From Stockholm, Nils-Petter Lövgren studied both graphic design and film studies whilst travelling the world — His latest body of work is for Cadbury — ‘A glass and a half full production’
Cadbury Eyebrows from Nils-Petter Lovgren on Vimeo.
I only share this with you because it’s an amazing display of artistic skill and expertise..
The rest of Nils-Petter Lövgren‘s site is here.
From Modoloco design workshop, the ‘malena’ was designed in 2006
“”Ironic interpretation of the abat-jour lamp”.
A single colored aluminum sheet, with ends cut in the shape of a lamp, is bent and lit from the inside. A lampshade that becomes a lamp, and a different lamp at that, depending on your perspective. One of many lamps from Milan-based Modoloco (great name!). Other lamps include Sandwich, another riff on lampshades, and the Foglio wall sconce, as well as a magnetic modular pouf called Cactus. We also got a 3D drawing for a tray, called Aperitivo, that “allows you to carry all you need for a good aperitif”.”
There is nothing much better than seeing a great film in a beautiful cinema. I had this experience yesterday seeing Milk at the Westgarth. It was pretty awesome.
One of the best things about the film (apart from its inspirational storyline, fabulous performances etc) was the amazingly cool 70s typography that had been painstakingly recreated.
Most of the tyepfaces used in Milk’s promotional campaigns were blocky, sans-serif fonts – with the occasional serif thrown in for diversity.
‘Undoboy’ from Portland shares with us some of his handywork —
Despite being called…rainbow poop (er-hem) this is my favourite installation.
Further to last month’s post on the Lego wall, I love how these little Lego pieces remind me of how iconic objects can be recognised merely by their colour and shape, despite their simple form. How cute are these?
After moving to Berlin after a lengthy stretch of living in NY, author/illustrator Christopher Niemann was struck by how his sons’ Lego pieces started to remind him of things he missed.
Christopher blogs for the New York Times and has written two children’s books, in addition to illustrating for a whole bunch of noteworthy publications including these covers for the New Yorker.
Check out his blog here and website here – both are well worth a look-see.
I was in IKEA recently (yes, the second time in 2 weeks..) looking for a new desk chair amoungst other things (bookshelf, desk lamp, bath mat, you know, the usual)
I’d just sat on my what felt like 20th chair.. testing for back support, neck support, tilt, rotation, etc.. there’s a lot to think about when it comes to buying a chair.
It got me thinking of the thousands of differnet chairs out there and, perhaps a few blog posts on the more famous out there would make for good reading..
So, first under the microscop is, the Wassily Chair (Or model B3)
by designer Marcel Breuer —
“my most extreme work . . . the least artistic, the most logical, the least ‘cozy’ and the most mechanical.”
The chair was designed between 1925 and 1926 whilst Breuer was working as the head of a cabinet-making workshop (yeah I don’t get it either..) at the Bahaus.
Breuer worked as an architect, teacher and furniture designer, though it is certainly safe to say that it is the model B3 that he is referenced to, despite a number of famous works.
Although not made specifically for the painter, Wassily Kandinsky (one of my favourite painters, he even did my desktop background for me..) a replica was created for his private quarters and the chair was then coined the “wassily chair.”
The inspiration behind the lightweight steel tubing?
Well, Breuer was apparently an avid biker, he would ride his bicycle daily; noticing the strong, but lightweight handlebars and frame of his bike.
If it could make for good handlebars, then why not furniture?
The frame of the chair is in fact the same as say a stuffed club armchair but instead, has been stripped to it’s simple frame and draped together with simple black leather. Against the gleaming steel tubing it represents much of the modernist movement.
Like everything, the chair gone through, sadly, a mass reproduce — every man and his dog is now making a Wasilly chair.
Want one?
Try here… there is a Wassilly chair for every budget.
http://www.nextag.com/wassily-chair/search-html
A whole research article could be devoted to “choosing the right Wassilly chair for you”
The chair is now part of the permanent collection at the MOMA.
Stumbled upon this here (non english site but heavily imaged based)
I’ve just searched through Denis’s site and found a number of innovative products – Check it out!
An ultra modern suspended/cantilevered (technically?) arm chair – The bold leafy green, easy to see where this piece gets it’s name from.
A real unique piece.
The advice from over a dozen artists and designers from across the globe each with their own thoughts and advice that they have kindly shared for those wishing to become like them.
Remeber, the full articles can be seen in the interviews section.
The Question:
“What advice would you give to would be artists/designers?”
“Make the most of your time at art school and take all possibilties you can take to spend some of it abroad (if possible). I often feel I didn’t make the most of my time studying”
“Don’t ever compromise your vision.”
“Keep your mind creative, love and take an interest in all around you.”
– Tung Le
“Make sure you believe strongly in your own work and do just what the worlds greatest living artist told me to do… “Trust yourself”.”
“Let it become your life, be passionate, work harder than the next guy. Oh and use the Internet, it has become a second university for me, get involved with forums, visit ted.com, write your own blog, you will learn a lot, all for free.”
“Do something else…” (very funny guys!)
.
“Don’t be afraid of anything. More impudence and freedom in creation. The more you’ll try the better the result is.”
“be original and believe in yourself”.
“Reach beyond your grasp.”
“Remember to embrace your personal experiences and your own unique and fresh design vision”
“In the words of German techno group Scooter: It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
“If you have an ace up your sleeve, just don’t keep it long. If you keep it for too long, it’ll go rotten. Just show everything you have to people, listen to what they say. You’ll be able to create something much better, to learn how to show your ideas to people, and to make your community.”
“Get out there and get your work seen by as many people as possible. You should never be afraid to show people your work. You maybe the best designer/illustrator in the world, but if no one sees your work, you won’t get commissioned”
– Rod Hunt
“It depends on what you want your career to be and what kind of person you are. If you wanna work at Disney you must bend your mind to the “Disney way of life”, I suppose. From my point of view I’d suggest: do your best to develop YOUR art and style. Nowadays it’s very difficult to be completely original but strive to put your mark in your work. Client work tend to leave you with little or no time, but try to keep some to do new experiments with your art.”
“..believe in the work you do, and make the best they can in everything you do. That’s the best attitude to have in relation with all areas.”
“Get inspired. Have fun. Keep it current. Get a Mac. Go probono. I can’t preach this any louder. Young designers get so mad when you tell them you gotta start doing some freebies. Do it because you love it. They all think their work is worth so much money already haha. I started emailing people if I could do a site for them for free. I just loved designing and growing my skills. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to be a good designer. Also have lots of resources. I had a teacher (who was once the creative director for MTV) tell me that you are only as good as your resources. Pretty much sums that up.”
“I started my own firm at a very young age. sometimes I wish I had worked for some of the architects that I admire prior to going out on my own.”