It must be a very good month for Ryan and Tina Essmaker, the married duo behind the inspirational project named The Great Discontent. Their platform was launched as a digital publication focussing on the darker side of creativity; the risks, the failures and the disappointments everyone who creates has to deal with, which they last year translated to a great tactile printed publication. Funded through Kickstarter, and in a collaboration with designer Frank Chimero, who assisted with editorial design and art direction, the first issue of the printed quarterly magazine saw light in the Summer of 2014 and was received very positive. At the beginning of this month the beautiful second issue was officially launched and some weeks later it was announced that the TGD debut was totally sold out, underlining that the step taken by Ryan and Tina to fully focus on their platform was a great decision. The second printed issue, with singer Sharon van Etten on the cover, revolves around the theme of hustle and implores the reader to reconsider the idea of making it —both how we do it and how we define it— which proves to be another perfect angle for the honest and revealing stories by The Great Discontent. [ Continue reading ]
AMMA Studio is the label of New York City-based design duo Samuel Amoia and Fernando Mastrangelo, which they founded only last year. Introducing materials never before seen in furniture design like rock salt, sand, coffee, silica, pink and gray Himalayan salts, AMMA’s creations are at once geometric and organic, rough and smooth, earthy and elegant. More than utilitarian, AMMA tables, stools, benches and consoles are enduring objects that merge sculpture and design. Based on the East Coast, AMMA Studio emerged from a unique blend of sensibilities. Interior designer Samuel Amoia contributes a vision for design, color, texture and furniture, developed through his own commissions and experience working alongside the celebrated Stephen Sills. Sculptor Fernando Mastrangelo brings a conceptual use of materials and an original casting process, the result of years of artistic practice. Together, they have developed a visual language inspired by nature and geometry. We are blown away by the raw aesthetic their experiments with material have resulted in, making their creations some of the most interesting designs we've discovered recently. [ Continue reading ]
The Amsterdam-based Raymond Lemstra has been one of our favorite Dutch artists for some years now. The creatures he creates (mostly drawn) show his interest in distortion as a result of selective emphasis; parts of interest are emphasized, unimportant parts reduced or left out. His distinct characters therefore often come out big headed, with focus on the faces and the body trimmed to its essential properties, all marked with his personal style, tough often very different in specific form. As he has stated on his vision and aesthetic: "The contrast between my naive and at the same time sophisticated approach to my work gives it a somewhat awkward taste. It is a clash of intent, simultaneously assuming simplicity and complexity, randomness and reason, flaws and perfection." We've been following Raymond since the very beginning of Another Something & Co and feel extremely grateful to have collaborated with him during the first Our Current Obsessions. Having been this inspired by his work for all this time, we now ask him about his inspirations. [ Continue reading ]
During last year's London Design Festival, in the second collaboration with BMW group, British design duo Jay Osgerby & Edward Barbar created this incredible bespoke installation, the largest structure that they have ever created, for the annual event. The project named ‘Double Space' – Precision & Poetry of Motion— was an immersive experience constructed within the V&A museum‘s prestigious Raphael gallery that combines technical precision with poetic semantics. It was the British creatives’ intention to interpret the leitmotif of BMW’s design philosophy, ‘precision and poetry’, bringing forth an all-encompassing piece that merged technology and sensuality into a single experience. The kinetic installation is composed of two large reflectors, each composed of one flat wall of mirror and one curved surface, hovering over the 600 m² space where Raphael’s famous cartoons for his Sistine Chapel tapestries hang. The two shimmering volumes (each measuring 15 x 10 meters each) revolving on their own axis, either simultaneously or alternatively, collectively citing the monumental size of the Raphael gallery – "A place that cries out something great," according to Osgerby, with which we can only agree. [ Continue reading ]
On February 20th, the Palm Springs-based Modernism Week will present an incredible one-day only exhibition opening by photographer Tom Blachford, at the iconic Menrad Residence, which forms the latest installment series by the photographer's 'Midnight Modern' images. The new works are an extension of Blachford’s previous collection, capturing tremendous classic Palm Springs mid-century architecture in the surreal light of a full moon. Fittingly, the exhibition will take place inside one of Palm Spring’s most beautiful mid-century homes, the Alexander built Menrad Residence - the foremost mid-century construction company known for their homes built in the 1950’s and 60’s - which will be open for tours during the day, finishing with a cocktail party in the evening. The amazing images truly reveal the sharp lines of the beautiful mid-century buildings in a perfect color palette, showing the tremendous talent of Blachford. [ Continue reading ]
Yesterday marked a highly significant milestone in the 9 year history of our close friends online magazine Fontanel, after the release party on Friday evening at Mendo they officially released their very first printed publication: the definitive showcase of the best design talents who graduated in the Netherlands named 'Dutch Design Talents 14'. The 208-page hardcover book features 19 talents, agency visits, sharp columns and an inspirational dialogue with leading creatives on "the gap" between education and work. This first introduction to an international audience was elegantly designed by Rob van den Nieuwenhuizen (drawswords) and mainly resolves around the 19 talents graduated from renowned Dutch art schools like Eindhoven’s Design Academy, Amsterdam’s Rietveld and The Hague’s Royal Academy of the Arts, after which subsequently a narrative on the overal climate of the current dutch creative culture was formed. Each of the talents is remarkably distinct, one of them is for instance Bob Schiller, who created the EPO Bicycle which we wrote about last year. But despite all the differences in what they created and why, they all share something special in the eyes of Fontanel Chief-editor Willem van Roosmalen: "the combination of a promising attitude and unspoilt creative thinking." [ Continue reading ]
Inspired by the incredible flora of the British countryside, the London-based Laboratory Perfumes have been creating clean, pure and modern fragrances, evocative of nature since 2012. While the overall created aesthetic of the brand reflects a love of simplicity, the fragrances are extremely complex and have an evolutionary life on the skin, with elegant glass bottles and candle beaker echo the origins of the traditional perfumier’s laboratory. The original aim behind Laboratory Perfumes was to create a range of perfumes which evoke a strong sense of place, with all three of the original fragrances sharing an association with the English coast and surrounding countryside. If there would be a particular place, it could be the heritage coast of East Anglia, Pembrokeshire or maybe (but this is likely a more personal sentiment) even Ireland's Mourne Mountains. We love the nice touch of the laboratory beaker and scientific calibrations, which recreate the nostalgia of the science laboratory and result in an unexpected contrast between the fragrances inspired by nature and the laboratory. In our eyes this created a fascinating contrast in the perception of the beautiful products, with this year introducing an all new scent promising a lot for the future. [ Continue reading ]