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makes me smile

for now

By makes me smile

I’ll have to wait…
I’ll come down

After a hectic, fun month and a lot more exciting stuff is about to happen. The styling and photography of Lab 71 with its calming, soothing fairytale atmosphere is the eyecandy that’s perfect for today. A little peace and quiet time. It’s so nice to walk through Frieda Mellemas’ world. A world that brings her contemplations and daydreams alive into touchable, striking images.

showstopper

By makes me smile

Wow, what a suprise that was. The‘Vlisco Unfolded’ exibition at the Dutch Design Week 2013. Finally I really attended for the first time the DDW. I was able to join the DDWbloggerstour. So glad that Ulrike sent her invitation! Besides the fact it was organised so really well by Ulrike Jurklies, Willemijn de Wit and Jasmijn van Weenen; that it was a fun day out whith a bunch of bloggers; that they set-up a great tour with designer meets-and-greats, fun mini-rides and hidden places.

I never, ever would have put Vlisco on my to see list. And what was there not to like! The displays, the fabrics, the history of the company and their stories, the colours, a sneek-peek of their production process and their information brochure on a roll. Loved that ‘brochure’-concept. But what else to expect of a graphic designer…

craft, colour and cups

By makes me smile

Love the ceramics designed by Alissa and Nienke. The thing I like most about these cups is the soft blended color tones on which they state on their website:

‘We love crafts, colors and cups. This is coming together in a material experiment with pigment and porcelain; a research about the flowing of colors through liquid porcelain, resulting in a series of handmade and unique objects. Our cups might be messy, might be fixed, can be colorful or subtle, but are always created by the blending of the colored porcelain. The technique of pouring becomes visible in the final product and the moment of creation is frozen in the appearance of the cup. By following the colored patterns you discover the movements we made and get an insight in the process.’

It was so awesome to see this process live on show in the workshop of the VTwonen ‘Barn’ at the Woonbeurs 2013.

soft

By makes me smile

This years ‘Woonbeurs Pin 2013’ has been won by the TextielLab of the TextielMuseum in Tilburg. During the Woonbeurs this award is annually given to a person or organization that has an added value to the Dutch Interior world. The TextielLab presented itself last week on the Woonbeurs with a beautiful stand.

The TextielMuseum nominated Lenneke Langenhuijsen for the Young Talent Pin 2013. She was awarded for being a shining example of a designer who is willing to do in-depth research to historical sources, yarnes, techniques and contexts.

The project that was on show at the Woonbeurs is her ‘Combed Cotton‘ collection of blankets commissioned by the TextielMuseum. The industrial heritage of the famous Tilburg woolen blanket factory formed the starting point for a series of cotton blankets. Her research into the unique potential and characteristic of cotton ensured her to develop a silky cotton yarn that was ingeniously woven into blankets on looms of the TextielLab.

numbers

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What a great mix this combo of sports and typography. Together in this book ‘Footballtype’ designed and published by Face37 founder Rick Banks and co-authored by writer Sheridan Bird. ‘Football type is a non profit book celebrating football and typography. The book is a limited edition of 1000 with each cover hand numbered using official FAPL lettering. 100% of profits from the sale of the book will go to the UK charity Football Foundation. Football Type traces the history and development of type in football, from the hand stitched numbers used in the 1930s to custom fonts created for major clubs and sports brands today.’ And ooh, that Barca type… just love it.

via CreativeReview

straying

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‘Neither Here Nor There’, is another intruiging title behind yet again another striking product. This monograph by Oliver Jeffers shows his impressive fine art which is a different side to his well-known charming children’s illustrations and the best children’s picturebooks around.

‘Neither Here Nor There’ shows his interests and concerns in a direct way. As stated over at It’s Nice That; ”I’m intrigued by the world around me and feel compelled to both capture it and ask questions of it through my work. Sometimes this is in the form of questions, sometimes in the form of stories. Sometimes my picture books are stories, and my paintings are questions. Sometimes it’s the other way around.”

Want to know more; read the whole interview here and watch his fun author film over here. Whoo – do I admire this guy, and isn’t this book wishlisted (published by the Gestalten)

Images by Oliver Jeffers

reverse

By love a true story, makes me smile

As I’m always into the story behind a striking product, this one sure fits right in. And this intruinging title ‘absence of presence’ really helps. Various printing techniques in a white colour were printed onto the first silkscreened layer in black, and leading to a striking result of 17 different layers with different structures and surfaces. The starting point of this project was to reverse the printing process and examine the effect on the different techniques. The black basic images refer to the title; they are the line when something absent or present is approached.

Design and images of ‘Absence of Presence’ are by Raw Color.