For people who spend most of their working lives sat at desks, publishers and authors have a frightening disregard for comfort when it comes to chairs.

Or at least they do if the furniture we saw at the 2010 Leipzig Buchmesse was a measure of the industry norm.

Cheap folding chairs, cheap copies of designer furniture classics being presented as originals and general cheap tat as far as the eye could see.

Fortunately one or two of the exhibitors seemed better informed. Below a few snapshots of some of the happier moments of the 2010 Leipzig Buchmesse from a designer furniture perspective:

French/German culture channel ARTE with Swan Chairs by Arne Jacobsen from Fritz Hansen

French/German culture channel ARTE with Swan Chairs by Arne Jacobsen from Fritz Hansen

German news channel Phoneix with Tom Vacs by Ron Arad for Vitra

German news channel Phoneix with Tom Vacs by Ron Arad for Vitra

MDR with LEM by Shin and Tomoko Azumi for lapalma

MDR with LEM by Shin and Tomoko Azumi for lapalma

Reclam Verlag with a USM Haller reception desk.

Reclam Verlag with USM Haller

Reclam Verlag with a USM Haller reception desk

Fachhochschule Potsdam with a tribute to fellow Brandenburger Egon Eiermann. Eiermann table frames from Richard Lampert and SE 68 chairs from Wilde + Spieth.

Fachhochschule Potsdam with a tribute to fellow Brandenburger Egon Eiermann

SE 68 chairs from Wilde + Spieth

And perhaps most impressive of all the students of Bauhaus University Weimar who had, in our eyes, a stand as dedicated to Block by Frank Gehry from Vitra.

Block by Frank Gehry from Vitra

Bauhaus University Weimar

We can only the hope the situation improves for the Leipzig Buchmesse 2011.

But please, with better quality furniture

The last couple of days have seen an endless stream of emails into the (smow)blog bunker asking if we are OK.

And if we’re OK, why aren’t we posting anything?

Can’t we be bothered?

Are we bored?

Have we finally be rumbled by the (smow)boss?

Far from it, the sad truth is we’ve been forced into doing some real work for change.

We know, we can’t believe it either!

(smow) ... in stock and ready to go...

The combination of Christmas holidays and heavy snow throughout Europe has meant that numerous deliveries from a number of (smow)suppliers have been delayed of late.

Delayed deliveries which all arrived on Thursday.

As we arrived at (smow)HQ on Thursday morning, Vitra were already waiting with a lorry full of products from designers as diverse as Charles and Ray Eames, Maarten van Severen or Verner Panton.

Then USM Haller arrived with a lorry full of Haller tables, USM Haller sideboards and roll containers.  And as they left us to head back to Bühl, moooi arrived from Amsterdam.

Sometimes it really is like the EU car park in the (smow)yard!!!

And then with lunch barely digested Moormann, Lampert and lapalma rolled up.

Fantastic as all this was, it did of course mean that someone had to pack all the new deliveries away.

And that task befell us.

But don’t worry, we weren’t actually forced to sweat.

USM Haller being carried by Eames Elephants into the (smow)warehouse

For such tasks we have a team of specially trained and qualified Eames Elephants; we are simply needed to coordinate the whole exercise.

And so we have spent the past few days directing Eiermann desk, Vitra DSR and USM Haller carrying Vitra Eames Elephants through the endless corridors of the (smow)warehouse.

But everything is now - finally - stored away and our Eames Elephants have returned to the Leipzig Ratsholz to continue helping Leipzig City Council rid the public forests of the plague of nordic walking pensioners who have taken up residence there.

Good luck! We’re counting on you!

And we are back to drinking too much coffee and searching out the finest designer furniture stories for your entertainment.

Vitra Eames Elephants prepare to ambush nordic walking pensioners in Leipzig