Design Debate

Bentwood chairs in a café. At Pickle Design , where I work, we have a real appreciation of design classics. Those pieces of iconic design that transcend trends and are just, well, beautiful. They inspire countless generations of creatives and, as it turns out, our calendars too. For our 2025 poster calendar we focussed on 12 design classics, illustrated in minimal detail with pure white. You can see the finished Design Classics Calendar here . We also explored chair design in an earlier calendar. June 2017 saw us illustrate and celebrate Thonet's coat stand. The calendar theme reminded me of the newsletters we produced a few years back, celebrating iconic pieces of design , including the Thonet coat stand . We had one, if not an original then certainly closely inspired by one, in our hallway growing up. I think I took it for granted, slinging my coat on its wonderfully curvaceous hooks. But having taken the time to understand the process more...

The textile industry is changing, and it is exciting to see the new material innovations appearing. I have quite a few pieces made from bamboo in my wardrobe – I love the softness – and the latest material to catch my eye is even more unexpected: aloe vera. That much-loved natural soother is better known in our house as the plant we use for burns and homemade moisturiser, but Kirkby Design has taken it somewhere rather different. Aloe is a washable, wide-width sheer made from 60% aloe vera and 40% organic cotton. Soft, fluid and rather beautiful. The thinking behind it is clever too. Kirkby Design says the aloe vera used for the fabric grows without chemicals or fertilisers and does not require watering, while the organic cotton is grown without pesticides or fertilisers. The finished textile is light and sheer, allowing daylight to filter softly through it. I also like that all the environmental thinking hasn't compromised how it lo...

I have been pondering Brutalism lately, a very polarising form of architecture, and as with many things, I feel conflicted about it. My secondary school in Crawley, West Sussex, was cold, draughty, stark and grey, and not a building I liked at all. I compared it to the mainly Victorian – and considerably smaller – one I had left behind in Alresford, Hampshire. That had warm red bricks and chunky radiators you could sit on. I think that concrete enclosure was perhaps my first real taste of post-war architecture, and it seemed so at odds with my quintessentially British design sensibility. Paul Catherall's print of Coventry Station There was, however, something quite intriguing about the shapes of Brutalist architecture. I remember being in London once for an exhibition at the Barbican. The famous complex felt as though it had emerged from a dystopian novel, but at the same time I liked being there. It was calm, certain and imagination-provoking. My natural leaning...

As September draws to a close the trees are losing their leaves and our landscape is changing. Trees permeate every view at my house and I love experiencing the passing of the seasons through their transitions. The darker evenings perhaps turn me to more introspective art, and today in particular the work of American painter and printmaker Robert Kipniss caught my eye. Kipniss was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1931 and grew up in an artistic household. He was already drawing and painting as a child and, at 16, attended classes at the Art Students League of New York. But it wasn't only visual art that interested him. He began writing poetry in 1948, studied literature at Wittenberg College and then the University of Iowa, graduating with a degree in English before completing his MFA in 1954. Remarkably, his first solo exhibition in New York came in 1951 while he was still a student. Painting and writing continued alongside each other fo...

This recent renovation by landscape architects Brenton Beggs and Katie Cudal was a breath of fresh air as I perused the world wide web today. The little apartment they purchased in Australia's Melbourne was just 55 square metres with one bedroom, but they cleverly managed to squeeze in another. The real allure for them was the garden, although shared the couple enjoyed free reign to show off their design prowess.  I believe they have successfully managed to create a light and airy space that feels very welcoming, I particularly love the plants and shelving that frames the doorways. Useful and beautiful, full of interest with ideas I might pinch for my own home! Originally found at The Design Files . 

Today I have been enjoying the work of Walter Hunt Everett (1880–1946), whose nearly 40-year career spanned what is known as America's Golden Age of Illustration. His paintings graced the pages of popular magazines including The Saturday Evening Post , Ladies' Home Journal and Collier's . A student of the famed Howard Pyle, Everett grew out of the Brandywine tradition of American illustration. He was clearly an extraordinary painter, but what draws me in most is his use of colour and light. His illustrations are full of colour and life. I particularly like his ‘Couple in a Canoe’ and ‘The Sycamores’. Pulling at the heartstrings of a nation, he worked in vibrant blocks of sun-drenched colour, but could also tell stories in the shadows with wonderfully atmospheric monochrome oils. It is a collection that is now being rediscovered, heartily shared and preserved by the Walter H Everett Fo...