london

jason bruges is a london-based designer. since 2001 he has ran a studio with a team of designers and architects. the trained architect was always on my list of people to do a drawn interview with. when I went to the press preview of the brit insurance design awards in the designmuseum I had the luck to bump into him and his sister.

jason made an interactive installation called ‘panda eyes’ commissioned by wwf, world wildelife fund. basically the installation involves 100 panda money boxes which follow visitors with an insane stare. jason and his sister told me that the pandas were almost too heavy to turn over because they were filled up with money when they showed the project at selfridges to raise funds for wwf. now the project is up for the brit insurance design award. the category winners will be announced on 4th march.

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note: sorry for the shitty quality of the scans. since I am in london I do not have access to a good scanner anymore. : (

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brussels

kaspar hamacher enjoyed a protected life in the nature. his father is a forester in eupen, german speaking part of belgium. kaspar graduated in 2007 at the academy of fine arts in maastricht. during his product design studies he was often criticised by his tutors. but when it came to his actual graduation project he proofed he is capable of creating design.

since then kaspar works on his own and for belgium designer casimir. now he is presenting his latest work at the ‘craft wood’ exhibition at the kreon showroom in brussels. together himself and close friend norayr khachatryan are exhibiting their work with the support of promateria, european network of creative cities until 13th march this year.

kaspar at creative space

der hockern °7

chaise longe no 1

der hocker

der hockern°7

k-table

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brussels

norayr khachatrayan was born in armenia. since 1999 he has been living and working in belgium. norayr graduated in 2007 from the st-lukas Institute in brussels.

I met norayr when I went to the ‘craft wood’ exhibition at the kreon showroom in brussels last month. together himself and close friend/colleague kaspar hamacher are presenting their work with the support of promateria, european network of creative cities until 13th march this year.

I knew kaspar’s work before but norayr’s name didn’t ring any bells. when I entered the showroom I recognized the table that look like a reflection of itself. n-7 is a single piece of cast aluminium strongly inspired by the military and produced by italian brand casamania. this work was norayr’s first breakthrough, and is now followed by a bookshelf and a stool that continue his high quality of workmanship.

norary at creative space

n-7, 2008

rhombus, 2009

stool prototype, 2010

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amsterdam

sebastian brajkovic graduated in 2006 from the design academy eindhoven. he didn’t really like to go there because he knew what he wanted to design from the beginning. he felt that he is getting little out of his education. really, everything was already nicely put together in his head. the teachers kept telling him that he has no process in his work. no research. In contrast he said that he had the feeling that it was better for him to attend the academy twice a month than every week. he didn’t wanted to be guided into a direction that did not suit him. he felt that he is much more of a stone than a sponge when it comes to absorbing external influences.

sebastian didn’t graduate with good grades. he was not one of the ‘blessed’ students that are pushed with publicity from the design academy, neither. but shortly after his graduation the carpenters workshop gallery, for ‘cutting-edge design art’, invited him to london. they told him that they want to do a show of his work within the next 2 years. they also suggested to him if he should design his lathe chairs in bronze instead of wood. the idea was to sense handcrafted design in his work and to position it in the coner of art design. that was exactly what sebastian wanted to do. the amsterdam-based designer has been busy since his graduation. now he is working on a project for the art auction house sotheby’s in london. he is one of the few who can actually live from their work and is probably the best example of that you should listen to what you want and not what others want you to do. especially when it comes to design.

click here for pictures of his show
at the carpenters workshop gallery

click here for pictures of his lathe table
at the carpenters workshop gallery

sebastian brajkovic on his old chesterfield in his studio

his work place and one of his favourite tools: photoshop

prototype of the VIII lathe chair, he is experimenting with new textiles

prototype of the I lathe chair

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dortmund

pierre kracht is a product designer. katrin füser is a graphic designer. the dortmund-based couple lives and works together. they realised that they complement each other well. that’s why they founded fremdform, a studio which ‘develops visions and concepts for interior space’.

last year I visited pierre and katrin in their apartment. I went there because I was asked to contribute to the heimatdesign magazine shortly after I met pierre at the design week 2009 in milan. I have seen his work in couple publications and was surprised to hear about a product designer from dortmund. that’s why I suggested to interview him for a story.

when I found myself at their place we become so involved into discussions that I have stayed several hours. we talked mainly about the pros and cons of establishing a design studio in a quite unpopular city like dortmund. somehow, we have not really come to a conclusion. It probably doesn’t has to depend on the city. at least dortmund has now a design studio which should definitely be taken care of.

pierre kracht + katrin füser at the designers fair 2010 in cologne

käte by pierre kracht, lamp made of pvc cables

pierre kracht + katrin füser in their work space in dortmund, 2009

wrapped, lamp made of epoxy + yarn

pierre kracht

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_____

katrin füsser

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london

today is the last day of stuart haygarth’s ‘found’ exhibition at the haunch of venison in london. I met stuart and interviewed him in december 2009, shortly after the opening:

stuart + magoo chandelier 2009, found optical lenses

M are you a designer or artist?
SH I am an artist-designer.
M do you think it is important to categorize?
SH I don’t personally. but I think a lot of people need that. that’s why I would say artist-designer keep both parties happy. my work is quite art-based but then it is mainly very functional as well.
M you are educated as a photographic-illustrator; a quite 2 dimensional work approach. now you dedicate yourself to 3 d work?
SH the illustrations I was doing weren’t totally 2 dimensional. It was very collage based, a lot of printed material, found objects that tell a story. like I do now. using 2d and 3d things and combine them. It was more photography-illustration. What I am doing now is a natural progression from my illustration work. I do sculptural objects. but I still do the same thing; I still collect objects and materials that tell a story.
M can I picture your house being full with stuff?
SH (laughs) my studio is really rammed with labeled boxes filled up with things I find. and I have two big shipping containers in essex, outside of london. I hold things, I collect them.
M was it the same when you were a child or is it something you developed in the last years?
SH I talked about it with my parents the other day, after they saw the show. I think I remember always walking with my head down looking for things. but I collected badges and football cards, normal stuff.
M any favourite collected items?
SH the things I collected at the beach, but just man-made things. nothing natural. at the beach, you never know what you will find. and all is free.
M why just man-made stuff?
SH I think, because the materials you find at the beach have changed the aesthetic because of the sand and the salt.
M changed the value?
SH changed the value, the shape. they get discolored. especially the variety of tops show how much manufacturing and consumerism exists in the world. I like the story of why we produce things and then they end up on the beach at their end of their lives.
M I think it is fascinating that you put found objects together. It doesn’t particularly feel put together. It feels like it has to be.
SH that’s good. (grins)
M for example the chandelier, when you come close you see all the pieces and you know what it is. but from far away it looks like a product, it could be mass-produced. when was the moment you put the found objects together and you’ve realized that it became a whole thing?
SH I don’t really know. I don’t get an idea and then collect the objects. I had a different idea for the tops initially and it changed. I scribble notes, and do sketches. I always sort of sit a while with an idea. then I get back to it and see if it’s any good.
M just to imagine it better: you have couple boxes of tops, for example. and you start putting the objects together. are you sitting on the ground with your glue stick?
SH (laughs) I might do a few tests. but I don’t start making them until I am sure that it works.
M do you do it on your own?
SH I do have assistance by now. but putting together and structuring is always totally me.

mirror ball 2009, crushed car wing mirrors
barnacle (black) 2009, cast polyester resin

lighthouse 2009, found plastic tops

wingmirror (cavalier & black cab) 2009,
resin table smashed mirror glass

pleased stuart

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cologne

dutch designer pepe heykoop had his 2nd showdown at the 3d contest exhibition, the young designers competition of the imm furniture fair in cologne, last week.

pepe has won the contest in 2009 with “a restless chairacter’, a wobbly chair whose joints are made of rubber. this year the amsterdam-based designer presented his ‘brickseries’ and was awarded with a special mention. pepe told me that he interpreted a chair in a drawing from the artist james gulliver hancock by using wooden 2nd-hand bricks. the start was the chair. the chandelier was a following step. It was a pure experiment of how big he can go. denmark-based company furnism will take the ‘brickseries’ in production soon. we will see what they make of it.

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pepe’s new dilapidated house

cologne

german designer marc ulm worked 7 years in a bookstore before enjoying the pleasure of becoming really creative. he went to the hfg offenbach where he just completed his pre-degree with ‘trilas’, a dynamic seating for the everyday life.

marc ivited me to sit on one of the chairs. he told me to sit on it as I would sit on a horse. ‘trials’ forces you to sit straight without losing a ‘playfully active feeling’. the ‘elastomer-kugel’ in the centre is normally used for sealing in non-return valves from hydraulic fluid, water and air. In this case it allows more flexibility for marc’s design.

the ‘trilas’ is part of the 3d contest exhibition, the young designers competition of the imm furniture fair in cologne. the show continues today.

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cologne

MA graduate elisa strozyk graduated from central saint martins college of art and design with her wooden carpet project last year. after developing the idea of the wooden carpet, she needed about 2 weeks to hand and laser cut the geometric pieces before bonding it to a fabric backing. now she needs just 4 days to create one of the pieces.

this week berlin-based elisa is exhibiting her wooden object at the 3d contest, the young designers competition of the imm furniture fair in cologne which continues on sunday. elisa said that she can manipulate the material into several 3d shapes. this is simple, by it’s very nature the material naturally forms itself into geometric patterns and shapes.

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cologne

julien renault has won the interior innovation award, which is part of the d3 contest, the young designers competition of the imm furniture fair in cologne. his effort to transfer steel forging to aluminum is called ‘hand forged aluminum series’. he convinced the jury with his combination of handcraft technique and industry standards.

julien has studied at the ecal in lausanne. In 2008 he decided to do an internship at brussels-based designer sylvain willenz. they got along so well that sylvain hired him as his assistent after his graduation last year.

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milan (last year, 2009)

I’ve realised that I haven’t published all drawn interviews which I collected last year. I am mean, how can I even forget about the nice encounter with one of the bouroullec brothers?!

paris-based ronan was at the established & sons press preview during the milan design week when I asked him whether he has a few minutes time for me. I even interviewed him for designguide.tv but the interview was never published. we just need somebody who would pay us for putting so much work into interviewing people..(yeah, it’s a hint)

erwan and ronan came by for the launch of their quilt sofa for english furniture brand established & sons. the couch looks like a spreaded football made of stretchy fabric. It is probably one of the most comfortable things I ever sat on. however, it was a very quick encounter. we were not the only one who fancied meeting the bouroullecs.

the design world says that erwan and ronan complement one another perfectly. they are considered as ‘most promising industrial designers to have emerged from france since philippe starck in the 1980s’ (quote designmuseum) despite this fame I can tell you that ronan is a low-key person who doesn’t surround his daily grind with his own designs because his wife likes it puristic. luckily he listens more to his brother.

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________________________________________________

the reason why the drawings are smeared: read here
________________________________________________

amsterdam

ralph nauta and lonneke gordijn met during their studies at the design academy eindhoven. first they fell in love and then they started their studio in 2006: both worked out well for them. the design duo call themselves drift, definitely by name and not by nature, you can see a clear authentic line in their work.

at the end of last year they left eindhoven for a new life in amsterdam. eindhoven for them had limited possibilities. now they have a new studio, formerly an old chip shop, that was beautifully refurbished into a bright and wide open studio.

when you enter the drift design website you find a world of lighting compounded with technology and nature. jerry goldsmith’s theme for basic Instinct supports the drift design fantasy in the background. an enduring song meets design on the same level.

ralph + lonneke

drawing in the kitchen

dandelight - battery-powered led covered in dandelion seeds

fly light (model) - 160 illuminated glass tubes that reacted to the surroundings and visitors’ movements

their new studio in amsterdam

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_________________________________________________

ralph nauta

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london

regina peldszus invited me to her house, an old, narrow building with 5 floors situated not far away from the brick lane in east london. regina is german. she deserted berlin when she was 20 to turn over a new leaf. now the girl is 27 and next month’s blueprint magazine featured her as one of the 25 who will change architecture and design in 2010. not bad.

the london-based designer is a researcher at the design research centre and the astronautics and space systems group at kingston university. lively regina has a background in design studies and human factors. since going into space for long, isolated periods is a psychological challenge, she’s finding out ways of how design can address the emotional survival of an astronaut. even after 50 years of humans exploring space, we don’t really know yet what we might need for an extended mission to mars. testing designs is difficult and expensive, regina adds, although habitation in other extreme environments, like antarctica, is a great petri-dish.

her 3 favourite space habitation designs in movies are kubrick’s 2001, andrei tarkovsky’s solaris and ridley scott’s alien 1 from 1979. she recommends to pay particular attention to the clever colour scheme and complex wall design in the spaceship nostromo in alien 1. regina will finish her research project next year, and she is hoping to carry on working on space design research in london, similar to more established research hubs in milan and vienna.

regina in her studio

‘her toys’ : )

regina’s ‘bible’, ‘living aloft’, by mary connors (nasa)

blueprint jan. 2010
25 who will change architecture and design in 2010

don petitt, experiments of a nasa astronaut

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london

golan levin describes himself as an artist and engineer. his work is part of a new discipline which is called digital design or interactive design. recently I have even heard it referred to as performance media.

I have read a lot about golin’s work after I received his press release from the decode: digital design sensations exhibition at the v&a museum, but I have to admit that before that he was unknown to me. as I said, it’s a fairly new discipline… even if computer aided art has been around for decades.

when I went to the decode: digital design sensations exhibition at the v&a, which opened last week, I was lucky enough to bump into him. he was standing next to the ‘opto isolator’, his exhibited work and was just finished talking to some journalist. I introduced myself, and pittsburgh-based golin was very welcoming. I told him about my drawn interview concept. he said ‘it sounds like fun’ and started drawing. he told me about his eastern european wife and the fact that his beard isn’t usually that long. he made me take a picture of his driver’s license to prove this!

the ‘opto isolator’ (see video below) is a mechanical eye. the object follows the gaze of the person that stands in front of it. basically the viewer directly influences the work. golin writes on his website ‘what if artworks could know how we were looking at them? and, given this knowledge, how might they respond to us?’ I don’t know the general answer but this one is blinking.

golan at the decode: digital sensations exhibition

‘opto isolator’ and his creator

golan’s drivers licence. you can actually see his face :)

‘opto isolator’ 2007
the sculpture looks its viewer directly in the eye and responses

‘dialtones (a telesymphony)’ 2001
concert performance by ringing of the audience’s own mobile phones

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golan likes surprises

amsterdam

after I contacted maurice scheltens I expected to meet him - only him - in his amsterdam studio. surprisingly there was a blond woman as well. maurice introduced her as his partner, for business and life. her name was liesbeth abbenes. We sat down and they told their story.

this cooperation came about naturally, it turns out. maurice scheltens, photographer and liesbeth abbenes, visual artist, have been helping each other with their respective projects for a long time. at some point they realised that it was time to make this professional cooperation official: scheltens abbenes. the timing was just perfect. maurice recently released his book, which is a basically a summary of his work. these are mainly editorials for magazines and commissioned photographs for large companies.

I asked them why they never take pictures of people, which is possibly the most asked question they heard. the duo smiled. the answer is clear. items are uncomplaining. they can be in the studio for days. a person can’t. also they love working in their own studio as opposed to traveling. they don’t need to go abroad all the time because most objects get send by the clients.

the couple has been working for 15 years in their style. they have a lot contacts. but both agree that it is important to keep also personal contact to clients. they have worked for vitra, nike, hermes, wallpaper magazine, another magazine and many more. big names. when it came to the drawn interview, I really liked that they wanted to draw together on 1 paper. they sat close together, put their hands on each others hands while grabbing the black pan. while drawing they were giggling. they were obviously enjoying their company. it’s official now.

see here a previous story about maurice scheltens

liesbeth and maurice drawing together

studio

still ‘victims’

vitra cittero, 2009

maurice scheltens first book ‘on display‘

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their new house

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

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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

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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

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‘cyclops glasses’ : )

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.

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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

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stuart wood

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florian ortkrass

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