As we admitted, "time management challenges" saw us visiting Design braucht Täter 2012 in Cologne before it officially opened.
And before all exhibitors had arrived.
We know it's not good. And we're still not sleeping properly.
And so it was especially nice to receive an e-mail from Julia Pfizenmayer from jp designs - one of those exhibitors we never got the chance to see - introducing us to her modular storage system Outsider.
Because it means that the exhibitors don't hold it against us.
Now you know us, we're not going to judge a piece of furniture without having tested it. Experience, as they say, being the mistress of disappointment.
However, looking at the pictures and video, Outsider certainly looks like the sort of design we could get excited about.
Essentially a series of plywood boxes that can be stacked on top of one another, the delight in Outsider is the system by which the individual boxes can be offset from one another.
Now we can hear one or the other of you grumbling, "... but why do I need a storage system where I can offset the different levels by a couple of degrees?"
We don't know what the background thinking was, but for us... on the one hand, if your anything like us you'll have items in your shelving that protrude a little too far forward. Shove the unit back and they don't.
We also have a few spaces where shelving doesn't really fit; either because the walls aren't as as straight as they could be or because structures and fittings get in the way. Skirting boards, plugs, etc... The freedom to move individual units a bit to the right or left would be very useful in such cases.
Then there is simply the aesthetic perspective. Especially when using your shelving as a room divider. Outsider can not only be moved laterally, but also turned to create spiraling structures. And sometimes it's good to have alinear forms.
But as we say the real delight is not that the elements can be offset, but how the movement occurs.
The individual boxes aren't fixed to one another, simply placed on top of one another. Yet the system is stable in all positions and the boxes can be "locked" in place.
But how?
As with all good design Outsider performs like a street magician. You watch closely. Can't see the trick. You look again. And still can't see it. Your impressed, But just can't work out how they are doing it.
We cheated. We asked Julia. We know. We're not going to tell you.
As we say, we'll have to wait until we've actually seen and tested Outsider before we can deliver a final verdict. But from what we've seen and heard Outsider by jp designs is certainly a concept worth exploring further.
And so thank you once again to Julia for getting in touch.
Full details can be found at: www.jpdesigns.de
Outsider by jp designs. A Video Introduction.
