Metro40 by BMW Designworks

Posted on April 22, 2010April 22, 2010 Posted in Industrial DesignTagged bench, furniture, minimalism, modernism4 Comments

BMW Group DesignworksUSA, in collaboration with Landscape Forms, has designed Metro40, a stunning collection of site furniture for street-scapes and transit environments. The collection includes a shelter, trash receptacle, bench, bike rack, bollard, lights and poster display. The entire collection is brilliantly designed, but the piece that stands out for me is the bench.

The design is streamlined and simple and makes use of some fine materials. I personally love the sweeping curves and how the legs are one continues piece that form a part of the back and seat. I’m sure my butt would appreciate sitting on one of these.

Naoto Fukasawa

Posted on March 12, 2010March 12, 2010 Posted in Design, Industrial DesignTagged chair, Design, furniture, minimalism, MUJI, wood2 Comments

I’ve been obsessed with furniture design, specifically chair design, for some time now. My all-time favorite chair designer is none other than the brilliant Hans Wegner. If you’ve never heard of the name, you’ve probably seen one of his classic chairs.

Recently though, I’ve become obsessed with the chair designs of Naoto Fukasawa. Fukasawa is best known for his MUJI CD player, Plus Minus Zero Humidifier, and au/KDDI INFOBAR and Neon phones, all of which are part of MoMA’s permanent collection.

Since 2008, Fukasawa has designed a furniture series for Japanese company Maruni Collection for their Hiroshima line. The collection includes a dinning set and a living set, all constructed with beech and oak wood. The entire line is simply stunning, but what stands out for me are the small dining chairs pictured here. The simple, streamlined design, the mix of sharp and rounded edges and corners, along with the choice of wood make for a beautifully designed chair. Too bad it costs an arm and a leg or I’d fill up my apartment with them.

Dieter Rams

Posted on December 7, 2009September 10, 2010 Posted in Design, Design Legends, Events, Grid Systems, Industrial Design, MerchTagged Design, design legend, Events, grid system, Industrial Design, merchandise, minimalism, modernism, posters14 Comments

Image courtesy of September Industry.

Seems like there’s a ton of stuff going on around Dieter Rams and his legendary work.

There’s the “Less and More – The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams” exhibit at the Design Museum in London.

To coincide with the event, a book with the same name will be released by Gestalten this month which features all of Rams’ products as well as selected sketches and models. They also have a video interview with Rams on their website.

The excellent design agency Bibliotheque has created two stunning posters dedicated to Rams’ legacy. The first, which is pictured here, is titled “Dieter Rams’ Ten Principles” and features his ten principles for good design. They were commissioned by Vitsœ to create the poster, which is currently available on their site.

The second lovely poster they designed is titled “Dieter Rams T1000” and features an illustration of the Braun T1000 shortwave receiver. It will be screen printed and should be available this week.

And finally we have the retrospective book “BRAUN – Fifty Years of Design and Innovation” that celebrates 50 years of the Braun brand. The book is slated to be released in 2010 but you can pre-order it now through Amazon.

Wheew! That was a lot! Enjoy.

Dieter Rams Less and More

Posted on August 31, 2009September 10, 2010 Posted in Apple, Design, Design Legends, Industrial DesignTagged design legends, graphic design, Industrial Design, minimalism, modernism, simple6 Comments

dieter_rams

“Good design is as little design as possible.”

Damn right. Words to live by.

Dieter Rams is one of the most influential industrial designers of this past century. Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple, is heavily influenced by Rams’ work. You can see huge similarities between Apple and classic Braun products in their simplicity, beauty and function.

From November 18 – March 14, The Design Museum in London is having an exhibition titled “Dieter Rams Less and More“. The exhibition will showcase Rams’ inspiring designs for Braun and Vitsœ. I might have to head to London just to see this.

To satisfy your fix, here’s a short documentary of Rams, a Dieter Rams Flickr group and a Braun Flickr group showcasing the classic Braun designs.

The Lost Poster

Posted on August 13, 2009August 13, 2009 Posted in Design, Films, Grid Systems, Industrial Design, International Typographic Style, MerchTagged film, graphic design, helvetica, Industrial Design, letterpress, minimalism, modernism, poster, print6 Comments

objectified_poster

We’re all familiar with the silver Objectified poster, but Michael C. Place designed a second version with a white background and silver objects and black text that wasn’t used. It’s now being released as a limited edition letterpress, printed in metallic black and silver ink, on Crane’s Lettra 300gsm paper. Sounds like heaven.

It’s being printed by the awesome Brooklyn based Coeur Noir Letterpress, the same folks that printed the Helvetica poster and my son’s baptism invitation. They do stellar work.

Only 100 will be printed and you can grab one for $125.

The Future Distilled

Posted on July 21, 2009July 22, 2009 Posted in Design, Industrial Design, MerchTagged branding, Design, lifestyle, minimalism, products3 Comments

nooka fragrance

When it comes to lifestyle brands, there are two companies that stand out from the rest. One is Apple, the other is a small but awesome company called Nooka. I’ve written about them before and their excellent line of timepieces. The company was born in 1997 by artist and designer, Matthew Waldman.

Recently Matthew and his team launched a few new products that expand the brand and will change the way you think about other objects. The new products are a Nooka fragrance, Asset Organizer and Strip.

I had the pleasure of sampling the fragrance when I took a tour of the Nooka office and it smells great. The Asset Organizer is a system of containers much like a wallet and the Strip is a belt featuring an innovative snap and release closure system designed and developed by Nooka. What stands out the most from these products is their simplistic design and function and the innovative thinking behind each them. Nooka is slowing becoming my favorite brand and I look forward to future products.