Design Blog

Translated by Silvia — A touch of moon light for furniture which reminds us of the Thai Full Moon Parties at Ko Phangan down the Haad Rin beach, and of full-moon summer nights from when we were kids, rocked by a story and the hypnotic sound of the sea.

Fullmoon is born from the creativity of the Greek designer Sotirios Papdopoulos for the Italian company EnneZero from Pordenone (the same one that created the furniture collection for Giuseppe Canavese, dedicated to the fascinating and sensual Valentina of Guido Crepax): a 24 piece limited edition piece of furniture with luminous special effects that recreates the luminescence of the full moon thanks to an ecologically safe varnish (ELI: “ecolightinside” created by Papadopoulos himself) of a gelatinous consistency. Thanks to the addition of a special ecological power, it takes on light-in-the-dark properties, to give the home the suggestive lunar influxes to which Man and nature have been attracted since the dead of time.

This novelty will be on show at the temporary SOHO gallery that will be held during Milan’s Furniture and Design week, for the “dEMOsign” exhibition from the 18^th to the 20^th of April 2008.

More pictures in the cut below.

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Translated by Silvia — An incredible mosaic of images of Apple products (even the most recent such as the MacBook Air and the pink iPod Nano) paints Steve Jobs, its CEO and one of the main protagonists of the technological stage of our time.

Made by Charis Tsevis, a very good visual designer from Athens, for the famous American magazine Fortune, that dedicates a special edition to Mr Apple titled “The trouble with Steve”, that I recommend you read (his life, his career and the entrepreneurial risks he is taking today).

An interesting and personalized way of using programs such as Synthetik Studio Artist, Adobe Phtoshop and Apple QuickTime Pro for a result that grandly expresses Apple’s successes and those of its CEO.

[via Flickr]

Translated by Silvia – Designers of Frank O. Gehry’s calibre (since the beginning of the 70’s) and recently ever more representatives of the new generation of industrial designers from the whole world have brought forward new materials like cardboard, scruff paper and polystyrene for creative experiments in the field of furniture, often winking back to sustainability.

And it is to their seating solutions, obtained from economic or recycled materials, that we are dedicating this post.

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Jin-Hui Kim’s Space Book

Translated by Silvia — A fairy-tale inspired suggestion, with a touch of dreaminess that reminds us of the atmospheres in Michel Gondry’s “The art of dreaming”: Space Book, a huge human-sized 3D book! When looking through it, one is welcomed by inviting, entirely furnished environments.

Who knows if more will be made from more resisting materials, that will work the same way as three-dimensional books, off of designer Jin-Hui Kim’s concept. They could become an effective and poetic furnishing solution for improvised guests or even just to live with a touch of extra fantasy in our everyday domestic lives.

In the cut below you will find more pictures of the Space book and 3 beautiful videos dedicated to the fabulous world of pop-up books with an interview of Robert Sabuda, a real paper engineer, made by the Wall Street Journal.

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Translated by Silvia — Since meeting J. (aka Alzimmer L’Hawaïen), a very good street magician from Paris, we’ve been completely fascinated by the world of magic and illusionism. So when we stumbled upon this gem of industrial design, we could do nothing else but be transported by the sensitive and elegant use of technology that bring us to never-before experienced interactivity, magical and full of emotions!

The Poised Touchless remonte control is indeed a very interesting concept, suggested by Joris van Gelder, a very young Dutch designer whose creativity is concentrated in the research of magic in our everyday interactions with our environments and the objects that surround us. He tries to find new stimuli in acts that are, in themselves, exceptional if you think of the conquests that were made to get there, but that have now become automatic and void of emotion (from switching on/off a lamp to controlling domestic devices).

In the cut below you will find more pictures, information, and a very complete video on how easy it is to use.

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Translated by Silvia — We bring you the following news that came to us from the Doppiospazio design studio on what you will be seeing in a few weeks at the Milan Fuori Salone at Furniture Fair of 2008 (N.d.DB):

Oppure is a line of contemporary objects and furniture made from cardboard and to be used and lived in: produced by unique and unmistakeable design, all perfectly coordinated between them.

Oppure gives modernity to an already current material, such as cardboard, visibly lightweight but decidedly resistant, the use of which gives multiform creations a complete skill of constructive perfection.

The furniture and objects of the Oppure line distinguish themselves, emerge, surprise: whilst the essentiality of the volumes liberates fantasy, the elegance of the geometric shapes interprets the constant dialogue between art and design, with a definite touch of eclectic energy and affective technique.

Translated by Silvia — To Steve Jobs’ “Thinnovation”, Lenovo replies with “The art of thin”…

Lenovo’s new online advertisement campaign for the ThinkPad X300, the latest gem of ultracompact and ultralight technology that has been making the world of cyber frequent travellers buzz is decidedly not excluding any blows.

The ultraportable computer without compromise has launched an official and direct comparison, that is very, extremely fierce, against Apple’s MacBook Air, its number one contender: “No compromise” and “Everything else is just hot air” (related to the fact that the X300 doesn’t get as warm as the MacBook Air) are indeed the latest battle cries coming from Lenovo (see the picture below).

In the cut you will find the official comparison released by Lenovo where you can see how the 2 thinnest and lightest portable computers in the world are different, and choose the one which suits your needs best in case you were thinking about it.

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Translated by Silvia — If restricted domestic spaces are the new indisputable trend, it doesn’t mean that we must say goodbye to the conviviality that us Mediterraneans are famous for, nor must we wave goodbye to good design.

Indeed, the designer’s creativity helps us with practical suggestions so that we need not deprive ourselves from the pleasure of a nice little dinner between good friends for the well-being of our spirit and sharing instinct… since 1953, year in which the Danish Hans Olsen designed the first of 5 “1 table+4 chairs” solutions to which this post is dedicated and of which you can see more pictures in the cut below.

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Translated by Silvia – After the preview held on February 7^th 2008 at the Secondome design gallery in Rome, the 300 Sudoku bookcases, numbered and signed, designed by Arch. Mario Bellini for Italian company Horm will be the protagonists of the official “Horm for Unicef” event that will be held on the evening of March 13^th at Milan’s Spazio Pontaccio. The audience will be able to buy the pieces of this special edition dedicated to solidarity for African children in Unicef’s “Schools for Africa” project and contribute in a personal way, even through the purchase of the pouch designed by the same Mario Bellini and made with the same materials as the bookcase, black and white wood, polished leather and a mirrored interior.