Famille Summerbelle

Cristals & Lasers

8m x 6m wall art by Matt W. Moore. The Portland based artist did this mural as part of his Cristal and Lasers show at Since Utopian gallery in Paris in 2010. He is now back at the gallery until mid June to present his new work Gravity.
Seen on Unurth Street Art.

Knit stools

By Irish textile designer Claire-Anne O'Brien.

Raw Color

Daniera ter Haar and Christoph Brach are the designers behind the design studio Raw Color based in Eindhoven (Netherlands). They are both graduates from the Design Academy. The work of Raw Color reflects a sophisticated treatment of material and colour by mixing the fields of graphic design and photography. This is embodied through research and experiments, building their visual language. This is a selection of their work:

Flow.

Colour Stills.

On Strike.

Raw Textile.

Raw Color 3. Examination on the visual structure of the vegetables.

Paper shades.

Sweet memories

Sweet memories print by British graphic designer Imeus. Check out also his Olympic style prints.

Serpentine chair

By Eléonore Nalet and distributed by Ligne Roset. A delicate metallic chair dressed with long and comfortable cushions. I tried it and it's indeed very comfy!

Kukkia

Yesterday Simon and I went to visit the trade show Maison & Objet in the north of Paris. I'll show you a selection of some of my favourite things I saw over the next few days.
Kukkia is a Japanese brand who makes very cute and colourful wooden toys. You can buy them on their website or on Kids on Roof.

Count the stars...

Cars with wind up mechanism.

On the left: 2 chalkboards to draw parkinglots, houses, cars, people and animals
+ the wooden pieces: 6 trees, 3 houses, 2 hills, 1 car, 2 traffic lights. A true mix of 2D and 3D that kids just love!
On the right: Gatcha Gatcha sweets machine.

Dinner made to measure

Embroidery works by Yumiko Arimoto.

The colours are stunning, I cannot images how many hours she has spend on each embroidery. A true labour of love. I'm speechless.

Popquilts

Julie Ansiau is a multi talented French photographer and embroidery artist. She makes these beautiful colourful felt 'popquilts'. Each piece is hand sewn and unique.

"LES OFFRANDES VOTIVES"for Le Bon Marché. Paris

Work in progress for DESIGNTIDE TOKYO 2010 at ISETAN, Shinjuku.

"Magic Pops" show in Liberty, London. Hand made felt one off piece.

Photos for Milk magazine.
Read an interview of Julie Ansiau in the latest online Papier Maché magazine.

Cork designs

Cork seems to become a popular material for many designers. It is a natural material, non toxic and renewable. Cork remains the only tree whose bark can regenerate itself after each harvest - leaving the tree unharmed. This is my little selection...

Companions writing desk and bedside table by Studioisle. Shown in white oiled chestnut wood with a cork bowl for wires and plugs or for private storage. Available from De La Espada.

Vinco chair by Toni Grilo Design Studio. Made of cork and stainless steel.

Puf Fup by Ana Mestre from Corque Design. Made with perfect cork sphere on a string that you can arrange as you wish, to sit on or to hang from the ceiling.

Kawaii* embroidery

By Japanese embroidery and textile designer Kanae Entani.

*Kawaii means cute in Japanese!

Pixellated

Cristian Zuzunaga is a Spanish born artist/designer living in London. Zuzunaga studied a BA in Typo/Graphic Design at the London College of Communication, followed by an MA at the Royal College of Art.
Originally a student of biology, he was fascinated by the microscope and the way in which it enabled one to magnify an object to break it down into its smallest parts.
Though the biological studies did not last, the practice of magnifying did and to this day, breaking down patterns and images into their infinitesimal components remains at the core of his work.
This is a selection of his work for different projects using the designer's trademark pattern.

Cushions Squaring of the Circle for Kvadrat.

100% silk scarf designed for Colour Chart Exhibition at Tate Liverpool.

Special edition Pixellated fabric upholstering Springfield two seater sofa designed by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso.

Bed for Swedish bed manufacturer Hästens.

Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show

This year Isle Crawford is the curator of the Graduation Show of the prestigious Design Academy in Eindhoven. The projects are displayed in the large open studios on the different levels of the school. The bachelor projects are divided into 7 themes:
Human, Nurture, Delight, Useful, Conscious, City and Nature.

One the left, Wait Here project by Philip Luschen.
On the right, Forgotten Memory by Jetske Visser.

Toon radio by Kyra Meilink.

On the left, Peeling Paradise by Rianne Koens.
On the right, Ceremony on a Tea Trolley by Femke Roefs.

CMYK Lamp by Dennis Parren.

Sound of The City by Akko GoldenBeld.

Shoe Shelf by Sebastian Goldschimdtboing.

Naturally Supported Shelves by Joep
Huisinga.

Branch Box- Reconfigurable Branches For Books by Rob Willems.

Endless Chair

Instead of sending old refrigerators to a scrapyard, Dutch artist Dirk van der Kooij ingeniously recycles and reuses the materials to create a chair made of one ‘endless’ piece of plastic string.

The ‘Endless’ chair is crafted by a robot that Van der Kooij has specially created for this purpose. The process begins with old refrigerators, which are ground then melted and processed by the robot. Since each fridge used is a different colour, every resulting chair is totally unique.

Van der Kooij says he had always struggled with small, complicated moulds, so he wanted to find a production process that could allow him to adapt and change designs without moulds.
‘I adopted a retired robot,’ he says. ‘With this robot I can build a chair out of one plastic string and refine it endlessly. The colors can be determined by adding different pigments.’
He says the robot took about a year to rebuilt and serve its new function – building a chair of one interrupted line of string.

Watch the making of the chair film on Frame Mag.

Ceramics by Silvia Zotta

The work of the Argentinian ceramist artist Silvia Zotta is playful and so colourful!

Tomorrow morning, my mum, my 3 younger sisters and I are going to spend 3 days together in Antwerpen (Belgium) and Eindhoven (Netherlands). We're actually going to visit my sister Charlotte who's studying at the Design Academy of Eindhoven. It's the school Graduation Show during the Dutch Design Week and Ilse Crawford will be curating this years show. I can't wait to spend time with the girls and to see lots of inspiring things.

Y'a Pas Le Feu Au Lac

The name of the company Y'a Pas Le Feu Au Lac, is based on a French expression, means “no need to rush”. The company arose from the meeting between husband and wife team Grégory and Marie BODEL and FX Balléry, designer (graduate from the Royal College of Art).

Their passion for creation, their love of wood as well as their Jura origins (The Jura is located on the East part of France) gathered them around a common project: to create a French brand of wooden contemporary, useful and elegant objects and small pieces of furniture.

Snedker Studio

On Friday I went to visit Maison & Objet (the international trade show for interior design and home accessories) in the north of Paris. The show is spread over 8 massive halls and you need at least 2 full days to cover the whole event.
Over the next week or so I will show you my selection of designers/products that really caught my eyes.

Today I will start with Danish designer Pernille Snedker Hansen from Snedker studio. She presented Marbelous Wood at the show. She uses the old technique of marbling giving wood a supernatural, organic, colorful and vibrant pattern. Each board is made by hand and you can order Marbelous Wood for the grand floor design or the vibrant wall display in your interior project or private home.

You can also purchase one-off marbling prints hand printed by Pernille Snedker Hansen.

Sea creatures

by Tamar Mogendorff.

Tsé Tsé boutique Paris

Tsé Tsé & Associées by French designers Catherine Levy et Sigolène Prébois have opened a shop in 7 Rue Saint Roch in the 1st Arrondissement. It's full of surprises, bright colours and quirky objets.

Coral & Tusk

Coral & Tusk designer and founder Stephanie Housley has launched a new impressive collection of delicate embroideries on pillows (check the hidden pocket), baby slippers, cardigan and felt.

Folk & Flora

New pretty designs by Darling Clementine. I love the mix of orange, pink, dark blue and petroleum blue.

Enjoy your weekend!