What is the Phonofone you ask? In short, it's like a speaker for your
iPod, only it uses no power. Through passive amplification alone, these
unique pieces instantly transform any personal music player + earbuds
into a sculptural audio console.
Without the use of external power or batteries, the Phonofone II inventively exploits the virtues of horn acoustics to boost the audio output of standard earphones to up to 55 decibels. Now let's make this clear, 55 decibels is not going to entertain your party, but it's fine for the office or next to the bed or or for a dinner party. But honestly, if you want to get a great sounding set of speakers that you can crank up and rock out to, get a set of Bose.
Tristan Zimmermann studied industrial design at the Ontario College of Art and Design. Upon graduation in 2004 Tristan assumed the position of senior product designer at an international bio-medical device company. Unfortunately, early in 2005 Tristan was diagnosed with a severe case of “cubicle fever” (see cubicalia feverum), a gripping disease suffered when genius is confined to work in the field of monotony.In the pursuit of recovery Tristan formed Science and Sons, as a side venture to sate his own creative musings. Science and Sons has since remained the masthead under which the eccentric miscellany of his creative acumen is codified into a palatable format.
Louise Campbell is the featured designer on dkVogue.com, a large source for Danish design that introduces modern, authentic Danish furnishings, lighting and accessories to North America.
Bille goes Zen - Cabinet maker Lars Bille Christensen (2003/2006)
Louise Campbell’s work is playful and experimental, and is increasingly gaining a reputation for gently twisting not only every day objects and situations, but also materials and manufacturing processes in new directions. The combination of Scandinavian rationalism and femininity, and perhaps her dual nationality (Danish and British), give the works of Louise Campbell an unusual edge. Illustrating contrasts seem to be an issue, that keeps returning in her work.
'Spiderwoman' - HAY (2008) 'Retreat' (1998)
'Seesaw' and 'Entertainment' - Erik Jørgensens Møbelfabrik (2002)
'Veryround' - Zanotta (2006) 'Prince Chair' - HAY (2005)
Royal VKB is the latest brand of Dutch company Koninklijke Van Kempen & Begeer, founded in 1789, which focuses on innovation. Here are some of their latest products. You will notice that Jorre van Ast has found a producer for his great 'Jar Tops' that we were showing on the blog in February.
British manufacturing company Established & Sons has become renowned for its original approach since its first launching during the Milan Furniture Fair in 2005. They are constantly looking to innovate and their intention remains today just the same as it was then - to produce the highest quality furniture designs and work with the very best emerging design talents as well as established contemporary designers.
Here are some of the new designs that have been launched at this year's Milan fair.
'Crate series' by Jasper Morrisson
'Torch' by Sylvain Willenz
'Frame' by Wouter Scheublin 'Pole Light' by Paul Cocksedge
At the Light&Building fair, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors and Ingo
Maurer have unveiled a revolutionary lighting application based on
OLEDs. The company has made prototypes of organic light emitting diodes
available to the designer for his exclusive creation.
“We are
proud that our OLEDs have inspired such a renowned artist as Ingo
Maurer to create such an exciting work of art. “Early Future” is a
vision that has become reality. It gives us a glimpse of just how
versatile organic OLEDs can be in terms of their design options and
applications”, said Martin Goetzeler, CEO of OSRAM.
The renowned lighting designer Ingo Maurer is the first to use organic LEDs (OLEDs) from OSRAM in a function table light. The light, called “Early Future”, is being produced as a limited edition. It works with tiles straight from the laboratory and demonstrates the enormous potential of OLEDs for future applications as eye-catching illumination and design elements.
For Maurer, unusual design is not an end in itself. “Early Future
represents an important stage in the transition from abstract object to
functional designer lighting”, he said. Maurer has been shaping
developments in light as art and lighting design for many years. In
1966 he exhibited the designer luminaire Bulb which has been on show in
the New York Museum of Modern Art since 1969 along with other works of
his. Ingo Maurer has received numerous awards for his avant-garde work
with light.
Organic LEDs offer all the familiar benefits of LEDs such as high energy efficiency, low operating voltage and mercury-free design. The light source is not a collection of individual light points but a uniform light-generating surface.
A football table designed by GRO design and developed by TIM model makers.
'11' is a collaboration of 2 companies - GRO design and Tim modelmakers – each contributing their specialist skills to this showcase project. With their shared values of creativity, quality and experience, the two companies have worked together for over fifteen years on projects ranging from consumer electronics and domestic appliances to lighting and furniture.
Table football is great fun to play – it’s social, active and physical, and it offers a welcome alternative to the solitary activity of computer gaming. As an object, however, it has become less desirable as its often cost-driven appearance no longer fits in with the designed landscape of modern interiors – be it a café, bar or airport lounge.
When thinking about a project for the Milan Design Fair, GRO looked for an object that they believed they could enhance through design, and that had lacked serious design attention in recent years.
After considering a number of starting points, they felt that the football table would have the right elements involved to show their commitment to the highest level of quality in design and model making. Discussing “11” together, they knew it would be a challenge to take on.
"Many new football stadiums built in recent years have a strong architectural and sculptural beauty, becoming city landmarks in their own right and enhancing the visual landscape of the local environment.
We wanted the design of our football table to be equally spectacular and memorable, enriching the interior space where it will be placed.
The Flower Council of Holland is presenting a sensational creation from Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe.
It's a boy or a girl or whatever, a brand new type of vase open to any suggestions. Will it be haute couture in a flowery dress, seductiveness with roses so red, sheer envy with hauntingly green chrysanthemums or an angry look with thorny branches?
'Bloom My Buddy' is made out of high quality plastic and is composed of
three removable parts. Each part has its own reservoir to receive the
flowers.
Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe have already been successful since years with their original designs that give a new and subtle vision on daily objects. Their creations are exhibited in the whole world and were acquired by several museums. Their clients are the Nederlands TextielMuseum, Droog Design, Habitat, Van Esch, Royal Leerdam, Moooi etc. They both teach in various schools in the Netherlands, amongs which the Design Acamedy Eindhoven.
'Bloom My Buddy' is exhibited at Ella's, Via Tortona 8, Milano from April 16 to 21, 2008.
DeKast, created by Michel Doyer Furniture Designs, will be presented for the first time at the Salone del Mobile in Milan. Tuttobene, a Dutch platform for young designers, has selected a limited amount of designs for the Salone del Mobile presentation, which includes DeKast.
DeKast is a modular shelving system. Users can choose from a collection of exclusive Kvadrat fabrics for use on the upholstered front panels of DeKast. The wide choice of fabrics and infinite possibilities of composition and shape make DeKast a design piece which can easily be adapted to its user’s personal taste.
Tuttobene, Zona Tortona, Via Mortara 15, Milan, Italy, from 16 to 21 April 200
The 'Nested Bunk Beds' was a winning entry by architect Y. Tsai of
Tsai Design Studio for the 36sqm Challenge, a design competition
sponsored by Pick 'n Pay Ackerman Foundation. The requirements for the
competition was to design 36sqm of home for 7-8 people, a condition
commonly found in the low cost income housing in South Africa.
Tsai Design Studio’s Nested Bunk Bed was inspired by Matriochka Russian dolls that can unpack itself into several other dolls. Each
bed is fitted with standard single mattress. The length of the beds
increases to allow each bed to be nested under each other, leaving some
storage space on the side of the beds. Sections of the nested bed can
be pulled out to serve a number of purposes, such as a sofa for two, a
grandstand seating, or as five beds, which can be packed away into a
standard bunk bed area. When fully extended, the bed system can sleep
20 children in a tight space of 50m2, as well as providing play space
when the beds are retracted.
Subsequent to winning the design competition, the sponsors initiated a
project whereby 4 sets of the bed system were placed into an Aids
Orphanage in Wellington, near Cape Town, South Africa, for 20 kids,
where a flexible Play / Sleeping area forms the core of the house. The
beds were painted with bright colours to bring about messages of hope
and joy to the Aids affected children.
Shoebox Homes has plans to produce 200 beds this year for other
orphanages in need of assistance, with funding from Pick ‘n Pay
Ackerman Foundation, as well as other corporate and private
sponsorships. The beds will also be available to the public by April,
once the factory is up and running.
The Nested Bunk Beds has been nominated at Design Indaba as The Most Beautiful Object in South Africa Award.
Bloxes LLC is a Chicago-based company run by Andrew Wilson and Aza Raskin. They have conceived a system of building blocks made of interlocking pieces of corrugated cardboard, folded together. Their unique shape and structure make them exceptionally strong and lightweight — you can build yourself a platform to stand on, and then pick it up and move it wherever you need to.
Bloxes can connect with each other on all six sides, so you can use them to build walls, benches, tables etc. And because the varied surface and complex internal structure helps dampen sound, they're great for managing acoustics in offices, studios and other places.
To build a structure with bloxes, simply line up the pegs of two bloxes and push them together. Repeat as necessary. Plus, they're multi-faceted, so you can build in any direction.
This is the second edition of the international design biennale, Design
Match, which will be held in countries of middle Europe in year 2008.
After
the successful first edition, the Design Match 2006 CZE:SVK, that was
presented as a part of the Art&Interior fair, there will be four
countries fighting: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.
The mission of the Design Match is to show design work to wide public, to multiply related activities. Design Match is the only non-commercial show of design that has an ambition of long continuation and to place the Czech design next to its foreign colleagues. This exhibition gathers different countries who have historical connections, traditions and heritage. Creates a place for friendly confrontations and becomes a match. The designer is a player and friends of design are fans. The foundation of the 2008 edition is a production of Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy.
This edition is founded on the tradition of designs of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy. The motto of this year’s project is integration of European countries into a shared space. The idea of Design Match connects to the historical similarity with integration of Austria-Hungary. This selection and inspiration by the monarchy is not accidental. When one says Austria-Hungary and design, it associates Thonet. The story of the Thonet Company and family will help us to understand their concept better. The exhibition is prepared with a wide research project in cooperation with the Muzeum of Decorative Arts in Prague and Budapest.
Focus of this exhibition: There will be groups of four items, each one of a different country and a clear parallel leading to an object produced in times of Austria-Hungary.
There will be a Thonet chair number 14, winner of the era, welcoming visitors at the entrance. Surrounded with four current designs of four different countries.
This exhibition will begin in the Fair Palace of the National gallery in Prague on the 13th March 2008 on mezzanin of the Small walkway. The exhibition will then continue in Slovakia, where it will be presented on two places, Austria and Hungary, where it will be presented in the Museum of Decorative Arts as a part of Budapest Design Week, the biggest design event of Hungary. The exhibition will travel all year long.
Project Design Match 2008 will present current designs of 120 designers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.
