Design Debate

What beautiful textiles from Oregon company Non-Perishable Goods . Created by designer Shay Carrillo is a range of entirely made-by-hand products for home, woman and child. She aims to reduce disposable consumption and uses only natural fibres including linen, wool felt, vintage wool, vintage textiles, recycled denim, leather, cotton and paper.  Such gorgeous colours and patterns that reference cultures from around the world. Just beautiful. Found at San Fransisco Bay by Girl    

The  Ercol sofa   You may already be aware I am a bit of a Pinterest obsessive. Collecting images for my home (fictional one of course), wardrobe wonders, graphic inspiration, and art that catches my eye. I thought I would show you some of the best sofas I found. Green tufted sofa I want to  sink into that What matters to me when selecting a seat of choice is the curves and angles, comfort (or sink-ability) and colour. I like things that pop! Curl up with a book So whether we are talking Danish Modernism or tufted velvet explore my world of seats and see what you prefer.    I recon this one could be made Manuel Canovas fabric covered sofa Glamorous, this seat invites a glass of Champagne 

Tom Fruin Tom Fruin After finding this beautiful little stained glass house on My Modern Met  I just wanted to find more colourful glass. The stained glass in my local church is beautiful, rich with scarlet and blue. I wanted to showcase some modern artists who show great skill and understanding of colour and light.  I think what I am drawn to is the deep engaging colours that become even more saturated when light shines through. Definitely other worldly.  Christian Ryan Helen Whittaker Christian Ryan has a great quirky style that I think also incorporates movement and fun. Helen Whittaker is also based in the UK and I like the slightly more free elements of her work, I could imagine the stained glass windows to work as silk scarfs.  Nicola Kantorowicz Annie Rie I particularly like Nicola Kantorowicz Poppy Seeds, I think it is the scratchy nature, the mark making and use of dark and light. The little panels by Annie Rie...

The Beatles Serge Gainsburg The Kinks I recently came across the work of Roger Kasparian, a photographer in France in the 1960s. He worked free-lance as well as for the radio station Europe N˚1 where artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys were coming to France to perform. He also captured French stars like Serge Gainsbourg and Francoise Hardy.  Marianne Fathfull Françoise Hardy The Who The Beatles His father was a photographer so from an early age he had access to a photography studio. Kasparian could see that something was happening, there was a new generation forming. In France they were called the 'ye´-ye´s', those who loved the pop sound that was emerging from America and the UK.  The Beach Boys Mick Jagger The Beach Boys Kasparian took wonderfully natural shots that were made quite intense by his use of black and white. You get the feeling he is both part of this world but also like us, peering in. ...

You may remember I wrote a post back in November about the calendar I designed for my work, Pickle Design, celebrating great chair design. We were well into the swing of 2014 by this point and many of my favourites had come and gone. The challenge was to create something that would connect with our existing clients and help us meet new ones. Every year at Pickle Design we create a calendar around a different theme. In the past this had taken the form of pin badges, colour wheels, concertina folds charting a line of thought and dictionary definitions; this time it was classic chair design. Ideas and inspiration come in many forms. I am slightly addicted to Pinterest , but I also get ideas from going for walks, bouncing thoughts off other people and looking at the wider design world. Art, film, architecture and fashion can influence me just as much as graphic design. It all feeds in. For this calendar, some stunning pieces of chair design caught my eye, from the won...

Anna Atkins This process combines two loves of mine, nature and Prussian blue. The phrase 'blue prints' originally comes from when when engineers needed to make large scale copies of their work, a process called Cyanotype. The vibrant blue is brought about by mixing two chemicals, potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium which make material sensitive to light. Then by placing an object or natural form like a leaf on the soaked material in the sun you create a white silhouette on a deep inky blue background.  Cassette Tapes cyanotype by Christian Marclay You can mix these chemicals yourself and create some beautiful artworks or if prefer you can buy the sun-senitve paper for a craft so simple you can do it with your children! Anna Atkins Anna Atkins The procedure was discovered by scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel in 1842, but it was Anna Atkins who brought this process to photography. She is regarded by most as the first female photograp...