Design Debate

Our 2026 Art Nouveau calendar. We’re well into 2026 now, which means our Art Nouveau poster calendar has been hanging on walls for a good few months. At Pickle Design we create a free wall planner every year to give to our clients and local businesses, always on a theme. We have covered so many in the past – from classic chair design to Cornish food , collective nouns for birds and even times of the day . Even the image at the top of Design Debate came from a calendar we created about graphic design . Some of the Art Nouveau and 1970s-inspired imagery I remember from home growing up. For 2026 our theme has been Art Nouveau , a design style I love. I think, though, that the filter through which I first enjoyed it was a retro reinvention. My parents brought the 1970s vibe into our family home and Art Nouveau fitted right in. I grew up in the 1980s, but really it often felt like the 1970s – from Dad’s vinyl records to the clothing hand-me-downs. Mum lo...

Oh I like these, very sophisticated, smart glasses that are colour-controlled by a stroke of your finger. In this modern world we swipe at everything. I have even seen babies trying to swipe an actual old-fashioned paper book, which is slightly disturbing! But with these specs I can see the appeal. An Austin, Texas-based brand, Sutyo, has come up with eyewear that is touch-controlled and moves your lenses from light to dark. They have eco credentials too: they are bio-based and made from renewable castor bean seeds grown on farms in India. They are even recyclable at the end of their life. They have won design awards galore, including the 2026 A’ Design Award and Competition, the iF Design Award and an IDA Design Award Gold in 2025. It’s through electrical signals that these glasses activate liquid crystals, altering the light and colour in layers. I like the silhouette too, simple, classic, very wearable. You just slide y...

How often do we really stop and consider the ordinary, everyday things around us? I love how artists can help us do just that, encouraging us to pause and contemplate the details of daily life. Canvas Gallery in Plymouth is exhibiting work by Amanda Carpenter and Hannah Oram in an exhibition called Tables of Colour , running until 11th April. I thought I would share these joyous works with you today. Amanda’s art is free and full of life. Her paintings ‘hold space for transformation, where fragility and resilience coexist, and where growth is messy, layered and deeply human’. This is Limonata , filled with layers of pattern and colour. Dinner in Bloom feels like a warm invitation. Hannah Oram is Exeter-based and wants to bring everyday moments to life on canvas. She says: ‘I believe these small rituals add poetry to everyday life. I paint them as joyful reminders that the most meaningful moments are often the simplest.’ Dans L’attente de L’Ea...

So sad to hear of Frank Gehry’s passing. At 96, though, he has left quite a legacy. He was perhaps best known for the otherworldly Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, a building that transforms as the light changes, softly undulating yet also sharp and metallic. The Guggenheim was revolutionary when it opened in 1997, heralding a new era in computer-led design. It helped transform the northern Spanish city into a major tourist destination, giving rise to what became known as the ‘Bilbao effect’. Of course, it was not everyone’s cup of tea. This was architecture that shouted, perhaps a little louder than the works it housed. But you cannot deny the impact Gehry’s style had on the architectural world. Born in Canada to Jewish immigrant parents, he changed his surname from Goldberg to Gehry in response to antisemitism. His roots remained a strong part of his identity. He moved to Los Angeles, initially working as a lorry driver before studying archite...

I kind of love this idea. A collection of the world’s weirdest buildings has been published by Hoxton Mini Press . It’s the antidote to the rather soulless boxes that keep popping up. I seem to drive past a new estate every day and can’t help feeling the lack of individuality. Sometimes you just want to see something that makes you stop and go ‘wow’! Okay, so in a best-case scenario, you get architecture that challenges your perception of what is possible: something that elevates a space, answers problems and poses questions. But sometimes I would settle for the quirk factor, something that makes me take a second look. This little book has some impressive buildings that twist and turn and assert their presence on the ground where they sit, but I think I love most the ones that make me crack a smile. The Portuguese house squished almost painfully between two rocks, the teapot gas station and the wo...