This coming Tuesday - 09 Feb - sees the opening of one of our favourite furniture events. The Stockholm Furniture Fair.

Sadly on account of events happening elsewhere in Europe next week - watch this space - we now cannot make it to Stockholm.

And so an appeal: Is anyone going to the Stockholm Furniture Fair who can send us a few photos and a brief report on how you found it?

Or do you live in Stockholm and would you like to visit the Fair.

We know it’s cheeky, but if you can help dig us out of a fairly large hole, do please get in touch.

Thank you.

Stockholm Furniture Fair

From experience we can confirm that photographing furniture is not the easiest job in the world.

And getting a picture that captures the spirit and functionality of the object is a true art.

And so we were all the more impressed when we stumbled across a series of photos of Vitra miniatures by Dutch photographer Bart van Bussel.

All we know about Bart is that he is a photographer, lives in Amsterdam and has more facebook friends than we do.

But we do know quite a lot about the chairs he has so magnificently captured on film, and can honestly say that Bart’s pictures capture the beauty of the items in a more genuine fashion than any other photos we have seen.

For the series Bart has photographed the miniature versions of Vitra classics such as the Panton Chair, Eames Lounge Chair or Vegetal, placed on the original chairs.
And the effect is immense.

When, for example, we look at the La Fonda image, we just want to curl our ageing fingers under the plastic shell and lift the 1:6 from the 1:1, while the EA 108 and the Vegetal image beautifully capture the charm of the full size versions.

But hey, judge for yourself, the full series can be found here.

We’re honestly not related to Bart and we don’t even know who commissioned the project or where he got all the items from.

But we don’t need to know that to enjoy such wonderfully constructed images.

Vitra LCW photographed by Bart van Bussel

Holland. It all looks like this you know

It’s not all hard work you know.

Just read a nice little article on dutch design portal design.nl in which Marie-Luce Bree, deputy director of the Foam Photography Museum in Amsterdam, talks about their photo project “New Greetings From”; which basically follows the tried and tested method of getting members of the public to submit photos and then using the best to create an exhibition.

Stone by Marcel Wanders for Kartell

In detail, “New Greetings From” requests contributors to submit photos showing their interpretation of what Holland look like, and that the image is positive.

But hey isn’t everything in Holland!

And what does Holland look like? According to Marie-Luce Bree what often matters most to people is “nature, and even cows and tulips”

Genius.

And on the “New Greetings From” website, we’ve even found a few windmills.

What we’ve yet to see, however, is much in the way of Dutch furniture design.

Panton Chair by Verner Panton for Vitra

Which is a shame.

For while Denmark positively gloats over it’s furniture design heritage, Holland is much more reserved.
Go to Copenhagen, Aarhus or Aalborg and you can’t move without stumbling over the works of Verner Panton, Arne Jacobsen or Hans Wegner.

Indeed, the last time we were in Copenhagen we saw so many Panton chairs everything we saw started to take on a flowing, wave form.

In Holland, however, the local appreciation of the designers is much less. And that despite the talent on offer, the presence of self-confident producers such as moooi or droog and the strong interest among Dutch people for well designed and crafted designer furniture.

Bovist by Hella Jongerius for Vitra

At the end of the day original designer furniture is just as at home in Amsterdam as in Copenhagen.

So we’d like to say to the peoples of the Netherlands, take part in “New Greetings From”, but take pictures that do Hella Jongerius, Marcel Wanders or Mart Stam proud. Make your dutch designers as famous and as culturally important as the Danes there’s.

And yes it’s OK to photograph the furniture next to a windmill, if you really must.

Idling on the internet the other day we inadvertently clicked on an advertisement.
Fortunately.

For the link took us to 3 fish studios and these wonderful linocuts.

Now we’re not going to insult yous by pretending to be experts in graphic art, and so in the words of 3 fish studios:

All prints are of the highest possible quality, each one printed by hand with a Conrad Machine Etching Press on Rives BFK paper using Daniel Smith Traditional Black Relief Ink.

There are ten designs in total including such classics of 20th century designer furniture as the DAR by Charles and Ray Eames, Wiggle Chair by Frank Gehry or the Coconut Chair by George Nelson. We find them rustically charming and at 15 x 20 cms the prints are a nice size and we can well imagine three or four hanging in formation.

If you would like one or more of these prints to compliment your furniture, you can get find all relevant information at 3 fish studios.

Modern Furniture Linocuts by 3 fish studios

DMY Berlin may have been a few weeks ago, but the warm memories remain. And as we were sorting through the piles of info material we gathered in Kreuzberg we came across a postcard from Wohngold.

And like a remiss lover returning from a holiday fling, instantly felt a pang of guilt as we saw the card and were reminded of that wonderful time at DMY Youngsters.

Why hadn’t we responded since our return? Did it all mean so little?

For the truth is that LADAR by Wohngold is a truly wonderful product in an area of product design with a lot of competition.

In our modern world we rely heavily on mobile items, and happily ignore the fact that the majority of mobile items occasionally need to be recharged or otherwise attached to cables.  Most of us ignore this fact in that we ignoring the piles of spaghetti that accumulate on or near our desks.

But we all know its wrong.

There are a number of “boxes” on the market designed to help you control the uncontrollable, but what we like about LADAR is the fact that it is wall mountable, the space on top and inside can be used for storage of non-electrical items and it looks fantastic.

We were honestly greatly taken with the ingenious simplicity of  LADAR - and so apologies that we haven’t sent you card since our return.

LADAR by Wohngold...

...its like catching snakes in a box

Sometimes we really do ask why we invest so much time and effort travelling to design shows, when all we need to do is sit in front of our computer with a good Brooklyn Lager and bag of crisps.

Saves money, saves the environment and potentially saves us from drowning.

Gangsta Lean by Matt Braun

Such questions mainly arise when we find products such as Gangsta Lean by Matt Braun.

As we will never tire of saying, for us an important element of good design is does the phrase:

Took a problem, analysed it, solved it

apply.

And in the case of Gangsta Lean it certainly does.

With an ingenious simplicity Matt Braun has solved the problem of the safe, secure and artgerecht storage of records and magazines. Great

Gangsta Lean - no space is wasted. Wonderful

We also love the fact  that you can use the space between the units to store things  - we’re assuming that is one of those wonderful unplanned yet beautifully functional features; but it perfectly complements the main function of the units.

If we did have a request it would be smaller units for CDs and novels … but we’re sure Matt’s working on that as we type.

For us Gangsta Lean is the perfect storage solution for all who appreciate good design but don’t want to live in an art gallery. And who have, apparently, insurmountable storage problems.

Gangsta Lean - limitlessly extendable, It's like System USM Haller for the street.

Its a few days old, but what with Easter, planning for Milan and the sunny weather we are little hinterher.

Over the Easter weekend US based online magazine Yanko Design announced the winners of its “Relax” contest.

Fluid Rocker by Nick Trincia (no producer)

First prize went to Nick Trincia for his/her “Fluid Rocker”.  Resembling the bizarre love child from an Eames plastic series A shell and a Panton Chair, “Fluid Rocker”is felt lined for both added comfort and to protect floor surfaces from the rocking action. For us a worthy winner. And who knows maybe one day Vitra will produce it.

Cloud Sofa by DK Wei (no producer)

Among the runners up we were especially impressed by “Cloud Sofa” from DK Wei. Not only does it resemble a cloud in form, but thanks to the wonders of magnetism it “floats”, unsupported, above the base. If it actually works and is as comfortable as it appears in the photos, is in all honesty of secondary importance to us. We find the concept fantastic.
All competition entries can be viewed here.