Last month we posed the question "Is Milan design Week still relevant?" And Antje was kind enough to join our debate. Thank you! We assume everyone else found the question so obviously correct that you didn't feel the need to answer. And yes, of course we are going this year. As our old nan used to say - "It's like an away match in Zwickau on a fine November evening. Not going is not an option!" In addition to perusing the newest products, ideas and concepts we have a top series of
read more
One of the most famous - and arguably professionally relevant - phases in Verner Panton's life was his journeys through Europe. Following his graduation from Copenhagen Art school Verner Panton gave up his position with Arne Jaobsen, converted his VW bus to a basic mobile studio and set off on a series of tours throughout Europe during which he made contact with numerous designers and producers. While its probably fair to say that this experience alone didn't shape his future work - the
read more
In a past life we earned our living from grapes - we grew them and others turned them into wine. Back then our year had a comforting cadence and seasons that meant something. Then came our wild period in the international designer furniture world - days and months merging, senselessly, into one another. Thankfully, older and wiser our year once again follows the peaceful, pastoral, pattern of old. January IMM Cologne February Stockholm Design Week March Leipzig Buchmesse etc etc etc
read more
We're fairly certain we posed this question last year - but proudly do so again. Is Milan Design Week still relevant - or is it just a big waste of time, money and resources? The question raises its head because we are currently sitting here planning firstly if we're going to go and secondly if so in what sort of numbers and with what aims. Last year we collected a few opinions on the purpose and function of Milan Design Week and Salone Milano- and among other comments Ronan Bouroullec mused
read more
Name: Christoffer Martens Born: Bremen, 1975 Alma mater: Product Design, University of Applied Science, Potsdam Internships: Alfredo Häberli, Zürich Products: Siebenschläfer for Nils Holger Moormann, Aschau im Chiemgau Spross for Nils Holger Moormann, Aschau im Chiemgau Obstrutsche for emform, Bockhorn Buchhalter Potbase (smow)blog: How did you arrive at product design? Christoffer Martens: I initially trained as a graphic designer and then worked in a media agency for a few years.
read more
Hej Danmark! På grund af antallet af læsere fra Danmark besluttede vi at det var på tide at tilbyde (smow)blogtekster på dansk. De danske tekster vil ikke blive udgivet hver dag, og heller ikke nødvendigvis hver uge, men vi vil regelmæssigt offentliggøre et udvalg af vores blogtekster på dansk. Alle tekster bliver arkiveret her: https://www.smow.com/blog/smow-pa-dansk Mange tak til det danske oversætterhold - hvis du har nogen spørgsmål eller forslag så tøv ikke med at kontakte os via
read more
We're taking a couple of days off - but will be back shortly with a review of our 2010 highlights. And a look forward to 2011.
read more
Lazier than a group of sloths who've just been given the day of from slothing and told to "take it easy", the (smow)blog crew have decided to roll out the Christmas 2009 series for Christmas 2010. We're just like BBC 2. Over the next couple of weeks under the "Christmas is coming .... " heading we'll present one or the other festive gift idea beautifully wrapped up in a truly appalling rhyme. The 2009 selection can be found under "Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat...."
read more
Not a word of a lie, we're sitting here in Eindhoven planning an interview for later on today with some Portuguese designers - and we receive news that our current favourite Portuguese designer Rui Alves a.k.a. My Own Super Studio has been awarded a Red Dot Design Award: Best of the Best 2010 for his "Welcome to the Jungle" shelving/storage series. Which is just wonderful, and deserved, news. Congratulations to Rui, and enjoy Singapore! Our (smow)introducing Interview with Rui Alves can be
read moreThere are some design blogs who simply retype press releases, resize press photos and abracadabra - a blog post. Our standards are a little higher. Which is why we visit design fairs, design weeks, design competitions and design exhibitions. Because only by talking to designers, talking to producers and by actually testing the products can you decide if the PR hype is justified. The minus is of course that design fairs being the new film festivals - our schedule is an absolute nightmare.
read moreAs the Beatles almost wrote: When I was younger, so much younger than today, I never needed any cake in anyway But now those days are indeed gone and there is nothing the (smow)blog crew enjoy more than a nice bit of cake. And fortunately as we tour the designer furniture museums of this world we always find just that: a nice bit of cake. And so we've decided to start a photo gallery in order to present the baked gems we find on our travels. First up a Strawberry Cake from the Vitra
read more
Owner/Designer: Rui Alves Established: 2001 Location: Paços de Ferreira, Portugal Products: Hold on Sample MIU Fiss family Welcome to the Jungle Avô (smow)blog: Why did you decide for a career in industrial design? Rui Alves: It was more or less a natural decision; I grew up, and indeed am still, surrounded by family members who work with wood. And so I’ve always been surrounded by materials and tools and thinking about making things with my fathers and grandfathers tools. In addition
read more
When we heard that the 2010 International Marianne Brandt Contest exhibition was going to be held in the Industrial Museum, Chemnitz, our first thought was: that's a bit harsh. We know the city's fortunes haven't been the best since the end of the DDR - but to label the whole city as nothing more than a tourist attraction dedicated to artificially maintaining happier memories of times long since past.... Hardly fair. It turns out that the Industrial Museum Chemnitz is actually a Museum in
read more
The motivation for the (smow)chair began with Chairless by Alejandro Aravena for Vitra. Although a truly delightful product we were somewhat irritated by the fact that the design for Chairless wasn't that, well, "chairless" : rather replaces the tensions within a chair with the tensions in the users body. The user becoming the chair and consequently limited in their movement while using Chairless. But because the "chairless" concept so impressed us we decided to take the opportunity
read more
Time was when social networking for businesses meant cocktail parties, tennis clubs and the Freemasons. Time Was. However Time Is and in the modern commercial world social networking means Facebook, Twitter, X-ing et al Not only as a marketing tool but also as an increasingly important instrument for communicating with customers, gathering feedback and handling criticism. In addition a recent survey by Edison Research among twitter users in the USA indicated that for many consumers
read more
The other week we briefly swapped our designer chairs for designer jeans, our crazy student sideboards for crazy student hats and and our designer bookcases for designer handbags: It was Berlin Fashion Week. The short busman's holiday in the German capital was principally concerned with a new, and still relatively secret, project but we also wanted to take the opportunity to compare and contrast the designer furniture and designer clothes industries. Sure they are both about brands, star
read more
Last week we posted a nice illustration of the difference between art and design. At the Kunsthochschule Weissensee student exhibition, the same question was posed. Albeit in a slighter simpler and more closed form. Where (smow)blog leads - others follow. P.S. Had Weissensee visited Weimar they would have seen a further beautiful, and appropriately knife based, illustration of the art/deign
read more
Effortless and relaxed as this all seems, our reality is a life in constant motion as we move from one appointment to the next. As one press release closes, another opens. As it were. And along the way we meet an awful lot of excellent design from designers who simply can't command the publicity of a Philippe Starck, Verner Panton or Jasper Morrison. Which isn't really fair as the work is often just as good. And so in our new, irregular, series (smow)Introducing we aim to present some of
read more
Perhaps best known for her numerous co-operations with Le Corbusier, the Parisian architect and designer Charlotte Perriand played an instrumental role in developing the European modern movement: Not least as Charlotte Perriand is credited with converting Le Corbusiers modern furniture ideas into reality and so establishing the tradition of minimal, bent chrome steel tube and leather furniture. Among the most famous of these collaborations are the from Cassina produced LC4 Chaise Longue, LC2
read more
For some July is all about relaxing, enjoying the sun and drinking G+Ts under a Droog Shadylace parasol. For the (smow)blog team July means art and design college annual exhibitions. However for reasons unfathomable to us most Germanic colleges insist on holding their exhibitions on the same weekend. Obviously Germany design schools can develop everything: except a joined-up, national student exhibition plan. Fortuitously amongst the shows that have caught our attention this year there is a
read more
It may not be the most universally recognised example of either Charles Eames' nor Eero Saarinen's canon however their 1940 "Conversation Chair" is without doubt one of the more important examples of 20th century furniture design. Designed for the New York Museum of Modern Art's "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition the Conversation Chair was a concept piece and Eames' and Saarinen's first attempt at moulding synthetics. At that time however the technology lagged somewhat behind
read more
Yesterday the (smow)blog team left the office early to collectively visit the opening evening of the 2010 Kurzsuechtig short film festival in the Plagwitz Schaubühne. From a mixed programme that wonderfully highlighted the rich spectrum of animation techniques, the major winner was without doubt "Laufende Geschäfte" which collected both the audience prize and second place from the jury. The film from Burg Gebichenstein Halle graduate Falk Schuster is a bitter, bitter, bitter dark comedy about
read more
A garden is for relaxing in on a summers evening. For growing vegetables. For having a cheeky cigarette when you're supposed to be finishing the accounts. A garden is also a metaphor for growing up, maturing. Getting older. In the final (smow)liest event for the 2010 Leipzig Buchmesse, journalist and author Gerhard Matzig presented his own personal tale of the journey from carefree urban youth to responsible suburban middle age. And to a garden. In front of a potentially illegally
read more
For us Switzerland means three things. USM Haller Tax avoidance. Phil Collins. With the evening "Neue Stimmen from Switzerland", organised by SWIPS - Swiss Independent Publishers - and supported by Pro Helvetia, the (smow)room in Leipzig hosted the second (smow)liest event during the 2010 Leipzig Buchmesse. And proved that the Alpine Republic, does have more to offer. A lot more. Roman Graf opened proceedings with his debut novel "Herr Blanc". As a young man Herr Blanc left possibly
read more
