ICFF 2010 : Call for entries

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

new at smow: acousticpearls

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

smow design spring: Objectified - The Film

One of the reasons we never pursued a career as film reviewers is that writing in the dark is so difficult. Compared to those notes that we write in darkened cinemas the Rosetta Stone appears as if it was set in Helvetica 8. And so it is that from our trip to "Objectified" at the IFC Centre in New York, the only words we can clearly read are "organic popcorn". It was, and it was lovely. Fortunately we know people who can read our hand writing and they have now finished the translation

smow design spring: aufgetischt

The NYC Post Police - tailed our every move and word Your (smow)blog team didn't become the internationally feared and monitored crew we are simply because we travel the world fearlessly attending opening night parties. Oh no! We achieved our notoriety on account of our excellent network of contacts among designers, producers, critics and delivery drivers. Nothing but nothing passes us by. As observant readers may have noticed, during our visit to the ICFF we did spend quite a lot of time

New York Ta(b)les: Crescendo C2 maximus by stilvoll

When not jetting off around the world, sharpening our sarcasm at international designer furniture trade fairs, the (smow)blog team undertake other, non(smow), contracts. To help us relax and unwind. Some of us design graffiti templates, some translate classic music manuscripts and others undertake copy-editing and proofreading jobs. Varied as they are, all these tasks are related in that sometimes you want to sit, sometimes you want to stand and regardless of whether sitting or standing

New York Tales: See ya!

Americans, no sense of humour (or humor as they would have it...... )

New York Tales: Jason Miller

For us one of the discoveries of the ICFF was Brooklyn based designer Jason Miller. Miller's design contains undeniable elements of contemporary European design, albeit effortlessly combined with, for our opinion, classic European stereotypes of retro-NYC style. We promised a text on post-colonialism in US design ... and like all at smow we always keep our promises. Miller's Duct Tape Chair, for example, is more than a wonderfully comfortable armchair. Reminiscent in many ways of Easy

New York Ta(b)les: Part 2

We came, we saw, we sat on the floor... But it needn't have been so..... Once again the Europeans show the Americans how it should be done. One of the largest stands in New York was that from the Saloni Milano -a mix of the finest Italian designers: And they brought their own press room. No electricity, no Internet...but tables. And coffee. How fondly we look back on April.... Although greatly impressed by the typewriter, we also liked Desk 51 by American producer bludot as a desk.

New York Tales: How ya doin’

Not good As everyone know everything in America is bigger. Everything. From bagels the size of Jupiter to the level of manipulation undertaken to justify invading Iraq. Everything in America exists on a larger scale than you thought possible. Except furniture trade shows. In Milan, Artemide's stand, for example, was so big it was not only dissected by a time zone, but in the north east corner biologists found two previously unknown primate species. Meanwhile Kartell, following the

New York Tales: Table Fights

...lets fight some tables... You couldn't make up. Before we departed for NYC one of those events that was already written in heavy ink in our diaries was the second annual Table Fights at Magnan Galleries. Honest. Even as we sat in Leipzig blithly assuming tables would be freely available in NYC, we were planning watching tables fight. In many ways the inevitable consequence of too many childish "my table is better than yours" arguments between drunken first year design students, Table

New York Tales: Sought after art

One of the advantages of the time delay is that by mid-afternoon New York time the (smow)boss is at home and so we can go out and enjoy New York City. On Friday we took the opportunity for a stroll through Manhattan ... and like every other tourist spent most of the time taking photos of skyscrapers. Regardless how often you take such a photo, the next view seems even better. And don't even get us started on the next..... However, to truly capture the majesty you need much better equipment

New York Ta(b)les. Part 1

There may be no tables in the press room, but there are plenty to be found at ICFF... Eiermann 1 by Egon Eiermann from Lampert....ahhhhh, if only, if only if only. Polished chrome AND a place to rest your feet at hip level. Hhhhmmmmmm, perfection at work Oh my God, a table with its own integrated book holder. Every proofreaders dream. And height adjustable so you can stand or sit to work ... Crescendo C2 maximus from stilvoll where have you been since Saturday at 10... Particularly

New York Tales: Greene Street Tales

In local parlance Greene Street, NYC is known as "West smow", on account of the prevalence of high-quality designer furniture producers who have their flagship stores there. The Artemide store, for example, is a couple of doors down from USM Haller, across the road from USM Haller is Kartell - it really is uncannily like the navigation bar at smow.com Indeed as we strolled down West smow on Friday morning we couldn't help thinking that only Moormann failed. Then we spotted number 75.

New York Tales: How ya doin'

Not good. For some reason which escapes us there are no tables in the press room. That's NO TABLES IN THE PRESS ROOM AT A FURNITURE TRADE SHOW. And to think we complained in Milan once when the beer in the press room fridge was too warm!!! Is there not a producer out there who could sponsor a few for next year. Vitra? Kartell? Lampert? The conditions here are worse than at the Magdeburger Volksstimme or any other village rag. Oh, how we yearn for our asymmetric Eiermann II table.....

New York Tales: Museum Tales

A Thursday evening in New York and the finer elements of Manhattan society meet to celebrate the opening of the Smithsonian Institute's Cooper - Hewitt National Design Museum "Design for a Living World" exhibition. Your (smow)blog team are of course also in attendance. For the exhibition The Nature Conservancy sent 10 designers into rural environments and asked them develop new uses for sustainably grown and harvested materials. The aim being to tell a unique story about the life-cycle of

We've Arrived!!!!

"New York Tales" : smow at the ICFF

Sometimes we get the feeling no one really wants us here in Leipzig. Not that we are complaining - or at least not when avoiding our company means sending us to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair and New York City. From May 14th until May 19th your (smow)blog team will bring you all the important stories, new products and general lunacy from Vitra, Kartell, Magis, Tom Dixon and all the other exhibitors at North America's premier designer furniture trade fair. And not just from