery I would definately think about splashing some cash on this gorgeous piece.

carvings continued......

Im sorry but this couldnt go unnoticed after my last post, hand carved fireplace from Gustin Ceramics....here you go, enjoy :)

craving carvings.....

Okay so today the task was to browse Google to try to find some amazing images for inspiration for oak leaf wood carvings, which I was pretty excited about due to my obssession with wood :) So this piece jumped out at me......how....amazing....is...this! Huge admiration and congratulations for Pat Morrow/Trail Mix Studio for creating this gorgeous piece, with all the intricate detailing of a traditional piece, mixed within a beautiful contemporary form, this is yet another piece I love.

 

 

texture....

Texture is a great resource that designers can dive into, to make their design stand out from the crowd. It can determine whether the user will love or despise a product, it can entice people towards it or repel from from it. Texture in interior design is becoming more and more popular, im not just talking about adding a couple of fluffy cushion and rugs around the place, but adding it to the unexpected, to walls. By adding such a simple but eye catching effect to walls, it means that this can be the main detail point to your home, enabling you to keep your furnishings simple and contemporary. This is demonstrated perfectly by Vasiliy Butenko, where he uses a clever blend of dark patterns and textures to create a gorgeous and sophisticated apartment, with the highest of visual experiences.

 

rustic love.....

So one of the projects I am currently working on at work involves me doing alot of research into rustic interiors, throughout this I have found some amazing pieces but this one definately stood out from the rest for me, Facecord by Mark Moskovitz. Its a charming piece of furniture with a pure rustic feel, that would give any room a splash of character, all of this encasing plenty of secret storage. I would be well suited within a rustic cottage interior or a beautiful statement piece in a contemporary home, I love it!

WEYA in Nottingham, a must see event!

Nottingham Trent University are leading the design front for the UK right now, as they welcome World Event Young Artists (WEYA) to showcase their work in a number of different forms, from performances to short courses, events and exhibitions. Over 1,000 artists from 100 nations are to travel to Nottingham to take part within the event between 7th-16th September.

This is an event that you cannot miss out on, for any budding artist or designer this is something you have to experience, 100 different cultures expressed in a number of different forms, this is the ultimate inspiration for you! Alongside the new global talent, students from Nottingham Trent have been given the opportunity to showcase their work too, so not only is it your chance to see art from all over the world but you can see what Trent has to offer.

Lunch in Nottingham Castle grounds on friday

Opening Ceremony in Nottingham Market Square

Georgie Rose performs at the launch event

Film maker Caroline Monet attends WEYA

Species of spaces film programme at Broadway, Nottingham

Saara Nekomba showcases her textile art

dining sets always have to be traditional....?

Okay so my task for today at work is to research tall dining chairs for inspiration to fit into a classically aesthetic dining range.....however in my research I found some amazing pieces that I couldnt pass by and not share them with you (eventhough my boss is pretty cool I dont think they would make it into the company ranges anytime soon).

 

 

Firslty who doesnt love a swing, you dont have to walk by one in a busy park just because you are an adult, who should be mature, who is too big to fit one the seat or who is scared to be seen depriving a toddler of its playtime. Now you can jump on and enjoy without any limitations are judgemental looks, all within your dining room. Here is the Swing Table by Duffy London. Who wouldnt want one?!!!

This fun and contemporary piece can now play the part of host for your dinner party, your guests wouldnt care whether your cooking is 'not up to scratch' it would be the dining set that would make your dinner party memorable for years, I feel sorry for the person who next decided to hold one, after all who could live up to this?

Or whether you live alone or have a young family it will make meals an enjoyable experience, where people want to eat at a dining table and not infront of the tv.

Not only will you feel weightless but so is the table, with no underlying supports the table bosts no legs as it is cleverly built into the frame of the swing supports.

 

 

 

The clean contemporary aesthetics are matched with the form of the pieces, the simple attachments look too small to hold a persons weight, this set is cleverly thought out in every way.

The next piece is perfect for an environment that suffers with limited space or that is used for constantly changing purposes, sometimes you just need a chair, or you need a whole dining set or sometimes you just need all the flooring space you can get. I welcome to you the 'as if from nowhere' range from Orla Reynolds. This piece allows you to control your own space, you can place the seperate storage pieces in any way you like and if you need furniture you can simply pull out the hidden pieces, without disturbing anything from you storage space.

 

 

This collection would make an impact in anybodys home, the patterns you could make are endless and if you can get bored the beauty is that you can just simply re-arrange, not splash out on a new piece of furniture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even when the inner sections are removed you are left with beautiful contemporary storage pieces, so if you dont like the thought of having bright coloured furniture you can always store it in your childrens play room :)

I am still alive.......just :)

Okay so pretty appauled at myself when I checked my last blog post, 16th January 2012!!! I had the constant withdrawal of not doing my blog but I didnt realise I had left it this long! Well im now back, after eight crazy months and im ready to show you everything what I have been busy spending my time on. I have been on some amazing holidays, visited the breathtaking tourist spots and some hidden treasures in Rome, Milan and most recently a cruise to Belgium.

Apart from being lucky enough to travel the world I have actually done some work, at uni I have been able to design a stool for a client, take part in the design innovation plastic awards and be selected as the winner of a Paul Smith interior competition!!!!! Yes I got to meet Sir Paul Smith and I have photographic proof!

So I now promise to update you on everything I have been up to and keep you on track with what I am up to, especially now I am a professional working technical designer at a furniture design company, Willis & Gambier, Peterborough.

my Google Interactivisim Challenge for Young People entry...

The Brief
"Put forward suggestions for how technology and the web can be used to help young people find the employment, education or training opportunities that are right for them."


Introduction to my solution
YourPosition enables young people to locate places that have current job positions available, these are sent as a notification alert on their mobile device. As soon as the user enters into a certain location, the app searches for vacancies over a certain mileage of radius from their current position. As well as sending vacancy alerts it also rates them in urgency or importance, for example it would be of a bigger brighter alert if the application date was near or after setting up the app with your dream job specification it will also search for aspects of your spec that will relate to sending urgent attention alerts that are related exactly to the users needs.

The Problem
Personally I think that trying to find a job as a young person is one of the hardest things to do. Job vacancy website are okay, but communication is limited and job positions are not updated on a quick enough basis, meaning that you can be applying for a job thats position has already been filled. Also for people who want to work in a certain area it is hard to know where a job is available without trawling through job websites, YourPosition stops this and automatically sends you a notification when you enter a location, searching a personaliseable mileage radius for available vacancies.

The Idea

YourPosition enables young people to locate places that have current job positions available, these are sent as a notification alert on their mobile device. As soon as the user enters into a certain location, the app searches for vacancies over a certain mileage of radius from their current position, these are then located using the mobile devices GPS. As well as sending vacancy alerts it also rates them in urgency or importance, for example it would be of a bigger brighter alert if the application date was near or after setting up the app with your job specification it will also search for aspects of your spec, that will relate to sending urgent attention alerts that are related exactly to the users needs.
YourPosition would work by being attached to the web, searching through vacancies that display their address, any that are seen as being within your personalised mileage radiuse would be automatically sent to your mobile device.

What I would need to make It work
All you would need to make YourPoint a success would be to create an app which is available for people to download, with a short survey for the user to fill in giving aspects of their job specification. This would then connect to the internet and by using the mobile devices GPS nearby jobs will be sent through as an alert.

You can see my application within the competition on the Simpl website.

big brother, i am now a fan....

I have never really got into watching Big Brother but after watching ten minutes last night with my housemates, one element attracted me to this years series. Not the task the celebrities were doing or the comments made in the diary room, I was more interested in what the contestants where sitting on, the diary room chair.

This beautiful piece extrudes the natural feel with the form of the chair taking on the natural properties of the piece of material it is made from, a wooden abstract piece with a brown leather cushion strip that also follows the form of the wood. I love how the designers (of which I would love to know who they are, as after researching I cant find anything) have left the sides of the chair extended showing the gorgeous dark wood and not covering it with the cushion. Also how the cushion creates a visual insight of the chair being spacious via the changing of the width of the pleats as they run down the the base of the seat and then flaring out as it extends up to the backrest and down to the placement of the users legs. The quirky little legs are also something that should be noted, they are of a form that you wouldnt expect to see on a chair like this, giving the chair character.

Eventhough it might not be as comfy as a padded arm chair, I love it, well done to the designer of Big Brother's Diary Room Chair!

caught my eye...

While browsing the January sales in the furniture section of BHS these contemporary looking lights really caught my eye. The clean cut, brightly coloured, curved pieces of plastic gain your attention as to how each seperate piece is joined together. That is when you see the mesh like structure around the plastic, creating another modern yet playful dimension to the light. Maybe by using a different material for the mesh structure, something that would create an effect when the light is turned on, maybe a reflection by using a metal, this would make the piece even more of a focal point.

After finding these I then went on to look at other designers who have also used mesh structures within their lighting pieces, that is when I found the work of rick tegelaar on designboom. Within his work he uses mesh structures to create different shapes, the materials are simple but the shape that is created is enough of a focal point, flashy eye catching materials aren't needed.