Design Debate

Company Flat Vernacular brings an element of humour to wallpaper design. I love the 70s inspired motifs that are either loud and vibrant, or when you look a little closer, contain tiny creatures hand-rendered.  This interesting company is run by married couple Payton Cosell Turner and Brain Kasper. Based in Brooklyn, their wall coverings have an edgy cool. Payton was inspired by her Grandfather's retro walls but their designs are bang up to date. I like "too much stuff" - look closely. Started in 2010 their designs have attracted some attention with their playful illustrations. Its not hard to see why.

The work of Massachusetts-based artist Mariko Kusumoto is captivating. She forms these voluminous objects out of polyester fabric. The soft spherical forms are intriguing, they make you want to reach out and touch.  Her artwork is not just sculptural but also wearable, the 3d jewellery feels quite aquatic. They create a mood and an intrigue with forms within forms, the mesh shimmers in the light. I originally found Mariko's work at Colossal .   

Have you seen the work of LA artist Brooks Salzwedel ? I stumbled upon his pieces at The Jealous Curator ,  just beautiful. I had pinned some of his past works on my Pinterest board. The thing with Pinterest, it can be a feast for the eyes, and I pin anything that catches my  attention,  but I don't always go deeper, find out more. So I was happy to see a little more of this interesting artist's work.  Salzwedel draws isolated elements of our environment - natural or man-made - and either layers these in transparencies or captures them in resin in vintage tins.   I like the fog-like atmosphere created, delicate neon hues and solid black forms sketched in graphite come together. You can find an interview of Brooks work here . Recently he has been chosen to be an artist in residency in Alaska which seems a good fit to me. 

Design, for me is just fascinating - whether this be architecture, interiors, fashion, art or product design. What caught my eye this morning was this 3d printed wheelchair - about to be presented at the Clerkenwell Design Week at the end of this month in the capitol. The London studio Layer led by Benjamin Hubert use 3d printing technology to create the bespoke wheelchair. They have been able to overcome many issues and also make the chairs customisable to the user. the 'Go Chair' uses an innovative mapping system to trace a person's biometric information.  The studio designed an app to enable users to customise colours and add additional components - the finished chair can be completed in two weeks!  The seat is printed in semi-transparent resin and thermoplastic polyurethane. The foot plate is titanium. Its great to see how 3d printing is making it easier to customise something so essential, I hope they take off. Read more here, at Design Boom .