one of my favourite audio books is ‘generation golf’ from florian illies, a german journalist and author. ‘generation golf‘ is about life in the 80ies.(unfortunatly there is no english edition) florian is describing things exactly how I remember them while growing up. one thing I remeber is that he says that people who use to have leonardo glass (awful!) in the 80ies are buying alessi (no comment) in the 90ies. so what do people now? ikea glasswear? anyways, I found this illustration in the titanic magazine, a german satire mag. it declares everything. life is full of irony.

‘it’s from alessi’

I am living in a flat close to the city centre of maastricht. (some people allege that I just live here for 3 months p. a. - how come? at least I am a domestic person) within 3 years I moved 3 times but I spend the last 2 years in this apartment. jasper mueller was the first guy I lived with and then nika rams took his place. but during the last years I’ve spend my main time with miriam hartwig and anna pors. miriam graduated in fashion in 2007 and anna is studying video at my academy. miriam already moved out (last friday) and will be in new york for a month. she wants to visit some friends and say hello to her beloved city. anna will be in south africa for a half year. she is doing her internship at egg films. my plans are to be in london for the next 2 months and to do my internship at dezeen, online magazine for design & architecture. these pictures were the last one we took together. on a field, on a couch. very spontanious. but good.

coolest street in town

I have been at the highfield festival last weekend. weather wasn’t bad and people were flaunting their tshirts. most of them from bands, festivals or concerts. maybe to make converstation easier. I give you an example: ‘hey, I also saw madonna live in 1989 - great. let’s get wasted!’

the official festival shirt - cheap, easy to clean and comfortable

my favourite - ‘take a sip of sonic youth‘ - I want!

the indifferent - no public statement and not interested in a conversation

good one - I even like the fotos sometimes.

these girls have a lot in common - they live together, studied together and graduated together. they know what they want. they are demanding. but they are interested in different disciplines. severine jessen is the fashion designer, her collection was choosen to be 1 of the 20 best graduates at lichting, a talent show in the netherlands. she did her internship at spijkers en spijkers and found out that she wants to make her own fashion. eefje schenk is the product designer but prefers to say that she is occupied with concept design. she wants that single components are coming together in a natural way. things work together when they just happen. in her object, a sofa which seems to be a perspective drawing, she used her personal space, a room and combined it with a drawing. it’s kinda way of thinking she was skilled by jurgen bey in her internship. she could have done her internship abroad but she feels home in dutch design. meyke link is the textile designer. when she started to study at the academy she not even knew that there is a hole department for textile. she was fascinated by the possibilites of combining material, even in a graphic sens. putting elements together and developing new materials are a challenge and if she could choose she would arrange restaurants, hotels and any other spaces with her aesthetic concept. after working for kamer465 she find out that styling is not her will. but a desire is even an exhibition in a gallery.

now they are planning to exhibit at the dutch design week at the strijp-s in october in eindhoven. they want to present their individual work as a independant group and since today they call themself officialy demeisjes, which means ‘the girls’ in dutch.

severine jessen - fashion

;pojmannaja babotschka’ (butterfly caught) - collection, the bag

eefje schenk - product

‘3d>2d>3d’ - concept couch ‘untitled document’

meyke link - textile

‘the one’ - no correct repetition

the girls in front of their house

draw yourself

severine - eefje - meyke

describe/draw yourself in one word

something that has to come out - room - detail

draw your favourite product

signet ring - elements of a room - pencil

reinder dam works as a pedagogue. but in his spare time he use to spin some records. his favourite is ‘bingo palace - live at the bingo palace‘, a gift from sasha crnobrnja better know as in flagranti.

there are so many people who romanticize the helvetica. a typeface that affected the life of millions. most, in typeface interested folks, know the helvetica documentary by gary hustwit. now he decided to make a movie about industrial design (I would also mention product design). about the people behind the products you use. to name just a few examples: ronan and erwan bouroullec from paris, jonathan Ive from apple, marc newson from london and hella jongerius from rotterdam. the title is objectified. things are seldom that unambiguous. the movie is currently in production and will have its world premiere in early 2009.

objectified logo by build

marc newson - lockheed lounge

hella jongerius - office pets

ronan and erwan bouroullec - rocks

jonathan ive - iphone

what’s the perfect banana? the brown one, the green one or the yellow one?! people like this fruit in a different way. I prefer a green banana because a brown pulpy banana made me throw up in my childhood. and now my life is affected by a paranoia. and how can people eat a fried banana (this one is even with ice cream ahhh)? you get these often in a chinese restaurant as a dessert. that gives me the creeps. anyway, I am in the mood of some banana topics because I found 2 pictures of bananas in my archive while I’ve been working on a new portfolio.

how to make a gun out of a banana? I am curios what kind of ammo I need for this one

here is the proof: bananas aren’t always curved

yo get what you see - banana juice - clever packaging from naoto fukasawa

the banana wall, an installation from stefan sagmeister - I never expected him to do something like this - but you never can tell

I was really fighting with myself about posting or not posting this, but I need to show it. obviously its a german invention (or a chinese one). and how can they write ‘ ideal for kindergarden, school..’ - I would never give that thing in the hand of my child. it looks so kinky it cries out for a reference in an ann summers or beate uhse catalogue.

banana bunker by erro ‘design’ - be ashamed when you carry this in your bag

last night I have been at the nike store opening in berlin mitte. a nice store and a bunch of people wearing nikes. artwork of diffrent creatives were shown. could not find something that I liked but one. there was this sarah illenberger creation and I immediatly had to think about my beloved maurice scheltens. it’s not that sarah is coping him but I see a striking resemblance (I guess I see a link between the work in the nike store and the one maurice did for psp. check my post from february about maurice’s work) I do not need to say that the dutch wins again, its obvious that he is stronger by use of form. maurice is doing that with an easiness and without adding any unnecessary extras.

sarah illenberger in the nike store berlin

sarah illenberger - mc forest

sarah illenberger - lauter nette kerle

SARAH ILLENBERGER

VS

MAURICE SCHELTENS

maurice scheltens - nike (hey, everbody wanna work for them)

maurice scheltens - fantastic man packing

maurice scheltens - audi

WHAT DO YOU PREFER?

I am back from poland (my stomach is resting from the vodka and the food masses) and in berlin right now. enjoying the big city feeling - a huge contrast to the little village I ‘ve been in the last days. I will go on with the fun time. that’s what I need right now. lalala

no post in 3 days - why? I am in poland, swiebodzice (my place of birth) and celebrating a 4 day marathon of 2 weddings. first vodka at 4 pm the last one 12 hours later in the morning (but the constantly served food helps to handle it) I’ve been at a lot german weddings but there is no comparison to a real polish one, which is full of love and warmth and a lot of laughter.

weronika and andrzej

the bridegroom has to take of the bride’s suspender with his teeth (one of the funny games you do for entertaining the guests)

how cool is that - there is an aha video included into one of the family guy episodes. to be honest, it is one of the best videos ever and also a good 80ies song. thumps up for the instructive and brilliant family guy and for the song which was sold 1.5 million times worldwide in one week.

morten harket (aha) + chris griffin (family guy)

the video used a pencil-sketch animation/live action combination called rotoscoping (individual frames of live video are drawn over or colored)

think about your logo!

duncan ledingham - product designer

does it trigger any associations?
duncan, sorry for exposing you in this way. but people use to say that any pr is good pr. my answer is: you are welcome!

I could say that It’s so long since I’ve posted something. 4 days.. very long run. at present I am hanging around at my parents place, herdecke - germany, and they have trouble with the internets. so now I arranged my ’summer office’ at a friends place in dortmund (he is in possession of the magic internet) where I will spend the next couple nights (the days are too hot) to work on some projects. unfortunatly I forgot all content, asides from the pictures, of the new designers at my home in the netherlands. like I use to say: ‘daring the gap’! - check out the pictures without any further information (or just less) from the newdesigners graduation show in london.

nick sims - graphic design - really average?
(ok, some information)

adam rowe -
I do not like the design realisation but the idea of deleting the legs and giving a ‘podium’ to the armchair makes the barock chair a perfect throne

bad, bad design. I would not even buy that for my kids (if I would have some) but I am a of alice’s adventures in wonderland

baby gangsta clothes. kinda cool.

thats great. not my colours but it helps to distinguish the diffrent cables in the power socket - a solution for a every day problem

a tinfoil table. leaves markes when you use it.

I am still in maastricht and nothing special happend. but there is still some good stuff from the graduation show.. oh, and next time I will show the stuff from the new designers in london. so stay tuned.

meyke link - graphics in ‘textile’

jana walliser - cup - the bottom contains a hidden message

nika rams - useless. water?

kaspar hamacher, julia velednitski, nika rams, jo sijen
dancing designers

after a great weekend in hockenheim I am back in my adopted country, maastricht, nl. I still have a lot pictures from the graduation show of my academy, academy maastricht, and of course I wanna show you my sweeties.

eefje schenk - object - a concept couch

eefje schenk - object - a concept couch - marquettes

laszlo rosznoki - share-a-chair (design with stihl) [chair] - can be used as one comfortable chair and in a case of a lot of guests you can ’split’ it

laszlo rosznoki - 14 % [table] - concept table with antislip tablecloth (new gecko: specially structured silicone coating)

kaspar hamacher - the leather belt - the combination of gravity and the cow leather belt form a storage space for books (left: the board + the stool - 2 other prjojects)

kaspar hamacher - because of the concave surface of the board the books support each other. the functions of a book shelf unite in this board

sabine scheurer - leave marks when using - imprinTable + carpet

sabine scheurer - leave marks when using - imprinTable

I am at the hockenheimring in germany right now. formula 1, baby. after the qualifying we drove back to our hotel in sinsheim and passed some villages. one of them was muehlhausen (seemed to be a 1 minute ride) fascinated by the billboards we had to have a look on the adidas store in town. good to know that life beyond a metropolis can be so easy and that interior design is a side effect.

spread your legs

race boy

when I was in london last week I was fortunate to see a little preview of the new exhibition in the photographers’ gallery. a show which reveals the fashion industry. supported by the work of international photographers. the show opens today!!

the picture is from harper’s bazaar, 2007

the gallery

maybe 3 months ago I was having a sandwich with a friend in a cafe in maastricht. when we left the building 2 man were passing us on the parking place. I starred at them but had no clue who they were. it was a common feeling that you already saw somebody once, not sure where from. then it came back to me: VIKTOR & ROLF !!! (unshaved, casual clothes) passed me on a ordinary sunday. I didn’t knew what to do. go back, talk to them was the first thought but my friend persuaded me that I wont see them the last time in my life so I did not went back. (I know, I am stupid)

now, being in london for couple days I had to see their exhibition in the barbican. its a 15-year career of viktor & rolf, the ones who convert fashion into fairy tales and theater. the centre of the retrospective is a doll’s house designed by siebe tettero . he is working a lot with the duo and also designed their office in amsterdam and their stores. I wish they would also play the music from their website, that would make the ‘cabinet of curiosities’ more to a cinderella story. unfortunetly it was forbidden to take pictures but I took a risk and shoot some anyway (not the best ones)

the doll’s house by tettero, presenting 54 porcelain dolls wearing a perfect miniature version of all the dresses in the exhibition
photo: dezeen

l’hiver de l’amour 1994
one of their first collections I would call it installation

bedtime story, 2005-06
tori amos playing the piano during the show

black light, 1999

upside-down store in milan by tettero

last friday I went to the newdesigners. before I checked on the internet if there is anything I shouldnt miss. I subscribed to 2 lectures and one of them was a panel discussion that gives three different perspectives on life after graduation. the presenter was rory dodd, one of the founders of designersblock. he and piers roberts founded the platform 1998 (10th anniversary, isnt it?) in london. the idea was to present innovative design from all over the world. best in an uncommon manner. I remember the big designersblock party in milan, at the salone di mobile, this year - the location was a vacant public swimming pool. rory told me that they not even had a official licence. make it big and nobody will question you. definitely he seems to be somebody who is not afraid of taking risks. kithkin, a creative collective, and associate were the other 2 contents of the lecture. but rory was the godfather of all.

hm.. his shirt matches the interior. is there an intention behind this?

some new perspectives

the main thing is smile

vj rory? I wanted a portrait, he wanted this

new designers theater

draw yourself

describe yourself in one word

draw your favourite product

inside out record
collaboration between Ian atkins and joss debae for kithkin. a negative remix achieved by pouring fast-cast resin straight onto a vinyl record

grafik is a magazine about graphic design. edited monthly, there is a lot to see and read about two-dimensional design. grafik has a stand at the new designers and some illustrators at the stand who were drawing people. I present 2 of them. yes, they have drawn us - my friend derya inanici and me.

emily robertson
find her at plats, a creative community for artist

david sparshott
check him out

the original

I’ve been at the new designers, the british show of graduated design. there is a lot I want to show but one of my specials was the ‘take part’ typeface of edward nugent.

so, I am in london now. and this is the largest multi-arts centre in europe. people use to call it london’s ugliest building. but when the queen opened it in 1982 she pronounced it ‘one of the wonders of the modern world’. In the end the barbican is the microcosm of london.

library

the entry hall

barbican graphics

hall, -1

the 3rd floor

elevators

couch

the horses strike again. we’ve covered the wall inside the fine arts building with black plastic bags to arrange the exhibition as a whole. (now you have the link why I used plastic bags for the poster and the catalogue) 14 different artists are presenting their work, which is their graduation. it was a pleasure and sometimes a challenge to bring these people together but in the end we are proud that we had the chance to support them and to organize their last collective presentation at the academy maastricht.

2nd floor, ’stuers’ (it’s how people call it) building

the luxe paarden in actie (’luxury horses in action’)
office during the exhibition

jutta frenz
durchsicht, 00.02.00 min video, on the left side, 2007

ghita daemen
iso 7, installation, 2008

marie-claire krell
213,85 m3, installation (a fraction of the installation) 2008

I saw the ‘It’s always six o’clock’ couple days ago. now you will find a new exhibition at the mu eindhoven, museum for temporary art. but after recurrent conversations about the pros and cons of second life I feel the need to show the work of eva and franco mattes.

toys vs. avatars

tv kills mickey

‘hey fake hulk, let’s spatter some paint on the wall’

I never liked winnie pooh, he is too babyish

watch the pop culture clash or could I say generation now?
incl. an interview with the artists

video by
designguide.tv

me and my colleague and friend miriam hartwig, we both call ourselves ‘luxe paarden in actie’ while we are organising our idea of social happenings, sincerely invite to the graduation show of the fine arts students 2008 of the academy maastricht. more information about the exhibition will come soon.