TASK LIGHTING

Writer: Paul Taylor

Flicking through a fashion magazine the other day, I found myself noticing how the models were using their limbs to great effect, creating awkward angles that produced stunning poses. Making me turn my attention across the room towards my trusty old Anglepoise desk lamp, it made me realise that all this time I had been harbouring a model capable of these poses, without ever acknowledging just how beautiful a product the Anglepoise was. It looks so elegant, statuesque as a flamingo and graceful as a swan, it is hard to believe that an automotive engineer, George Carwardine, designed this iconic British design classic desired by many.

ON THE CATWALK

Writer: Paul Taylor

As the lights go out and the whole room turns to darkness, an electro funk beat emerges from the sound system, causing vibrations to bellow up through the ground and seep into my body. A single beam of light cuts through the artificial-smoke-filled air shooting down to the far side of the catwalk. I begin to get goose bumps knowing the show is about to start. This isn’t any normal catwalk though; it looks like a blinged-up airport luggage conveyor, with each segment moving in unison to the music.

First design to hit the runway is the Socialising Sofa by Ditte Hammerstrøm; the fabric is exceptional and the detailing exquisite and wonderfully precise. Random sewn sections create wrinkle-like patterns to great effect, a sign that these sofas don’t use Botox, and rightly so. Hammerstrøm’s second piece, Loungescape, now graces the runway with beautiful insect qualities for the leg detailing, whilst ribbon and buttons complete the high-end look to dress these “top model” stools. Hammerstrøm certainly shows that fashion strongly influences her designs; the upholstery and fashion detailing her products are truly stunning and prove that fashion design doesn’t have to just dress human models.

RED CEDAR SCULPTURE IN LONDON

Writer: Tuija Seipell

My life was connected to both Canada and trees long before I knew either existed. My parents named me Tuija in Finland, a country known for trees, forestry, and wooden furniture, where Canadian Tuija is the name of a hedge-like version of the Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata in Latin). I remember it mostly as a dense, bright-green bush, flanking the thick natural-stone walls of old Finnish cemeteries, an evergreen and the Tree of Life to boot. Many years later, I chose to move to Canada, and eventually to the West Coast, the home of the Western Red Cedar.

PRODUCT DESIGNERS OF THE FUTURE PART II

Writer: Paul Taylor

Three designers who are breaking away from the “normal” approach to design are Tom Gyr, Lil Yates, and Philip John Luscombe. Not content with following the crowd and just creating nice pieces, these three are proving that you can be crazier than Britney Spears with hair clippers and still create beautiful and intriguing products with a story behind them.

Product Designer Lil Yates looked towards OCD suffers when designing her latest collection made up of Checking Dice, Checking Stamp, and Symmetry Card. I’m not entirely sure her Checking Dice, designed to aid and reduce any stress suffered by OCD patients, met the needs of her brief. Inspired by cult book The Dice Man, Lil’s dice have been created to show tasks the OCD sufferer must perform, such as check the oven, while the second and third dice determine how many times the task must be completed. Does this help or hinder an OCD sufferer though? Does it add yet more things to be performed every day or control what has to be done? If the dice do fail the brief and in fact don’t help reduce stress, then they are, in effect, about as useful as an inflatable dartboard. I actually love these products as nice things, however, and believe that they show Lil has earned her place as one to watch in the design product world.

BRUCE MOZERT: UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER

Writer: Gracie Leavitt

Likely it is fair that we suspect most photographers carry on long love affairs with their cameras. Bruce Mozert, though, cared only to trick his. And by devious theatricality, great art was served.

With his coal-hauling business in Scranton spoiled by floods, Bruce joined his sis in the big city, where she introduced him to photographer Victor DePalma of LIFE Magazine. Suddenly Bruce’s course was redirected with a pledge to the image, and he took up an apprenticeship with DePalma. When it was discovered that the novice had real talent, he was sent out on assignment, covering beauty pageants, sporting events, even the Hindenburg disaster.