London Design Fair & Shoreditch Design Triangle

Posted on September 28, 2019 by Toothpicker

Please Be Seated is a large-scale installation designed by Paul Cocksedge, and it is made from more than 1,000 scaffolding planks. Cocksedge collaborated with Essex-based high-end interiors company White & White to re-imagine and re-use the building wood. The curvy seating encouraged passerby to sit and relax with their books or lap tops, which subsequently turned the square into an interactive and social space.

At the annual London Design Fair in the Old Truman Brewery, the main focus was on craftsmanship and sustainability (a big trend at the festival this year).

One of the surprises was to see United Arab Emirates showing for the first time at the fair. Curated by the Irthi Contemporary Arts Council and the NAMA Woman Advancement Establishment, the pavilion featured 12 works made by UAE women using a range of traditional crafting techniques and local resources. Designed to reflect the nature and landscape of the UAE, elements such as wood and camel leather are featured in the works.

Contemporary craft work by UAE women curated by Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council

This year’s Material of the Year was all about biomaterials – another hot topic in the design world today. Developed from the by-products of the agricultural industries, biomaterials are innovative materials that are created mostly from food and industrial waste. One of the most intriguing materials is Totomoxtle, a new veneer material made with husks of heirloom Mexican corn designed by Mexican designer Fernando Laposse. Meanwhile, Italian design firm High Society has created plant-based lighting from the post-industrial waste including hemp, tobacco and residue leftover from wine production.

Top: Fernando Laposse’s Totomoxtle; bottom left: High Society’s Highlight; Bottom right: Studio Tjeerd Veenhoven‘s leather-like material and products made from palm leaves.

In the nearby Shoreditch, I stumbled upon a pop-up shop showcasing a new brand that also uses industrial non hazardous waste as the main elements of design. Cancelled plans is created by Indian designer Mallika Reddy, who has been collecting rejected materials from local factories and combined them with conventional materials to create a range of fashion accessories. The range will be available for purchase on the website at the end of the year.

Cancelled plans’ pop up shop

London design festival: Kings Cross design district

Posted on September 26, 2019 by Toothpicker

Coal Drops Yard

This year, the ever-changing Kings Cross was chosen as the design district for the first time at the London design festival. Aside from the annual design trade show, DesignJunction, there were many exhibitions and activities taking place during the festival.

I received a trade preview invitation to visit Designjunction, so I set off earlier to see what was happening in the area. The initial installations I encountered were two giant wooden sculptures that resembled robots. Designed by Steuart Padwick, the “Talk to me” installations were designed to ‘converse’ with passerby, as part of Designjunction in support of the charity Time to Change to encourage Londoners to talk about mental health.

‘Talk to me’ installations

Camille Walala’s installations

Probably the most ‘bizarre’ installation at the design festival was “Disco Carbonara”, by London-based Italian furniture designer Martino Gamper. Inpspired by the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and a Potemkin village, the designer used film sets and scaffolding to create a temporary structure. There was disco music playing inside and a bouncer standing outside stamping visitor’s hands, yet there was nothing inside… it was just a façade.

The fake disco structure was made from a patchwork of cladding created from waste offcuts from an Italian company called Alpi. The conceptual installation aimed to make visitors think about urban design, and the sustainability of temporary structures created for short-term events like the London design festival.

Disco Carbonara by Martino Gamper

Textile waste banner installations by Tottex and Kiosk N1C

STORE Store making meringue

Granby Workshop launched a new range of ceramic tableware made from 100% waste materials. The range has grown out of extensive research by the Liverpool-based ceramics studio gathering, testing and analysing materials from a wide range of post-consumer and industrial waste streams including glass, metal and ceramic recycling, steel production, quarry spoils and water filtration. Collectively, these sources generate hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste per year which otherwise goes to landfill. The range is now available for purchase on Kickstarter.

Granby Workshop

TouchySmellyFeelyTastyNoisy at Tom Dixon

PRINT – Bill Amberg Studio‘s new ccollection of digitally-printed leather hides are made with collaborators including Marcel Wanders, Calico Wallpaper, Solange Azagury-Partridge, Lisa Miller, Alexandra Champalimaud and artist Matthew Day Jackson.

Out of all the exhibits and events that I saw on the day, ‘Designing in the turbulent times‘ initiated by Maison/0 – the sustainable innovation programme created at Central Saint Martins in partnership with the luxury group LVMH – was by far the most interesting and thought-provoking. The exhibition showcased graduate projects from Central Saint Martins offering compelling propositions for more sustainable and equitable futures. “How can we break away from our current systems and adapt a more sustainable way of living?” is the question that we should all be thinking about, and here, these young designers are trying to address this issue in their work.

Bottom: Maria Cuji’s worked with artisans from Ecuador tp produce woven textile made from factory offcuts and leftover yarn.

‘Weighting feathers’ by Jing Jiang uses waste feathers from the farming industry to create a jewellery design range

Olivia Page‘s exploration on bio-waste materials and has created a “Recipe Book of North Portugal, Abundant Biological Wastes for Construction Materials”

Grayshan Audren‘s ‘Seamless: Woven workwear for the automated future’ addresses the waste issue in the fashion industry; Top right: ‘Wool: Re Crafted’ by Nathalie Spencer is a vegan alternative to wool by utilising the discarded waste leaves of pineapples from markets and juice bars around London and processing the fibres into a wearable material.

Tansy Hamley’s ‘An Indian traffic jam” display of blockprinted and indigo-dyed textiles at Central St Martins reminded me of my textiles trip in Indian earlier in the year.

designjunction: The Greenhouse showcased LSA’s new CANOPY collection, a partnership with the Eden Project alongside a range of products and concepts from brands such as Vitra, String Furniture, Artcoustic, with plants decorated by The Botanical Boys.

The organiser of designjunction changed this year, and the locations of the show were scattered around different parts of Kings Cross. I skipped the Canopy pop-up shops because there were too many activities happening at once! At the main Cubitt House Pavilion, there were less emerging designers and fewer exhibitors than before, which was quite disappointing. I visited my friends from Di Classe, had some drinks and decided to call it a night.

Designjunction at Cubitt House Pavilion

The last stop of the night was Designjunction’s Rado Star Prize in the King’s Cross Light Tunnel where they showcased design pieces by the next generation of young British designers. The theme, ‘Re:Imagine’, explored different ways design can improve life: by evolving existing product forms through materials, function, technology, end-use or even, re-use. Surprisingly, this section of the show was more interesting than the main pavilion, so I believe the organiser need to make some changes to improve the show next year.

Top: Judges’ winner 2019 – Huw Evans’s Concertina collection

Maison et objet (autumn 17)

Posted on September 13, 2017 by Toothpicker

Hall 6 at Maison et objet

The term ‘enochlophobia’ means fear of crowds, a phobia that I suspect I have – mildly. Although I don’t experience blackouts or panic attacks in crowded places, I do feel overwhelmed, as if my energy is being sucked out of me, and I often feel exhausted afterwards.

This can be a problem when I visit business-related trade fairs, hence I rarely spend more than a few hours at a trade fair (or even art fairs). However, once in a while, I have to conquer my fears and plunge into it. It took me some time to decide whether I should spend €60 on a ticket to Paris’ mega design trade fair, Maison et objet, particularly when most trade fairs in the world are free of charge. Perhaps the reason why they could charge so much is because of its reputation and history (it is 22 years old); and it attracts luxury and well-respected brands, independent names, as well as up-and-coming designers from around the world. If you want to know the trends of interior, furniture and products and what is happening in the design world right now, then this fair is most likely to provide some ideas. With over 3000 brands exhibiting at Paris Nord Villepinte (about 45 mins outside of Paris) for 5 days, it would be wise to do some preparations before the visit.

My strategy was to spend a day there focusing on 2-3 halls only (there are 8 in total), because it would impossible to see everything in a day. But soon after I arrived via the entrance of Hall 6 (the largest hall), I was lost, stressed out, and feeling overwhelmed. I thought I was mentally prepared, but the sheer scale of the venue was staggering. The layout of this hall was like a vast maze and it wasn’t easy to navigate at all. Luckily, Hall 7 (Now! Design a Vivre) was more spacious and it gave me some breathing space. Six hours later, I only managed to cover 2.5 halls, but it was sufficient for me already.

Top left: The classic Eames Elephant at Vitra; Top right and 2nd row: new collection by Marimekko; Botton row: Flensted Mobiles

But was it worth all the fuss and sweat? Yes, I suppose. Since most of the trade fairs in London focus mostly on British brands and businesses, M & O provides a more global perspective of the design world outside of the U.K. There are many interesting brands that I have never heard of before, and many of them are based in Asia too.

Here is an overview of some of the brands/products that I encountered during the 6 hours at the fair including many Asian participants:

Gmund papermakers and stationery (Germany)

Papier Machine (France) is a booklet gathering a family of 13 paper-made electronic toys ready to be cut, colored, folded, assembled or torn.

Samesame recycled glass products (Germany)

Storytiles from the Netherlands

Animal theme

Top and 2nd rows: super cute cuddly toy chairs at AP Collection from Belgium; 3rd row: elephant table and chairs; Bottom left: Peacock; Bottom right: Zoo collection at Element Optimal from Denmark

Materials

Top row: Wonders of weaving (Indonesia); 2nd row: Luce Couillet textiles (France); Bottom: origami textiles at the Material lab

Japan

In the last few years, Japanese art/digital collective teamlab has created some fascinating immersive installations around the world. After their popular installations at Pace London earlier this year, they have teamed up with tea master Shunichi Matsuo to promote his new brand, En tea, a new tea grown in Hizen.

Visitors were led into a dark room, where they would sit at the table and be given a bowl of green tea. Then virtual flowers would appear when tea is poured in the bowl; the visuals are rendered in real time by a computer program and are not prerecorded. Petals and leaves would scatter and spread as you move your bowl. It was a fun experience, and a nice way to rehydrate and enjoy a bit of downtime away from the hustle and bustle outside.

Top row: flowers blossom in the tea bowl: Bottom row: En tea & More trees space outside of the installation

Misoka – an award-winning toothbrush that requires no toothpaste

The quirkiest lamps ever… Pampshade is made from real bread by bread lover/artist, Yukiko Morita. I have ever seen anything like this before!

Osaka design centre – Washi paper and K-ino Inomata

Top left: Draw a line tension rod by Heian Shindo and TENT; Suzusan shibori textiles and lighting

Korea

Top row: Ceramic products at I.Cera; 2nd row: Lee Hyemi; 3rd row: Korean craft & design foundation; Bottom left: Small good things; Bottom right: Kim Hyun Joo studio

Taiwan

A notable presence from Taiwan at the fair, aside from the Taiwan crafts & design stand, there were other independent brands like Haoshi, Toast, EY products, new brand called Melting, and the 2017 Rising Asian Talents: Kamaro’an.

1st row: Taiwan crafts & design; 2nd row: Haoshi; 3rd row: Kamaro’an; 4th row: Toast; 5th row: Melting; bottom row: EY products

Thailand

Meanwhile, Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) also showcased TALENT THAI, which introduced various Thai lifestyle/design brands to an international audience. Thai design studio, Atelier 2+ was also selected one of the 2017 Rising Asian Talents.

1st left: Zen Forum; 1st right: Handmade jewellery by Saprang; 2nd row: Greenhouse Mini by Atelier 2+; Bottom left: woven chair by Salt and Pepper design studio; Bottom right: wooden panels by Deesawat

Singapore

The stand of Singapore-based architectural practice WOHA was named Designer of the year Asia 2017

Hong Kong

2017 Rising Asian talent: Lim + Lu Studio

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London Design Fair 2016

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Toothpicker

Installation by Rive Roshan using Kvadrat Divina

This year, Tent London & Super Brands London celebrated its 10th anniversary and was rebranded as London Design Fair. The fair at the Old Truman brewery hosted over 500 exhibitors from 29 countries, making it the most international fair of the Festival. Exhibitors include independent designers, established brands, and international country pavilions, such as 100% Norway, Portugal, China, Sweden, India and Italy.

I felt that the overall standard of this year’s fair was high. There was a strong emphasis on handmade crafts and designs using mostly natural and organic materials. The pavilions that caught my attention were Inspiring Portugal, China academy of art and Scotland: Craft and design.

Top left: Ceramic crafts made at the Cerdeira artist village; Top right: Lighting by Serip; Bottom left: Gencork and BlackCork by Sofalca; Bottom middle: Kit Miles and Moooi Carpets; Bottom right: Cardboard chairs by Corvasce Design

I am a big fan of Portugal or anything Portuguese, and so I was particularly intrigued by Portuguese designs. Cork is one of Portugal’s most popular raw materials, and it is often featured in the creation of local crafts and designs. Aside from cork, a range of beautiful crafts were on display to show the craftsmanship from the Cerdeira artist village.

Top left: Leonora Richardson‘s ceramic cylinder cells; Top right: Ceramic lighting by Mamoutzis; 2nd row: Handmade wooden objects and textiles by Forest and Found; 3rd left: spoons by Wooden & woven; 3rd right: Yuta Segawa‘s miniature vases; 4th row: Ceramic designs by Jie Yang; Bottom right: Ceramic designs by I Liang Liu

Top: Fung & Bedford‘s origami installations; 2nd middle: Paper calendar by An everything; 2nd right: Brass sculptures by Caroline Mcneill-Moss; Bottom: Giant glass marbles by Kosmosphaera

Scotland: Craft & design pavilion – 3rd left: Naomi Mcintosh; 3rd middle: Julia Smith ceramics; 3rd right: Lizzie Farey; Bottom row: Utopian surface tiles and condiment Set by Jennifer Gray

I thought the most impressive pavilion at the fair was the Scotland one. The Scottish designers and makers’ work demonstrated their ability to combine traditional skills with new digital technology to create outstanding pieces of craft.

Design east exhibition – Top left: Relation textile by Lang Qing & Tea ware by Wu Peiping/ Gu Rong/ Chen Jun; Top right: Blue by Li Jie; 2nd row: Black T by Hu Ke; Bottom left: Feelex by Gong Qiaolin/ Qiu Kushan/ Wang Weijia; Bottom right: Meditation seat ware by Gao Fenglin/Nanoin design studio

Another pleasant surprise was the Design East exhibition that featured a range of impressive work by designers and craftsmen from China. The exhibition challenged our perception of Chinese-made designs, and revealed a changing design landscape that is taking place in China today.

2nd right: This is India exhibition; Bottom middle: Claymen; Bottom right: Jerry can water flask by Cobalt design

Out of all the trade fairs at the design festival, I enjoyed this show much more than others. I think sometimes emerging designers and craftsmen are more daring in their creation, probably because commerciality is not their high on their priorities. Designers and craftsmen have to follow their intuitions rather trends, and it is always encouraging to see people following their hearts than their minds.

Designjunction in Kings Cross 2016

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Toothpicker

Designjunction in Kings Cross’s Granary Square

This year, Designjunction moved from Holborn to Kings Cross, and it was indeed a good move. Instead of cramming hundreds of stands and outlets into huge abandoned buildings, this year’s show was split into four areas around the Granary Square. It was easier to navigate and more fun than the previous years.

Top left: Dyslexic design exhibition; Top right: Blackbody lighting; 2nd row: Transport for London’s new Metroland collection; Bottom: Illustrator Vic Lee working on a mural

At the Granary Square, the Dyslexic design exhibition showcased a range of works created by dyslexic designers from different disciplines like fashion, product, illustration, fine art and architecture. Curated by one of the UK’s leading designers Jim Rokos, the exhibition challenged our perceptions of dyslexia by accentuating the positive effects of living with dyslexia and its close association with design.

Johnston Twitter Machine by Florian Dussopt

I met and spoke to London-based French designer Florian Dussopt, the designer of a bespoke Twitter machine shaped like the TFL roundel to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Johnston typeface commissioned by Transport for London and KK Outlet gallery. During the 5 days, the Twitter Machine used the Johnston typeface to print all tweets linked to the hashtag #inspiredby on twitter.

Top: Cubitt House featured a 70 metre long by 7.5 metre GRID installation designed by Satellite Architects; Bottom: Cranes are ubiquitous in Kings Cross

Top right: Greenhouse by Atelier 2+ for Designhouse Stockholm; 2nd left & middle: Uruguay’s Samago and its designer; 2nd right: 3Doodler Create; 3rd row: ‘Who’s Casper’ project created by Modus to raise funds for the refugee crisis; Bottom left: Foldability; Bottom middle: Isokan Plus; Bottom right: Channels Design

For me, the most impressive and intriguing part of the show was Brain waves, an exhibition showcasing the work of Central Saint Martins’ leading design graduates from across a wide range of disciplines.

Biying Shi‘s ‘Made in China’ project interviews the craftsmen/makers behind the products, and examines our prejudices towards Chinese made goods; while Hanan Alkouh‘s ‘Sea-Meat seaweed’ looks at the industry behind pig meat, dissects it and replicates it with the Dulse seaweed.

I particularly liked Italian jewellery designer Giada Giachino‘s ‘Per Inciso’ – a upcycled jewellery collection made of shell-lip waste. How sustainable and fun!

Top: Made in China by Biying Shi; 2nd row: Library by Sarah Christie; 3rd left: Hanan Alkouh‘s Seameat seaweed; 3rd right: Photosympathise by Freya Morgan; bottom left: Per Inciso by Giada Giachino; bottom right: Digital Daiku by Mark Laban

London Design Festival 2016

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Toothpicker

‘Elytra Filament Pavilion’ by experimental architect Achim Menges with Moritz Dörstelmann, structural engineer Jan Knippers and climate engineer Thomas Auer.

What is going to happen to the UK in the future? It is hard to tell. As a multicultural mega city, how will London cope with the aftermath of Brexit? And what can London’s design community contribute in order to reduce the negative impact triggered by this decision? Maybe it is too early to say, but I think there is an urgency for designers to explore this topic and try to solve the possible scenarios that are likely to occur.

I have been visiting the London Design Festival for years, and I felt that the festival has lost its spark in the last few years. Aside from being overly commercial, it has become rather superficial and dull. This year, there had been overall improvements, but it still felt like an event aimed at the industry rather than the general public. Perhaps the turbulent times ahead will ignite more creativity and debate; though in the meantime, the new Design Biennale was a welcome addition to the festival.

Top left: ‘The Green Room’ by London design studio Glithero; Top right: ‘Liquid Marble’ by Mathieu Lehanneur; Bottom: ‘Landscape within’ by Michael Burton and Michiko Nitta

As usual at the V & A museum, there were temporary design (or art) installations scattered around the maze-like building. The most frustrating part was to navigate around the building and locate these installations. For those who managed to locate them all deserved prizes for their skills and patience.

One of the pieces that stood out for me was ‘Landscape within’ located in the foyer (though not included on the map). The fascinating digestive machine was created by London based interdisciplinary art and design studio BurtonNitta, supported by The Wellcome Trust and researchers from University of Edinburgh.

I spoke to designer Michael Burton about their exploration into our gut system. The digestive machine is designed to filter out the impact of heavy metals on our health due to increasing food contamination on our planet. This machine uses engineered bacteria to separate food from contaminating heavy-metals, resulting in safe consumption and nano-sized metals that are a valuable resource. Its intriguing construction of a tube within a tube, mirrors our own body plan, and it certainly attracted much attention from passerby.

Unidentified Acts of Design exhibition

In the nearby China gallery, a thought-provoking exhibition ‘Unidentified Acts of Design’ sought out instances of design intelligence in Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta outside of the design studio. The research project examined how design managed to evolve unexpectedly in a region which has been named the factory of the world. The landscape of the Chinese design scene is changing rapidly, soon or later, we may have to alter our prejudices on the term ‘Made in China’.

Top left: ‘When the Pike Sang, the Birds Were Still’ by Pauliina Pöllänen; Top middle: Designer souvenirs pop-up shop; Top right: ‘Silk leaf’ by Julian Melchiorri; Middle: ‘Northern Lights’ by V&A Museum of Design Dundee; Bottom: ‘Mind over matter: contemporary British engineering exhibition’

Top: ‘Silver speaks’ exhibition; 2nd row left: ‘Waves’ by Nan Nan Liu; 2nd row right: ‘To Make a Thing’ by Stuart Cairns; 3rd row: Stunning silver works by Japanese artist Junko Mori Bottom left: ‘Juxtapose’ cups by Cara Murphy; Bottom right: ‘Retro-ism Ice Tea for One’ by Rajesh Gogna

Upstairs in the silver gallery, I joined a curator’s talk on the ‘Silver speaks‘ exhibition, and learned more about contemporary silversmithing and the ideas behind the beautiful pieces. Perhaps the pieces are not all functional, but the exquisite work reflects high-level of skills, techniques and concepts that can be viewed as art pieces.

100% design at Olympia

Despite being one of the largest and longest-running trade shows at the festival, I honestly think that 100% design needs to re-evaluate its direction because I thought it was the most uninspiring show at the festival. Compare to about 10 years ago, the show has somehow deteriorated over the past decade (partly due to the change in management).

The show used to promote design innovation, diversity and international young talents, but now the focus has switched to showcasing kitchen and bathroom designs by big commercial brands. During my visit, the huge venue was very quiet, and I left within the hour because I found the show rather ‘soulless’.

The two other major trade shows, Design Junction and London Design Fair (a new name for Tent) have made some significant changes and improvements this year, so it’s time for the team behind 100% design to step back and focus on making the show exciting again.

Top left: Almira Sadar; Top right: Handcrafted wall covering by Anne Kyyro Quinn; 2nd left: Nanjing Creative Design Center; 2nd right: AteljeMali; Bottom left: ‘Mountain Lake City & Forest’ by Nanjing Creative Design Center; Bottom right: Log Stack Cabinet by Byron & Gomez

Maze Hill Pottery’s open studio

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Toothpicker

Top left: The disused ticket office-turned pottery studio; Top right: Lisa Hammond’s beautiful Soda & Shino glaze pottery

London is full of hidden gems, not only they are off tourists’ radar, but many are also unknown to Londoners. Since I live north of the river, I am quite oblivious to events that take place beyond Bermondsey or the Design Museum. We Londoners rarely venture out of our comfort zones (i.e. the zones we live or work in), thus we are like tourists when we step into the unknown!

It was an invitation that brought me to Maze Hill Pottery‘s open studio in Greenwich. The 2-day annual open studio event provided a rare opportunity for visitors to purchase beautiful handmade pottery by renowned pottery artist Lisa Hammond and her apprentices at significantly reduced prices.

Top: Darren Ellis‘ pottery; Bottom left: Lisa Hammond’s Shino chawan tea bowl and sake bottles; Bottom right: The outdoor workshop area

The studio is situated in the former ticket office of Maze Hill Station, which opened in 1873. Lisa turned the disused office into a pottery studio in the mid 1990s and built the first soda glaze trolley kiln in the UK at the back of the studio.

The studio also offers pottery workshops and evening courses, where students can learn the techniques of studio pottery in a professional working studio environment.

I wonder if BBC’s “The Great Pottery Throw Down“ (the pottery version of the hugely popular TV show “The Great British Bake off”) has triggered the public’s interests in pottery?

Regardless of the TV show, the studio’s reputation and exquisite pottery pieces have gained support from locals over the years, and so all the best bargains were snapped up as soon as the kiln was opened in the morning! Luckily, I did manage to pick up noodle bowls and mug reduced to prices cheaper than the mass manufactured pieces from Habitat!

After some mulled wine and snacks, I left the studio feeling satisfied with my purchase, and the fact that I have supported a local pottery studio. London doesn’t need more chained stores run by big corporations, we need more independent stores and studios run by passionate artisans, craftsmen, designers, bakers, booksellers and even corner shop owners who truly want to make a difference in this city.

Design Junction 2015

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Toothpicker

Top row: the art deco features at Victoria House: 2nd & bottom rows: The college

Like 100% Design, this year, Design Junction moved from its previous location (the Former Royal Mail Sorting Office on New Oxford Street) to two enormous and historical venues on Southampton Row – the art deco Victoria House (completed in 1932) and The College (the former site of Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design completed in 1908). The interior of both buildings are fascinating, but the maze-like layout (esp. at The college) made it hard for visitors to navigate and most of us were constantly going round in circles within the building.

Top: Teddy’s wish installation; 2nd left: Vic Lee working on a mural; 2nd middle: Tipping vases by Rokos; 2nd right: Plantation by Alicja Patanowska; Bottom row: Goat Story

This year, the retail section was allocated to the basement of Victoria house, which was the original home of the show back in 2011. One of the attractions was the ‘Teddy’s wish’ installation created by Anthony Dickens and Studio Make Believe, featuring 21 iconic Eames elephants customised by world renowned designers and architects.

Top & bottom left: Blackbody; Bottom middle: Ango; Bottom right: Haberdashery

Lighting had always been a strong focus at this design fair in the past, and this year was no exception. Over at The College site, the entire ground floor was dedicated to lighting, and one of the most visually spectacular was French light company Blackbody‘s installations at one of the entrances. I was also drawn to the nature-inspired lighting created by the Thai company Ango. The company’s designs have won awards at various local and international design shows including Good design award in Japan and Maison et Objet in France.

Top and 2nd left: The gem room; 2nd right, 3rd & 4th rows: Scissors and crafts by Coelacanth Shokudou; Bottom: Yuta Segawa’s miniature pots

Among all the contemporary products, it was unexpected to see a Japanese craftsman sitting on the floor and making a pair of scissors in the middle of the room. Coelacanth Shokudou is a design research centre from Hyogo Prefecture in Japan that utilises local resources and traditional skills to produce functional and high quality designs.

Another surprise discovery for me was Yuta Segawa‘s miniature pots at the UAL now exhibitors section. The Camberwell MA graduate’s vast array of ceramic vessels are delicate and delightful, I absolutely adore them!

Top row: Tools for everyday life; 2nd left: We do wood; 2nd right: Cape light by Noble and wood; Bottom: Totem Mill by Tylko

As a stationery fan, it was hard for me to not fiddle with the range of stationery and other tools displayed at the Tools for everyday life stand. The research project examines how skilled manufacture can lead to beautiful things, allowing the designers a space to explore and reflect on ‘making’ as a commercially relevant process in the manufacture of functionally useful things. The collection of products and furniture are created by designers who studied BA (hons) 3D Design programme at Northumbria University. The objects are playful and captivating, and the high quality craftsmanship reveals the beauty of ubiquitous every day tools in the most direct manner.

In our technology-driven society today, designers have to respond, adapt and innovate quicker than ever before. Backed by design entrepreneur Yves Behar (founder of Fuse project),the Polish furniture startup Tylko launched an app that allows users to customise each furniture piece according to their own desire and see it in their own space. Will this type of parametric design and technology change the way we shop in the future? We shall wait and see, but it is always exciting to see designers pushing the boundaries and finding new methods to innovate.

Top: Maggie’s donation box by Benjamin Hubert; Bottom: Talk by Benjamin Hubert

Last but not least, it was interesting to attend a talk by designer Benjamin Hubert (founder of Layer) on his new donation box design for Maggie’s ( cancer support centre) and Worldbeing, a self-directed wearable and app supported by the Carbon Trust that tracks carbon usage. Although it has been predicted that wearable technology will be as Big as smartphones in the years to come, I still have reservation about this trend. The flop of google glass and Apple Watch indicates that perhaps consumers are not ready yet. Is it due to design flaws or psychological reasons? Again, only time will tell.

Tent London 2015

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Toothpicker

Facade of 100% Norway at Tent London

For some reason, the design trade shows that I attended this year at The London design festival appeared to be quieter than usual. At Tent London, the atmosphere was a far cry from the chaos I experienced last year… not sure if it was the time of the day or if attendees have dropped this year.

As always, one of the biggest stand at the show was 100% Norway with 26 designer/manufacturers exhibiting furniture and products inspired mostly by the country’s nature.

Top: 100% Norway; Bottom left: Constancy and change in Korean traditional craft; Bottom right: Cutting boards by Trefjøla at 100% Norway

The main trend of the show was handcrafted designs made of natural materials like wood and clay, and this was evident at the Irish stand, O Design ad craft from Ireland. I was most pleasantly surprised by the simple, beautiful and well crafted work on display. I especially love the range of nature-inspired homeware by Superfolk, the cute wooden toys by Saturday Workshop, and the extraordinary stone sculptures by Helen O’Connell.

Top left: Mourne textiles; Top right: Saturday workshop; 2nd to 4th rows: Superfolk; 5th row: Adam Frew; Bottom row: Stone sculptures by Helen O’Connell

This year, there was no sign of Tokyo design week, and the overall Asian presence was less visible than the previous years. The largest stand from Asia was EATAIPEI, an immersive stand that promotes Taipei, which will be the World Design Capital of 2016. One of the most fascinating designs on display was the plastic ceramic tableware by Pili Wu. Inspired by traditional Chinaware from the Song dynasty and disposable plastic wares used in many taiwanese roadside restaurants, the range of plastic tableware could easily be mistaken as ceramics! Cool.

Another Taiwanese stand that caught my eye was Case, a new design studio that raises awareness on environmental and social issues through their thought-provoking products. The ceramic Toxic Tuna sauce dish features a sinking ship and comes with a map of worldwide oil spills, which reminds us of the hidden health risks from consuming the toxic seafood. There are also candles shaped as plastic waste, which reminds us of the poisonous released when plastic is burned. It is encouraging to see new brands like this using design to raise consumers’ awareness, I hope they will continue to keep up with the good work.

Top row: Eataipei – Plastic ceramics by Pili Wu; 2nd row left: Eataipei – 2nd row right: Case project; 3rd row: Suruga from Japan; Bottom row: JiaHao Liao

I also spoke to Paris-based Singaporean designer JiaHao Liao, whose furniture and designs express a subtle Eastern influence and detailed craftsmanship. The ‘ADAPTable’ is inspired by the Chinese mahjong table and can be used as either a dinning or coffee table. The ‘1+1+1’ is a 3-piece multi-configuration furniture inspired by traditional Chinese furniture from the Ming dynasty, which can be used as a coffee table, stool, chair or armchair. I particularly like ‘lightscape’, a versatile and playful lamp that is made up of 3 geometric shapes in 3 different raw materials, wood, iron and stone. The design encourages the user to interact with and to compose various “landscapes” resulting in different lighting positions and graphical composition.

Top row: Julian Jay Roux; 2nd left: Sarah Tran’s textiles; 2nd right: Xuezhi Liu‘s ceramics; 3rd row: Tortus Copenhagen; 4th left: Weeds by Karina Marusinska; 4th right: Julian Watts‘ wood carvings; 6th row: Lofstrom; Bottom left: KIWI by Agnieszka Tomalczyk

At trade shows like these, the display of the stand is very important as it has to catch the visitors’ attention immediately. I was drawn to Lofstrom‘s stand because of its simple but effective mix of typography and photos its the wall. I spoke to Swedish interior designer Mikael Löfström and learned that it was his first show in London. His new jewellery collection features handmade necklaces composed of various sized and coloured recycled wood with typography on it. The collection reminds me of wooden toys for children, very simple, creative and playful, just like his stand.

Etsy’s ‘Four Corners of Craft’ – 2nd row: Ekta Kaul‘s Embroidered London Map Quilt; Bottom left: BaileyTomlinShop; Bottom right: Ron Arad and Patrizia Moroso at Supertalks

It is always entertaining to attend talks by architect/designer Ron Arad. At Supertalks, he was invited to discuss his successful 25-year collaboration with Patrizia Moroso. It was especially ‘entertaining’ to see how he reacted when he was constantly interrupted by journalist Jonn Elledge. The vibe was awkward and I felt embarrassed for the journalist. Was it a good idea to invite the editor of CityMetric and New Statesman to chair a design talk? Maybe not.

100% design 2015

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Toothpicker

100% design’s new venue in Olympia; right: Donar

Having visited The London design festival for many years, I somehow feel that the festival is losing its spark/edge. The guide is undoubtedly getting thicker and heavier (not sure if anyone enjoyed carrying this design festival ‘bible’ around for 10 days), yet the festival itself has become more ‘business’ like.

This may sound mean but as far as I can remember, this year’s design trade shows were by far the least inspiring. Since when did design become so boring and safe?! Although 100% design moved from Earls Court to Olympia this year, the vast venue was unexpectedly quiet during my visit.

1st, 2nd and bottom right: Soso Studio; Bottom left: Hi design Shanghai; Bottom middle: E-Y products

At the entrance of the show, one couldn’t help but notice the conspicuous booths from China. One of them was Icon’s Hi Design Shanghai, which featured ten Chinese emerging and established design brands for the first time in UK. It is interesting to see how Chinese designs have evolved in a short period of time; and although the Chinese design scene is still immature, many young Chinese designers are developing their own styles and utilising traditional skills and craftsmanship that have been passed down for centuries.

Although I was disappointed with the show and the products in general, I did benefit from the insightful talk on the future of design by trend forecasters and 3D researcher. As we have seen in recent years, sustainability, ethics and upcycling have become the predominant factors in design; and designers are now rethinking human’s relationship with nature and consumerism. “How to make consumerism the answer rather than a thread?” is the question that designers have to deal with. It is almost ironic to talk about sustainability at these design trade shows because there are simply too many unnecessary products that are being made, and it is quite evident at these shows.

I left the show pondering how I, as a designer, e-tailer, consumer and citizen be more responsible of my actions; and at the same time make other consumers be more conscious of their behaviour. These changes cannot be made overnight, and they require collective power/movement. I believe that more collaborations and dialogues between different industries and sectors are necessary in order to create a global shift that focuses more on the quality of life than short term profits or economic gains.

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Category Archives: Trade fairs