Made of chestnut wood, Colour Platters by Scholten & Baijings for Karimoku New Standard function as serving trays in three varying sizes. Each colorful platter features a different geometric line pattern that’s achieved through a high-tech printing method.
Nendo paired with the Czech glassmakers, Lasvit, to create a collection of hand-blown glass lighting and objects. This is Nendo’s first foray into the glass world and the pieces are quite beautiful. Each piece is unique with slight variations, as that’s the unpredictability of them being hand-blown. The forms are striking, yet elegant all while remaining simple in their overall shape.
Los Angeles-based earthnform designs a line of porcelain that is both sculptural and architectural. What’s unique about them is that they design the pieces from package material. If you think about how much plastic is produced and where it goes after you’ve opened whatever it is that you bought, it’s quite overwhelming. Well, earthnform wants to bring the issue to the surface while at the same time “producing functional pieces cast from found plastic.” By reusing the packaging material, they in turn, create art.
GDG Studios is the New Jersey-based design studio run by Joseph Gower who creates handmade porcelain objects with a contemporary twist. The Crochet and Styroware pieces are so unique and completely fun to stare at. I love the textures and shapes that he creates along with the added touches of gold or silver and even cotton.
London-based Minimalux has a collection of products made of copper, silver, brass, and glass. Designer Mark Holmes, who also co-founded Established & Sons, has an eye for creating beautifully shaped objects that also serve a purpose. The items are simple, yet they are offered in premium materials making each one a minimal and sleek work of art. We pretty much want everything.
Steamer Set, designed by Office for Product Design for JIA Inc, is a modern interpretation of the traditional steamer. Steaming food has been at the core of traditional Chinese cooking, but the Chinese steamer has hardly seen any change to its aesthetic, until now. This new rendition reinterprets the classic steamer into a modernized and functional design.
Nendo is back again with another stunning creation, Lacquered Paper-Objects. Commissioned by Italian firm, Nilufar, the small containers are created by using 3D printing technology to cut, stack, and paste pieces of paper together to generate the form’s foundation.
Not Tom was approached by British bone china maker Buttercup China to create a stand at the Spring Fair 2012.
David Rasmussen has launched a collection of new pieces at this year’s Architectural Digest Home Show.
The Curva Sofa (above) blends arching forms in upholstery and wood. The lines of the sofa are clean, somewhat reminiscent of Danish design, but speak as a piece designed in 2012. The perfect word for this design: swooping.
San Francisco-based Soft Cities creates blankets and napkins, or Mapkins as they call them, which feature a map with a location of your choice. The company then prints your map with special markers that you’ve chosen (like “I was here” or “Mom’s house”) and prints them locally on a soft fleece for the blankets or 100% Kona cotton for the napkins. They are completely customizable and the options are endless.
