Milano 2012

Last week I was in Milan for the furniture fair. I went out partly for my own interest, and partly to help out Laikingland whom I continue to freelance for. We have been developing 4 new projects since Milan last year (some even longer) and launched all four at the show in Ventura Lambrate last week. The week was a great success and the space (a transformed mechanics garage) was constantly packed, the response from all kinds of visitors was a delight to watch.

Fingers MKII by Nik Ramage

Bird Bellow Whistle by Martin Smith

Just About Now by Marteen Baas

Light a Moment by Kiki Van Eijk & Joost Van Bleiswijk

Cacophony Bell by Tord Boontje

I had a bit more time this year to take in the rest of the fair. Highlights (aside from Laikingland) included Black & Black by Nendo, Danish Crafts, Edition of 9, Japanese brand Karimouku’s delightful furnishing of a Milanese apartment, new German brand Stadtmann Neu Meubel and the permanent Da Vinci and Horology exhibits on show at Milan Science & Technology Musuem (MOST).

Nendo chair detail 

Danish Crafts (MindCraft 12) Basement- showing prototypes and development of the products upstairs in the exhibition.

Edition of 9. 9 prototypes from 9 design studios, created in collaboration with 9 Italian artisans.

The Astrarium by Giovanni Dondi. A time piece designed and built between 1348 and 1364 to predict the position of celestial bodies, on which, they believed, depended the destiny of men.

Da Vinci Maquettte - detail

Pippin Revisted

A few weeks ago I had an enquiry from Belgium regarding the Pippin Bedside Rails. They had seen that the product was not available through webshop but had fallen in love with them, wondering if they were available. They were not, but this seemed a great excuse to revisit the project and get a pair made. Here's the crew (one set for either side of the bed) just before they got sent off last week.

Product Shots

Two of my online stockists take their own photos of the products they sell. I believe this is a key ingredient to their success. It allows them to keep a unified house style and a create a unique perspective on each product. It also allows a designer and supplier such as me, to see my products through someone else’s eyes. Here are a selection of recent photos from Present & Correct and Slow Down Joe (furniture pieces). All Slow Down Joe photography is handled by the talented Simon over at Perfect Aperture.

Stockists

One day I may get round to adding this to the website, but for now – here is a selection of my current stockists.

 The Home at Salts Mill, Saltaire

SCP, London

 Snowhome, York

Slow Down Joe (Online)

Present & Correct (Online)

 

Home London

On very short notice (1 week!), I took up an offer of a stand at new interiors trade show- Home London. It is a new trade show paired with Top Drawer, showcasing a curated selection of high quality design led furniture and products. On such short notice, it was a bit of a manic start to the year, but looking back it proved extremely worthwhile and was actually a great kickstart to 2012. The spacious stand (courtesy of studio mate/exhibiting neighbour John Green) allowed me to showcase my furniture as well as the smaller products, all of which were very well received. 

With John next door and local design store Snowhome just behind we ended up creating a small York corner within the show.  It also made it much easier to be part of a group when preparing and transporting our stands down there! Great show chaps!

Nina Table

In November, a private commission came my way via Contemporary Lab. It is a great pleasure for me to have the freedom to work on Private commissions and thus welcome them with open arms. If you have anything in mind, please feel free to get in touch.

The brief for this piece was fairly simple and right up my street – to design a Scandinavian style, glass topped circular dining table. With such a straight forward brief, it was really a case of doing a beautiful frame. It was a great project to work on, with both the client and I very satisfied with the outcome. It gave me a good reason to focus on designing something new, which I could in turn add to my range of retail products. So I am pleased the introduce to you, the Nina Dining Table.

It is now available to order directly from me, with bespoke sizes and material finishes available on request.

Photos by the talented and ohsoveryhelpful Tim Johnson. Here he is in action in our rather helpful photo studio!

Tab Shelf

The design of the Tab shelf was somewhat rushed for exhibiting at Top Drawer (see previous post). Really it was a prototype that I showed. So upon reflection a few small changes were needed to improve the design. So here we have the slightly longer, more functional and all round better looking Tab Shelf. Perfect for displaying your paper fancies and small bric-a-brac. Available to purchase in all 3 colours via my webshop (currently on sale!)

New York blogger SwissMiss took a liking to the shelf, and in turn educated me on how influential a well read blog can be. Cue a few weeks of a busy webshop. So, Thank you Swiss Miss! Follow her ever delightful blog here.