As traditional as roasted chestnuts and corked sherry, gift recommendations are what make Christmas for us. This year, however, we start with a friendly warning. The lead times for many of our suppliers are creeping upwards - and although we have a well stocked and bountiful warehouse; should you want to order something extra special as a gift for a loved one, and we have to order it - it's getting tight. The "traffic light system" in the (smow)shop provides an instant guide to availability;
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Students. We love em! But slightly better than students are poor graduates. For just as a man alone in a forest at night must rely on all his wit and inventiveness to find warmth and food, so must a designer taking his first tentative freelance steps rely on all his talents and intuition as a designer not to freeze to death. Or starve. So, or at least similar, is how we like to imagine Eero Aarnio developing probably his most defining design: the Ball Chair Helsinki. 1962. The young Eero
read moreToday is World Usability Day. We do admit to be being more than a touch sceptical about the motivations that lead people to establish events such as "Global Avocado Day", "Bulgarian Aramaic Appreciation Week", or indeed "World Usability Day", but we can't help agreeing with the preamble to their charter. (Without endorsing the charter, per se): Human error is a misnomer. Technology today is too hard to use. A cell phone should be as easy-to-use as a doorknob. In order to humanize a world that
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After several months searching we finally got our hands on MAXintheBOX from Graz based producer Perludi. MAXintheBOX is probably best described as a box. Which of course can barely begin to describe the beauty of the creation. But is at least a start. Crafted from birch plywood each MAXintheBOX set consists of two modular elements that can be combined in many different ways; as chair, table, desk ... or hiding place. Although principally intended for children, MAXintheBOX is strong enough
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Its a little known fact, but the printer in (smow)HQ sits atop a "Block" by Frank Gehry. And indeed in general we at (smow)blog are long standing fans of corrugated cardboard furniture; and not only since introducing the world to Stuart Miller during the 2009 Saloni. Shelf 114/115 from Leipzig based diefabrik didn't quite set our hearts ablaze as much as Stuarts nameless chair, but did make us very happy. It is a truly, truly ridiculous concept. Oval cardboard forms with exaggerated teeth
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Barely were we through the doors Designers Open doors, than we stumbled into an old friend. Nido by Eva Marguerre We first saw Nido at the kkaarrllss in Milan, a showcase featuring works from students at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe. And were greatly taken by it. A couple of weeks later and up it popped again at DMY Berlin. And we suspect, though at this moment can't prove, that Eva Marguerre and her Nido have also been in London, Brussels and Copenhagen of late.
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The fifth Leipzig Designers Open is well ... Open. For the next three days over 150 international exhibitors will be presenting their furniture, fashion, jewellery and product/communication designs and concepts in the unique atmosphere of the Merkurhaus. We're old enough that we can recall numerous Merkurhaus tenants, but none that offered such a varied and high quality selection as at this years Designers Open. Which is proabably why they all stopped trading and while Designers Open grows
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Those of you who know us know that we have little time or interest in fakers, copyists and other charlatans who undermine the work, talent and investment of furniture designers. However, we're also great admirers of inspired time wasting disguised as work and so it's a big (smow)blog hats off to the boys and girls at the spreadshirt blog for their attempt at a Rag Chair. That the spreadshirt blog team have such a big box of textiles is to be explained by the numbers of shirts required for the
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On 03.11.1989 the Vitra Design Museum opened. On 09.11.1989 the Berlin Wall "fell". Coincidence? Almost certainly. But while the Vitra Design Museum may not be able to claim responsibility for the end of the DDR, it can look back on a remarkable 20 year history and proudly profess to have helped popularise designer furniture and furniture designers. Initially established as a location where Vitra chairman Rolf Fehlbaum could display his extensive collection of contemporary designer
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Our new flash has arrived .... and that just in the nick of time. (As the name tends to imply ;) ) For this coming Friday the 2009 Designers' Open will once again present the finest selection in contemporary design from 150 international designers. And that right here in Leipzig. In addition, a series of lectures, workshops, discussions and "hands on" events will not only wonderfully complement the exhibition, but, hopefully, invigorate, motivate and illuminate both industry professionals and
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With the clocks all across Europe preparing to be turned back an hour and so cast us all into that unlit world so beloved of poets, painters and cat burglars; a ray of light comes from the US of A. The organisers of the 2010 ICFF have issued a call for entries for the ICFF Studio and ICFF Design School. We had a fantastic time at ICFF in 2009 and are thoroughly looking forward to returning to the Big Apple in May 2010. And so, by way of supporting and helping the organisers of ICFF we would
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One of the most exciting moments of our trip to the ICFF, New York was our visit to the droog flagship store in SoHo. For those who don't know droog, firstly forget everything you accept about the separation between art and furniture design. And then having convinced yourself there is no divide imagine your Dutch and design something. OK droog also have some fantastic "normal" designs - but their real strength is pushing the borders of absurd until they become the most obvious thing ever.
read moreSadly we must report that our critically acclaimed short animated film “usm_highboard_m_rubinrot” will not be featured in the 2009 DOK Leipzig. Apparently entries closed months ago and it would be unfair to allow our film into the competition at this late stage. Those who have chosen a creative route through life, know that the road is long, hard and winds its way through valley's of despair. But that's why we do it. And so we go undaunted forward and our next USM Haller work is already
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(click to play) As a few you have noticed (and thanks for the mails by the way, always appreciated) we've been a bit quiet of late. The reason for our absence was the development of our new short animated film: "usm_highboard_m_rubinrot" Initially conceived as a simple animated tribute to the the role of the trouser press in the social history of lower-middle class England since 1067, the work proved to be little more complicated than first envisaged. As one should really expect wth such a
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Back in June we started a campaign to encourage election officials to improve the furnishing of their polling stations. We can't claim a great deal of success, or indeed any, but we remain committed to the cause and so will be using Sundays General Election here in Germany to further promote our demand for more stylish and aesthically pleasing polling stations. However, in comparison to the local election where we made use of the practical Eames Elephant from Vitra as our urn, for the more
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One of the joys of being involved in the designer furniture industry is that every now and again one is allowed to share ones enthusiasm and passion with others. We believe that in more vulgar industries such is known as selling. And so it came to pass that last week the boys and girls from uniturm.de visited smow.com to test out a few chairs. The smow.com testing lounge may not be as luxurious as those on offer in the two (smow)shops in Leipzig and Chemnitz but it does offer a pleasant and
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For a lot of people USM Haller make units where you can store lever arch files. True. They do. And that very successfully. However, the beauty of System USM Haller is such that with a little imagination, and the correct professional advice, one can also create just about any object to suit your needs. We believe we even once saw a photo of a USM Haller bed.... Recently, while promenading through one of Europe's finer cultural centres, we were delighted to spot through a window System USM
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In the past week three independent events have occurred which fuse together in one important tale. Firstly, while visiting a student flat in Dresden the (smow)boss noticed an obviously well used, but functioning chair reminiscent of the EA 107 by Charles and Ray Eames for Vitra. Despite assuming it to be a copy - student flat, Dresden, etc... - his professional curiosity got the better of him and thought he'd better check .. and Lo and Behold it was an original EA 107 by Charles and Ray
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It's probably fair the say that Maarten Van Severen isn't a particular favourite of the (smow)IT department. Not that they dislike Van Severen's effortless aesthetic, but rather with his .03, .04, etc... Antwerp's finest artisan of designer furniture is the proverbial fly in the ointent of the new (smow)live search. Developed using technology originating from the NASA Mars Programme, the (smow)live search is amongst the most user friendly and responsive search features ever developed. Simply
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First produced in 1936 by Gebrüder Kaiser & Co. in Neheim-Hüsten, the “town of lights” in the Sauerland region of Germany, the KAISERidell 6631 R Luxus quickly became a by-word for product design, choice of materials and precise engineering. Designed by silversmith and Bauhaus Weimar Meister Christian Dell the 6631 Luxus is characterized by the smooth, asymmetrical design of the lampshade and the attention to detail such as the the swivel joints which enable the lamp to be positioned in
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In the next week or so we will be introducing here some of the new products from Thonet that are now available at smow.com. But before we get that far, a small video below that explains something of the story of Thonet furniture and the production process involved in bent wood and bent metal furniture. Narrated by perennial smow favourite Nils Holger Moormann. The text is currently only in German - we are however working on a translation - and so until then sit back and enjoy the pictures.
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As all who work in a small office, or perhaps more importantly from home, know, noise is one of the biggest contributors to stress and non-productivity. And we don't mean the radio that you want to hear, but rather the unwanted, background noise generated by others. A little physics tells us that noise travels in waves, and that the most important factor in sustaining and amplifying noise in a room is reverberation and reflection from walls. Ergo, stop the reverberation and reflection and
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In these pages we have often described the dangers and problems associated with non-licensed copies of design classics. And now thanks to Core 77 a particularly appalling case from the USA has been brought to our attention...as the images below show. OK it is art, and specifically an installation by conceptual sculptor Mark Wentzel for the Global Health Odyssey Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Entitled XLounge x 3 the show is, according to the PR blurb " ... a series of cleverly-adapted
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One of the classic rules of furniture design is the product must look good, must look appealing. What, however, if you can't see the product. If it doesn't have a visual presence. That would make no sense. Which is probably why it took Philippe Starck to come up with the "Ghost" range of chairs and stools for Kartell. Very few other designers could create a range of chairs that regularly vanish in the light. Starck's motivation was of course somewhat different. With his Louis Ghost,
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