Melbourne International Design Festival

Image from the 'INDEX : design to improve life' award exhibition in Copenhagen 2007 - these acrylic bubbles will be on display in and around Federation Square as part of the Melbourne International Design Festival 2008. Photos by Jessica Haye and Clark Hsiao. Found on the INDEX Flickr site.

It's the calm before the storm this week... in just over a weeks time Design Festival overload will descend on Melbourne in the form of the Melbourne International Design Festival (hosted by the National Design Centre at Federation Square), which runs simultaneously with the State Government funded State of Design Festival.

There is seriously SO MUCH fantastic stuff scheduled for both of these concurrent festivals that I'm not sure quite how I will cover it all! July looks set to be a really exciting, exhausting month!

One thing I'm really excited about this year is that I'll be writing for the Melbourne International Design Festival blog! Yes I am an official contributer - how professional :) So bookmark the MIDF blog for daily updates of all design-related happenings leading up to and during the festival.

...and because it's almost impossible to decide what to go and see, I've put together a bit of a short-list of my top picks for the 2008 Melbourne International Design Festival... See my suggestions below, but be sure to check out the National Design Centre website for detailed info on all MIDF events.

Patrick Blanc's Vertical Garden in the Melbourne CBD
I mentioned this a few days ago... it's the most anticipated event of the festival for me! If you can't get along to the Patrick Blanc lecture at Fed Square on July 18th (only $10 - book here!)... be SURE to check out his vertical garden installation at Melbourne Central from July 17.


Melbourne Design Market
Always popular, always busy, this year's Melbourne Design Market is set to explode as usual... the usual mix of emerging and established designers join forces to present a design market of spectacular proportions. Jewellery, homewares, fashion, and lighting will be amongst the wares on offer. This year the market takes place on Sunday 20th July, 10am-5pm at the Federation Square undercover carpark. Entry is free. My advice - get there early, and bring cash!

Melbourne Open House
Melbourne Open House is a free of charge event on Sunday, July 20th, 10am – 5pm (again!), giving Melburnians a rare opportunity to discover the hidden architectural details of the CBD not often visible to the public.

Melbourne Open House will be opening a selection of inspiring buildings within walking distance of Federation Square and the Melbourne International Design Festival. Taking part in the event are many prominent Melbourne buildings, including the beautiful art deco Manchester Unity building, the ever-popular Nicholas Building and the new Council House 2 on Flinders Lane - that's the one with the 6-star sustainability rating and those fantastic timber slatted shutters on the facade? You know the one. I am really excited about that one.

The incredible facade of 'Council House 2' in Melbourne - images via Picasa

INDEX award exhibition - Design to Improve Life
The international design award INDEX will stage its first major exhibition outside Denmark for MIDF, encircling Federation Square with 70+ acrylic bubbles, each one a showcase for products and projects from all disciplines of design, with the theme of 'design to improve life'.

As an installaton, the 'bubbles' look fantastic en masse... the shots below are from the INDEX award exhibition in Copenhagen last year. These bubbles will be installed all over Fed Square and surrounding areas this week, and will be in place until the end of the month... can't wait to see them!

Image from the 'INDEX : design to improve life' award exhibition in Copenhagen 2007 - Photos by Jessica Haye and Clark Hsiao. Found on the INDEX Flickr site.

So those are my picks for MIDF.... but there are so many more! I haven't even touched on the always popular 'pop-up' events around town... or the 'studio open' events which allow the curious (like me!) to snoop behind the scenes at some of Melbourne's most innovative design studios from all disciplines. Aagggh. too. much. to. see.

(Tomorrow I'll balance things out with a short-list for the equally anticipated State of Design festival.)

Amazon Love

I love AMAZON! It sends me presents all the time.

Granted, I have to pay for them... but it is a lot cheaper than buying design books in real shops here in Aus. An awful thing to say but its true. Case in point:

Jaime Hayon - Works - $185 on the shelf in Melbourne bookshops, US$63 from Amazon (around AU$75 inc. shipping)

House of Concepts: Design Academy Eindhoven - $135 on the shelf in Melbourne bookshops, US$57 from Amazon (around AU$70 including shipping)

Jaime Hayon - Works

Jaime Hayon - Works
sketches and photos of Hayon's bathroom range for ArtQuitect

Jaime Hayon - Works
double-page of Hayon's inpirations and visual stimuli

Jaime Hayon - Works
Hayon's bathroom range for ArtQuitect in the workshop

House of Concepts - Design Academy Eindhoven

House of Concepts - Design Academy Eindhoven

Fantastic designs by duo Marleen Kaptein and Stijn Roodnat - Left: paediatric clinic in Harlem, NY (which looks like it belongs in a kids cartoon) and play equipment/seating constructed from a continuous piece of fluorescent green piping hundreds of metres long. Love it!

House of Concepts - Design Academy Eindhoven
Interesting designs for public space by Marcel Schmalgemeijer - whose website is SO worth a look for more incredible event design/installations...

House of Concepts - Design Academy Eindhoven

More from food designer extraordinaire Marije Vogelzang.. yeah yeah I know I talk about her all the time. But it really is well-deserved. Her restaurant website is here. Her blog is here. Check them out.

I wholeheartedly recommend both of these fantastic books! Jaime Hayon - Works is a truly beautiful publication in every respect. The stunning indigo printed fabric cover and gold-edged pages give way to the most beautiful collection of photographs, sketchbook doodles and back-story about Hayon's incredible career to date.

House of Concepts is also an absolute treasure. The Design Academy Eindhoven has an incredible track record for producing some of Hollands most exciting and innovative designers... this book gives an insight into the workings of this most unique school, and covers work by its most impressive list of graduates including Tord Boontje, Job Smeets, Jurgen Bey, Marije Vogelzang, Christien Meindertsma, and Bertjan Pot to name only a few. Such incredible work... such inspiring people.

Design Lecture Series featuring Stefan Sagmeister

Stills from the Design Lecture Series of films featuring Stefan Sagmeister at Zoom-In Online.

I just received an email from the co-producer of a great website called Zoom-In Online.... She mentioned my post a while ago about the fantastic Hillman Curtis film documenting Stefan Sagmeister's ongoing project Things I have Learnt in My Life so Far, and wrote to let me know that Zoom-In Online recently posted not one but THREE videos covering an event called 'Design Lecture Series' in San Francisco, featuring Stefan Sagmeister!

I had previously embedded one of the films here, but the audio was a little distracting, so I have removed it... however please do visit the following links to watch these little films, they really are worth a look. Here's the first film... The other 2 films can be seen here and here.

What a great find! These films offer a terrific insight into Stefan's work and his background - lots of footage of Stefan himself talking to camera, slick editing, and cute animated segments throughout that clarify the chronology of Stefan's career to date. The films are edited into perfect bite-sized chunks - just the right length to watch at work with the headphones on (shhhh!).

The more I see of Stefan Sagmeister, the more I like him. Clearly he's an incredible designer, and is famed for thinking outside the square, but also, he just seems like such a nice guy! Plus - I can't imagine a more endearing accent... (not entirely relevant to his creative output, but you know).

Zoom-In Online offer daily coverage of the latest happenings in culture, entertainment and technology through regularly published videos, podcasts and blogs... well worth a thorough browse.

Lou Doillon for Lee Cooper

It all started when Adidas hooked up with Stella McCartney in 2004. H&M followed suit, and then came the Designers for Target juggernaut - including a Christmas homewares collection by Tord Boontje, and a string of high profile collaborations, still going strong with their current lingerie range by Collette Dinnigan.

Top Shop's got Kate moss, Lover loves Levis... and now - Lou Doillon for Lee Cooper.

Personally, I'm not that taken with the collection... but the website is fantastic! I know its not entirely original, but I love the eclectic scrapbook and turning pages... cute concept and well executed.

online shopping - Oak NYC

Lovely things I just spotted on the website of NYC's super-cool fashion boutique Oak. Their online shop is full of beautiful pieces for both Men and Women, and they ship to Australia. I'm smitten.

I am getting the feeling that the US, UK and probably the rest of the world in general has waaay better online shopping opportunities that we Aussies do. I know, I know, online shopping should be a moveable feast.... but... a lot of online shops do not ship to Australia! (not pointing the finger at anyone in particular). What's wrong with us!? Is our money no good to you? aaah. Anyway... I am gradually discovering more online boutiques with open-minded shipping policies... and, with the current US/AU exchange rate how it is, its hard not to be tempted!

If any US readers have any more recommendations for good online shops, please share!

travel tickets

Oh I am having crazy busy times at work this week... feel like I'm running running all day long. Can't seem to keep up with everything! Hope you'll forgive my briefness over the next couple of days...


I love these travel tickets I saw on Black Eiffel... actually Black Eiffel is a recent discovery but it's one of my current favourite daily reads... don't know why it took me so long! check it out. :)

Rebecca Thuss

Receiving my copy of the beautiful Lines and Shapes volume 2 has re-ignited my long-standing professional crush on Rebecca Thuss.

Her styling work is just purely PERFECT. I honestly cannot imagine a more perfect collection of images than the ones on her beautiful website.... Sometimes I get worried that she'll take her website down, and I won't be able to see her work ever again... and then I feel I should perhaps make a copy of every single image on her site just in case. Irrational? Possibly.

Above are some images of her recent work... the detail, the colours, the textures.... ahhhhh. The handcrafted elements are like an incredible at installation...

Visit her website! (Especially if you're planning a wedding, party, kid's party, barbeque... any event at all that requires a little creative inspiration - You won't be disappointed!)

Buddug birdies

Just a quickie today - it's Queen's Birthday public holiday here in Melbourne so I wasn't planning on posting... But I just wanted to share this cute find from dress of the day....

A little kooky but very, very cute. They're by UK label Buddug.

Sandra Juto perfect photos

I made so many lovely discoveries recently over at the amazing Bloesem world tour... Amongst many, many wonderful contributions, Erin from the always fabulous Design for Mankind posted her favourite artists and photographers... and every single link was gold (of course) :)

This was my favourite though... Photographer/illustrator/crafter Sandra Juto from Sweden. I love her photos the best.

Perfection.








More Sandra Juto-gorgeousness on her equally stunning blog.

affordable art online

There have been so much wordiness already this week... I will try to be brief today :) Here is a little round-up of good places to find 'affordable' artwork for sale online...

There are so many more... the internet is a big place! Anyway this is a selection of my favourites.

Tiny Show Case

Tiny Show Case is an online gallery that specialises in artwork that is, well - tiny. This idea is such a simple approach to the problem of affordability. The solution - encouraging artists to create smaller pieces of artwork. The result - limited edition artworks for the price of a book or CD. Genius!

Each week a new piece of tiny artwork is selected and turned into a limited-run print production. Each run is printed on archival Hahnemühle German Printmaking Paper. The archival ink is specially treated and sprayed, giving it an archival lifespan of over 60 years.

Also, its worth mentioning that Tiny Show Case structures their pricing so that a percentage of the money from each print sold is donated to a charity chosen by the artist! win win and win.

Some Tiny Show Case current favourites below:

ghostpatrol - Bear in Socks and Gloves
4.35" x 6" print from original artwork
limited edition of 100
US $20.00

Nathan Abels - Island
5" x 7" digital print of original artwork
limited edition of 100
US $22.00

Tin Lark

I have only recently discovered Tin Lark gallery. They're based in California, and they represent a great range of emerging American artists... including a couple of my favourites - Laura Normandin, Saelee Oh and Scott David Johnson. To be honest I am not sure if Tin Lark sell through their website... I was positive they had an online shop section, but now I think perhaps I was imagining things. Anyway... there are some beautiful pieces on the site if you browse through the artists work... I'm sure if you emailed them they could arrange shipping etc. They have such lovely things I couldn't leave them out!

Laura Normandin - (Left) Bottle of Tears
(Right) Painted Bottle Series: Hair, Grater, Ironing
Board, Burr Pod, Skirt and Livestock

Scott David Johnson - Urban Development 50

Etsy

I find Etsy hard to navigate sometimes... there is a lot to wade through before you get to the really good stuff! But perseverance is the key... there are some fantastic craftspeople and artists selling through Etsy... and they often sell a mix of original works, limited edition prints, open edition digital prints etc etc. A few Etsy goodies below:

Erin Tyner - Yellow
photograph - 8"x8"
US $24.00

Matte Stephens - Happy Owl Print Neat
Digital print of an original gouache drawing - 8.5" x 11"
US $35.00

...and even the super-famous UK paper-cut artist extraordinaire Rob Ryan is on Etsy!

Rob Ryan - Bird Lady
Handprinted 3 colour screen print, printed on "Heritage Woodfree" paper.
Approx image size - 280mm x 410mm
Edition of 20.
US $600.00

Artstream

Artstream Studios is another online gallery and shop with a good selection of original art and limited edition works for sale at very reasonable prices. Examples Below:

Ashley Goldberg
Kristof - from the very popular Bearded Men series
Digital print - limited edition of 10
6.25" x 5.5" in size
US $35.00

Heather Smith Jones
Works from the Pieces of Mama's Letters series.
US $225.00 each

NYC gallery - Charmingwall

Last week I got an email from Katie McClenahan, who is the director of a small independent gallery in NYC's West Village. 'Charmingwall' specialises in a curated collection of open-edition fine art prints, and lucky for those of us outside the US, they have an extensive collection of work available for sale through their online shop. I'm assuming from their very reasonable prices (ie prints for US$20!) that these are mostly photographic prints of the original artwork? But Charmingwall does also sell the originals and limited edition prints by the same artists... (you may need to email them for more specific info about original works).

Charmingwall represent artists from a variety of backgrounds, from fine arts to comic-book culture and everything inbetween. Most of the work has an illustrative feel and is largely figurative in style, however this is where the similarities end... the work on offer covers a broad range of aesthetic influences - there are elements of street-art, fashion illustration, and very decorative, ornate detailing which reminded me of traditional folk arts and even textile design...

Grey Dog by Fred Chao

Barnacles and Butterflies by Evan B. Harris

Briar Patch by Andrea L. Peterson

The brand new Charmingwall website is a little work of animated art in itself - I'm always a sucker for hand-drawn type, and the animated element is really effective and, well, charming :)
To keep up with all Charmingwall news be sure to bookmark their blog as well as their website.

More of Charmingwall in the press here and here.

Whale & Innards by Evan B. Harris

Design*Sponge guest blog - stationery

beautiful wedding invitation by Brooklyn-based design studio Linda + Harriett (who also have a lovely blog)

As always, there is much gorgeousness over at the Design*Sponge guest blog this week. The current guest blogger is Brooklyn based interior designer Vane, of Brooklyn Bride, and you guessed it, there's a bit of a wedding theme going on there at the moment....

I always love looking at images of wedding styling... BUT before all the anti-marriage people pounce on me, it's not because I am itching to walk down the aisle myself (far from it!)... It's purely an aesthetic interest! I think it's just the girly girl in me that gets excited about things like lavish flower arrangements, custom-designed stationery and decorative table dressings...

Vane's stationery round-up is especially gorgeous.... My favourite images are below. (more over on the guest blog). Beautiful beautiful beautiful.

invitation by Brooklyn-based design outfit Swayspace

another lovely invitation idea by Swayspace

This gorgeous calligraphy by Jenna Hein of Love, Jenna - original article here

Tenerife House

Oooh la la. This incredible house is in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Stunning huh?

I love the Japanese-style slatted(?) screens, the clean lines, and the grey, weathered timber against that raw concrete. Oh, and the view ain't bad either.

Via Coolhunter.

Bloesem's World Tour - Caravana

Caravana custom designed fabrics

Irene from Bloesem has just posted my second contribution to her fantastic World Tour... This time I have written a little about my favourite Australian design duo - Caravana.

If you have time please check out the article over at Bloesem! Be sure to click at the bottom to see the full post with photos of Caravana's stunning hand-embellished fabrics... :)

Caravana Spring/Summer 06/07

Melbourne on Bloesem's World Tour

Centre Place and Movida, Hosier Lane - Melbourne

I'm so excited to see that Irene from Bloesem has just posted my little round up of Melbourne's laneways on her World Tour! Please go visit and tell me what you think!

Douglas and Hope - Block Arcade

Block Place

Perfect chair sightings

I’ve seen these Harry Bertoia chairs twice in one week and I’m seriously smitten…

Image - Jeana Sohn via Design*Sponge

First sighting – US artist Jeana Sohn guest-blogging over at Design*Sponge. I’m sure it wasn’t just me drooling over Jeana’s beautiful minimalist LA apartment last week. Aaaagh. Could it be any more perfect? The light, the white walls and perfect splashes of colour… the Eames rocker and plywood tables… those gorgeous little succulents. Even her food looks seriously stylish. However - this post is supposed to be about the dining chairs… gorgeous huh? I wonder about the comfort factor… but man they’re cute.

(more Jeana Sohn gorgeousness can be seen on her art site, her blog and her Flickr.)

image from Uniform Studio Journal

Second sighting – equally lovely version of the same chair in black seen on Uniform Studio Journal (recently discovered). Similar overall look… - minimal but with elements of colour and personality thrown in for good measure. I would love a workspace at home like this!

Drool drool.

And just thought I'd throw in Jeana Sohn's picture-perfect succulents (as seen on Design*Sponge last week)

Bloesem World Tour

One of Francesca's gorgeous London shots, from Bloesem's amazing world tour!

Hey! May is a special month over at Bloesem... Irene is posting a fantastic world tour, with contributions from bloggers all over the world! So far she's posted from Amsterdam, and Francesca from Mrs Eliot Books has shared some beautiful words and images from London... still to come - L.A, Cape Town, Milan, Copenhagen, San Francisco, London, NYC, Melbourne, Queens Town, Amsterdam, Winnipeg….and many more...

I think this has got to be one of the best collaborative blogging ideas... but I'm biased because later this month you'll see my own little contribution. :)

Bookmark it! (...as if you haven't already).

IKEA train interior in Kobe, Japan

image montage - pink tentacle

image - Kiyo

Image - Kiyo

Image - Kiyo

I don't think I'm the only one who has a love / hate relationship with Ikea. Such great designs at fantastically cheap prices... but the quality is a little questionable, and it does get a bit boring when everyone you know has the exact same bookshelf.

HOWEVER, you have to give IKEA some credit - their recent(ish) foray into selling fabrics by the metre has been a triumph - great designs, at incredibly cheap prices. They've also done an amazing job of marketing this product range. The latest example is the fit-out of a train from the Portliner Monorail in Kobe, Japan, to promote the opening of IKEA's new store at Port Island. They've fitted out the entire carriage with their latest prints and patterns - inside and out. The train will carry passengers in style until May 6.

via pink tentacle

(Also, I remember seeing some great shots last year of IKEA's temporary exhibit/concept store 'Everyday Fabulous', which coincided with New York design week. Another fantastic marketing concept, showcasing the best of IKEA's fabric and accessory designs, with a pinch of very effective guerilla marketing thrown in for good measure. Pics below.)

Ikea 'Everyday Fabulous' temporary concept store in Manhattan - image Apartment Therapy

More cute IKEA guerilla marketing pop-ups in NYC

Thankyou Design*Sponge

Thankyou Grace Bonney! You made my day with this link... :)

Also... I just realised Grace was on Good Morning America! Sorry I'm not too quick on the uptake with these things, being on the other side of the globe. ANYWAY how exciting is that? Congratulations Grace! You are an inspiration.

The Dieline packaging blog

Just a quickie today... because I am tired... and because I don't want to detract from the gorgeousness of yesterday's Nicholas Jones photos :)

Here we have some super cute 1950's bath foam packaging design. How about that nozzle in the eye of the guy on the far right? Fun huh?



This image via The Dieline package design blog - which by the way is a really interesting site with photos of the best packaging design from all over the world. I also really like their current post about the Huni range of skincare products from NZ. The pattern, logo and typeface were designed by Auckland-based company Design Works.


You can't go wrong with that grey and yellow combo. What do you think?