Dayboard by StokkeAustad

Happy new year to all! To start the year, I figured I'd share with you one of the best calendars I've seen yet. Designed by StokkeAustad, this calendar is made of 432 magnets (366 days, 52 weeks, 14 days). Each month has a different color. The colors are said to represent the various seasons of the year going from cool blues in the winter, transitioning to greens in spring, then yellows in the summer and orange, red and violet in fall.


According to StokkeAustad, this calendar started as a research project looking at how different people visualize the year.They felt that traditional calendars did not leave enough room for personal interpretation of how time passes. So they created a calendar that allows the user to arrange the year however they wish.  It become a piece of art illustrating time. Since the individual dates are held in place by magnets, they can also be used to hold various items in place such as notes, card, tickets, etc.

This is such an ingenious product. I must have one! They are apparently currently in production with ABR, in Spain. Hopefully they will be available in Canada too!

 photos: StokkeAustad

Creating a Warm All White Kitchen

For the Audrey Kitchen, I was asked by my clients to come up with ideas to help them see how they could modernize their eat-in kitchen. One of their artwork inspired me to create an all white concept as shown on this inspiration board.

Avsikt frosted glass and aluminum wall cabinets (1. IKEA) and Abstrakt base cabinets in high gloss white (7. IKEA) would help keep things light and a nice warm porcelain tile floor (12.Sarana Tile) would add a subtle contrast. For the countertop, a Blanco Maple quartz (10. Silestone) would also warm up the space and Erin Adam's large offset mosaic tile (11. Ann Sack) would add great texture. The sleek Purist Primary Pullout Kitchen Faucet (3. Kohler) would be a perfect complement to their stainless steel appliances and an almost invisible fan, the Glide under cabinet (9. Elica Aria Nuova), wouldn't distract from the cabinets.

The bar would be lighted by Naple pendant lamps (2. Zone Maison) and Bertoia barstools would provide great seating without blocking the view. For the table I would use a round Saarinen dining table (4. Knoll) with the translucent Tobias chairs (5. IKEA) under the really neat Ten Tales pendant lamp (8. Nuevo)

Something as simple as a map can inspire the design concept for a space. My clients has a really neat typography poster of Manhattan. I believe it's an Ork Poster. I really like its simplicity and cleverness and think it would look really nice in a warm white kitchen. There's also enough space to add a couple more of these posters. Unfortunately, there are only two Canadian cities available right now: Toronto and Vancouver. It would be neat to have a couple more for cities such as Montreal and Ottawa.

source: IKEA | Sarana Tile | Silestone | Ann Sack | Kohler | Elica | Zone Maison | Knoll | Nuevo

It's okay to write on the walls...

... if you're using Idea Paint. This great product is the invention of three undergrads (John Goscha, Jeff Avallon and Morgen Newman) who back in 2002 couldn't afford whiteboards for their brainstorming session in college. So they came up with the idea of creating paint that transforms virtually any surface into a dry ease surface.

The process is quite simple. The paint comes in a kit including everything you need to make your own dry erase surface. All you need to do is pour the bottle labeled "THIS" into the quart labeled "THAT", stir it with the provided stick and paint any primed surface of your choice. The paint dries relatively quickly but you should wait for it to cure for a couple days before using it. What makes this product so attractive, beside the fact that it allows us creative types to unleash our creativity beyond a limiting piece of paper, is that it erases easily.



Idea Paint is a great alternative to blackboard paint and comes in a couple different color options. There's so many great possibilities with a product like this : offices, kindergartens, common rooms, conference rooms, play rooma, teenager's bedrooms, etc.







I'll have to try it out at some point. Maybe I'll start with the sample...

photos : Idea Paint

The ultimate IKEA hack

Diogo Aguiar is an architecture graduate from the Oporto School of Architecture in Portugal who created an ingenious temporary bar using TROFAST storage boxes from IKEA as the main building material.

Every year, the students of the school of architecture are invited to create a temporary bar to represent their institution and Diogo Aguiar came up with a great concept. Needless to say, he won the first prize!

VERSION 1

The first version was simply the concept. I love the way he presented his concept like an IKEA instruction booklet and his sense of humor. Notice the passed out IKEA character?




VERSION 2

The second version, which was built in only one week, was a bit taller and included LED light to give it a completely different look at night. I think he did a really great job!









source : Diogo Aguiar | ikea

Coffee art for coffee shop

I recently came across this really original artwork on Coffee on Paper by Brasilian designer, Dirceu Veiga who's a coffee art artist: He makes art with coffee. What a neat concept! I like the idea of creating scenes of people in a coffee shop.

Of course, I think these art pieces would be very nice and appropriate in a little coffee shop, which inspired me to create inspiration boards.

The Hoppy pendant light (from Dark) reminds me of coffee beans, My Cuppa Tea and My Cuppa Coffee cups (from SUCK UK) link the artwork with the product, Pawn Stool, Richmond Chair, Tightback chair, Bishop Chair, Magazine Rack (from Gus Modern) add warmth and a richness to the space, and the floor tiles from the Weathered Concrete collection in Natural Grey (from LSI Floors) provide a nice contrast.

Milk bottle lamps (from Droog), Coffee on Paper (from Dirceu Veiga), simple dining table (from Plushpod), Upcycle Ottoman (from Gus Modern), Utilo Tea Stick (from Blomus)

source : Dark | Suck UK | Gus Modern | LSI Floors | Droog | Coffee on Paper | Plushpod | Blomus

If I was a kid this would be my doll house

Finally a doll house based on modern architecture! Clearview, a modern doll house, was created by designer Elaine Shaw who also believes that traditional doll houses are out of fashion and it's time for them to reflect the lifestyle of today. I love the level of detail in her work. It's the first of several to come in the near future.







photo : metro uk

Comic furniture by ennezero

ORIGINAL POST DATE : 2008-04-01

I recently came across this cool line of furniture by ennezero from Italy. It’s not for everyone but it’s very original. It’s from a collection called Valentina, la donna è mobilewhere from the "theories of the [Artistic] Movement called Radical Design which began in the Sixties in Tuscany (Italy) before spreading in other parts of the world". I believe the designer is Giuseppe Canevese, an industrial designer from Italy.

source: ennezero

I would love to specify some of these pieces this in a boutique hotel. Imagine one of the black and white pieces against a bright color wall. It would definitely make a statement. Any volunteer?

Working in a blob

dmvA, an architectural firm from Belgium, recently created this really neat mobile pod for the office of Xfactor Agencies. The goal was to build an office in the backyard of a residence, but their plans kept being rejected by the local authorities due to restrictive building regulations. Blob VB3, an egg-shaped mobile pod, was their answer to the rejection of their concept. By making it a mobile art piece that could be used as an office, the architects were able to get around the local codes and didn't even require a building permit.

This pod includes a bathroom in the back, a kitchen, a bed and a lot of storage spaces. I love that it looks like a giant egg. At 20 square meters (approx. 200 sq. ft.) it can be used as a office, a guest room, a modern take on a tree house, a camping shelter or a space within a space (like a conference room inside a loft office). Also, the fact that it's mobile makes it useful as an emergency shelter. There are so many possibilities!







source : apartment therapy | designboom | dmvA | Brecht
photography: vercruysse frederik, mick couwenbergh/rini van beek

Punk Rock ECO Chair

I love this chair by Richard Liddle from Cohda Design. Called the RD Legs (RD stands for Roughly Drawn), it is made from 100% molten plastic waste and it's really a piece of art. It really does give the impression that someone just sketched the chair with a giant pencil and it came to life. These chairs are all hand made and there are only 25 chairs per color (which I guess explains their cost). Developed by Richard, the design uses no glues or additional fixings in its production.

Cohda Design Ltd is a British company founded in 2006 as an urban design brand with a mission: “to design, manufacture and supply innovative contemporary products that break down the pre-conceptions of what sustainable, innovative designs should be".

When you look at products from Codha, they don't scream "I'm eco-friendly". Clever and thought-provoking, their designs engage the user in a story, allowing the products to be recognized for both their innovation and Eco credentials.

Limited editions of these chairs are available in Canada through galerie CO in Montreal for $1850. The video below shows how they are made.



Photos : Cohda Design | galerie CO

Heatwave by Joris Laarman

ORIGINAL POST DATE : 2008-01-25

If I told you that the baroque inspired “sculptures” on the walls in the following pictures actually have a function in each of the spaces, could you guess what that function could be?

They’re radiators used to heat rooms, and they actually look good! Finally someone came up with something that is more pleasing to the eye and adds to the look of a room instead of deterring from it. They are the work of designer Joris Laarman. They come in various sizes and are modular, so you can pretty much make them as small or as big as you like.

Photos: Jaga