London Design Festival – Instalment 4

Finally the last quarter of my LDF design blog. Apologies for posting this a month after the festival, hopefully it will be worth the wait, and not a disappointing 4th sequel , like the Saw movies…when will they end?!!

Included is Designersblock and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

What Kirsty Saw:

Saturday:

Now the weekend I was starting to flag, and the Tramshed event went on to the early ours ‘networking’, hence the sunglasses.    Above, I’m sitting on The colourful hand-made Acapulco chair from sam bargetz  in collaboration with maya from le grenier, available on Greenpointworks. they’ have been  in loads of editorial over the summer and I love the range of colours they come in.

These were part of the Danish Design Centres, Showhow exhibition.

As the rain started to drizzle I found sanctuary at the Designersblock show, where the architecture was competing with my attention for the design, in the Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf.

The way each floor revealed different designs and projects in every nook and cranny, felt like I was discovering them for the first time. Above: Scape by Cristiana Ionescu.

So much to see I wish I had photographed more now!

Designersblock regulars Puff & Flock had various projects on display, including Make Up Wallpaper by Elisabeth Buecher. By the time I arrived, many visitors had already been hard at work.

Make sure you also check out he Puff & Flock Blog, which just won one of this years Design Democracy Blog awards.

Part of the Puff & Flock shop were Crochet Eyeballs by Monstify! Monstify is a range of handmade crochet products and accessories designed to remind us not to take the world too seriously.

The website makes me smile.

Here Ayda Anlagan the designer demo’s the gory detail that the eyes can be popped out :)

Scaled down from the digs exhibited at Birmingham Interiors earlier this year, were the ‘Gerald the Dog’ kits from Lazerian, where you can now make your own.

The Origami theme continued in the carefully made 3d signage.

The ‘Make Your Mark’ installation by Singapore design platform YOLO, children and adults alike got involved.

Gowlett stool, part of the ‘Made In Peckham’ range by Hendzel+Hunt the simple and honest construction of these stools really appealed to me.

 

The Awkward tables by Marte Frøystad are made from blocks of pine are placed together and then shaped on a lathe. I love the top heavy look of these; the top proportions to the legs ‘ is reflected in the project's name’.

There was so much more at Designersblock, but I was busy looking rather than photographing.

Bodging Milano In March 2010 9 designers spent 6 days away
from computer screens, drawing boards and mechanised equipment going back to the furniture to follow in the footsteps of the original country chair makers.

Originally the creations made their debut at the Milan furniture fair, in London they made an outing once more.

Sunday:

Then to the V&A, I love the V&A anyway, but as I wandered around it’s familiar surroundings, it was great to stumble upon the instillations added for LDF.

This was one of my favourites on the grand marble staircase, ‘Framed’ by Stuart Haygarth in collaboration with John Jones a picture framing company.

It was so funny as visitors were scared to go up the stairs, not knowing if they were allowed (admiring rather than interacting). I nipped up to take some photos and everyone followed!

  

In contrast to Haygarth’s colourful instillation was ‘A Gust of Wind’ by Paul Cocksedge Studio and Corian®. 

Well that’s it, of course there was so much more to see during LDF but that was all I managed to cram in.

Well done you’ve made it to the end of the LDF 2010 marathon blog; you deserve a medal. So here you are :

London Design Festival – Instalment 3

What Kirsty Saw:

You’ve passed the half way point, this is 3 of 4 for LDF, stay with me there is still interesting stuff to come.

FRIDAY PM:

Still in East London on my way to SCP, I visited Lee Broom’s independent show on Rivington Street, where he exhibited past works which included his Heritage Boy range - a personal favourite (more information can be found on the Conran Contracts website) and his new and fourth Collection One Light Only (in image above), which I’m sure you’ve already seen in many magazines and design blogs. Shame my friend and I weren’t important enough to say Hello to though.

Then into SCP  in the Shoreditch Design Triangle, on the ground floor the launch of new homeware brand: All Lovely Stuff, with their very own "hardware shop". Founded by Carl Clerkin and Ed Ward (I used to work with Ed so am a little biased). Their design ethos is : We like good practical design for everyday use. We care about the details, and aim to put a smile on your face…They certainly did with their charming Animal Hooks.

 

Up on the first floor there was work from Terence Woodgate, Matthew Hilton, Alex Hellum, Sylvain Willenz, Farrow Design and Rich Brilliant Willing. Plus the collaboration between The Sundara Rug Collection and textile designer Donna Wilson. I also made a purchase of one of Donna’s Lavender bags- cute and affordable.

Behind the unassuming door was a little oasis the Jasper Morrison Shop and Workshop.

As you would expect; no more and no less then you need to see all the products. Very pleasing.

Then over to the Goldsmiths Postgraduate Design 2010 Show, in the basement of the Shoreditch Town Hall.  The exhibits were varied from MA Design and Environment to MENG Design and Innovation.

It was a really interesting space, somewhere Designersblock would be at home in.

The BarberOsgerby workshop was a brief visit ; no photos allowed I’m afraid. Lots of cardboard, blue foam, some strategically plated tote bags for sale and a pillar drill; you can use your imagination for the rest!

Final stop of the day The Tramshed, my personal highlight for LDF, with a great one off venue, with international brands and designers (Benchmark, Studioilse, Scin, James Design UK,  Autoban, Another Country, Bocci, Decode, Michael Sodeau, Scott Rich & Victoria, Dezeen Watch Store, Innermost, RVW, Matthew Hilton and Kvadrat), which included plenty of home grown talent too.

This is the entrance on the launch night, it won’t all fit in one shot!

Benchmark had it’s own fully functioning workshop on site , where they were manufacturing products including the Jens Risom C275 Side Chair. They also had a prize drawer for visitors to enter and win one of the products produced in the workshop everyday; unfortunately the call never came and someone else was a luck winner!

In the basement along side exhibitors was Tramshed Live, which had a selection of thought-provoking design debates. With a line-up of leading designers and creative thinkers including Patricia Urquiola, Luke Pearson of PearsonLloyd, Matthew Hilton. Ercol provided the seating.

Next to the Seminar area were Scott, Rich + Victoria, who were originally featured back in my LDF 2009 blog, where they launched their Moscow Road Collection.

Now a year later quite a bit has changed for the Kiwi designers: With Scott Fitzsimons living back in Auckland, New Zealand and Richard Hartle in London .

They now have some exciting additions to their range in their new collection  ‘A Year Apart’ (sob).

The collection includes the UNIT24 Lamps, TABBED Dining Collection, HOSPICE Shelves, NO.3 Stools, VICTORIA Chair
and the FILAMENT lamps, (which you can see above) and Living etc loves!

Rich wasn’t totally alone, as he was accompanied by some knitted friends; Yeti hand made by Gil Cocker, this was my favourite. More of his knitted friends can be seen on the Sansgil Flikr page.

Next-door were James Design UK; who’s new products also featured in instalment 1. Here you can see both James Kinmond and James Harrison, busily networking.

  

Bolon supplied the snazzy flooring throughout the show.

Other feature areas in the show that caught my eye were Innermost, an instillation using their Lighthouse shade, plus they had some natty badges!

Also below is a view of the rather bizarre Kvadrat & BMW instillation,  which is a collaboration bewtween  Patricia Urquiola and Giulio Ridolfo called The Dweling Lab. (I had to google it when I got home).

So that’s 3 down 1 to go, if you have the reading stamina Instalment 4 will include Designersblock and the V&A.

London Design Festival- instalment 2

What Kirsty Saw:

So sorry for the blog delay, but here finally is instalment 2; which includes Tent London and The Rocket Gallery:

FRIDAY (DAY) :  I decided to saunter around, no rush getting to Tent early everyone will be at work, right?  Wrong, this was the huge increasing queue for Tent, great for them not so great for us queuing as winter had finally arrived and it was very chilly. Thankfully on Brick Lane there are plenty of places to pick up a bargain scarf!

At the back of the queue :(

Warming up inside, where it was just a busy. This was definitely the busiest I’ve ever seen the show, perhaps with the relocation of Origin nearby in Spitalfields Market, East London is becoming more of a destination for design hungry visitors.

The Product Of Your Environment Stand, who I exhibited with back in January, Rebecca Chitty has some ace new products which included True Identity Jewellery, I like the Mine ring.

One mini exhibition that caught my eye and made me smile was the Everyday Delights show, put together by JJAM Curators Collective who challenged London-based designers to reinvent the classic yellow duster into something much more creative.

I love how this little chap has come from such humble beginnings, he’s not banal anymore!

Ercol had a strong presence this year (and thought-out the festival as usual). Within the space were three of the Beautiful Classic 355 Studio Couch, where Donna Wilson has added her own twist in the covers, though print, colour and fantastic tactile chunky knitting.

They also exhibited mixed material side tables (I want one) and a fun update of the Butterfly Chairs, in Smartie Pantones. Plus the winning design for their recent design competition the Messina Sofa, which really wasn’t my cup of tea unfortunately, but judge for yourself on their Flikr photostream.

I also chatted to a lovely lady on the SUPER W  stand. 

Super W represents a new superhero of the modern city, Super W is a social platform,where people exchange their wishes to create a sense of community and raise awareness about the local area.

This table top was a Wish for Brixton I really liked the subtle use of graphic lines and symbols and the ethos behind the whole project.

In the Tent Selects area the work of up and coming designers have been given their own showcase, one of my favourite pieces was Kirsten Reads Rubber dip moulded Container range (image above), the contrast in colour an texture between the rubber and spun metal materials, was really fresh and unlike anything else I’ve seen at recent graduate shows.

DesignBark by print designer Sarah Newman also caught my eye on the way out. The simple use of pattern and on trend colours were right up my street, I would love this on a T-shirt.

  

After several hours at Tent I went to discover some of the smaller destination in the East of London using the Pocket London Design Festival guide – it was a fleeting mission, as it was already 4.30.

Rocket Gallery in the Tea Building where there was a small exhibition of London based Japanese designer  Tomoko Azumi. 

The exhibition included the final pieces, but also had sketches, water colours and these exquisite beautifully made models, which i found most interesting. The above scale models were no more than 10 cms high. I love modelling up my designs but I’m just not patient enough to produce something like these.

Here you can see the scale model and the final piece.

There were also full-scale models which included the development of the new Joint table which was another collaboration between Benchmark and Azumi.

That’s all for now, but instalment 3 won’t be far behind, which includes the Tramshed Exhibition party.