its not really a design related post. it is a personal one.

I am very angry today, especially because I meant to collect some good content for my blog at design miami in miami. I had loads of appointments and drawn interviews planned out. I mean, the great and good of the industry gather for this event. me and my friend robert andriessen from designguide.tv wanted to do some video interviews. and now I can’t go. I couldn’t fly to miami today because my passport is not valid the next 6 months. that’s it. it is valid now. enough for most countries. maybe it’s my fault because I didn’t realise that earlier. but why did I recieve a visa aproval from esta? I mean, I have been in america before. never had problems. sure, it’s annoying that they are asking so many questions at the airport but that’s how they are, the americans. they want to know stuff. the consequence is that I officially decided to never watch an episode of american dad anymore. I probably will have a weak moment about that when I can’t fall asleep next time but I will try.

thanks wallpaper magazine for the image. I stole it from your website. I really wanted to take good pictures in miami but what happend today made me a thief. : )

london

design miami starts in 2 days. I am very excited about going there. one reason is that east germany-born moritz waldemeyer is presenting his collaboration with indie pop-sensation ok go. he told me about it when I popped into his studio about 3 weeks ago. there were a couple of gibson guitars standing in his south london-based studio. fendi commissioned him to ‘redesign’ the guitars. he customized the gibson’s with laser lights and fendi material for a design performance that will be presented every day during miami’s design event.

when I arrived at moritz’s, I expected him to have a huge, futuristic studio, assembled with loads of led’s and tech stuff that an ordinary person doesn’t get. but fantasy isn’t usually the truth. moritz is still working in his old apartment, a small cluttered studio that is obviously good enough to create his cutting-edge ‘tech-art’ work. he likes the english, loves london, but hates the food. he either eats italian, which is probably an influence from his wife. when moritz talks about the huge number of collaborations he has done, it feels like the way I would talk about my friends; totally informal and fun. moritz sticks to old habits and goes by bike everyday. he let slip that he likes fast cars. I am sure one day, very soon, he will have the lamborghini he deserves. but I am not sure what it is going to look like when he starts adding lasers to it?

watch moritz’s pecha kucha presentation from earlier this month here

moritz with a gibson guitar,
sitting on a royal appointment chair for corian

moritz drawing

moritz’s favourite magazine - the only one he subscribes to

hussein chalayan’s video dress

hussein chalayan’s transforming dresses

bono’s laser jacket

draw yourself

describe yourself in one word

draw your favourite object

cologne

this is a piece of work by deceased japanese designer shiro kuramata. the 20 drawers in red polish acrilyc material were made for italian manufacturer cappellini in 1970. I saw this piece at the Imm, annual furniture fair cologne, earlier this year.

lisbon

I just browsed through some old pictures from my summer holidays in portugal; a one day trip to lisbon was included.

the experimentadesign, an international biennial dedicated to design was on during our trip. we haven’t visited any events (I swear!) but passed a sisley store and had a look at the bizarre collection of sam baron. the vase with the bunny ears is the best exemplar.

fabrica, the benetton group’s communication research center has featured the collection of ceramics by sam baron for sisley in an exhibition called ‘take your time’.

london

online design and architecture magazine dezeen published a movie about czech designer maxim velčovský today. that reminded me of a vase I saw in the mint gallery in london earlier this year.

archaeology meets the vase - a unique container named ‘catastrophe vase’. the desiger created a specially commissioned limited edition collection for the gallery.

amsterdam

whenever you read about dutch designer ted noten, people comment what a humorous person he is. it’s not that simple. when I met him in his amsterdam-based studio I get to know a tall, calm man with a huge tendency of being sarcastic, the smart way of being funny. ted genuinely seemed more curious in my work than his own, asking me questions about my own career path and my ‘drawn interviews’.  before we met, he tells me that he assumed I would be another student asking him questions such as why he became a jewelery designer and about his inspiration. not me! He likes the idea of the ‘drawn interview’ I know this because he tells me so.

ted listens very carefully but seems to stay in his own world while he talks to you. at some point during our time together he gets comfortable, produces a bottle of swedish vodka and asks me if I would like some in my tea. at this point we bond and relax in each other’s company. I am charmed when he asks my opinion on one of his pieces. he describes the process of making his acrylic objects in detail to me. I think when you look at his work you could say it’s unusual, or conceptual. maybe pioneering. for me it is very ted. at least a parody of himself.

recently, during the red light design, ted installed a snack machine filled with red rings, which could be bought for an affordable price. the project was called ‘be nice to a girl, buy her a ring’. he may not have bought it, but he was ‘nice’ enough to give me one of his pink ‘miss piggy’ rings before I left the studio. thanks, ted!

front view

back view

- ted noten - ted noten - ted noten - ted noten - ted noten - ted noten -

ted and 1 acrylic block

prototype of miss piggy ring, 3d printed nylon with glass fibre, 2009

mr. t

draw yourself

describe yourself in one word

draw your favourite object

his girlfriend

amsterdam

tjep is the name of the studio - frank tjepkema is the brainchild of it. the amsterdam-based designer arranged his career accurately. first he visited the technical university of delft to study design engineering. probably to find out he belongs to the creating world. then he graduated from the design academy eindhoven. to set a standard. afterwards he visited the royal college of art in london as exchange student. he had a good run and finally obtained a MA degree in fine arts from the sandberg Institute in amsterdam. I mean, he must have known what he was doing.

you enter the his studio in the haven area of amsterdam, and you find yourself in a concreted office with an old wooden table, a lot of desks and industrial lights, 1 employee, 1 intern (both form the design academy) and a rapid prototype machine in the centre: the tjep world. frank wears the pants around here. his progress was not planned but i think that at the end frank tjepkema wants to look back and know that his ideas were not predictable.

bling bling -’the most branded object in the world’

tjep studio inside

tjep studio

draw yourself

describe yourself in one word

draw your favourite object

‘cyclops glasses’ : )

amsterdam

the beams of chung-tang ho’s cabinet are pushed through to the back when you store any items at the front - an artful black painted wooden piece for droog, created in 2006 and named ‘push and store’ - just make sure nothing stands behind it.

front view

back view

london

everybody who reads the icon magazine knows ‘the lost sketchbooks’ column by dominic wilcox. every month he is confronting us with his dry humor and his drawn thoughts about design.

more ideas can be seen on his ‘variations on normal’ blog.
definitely worth a look!

during london design festival he was presenting ‘field’ a terrain made of around 400 eco-friendly shoes, with the green laces reaching towards the ceiling. the installation was created by using terra plana shoes and was presented at tom dixon’s selection of creative talents which was called the dock.

draw yourself

describe yourself in one word

draw your favourite object

london

during london design festival in september I was asked by detnk, london-based design platform, to interview 3 designers. see here the 2nd interview with canadian-born designer philippe malouin.

see here phillipe’s drawn interview

london

Its was a while ago that I visited the guys from random international in their east london studio. the collective was founded in 2002 by englishman stuart woods and germany-born florian ortkrass and hannes koch. the trio met each other during their studies at the royal college of art in london.

hannes and myself had a detailed conversation outside, on the stairs of the studio, while he rolled himself cigarettes. But to tell you the truth, it was around 3 months ago now, and I have forgotten half of what we spoke about. that’s human, I think. luckily the drawings are more than enough stimulation for you.

oh, this just popped into my mind: random international are exhibiting in the upcoming ‘decode: digital design sensations’ show, in the victoria & albert museum which opens 8 December 2009.

pixelroller

Royal Opera House - Audience: “Follow Hannes” from rAndom International on Vimeo.

hannes koch

draw yourself

describe yourself in one word

draw your favourite object

stuart wood

draw yourself

describe yourself in one word

draw your favourite object

florian ortkrass

draw yourself

describe yourself in one word

draw your favourite object