It must be a summer thing. Not only are our newspapers and magazines full of authors recommending their chums books, but first design observer portrayed their reading tips and then design sojourn brought out their "30 Essential Books for Industrial Designers" Obviously the design world is planning downing tools and spending the long hot summer that awaits us reading. Which is fine by us. For, in addition to supplying designer furniture, we at smow also stock a wide range of books on and
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In a recent article wired magazine presented their own take on the evolution of office furnishing. From the introduction of the vast, cattle-shed like offices that characterised early office design through the cubicles and "virtual offices" of the 1980s and 90s and onwards the text makes one thing clear: Too many office workers have suffered through bad office design concepts. But one needn't work from home in order to benefit from the advantages of a convivial and stimulating office
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Fernando the Fish, Talulah the Toucan, Elihu the Elephant and Omar the Owl – four irresistibly cheeky chronological creatures born in 1965 from the imagination of master clock designer George Nelson. The “Zoo Timers” from Vitra not only brighten up any room, but make learning telling the time playful and enjoyable. George Nelson studied architecture and mad his name in furniture design, but was also a highly talented graphic designer. His “Zoo Timer” wall clocks at first attract your
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For those of you either living near or planning being in the vicinity of Weil am Rhein, the George Nelson exhibition in the Vitra Design Museum runs until 01.03.2009. The exhibition presents not only his famous, humorous designs but also explains Nelson's theoretical approach and presents a selection of his furniture designs, architectural models, clock and graphic designs. The retrospective is part of Vitra’s celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of George Nelson's birth. After studying
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Ray and Charles Eames could happily be described as „multi-talents“. The American designer pair created functional furniture with a global appeal, shot avant-gard films, designed childrens toys and were responsible for the Eames House and Entenza House in Los Angeles. Charles Eames (1907-1978) studied architecture at the Washington University in St.Louis before a scholarship and subsequent teaching position at the Cranbook Academy of Art brought him to Michigan where he met the painter, and
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The first snow of the years has fallen, the Christmas window displays are finished and the nervous hunt for the “perfect” Christmas gift is well underway. And so sometimes the best decision is simply to relax in front of the Internet and choose extravagant, amusing or simply, simple gifts for your nearest and dearest. In a small pre-Christmas series we the smow blog team will present a few ideas and treasures from the (smow)catalogue, which will hopefully ease you search and bring a smile to
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