It's what I do . . .

Ice Cube Celebrates the Eames

I love unlikely partnerships. 

 

A bit of a plug - but also a bit of good design! Shift.ms is a charity that Simon is involved with - it aims to foster a dynamic online community of people with a diagnosis of MS (multiple sclerosis).

Design Manifesto

Designers have to look forward and start making products that will sit well in all our futures, but we must do this with humility. We must be mindful that as the population swells and ages, we do not have all the answers at our fingertips. We need to reach out into the world a little more, be a little more enquiring. Instead of imposing ideas upon people from our studios, we need to go into our communities and have some of those ideas imposed upon us. I believe that involving other people is probably the only way to achieve true sustainability because if people are invested in a project they will place a higher value on it. Redstrom said “People, not users, inhabit the world. A ‘user’ is something that designers create’’ Like a post-it note at a brain storming session, the term ‘users’ implies that some kind of vague background research has been undertaken. It would be of more value to be honest about the origins of a design, to acknowledge past influences, make it – and move on. Using more of a multidisciplinary approach to design can only be beneficial to the final outcome. 

 

Doshi Levian . . . again

 Doshi Levian were commissioned by Swarovski to design this chair - and I really like the way they sit there and say they've tried to make it easier to live with crystals around you  - because 'Swarovski is sometimes difficult to live with'. I have to say that one of those chairs is the only way a bit of Swarovski would get past my front door.

Reflect

This week we had to reflect on one object from of a list of iconic pieces of design. I chose the post- it note.

Then we had to reinvent it.

So - you can't really see but it says Jess. My attempt at a permanent post -it to replace the ones I write twice a week to make sure I don't forget to pick up my daughter's friend Jess for school. I think there are about 42 weeks in a school year so I am saving 84 post-it notes a year - 588 over their time at primary school.

Choice

 

Seed System

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Trubridge has redesigned several of his lights as kitsets reducing packaging and greatly reducing transport costs. Good for the environment and good for his business. He calls it his Seed System and this is how he describes it :

Why fill a truck with one tree,

when the cost to the Earth is reduced

by packing in boxes of seed?

You receive the seed of a lightshade,

and have fun and satisfaction

making it grow yourself.

Your tree fills into the space;

the patterns of its leaves

calm with their shade.

It nourishes with its fruit,

and keeps the balance of life.

The idea ripples out

and spreads to the world,

which becomes a brighter place

 

Neville Brody

This week we had to respond to Neville Brody's Anti- Design Manifesto. It meant I had to read a bit more about Neville Brody and took me on a trip down memory lane and The Face magazine.

Pollinate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful type by Anna Garforth

The Zeer Pot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zeer pots have been used for thousands of years and today are still helping people keep food fresh in the heat of saharan and sub-saharan Africa. They are made up of two earthenware pots of different sizes, placed one inside the other. You fill the space between the pots with damp sand and keep it moist by adding water - you fill the smaller pot with food. The top is covered over with a damp cloth and  as the water in the sand evaporates the temperature of the pot is lowered from the ambient temperature by several degrees. A zeer pot can keep 10kg of food fresh for about 20 days.

I have seen Omani air coolers that work on a similar principle - clay pots filled with water and hung up in windows where the water evaporates and cools the surrounding air.

Clever, frugal and beautiful.