Design Debate

Today I am appreciating the beauty of this San Sebastian Spanish apartment. Owned by architects Jose Gabriel and Calparsoro Gorritxo and designed with the late Andrée Putman - now about 10 years ago. This space just doesn't date. The couple approached Putman when she was in her eighties on the off chance she may be interested in the project, to their surprise she was.  The apartment to me has the understated glamour of the 1930s, perhaps its the materials used and the curved glass wall. The apartment was gutted and Putman spent time in the spaces understanding the light and form. Much of the furniture is built in and I think that is what helps characterise this home. The colour pallet is restrained with the character and style coming from the shape and line of the materials used. Its a sophisticated space that I think Agatha Christie's Poirot would feel quite at home in it. There is a peace here and a certainty that I like. A beautiful space wel...

By now we are all familiar with Airbnb , a few of our clients at Pickle Design use them. Clients who have beautiful bed and breakfasts in calm, scenic locations (one of which is the lovely Armsyde Padstow B&B for those who want to spend a night above the sea). This is a little different. Airbnb have a room with a view - you can spend a night in Paris, but rather than the Eiffel Tower as your view, some quite teethy sharks. I can't decide if I think this is really cool or ridiculously scary. Maybe both. I think the bed with the cuddly fish helps me think it might be rather fun. You could dine with the sharks as your dinner guests - your not on the menu - then you get to sleep in an underwater bedroom with transparent walls offering 360-views of the aquarium’s 35 resident sharks. Quite an experience really, though I don't think I would get much sleep!! 

Ah, I like these. Nendo is a Japanese studio that has won a glittering array of awards. Their ethos is simple, the objective is: "Giving people a small "!" moment... we believe these small  "!"  moments are what make our days so interesting, so rich. That’s why we want to reconstitute the everyday by collecting and  reshaping them into something that’s easy to understand.  We’d like the people who’ve encountered Nendo’s designs to feel these small  "!"  moments intuitively. That’s Nendo’s job." And what a nice job to have. What caught my eye today were these - the well known Star Wars imagery has been reduced to beautiful 3d abstract objects. From super sleek and shiny paperweights to kitchenware; cups, salt & pepper pots and jewellery; necklaces and bracelets. There is a universe of possibilities - the objects are stackable and addable too. Seriously cute but also rather sophisticated for movie memorabilia. Well d...

It has been a while since I shared some of the goings on in our little graphic design studio. It's been a super busy start to the year with Easter being early taking everyone by surprise!  Every year at Pickle Design we like to give our clients a little present, a calendar - but a nice one. We have been doing this for about 9 years! We started with a bookmark calendar introducing who we all were, next we designed 12 badges showing things we liked. This was great fun - any chance for illustration I just love! Mine were pattern, colour, and things that sparkle - could you guess? The following years included a poster with a tree for all seasons , dictionary definitions , a colour wheel  (tricky to do!!) a concertina fold showing a line of thought , great chair design (I think my favourite), and last years Time Travel calendar which was really great fun. So for 2016 it was really tricky to think what to design. We settled on a celebration of Cornwall . We just lo...