Thomas Wrobel & Jo Zarth
(a connoisseur on the right side)

The first time I ate a dish made by the Chinabrenner was last year in October, when Thomas allowed me to use his kitchen to make lard for a Polish dinner for the Designers Open. After filling fat in little glass containers I was still able to feel hungry. It was almost midnight and Thomas Wrobel and Jo Zarth put a bowl with noodles, nuts and coriander in front of me and my friend Miriam Hartwig. I ate my portion and finished Miriam’s who couldn’t handle the spice as good as me. Since that experience every time I lust for a good meal, I think of the party in my mouth that I had when I eat this portion of superior Chinese food. Even the thought of it makes my mouth water.

It is all about details

Guess how I exited I was, when I heard that Thomas will be in Milan during the Design Week. I couldn’t believe it! And I went there three times. Once just to pick up some Berlin Milano catalogues, which I actually used as an excuse to grab some noodles. With the support of Jo, Thomas created an area in Ventura Lambrate which transferred the alleys of China streetside food stalls into an Italian industrial area. Thanks Werner Aisslinger for inviting them to accompany your poetry happens exhibition in Milan. Very much appreciated!

Busy Thomas Wrobel

If you want to experience the same, you can go and have lunch five times a week in Leipzig. Check his website for that!

On Wednesday I met Belgian designer Maarten de Ceulaer and Alexis from the Victor Hunt gallery in Brussels. It was business, but when Maarten showed us his little blue ride we couldn’t help it and tried to use it. I can tell you, it’s not that easy. But it’s definitely fun!

Motobécane was a French manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, and other small vehicles, established in 1923. ‘Motobécane’ is a compound of “moto”, slang for motorcycle; “bécane” is slang for “bike.”

In 1981, Motobécane filed for bankruptcy and was purchased by Yamaha and reformed in 1984 as MBK ; the French company continues to make motorscooters. I copied this from Wikipedia. Thanks again for Information.

If you want to see some more cool rides, check the blog of London-based Wilson Brothers. One of them, Ben Wilson, publishes stuff you probably haven’t seen before.

Star Ferry chair, HongKong

Traveling means that you have more time to look at things around you. When I did my trip to Asia I took many pictures of stuff that sometimes seem to be a little bit different than the things I see every day. One of the items I payed attention to was chairs. They are everywhere, because people enjoy to sit. Quite the best was the chair system I saw on the Hong Kong Star Ferry. The boat brings you from Hongkong Island to Kowloon and instead of turning around it, it just goes forward and backward. The people on the ferry just push the backrest to the other site before they sit down. A smart solution for the constant journey.

Ping Pong table chair, HongKong

This seating possibility looks literally like a mini ping pong table. I spotted it in Stanley, where the famous but boring Stanley Market is. Anyway, the seat is nice and fits into the surrounding.

Wooden chair

The wooden chair seems to be a classic in Asia. It was everywhere. In Thailand, China, Hong Kong. It always has the same construction but sometimes different wood or different paint. Maybe you can buy the parts in some DIY store?

The same wooden chair with blue paint

Fake Arne Jacobsen

Arne Jacobsen would cry if he could see this. First of all this is a rip off and second this chair needs an emergency room. I guess that’s it. There were more chairs, of course. But this is my selection.

This will be the last. A little bit cliché, but this is the best, because it’s the ultimate holiday chair. And it works everywhere you find a beach.

Every end of a year is about reviews. Remembering the good moments because no one likes to think about the bad ones. The end of the year is about looking back to what people have done or achieved in the past 12 months. In fact the little things are the one which count. And in my opinion, looking back can keep you from looking forward. That’s why I prefer a regular wish than a New Year’s resolution.

When I was in New York end of the September I went to the New Museum, where artist Rivane Neuenschawager showed her idea of having a wish. You were allowed to choose one ribbon and replace the wish you picked with a wish you wrote on a piece of paper. Basically it´s taking someone’s wish and replacing it with your own. A beautiful concept. I wrote that I want to be always happy.

I DO!

People and wishes.

Theda Schoppe, Yvonne Klasen and Florian Sänger
at the Mazda garage in Leverkusen, Germany

Couple weeks ago Jan Wilms, chief editor of Mazdamotion, bi-annual Mazda magazine, rang me. He asked me if I would like to be involved in a project with Japanese automotive manufacturer. Jan explained that he wants to do a project where 3 creatives apply their ideas on the surface of a Mazda 2. I am always open for project like that, and like to involve people around me. That’s why I asked artist Yvonne Klasen and product designer Theda Schoppe if they to participate. Illustrator Florian Sänger was Jan’s pick. Eventually we had a diverse team for the task.

Yvonne Klasen – early stage of her work

Yesterday Mazda gave all 3 creatives 9 hours time for their creations. Theda’s idea was to draw a selection of objects of her contemporary vision of Noah’s Arch, Florian interpreted elements of the car body combined with a variety of characters and mysterious mechanical objects and Yvonne’s outcome is a sequences of colourful geometrical elements, which are a central theme of her work as an artist.

Photographer Benno Kraehahn and Theda Schoppe

The designs, Benno’s pictures and my text about the project will be published in spring 2011 in Mazdamotion. Aside from the writing, I also assisted Theda with her detailed black and white layout. I actually envyed them all for doing this project. At the end I was more than happy that, due to the lack of time, I was able to follow my ferventness to create stuff. Even with an Edding! But much more important is, that the invited creatives had fun and that everyone, including the Art Director, was pleased with the day.

Pictures of the results will be published in spring!

This is a drawing from the past. As you all know, I am very keen on quick drawings, especially my drawn interview. In 2009, during Milan Design Week, a bunch of people who earlier attended the Established & Sons party decided to go to a park and have some drinks. I went with them. Among these people were some designers. One of them was Swiss designer Alfredo Häberli. Unfortunately I didn’t took my paper and my pen with me, therefore he couldn’t do the drawn interview for me. He did a quick drawing instead, a very lovely one.

Vitra House by Herzog & de Meuron
I call it ‘the stacked Monopoly houses’ building

Yesterday was the annual Vitra Campus party at the Vitra areal located on the Charles-Eames-Street (what a surprise) in Weil am Rhein. Vitra is a German ‘manufacturer of contemporary furnishings for home or commercial use’.

The evening was fun. It was rainy, we loved the meatballs, the free drinks and sitting on Vitra chairs while holding an umbrella. How nice that they do this every year. Also for the public. More pictures from Vitra are coming soon.

‘Matylda is Martino’

Me in front of the studio entry holding Martino’s portrait made by Wallpaper, when he won the Designer of the Year in the furniture catagory in 2008

I left the Martino Gamper studio about a week ago. My time in London has come to an end for now. There are great things coming up like the Fashionclash weekend in Maastricht, NL (more about that soon), the DMY Design Festival in Berlin and the Art Basel ( I am very curious about the Global Forum of Design ), which I want to attend this month.

London is great, but England is still a little overpriced island and I missed the possibility of driving through 3 countries on 1 day. I thank the Martino Gamper studio for everything I learned in that great period. I will definitely miss Martino’s cooking skills and the delicious lunch every day. Quality time.

Thanks to Steffen Kraska, 3rd year Fine Arts student of the Academy of Fine Arts Maastricht, who sat down with me on 2 nights this week to fix the blog. I can upload pictures again! How nice, that some artists don’t just paint, they are familiar with php.

Tonight I am probably the happiest person in the world. Around 7 pm I had some friends over for dinner. Daniel van Hauten, John Franzen, Steffen Kraska and I were chatting about usual stuff till I mentioned my frustration about the disappearance of matandme.

They came up with some ideas about how you could probably fix the problem and Steffen even said that he will have a look at the page… Now, about 3 hours later the blog is there again! Tomorrow a professional meant to have a look at the problem…

Maastricht-based Steffen Kraska is a 3rd year Fine Arts student. I just told him he shouldn’t become an artist, because the IT world is waiting for him. I mean, if they don’t wait, I do. I want him as my personal emergency technician.

Thank you, Steffen Kraska.

Hm.. I just tried to upload a picture, which isn’t possible., I am receiving this message: Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at/k .. webseiten/wordpress/wp-admin..in … on line 342.. There is still some stuff to improve but at least the blog is back. YEAHHHHH.

Michael Bader, light assistant of the day
and Dennis Vanderbroeck, performer and model of the day

Friends of mine founded the FASHIONCLASH foundation to create a platform where ‘young’ designers/artists can present their work to a diverse international audience.

I am contributing to the foundation with two projects:

1 – 2010 MAGAZINE, a limited edition magazine which operates as a 2d platform for creatives

2 – CLASH PROJECT by non-fashion designers. I asked 10 people to create an outfit which will be presented on the catwalk and in the exhibition. Find the full list of contributors here

Last friday I went to Maastricht to direct the photoshoot of all 10 outfits. The images will be revealed in the 2010 Magazine. the outfits will be presented at the opening on the 4th june 2010.

mueller3000, Clash photographer

happy matylda

my boyfriend has a really nice dark blue merino jumper with 2 massive holes. I didn’t know what to do with them until a friend of mine introduced me to the woolfiller. it fills holes easier than you can imagine. the technique reminds me of felting. but it’s without water and much quicker.

I decided to fix my hole problem with light grey woolfiller. it was maybe not the most aesthetics decision. it looks a little bit like mold. but I am happy because I can wear the jumper and it has no holes anymore. you should check heleen’s website for some good looking examples.

I am in london since about 2 months. among other things I am here to work for designer martino gamper. what I enjoy every time is the joint lunch. we cook together, often with instructions from martino, and then we sit down together to savour the food. mostly accompanied with good company:

from left to right:
gemma holt, artist
caroline roux, journalist
martino gamer, designer
francis upritchard, sculptor
tom gottelier, design academy eindhoven
ipek altunmaral, graphic designer

in the foreground:
arnold circus chair, orange, by martino gamper
available here

step 1:
take the stool, place it on some white paper and take some pictures before you wrap it to keep in memory how the stool looks like

since february I am in london to do some work experience at martino gamper and recently I also help out at max lamb‘s.

since last week 2 new people are in the martino gamper team. design academy student tom gottelier and graphic design central saint martin’s graduate Ipek altunmaral.

yesterday we were alone in the studio and in the workshop. martino is off to italy and has asked us the day before to wrap the stool. It was the first thing we did in the morning. we did it together and it was fun but probably the longest process in wrapping the world has seen.

step 2:
use the same paper paper but turn it over to the blue, decorative side and wrap it in like a birthday present. use some more small tape pieces as you can. tape is fun

step 3:
use some plastic bubble wrap to protect the object during the transportation. make sure a 2nd person helps you. the bubble wrap is a challenge

step 4:
use some ‘fragile’ tape and here applies the same rule: tape is fun and the ups guy should handle it with care so make him aware of it!

step 5:
you are done. you are proud and you think that it was a waste of time to take pictures of it and at the end you decide to publish some of them on your blog.

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last saturday I went to the global pecha kucha for haiti night in the university of westminster in london. I have been at some pecha kucha nights and have even done a presentation (see below) last year in maastricht, nl.

when you think about london you think about a big city where creativity and design happens. but on saturday I was slightly disappointed about the organisation of the event. It meant to be be one of the pecha kucha network cities taking part to raise support in haiti but maybe 70 people appeared. I am aware of the fact that they just had 2 weeks to prepare the event but I just was hoping for a better result.

some people told me that design journalist max fraser and dezeen-founder marcus fairs brought the first pecha kucha to london in 2005. apparently these nights were sold out, unpredictable and funny. I mean, the idea is to to meet, network, and show work in public, isn’t it?

a good and funny moment was the unexpected skype call from tokyo-based architects and pecha kucha founders mark dytham and astrid klein, who thanked everybody for supporting the architecture for humanity project. I just checked the website. $5,692.60 are raised so far from all cities and presentations. hurray!

mark dytham + astrid klein on skype

‘how blogging improved my life as a student’, june 2009

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Some of you might wonder where Herdecke is. It’s a small town, located south of Dortmund, Germany.

I am with my family am in Herdecke right now. My brother and I had a little photo shoot the other day, because my parents asked for a nice picture of both of us. It’s not really our usual look. The idea was present them a staged portrait in a conservative look.

‘Mr. and Mrs. business’ – picture by mueller3000

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. : )

modus operandi

‘Led by an obsession for clean-cut form, the product design graduate has created a number of archetypal forms that relate with the common conception of a chair.

Matylda distorts and extracts the functionality through her ‘modus operandi’, exerting and gaining dominance over the chairs, transforming them into her conceptual pieces.

She proceeds like a remorseful ‘serial killer’, demonstrating a hedonistic and sometimes crazed approach, before reassessing her ‘victim’, realising her conduct and ceasing.’

modus operandi from Daniel van Hauten on Vimeo.

My life as a product design student has almost an end. I am graduating this week! End of June I participated at the pecha kucha event in maastricht. I talked about the power of blogging, the difficulties of becoming a designer and how people start taking your seriously when you work on a project on a regular basis. Here is the video of my presentation:

‘damn, I am fucking nervous’

young swedish designer ramus malbert has designed a shelf that becomes a playful element when its filled with books.

find the ABOUT link on the right side …

… and the video appears!

I travelled with the bus from milan back to maastricht, nl. when I got off the bus I had to walk home in the rain. unfortunatly my bag isn´t that waterproof. all drawings got wet. after 2 days of little frustrations about this misfortune I´ve decided to publish them anyway. I mean, it happend and I can´t change it…