Design Guide

During the Milan design week Rossana Orlandi's gallery always provides a haven for young fresh design, a place where you can see a lot of exploration in crafts, stories and materials. With the courtyard as a center point of discussion and relaxation this hotspot always remains a must see during the week. This video focusses on the massive amount of lighting products seen in this years' exhibition.

One of the most impressive installations of this years Milan design week was at Chiostro Minore di San Simpliciano in the heart of the city. The exhibition Minecraft15 presented some of the best contemporary artists and designers in an amazing setting created by Danish/Italian design studio GamFratesi who was also in charge of the curating. The floors of the cloister were covered with a reflective surface creating an ‘in between’ space which was this years’ theme. ‘We chose the theme “In Between” because it reflects the fact that Danish craftspeople and designers work in a field of tension in between mind and craft. This exhibition covers the full range of that span, including fully developed ideas, conceptual qualities and sublime artistic and technical accomplishments, coupled with a unique understanding of the materials,’ designguide.tv

This used to be everyone's favourite area of the Milan Design Week, Zona Tortona. But unfortunately due to the increased commercialism and the decline of the economy this place lost its critical eye for great design. Yet there are always a few highlights if you look hard enough. For instance this years' presentations by Moooi and Lasvit were some of the exceptions.

This collection at the Dutch Design Week 2014 is all about Cohesion, in the broadest terms of course. Finding that correlation between objects, surfaces, materials and dimensions. The idea of a 'product' was abandoned and instead they focussed one element, a layer. Think of it as an experiment to be used in a future product or project. The projects are spread across the room with a strong grid on the floor separating them, following the grid in a way as they divide the space. Some works play with the 3d space such as studio Mieke Meijers carefully suspended Frames & Volumes in an exploded view, a play of reflection and light absorption. The work of Daphna Laurens plays with optical depth perception, moire and light with their 'Flat Light' lamp shades while Thomas Vailly & Laura Lynn Jansen take a more subtle approach with optical layers showing tension in their object only when touching it. In any case as always there were plenty of interesting experiments to see in a beautifully crafted exhibition amidst the craziness of the Dutch Design Week, usually one of the highlights for seasoned visitors. Dutch Invertuals is a yearly changing collection of designers curated by Wendy Plomp. They present in their collections in their home town Eindhoven or during the Milan design week amongst places. In these specific curated and carefully crafted environments the designers to express their future experiments and explorations in material and shape within a very open theme. www.dutchinvertuals.nl

Modebelofte is a presentation of new fashion talents recently graduated from Dutch and international fashion institutions. Their experiments try to seduce us into their personal visions of the future of fashion. Most notable is the way it has been presented here, in its own little universe of suspended mannequins and dramatic lighting emphasising the silhouettes. This is the direct result of the partnership between visual designer Niek Pulles and experience designer Harm Rensink who were asked to design this exhibition.

Sandra Suubi was known on campus as the girl who collected trash for her art with an aim to create beauty from waste. During the workshop (held in English) as part of Age of Wonderland, an event which focuses on sustainable social change, Sandra will guide participants in making instruments from recycled materials. Participants of all ages are welcome to join, just remember to bring your own trash. Suggestions include hard plastic buckets, pipes and bottle caps, metal pots and cans, flexible panels, glass bottles, beads, buttons or whatever the would-be performer desires. Concluding the week will be a jam session where participants can showcase their instruments and performance skills in their own way in a public concert. The workshop highlights not only making and music, but resourcefulness, possibilities and co-creation. www.ageofwonderland.nl

Discarded plastic bags are spun into fine yarns and then woven into textiles, a technique Michelle Baggerman developed during her graduation period at the Design Academy Eindhoven. By collaborating with Mexican social design organisation Anudando, textile items are made from plastic bag yarn together with craftspeople from regional parts of Mexico who specialise in weaving, crochet and basket making. “The craftsmen we work with are extremely skilled and inventive,” tells Michelle. “By offering them a new material to work with, which can basically be collected from the streets, and taking a new perspective on the different products they make." more info on bureaubaggerman.nl anudando.com

Julia van Zanten decided to challenge the issue of the stigma related to incontinence, her inspiration, a family member who suddenly decided they didn't feel comfortable going on long walks with her. “Practical solutions exist in the form of adult diapers, but these do nothing to address the emotional side of this common problem” Julia created a washable textile underwear accompanied by washing elements and a campaign to bring awareness to the subject. The aim: to restore some dignity and a sense of security when leaving the home. Take a look and decide for yourself, is this something you'd rather wear then an adult diaper? Julia explains: “In the end it is not about the end product but the experience and conversation around its cycle of use leading to a change in perspective. Through this project I aim to provoke others to consider moments on the margins that could do with the same attention as our emphasis on designing chairs and lamps.”

Imperfect Design pairs Dutch designers with craftspeople in emerging countries to produce handcrafted lifestyle products. Since Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe’s first collaboration with Imperfect Design in 2011, it’s been nothing short of a commercial success for Cantel, their collection of striking recycled glass vases made by glass blowers in Guatemala. The range of colors being limited only by what is available, as the production uses only recycled glass. available for purchase on www.imperfectdesign.eu

In this series of short looks at the Milan design week 2014 we take a look at the key events happening in the inner city of Milan and the Brera District. Ecal took a different approach to the home automation trend. By taking on the subject with a bit of humor it's easy to realise how many solutions simply don't make much sense yet. The impressive thing is though that all the projects presented were fully functional such as the floating hand awaiting to open up the curtains for you, a willing spoon to follow your cup of coffee around and humming fruits combining taste and sound. The new collection of Hay was also a favourite amongst visitors and journalists, bringing good design and making it accessible to a wider audience. And 2014 also marked the return of Maarten Baas to the Milan design week as well with his 'Baas is in town' show.

A short compilation of what we saw during the NYCxDesign opening night. Most locations were conveniently located around the Soho area and this video gives a glimpse of what is currently going on in the American design scene. Unfortunately the idea that 'high end' design should be made with materials such as copper, bronze, glass and shaped geometrically still is in the minds of the designers on this side of the pond. Is this because the 'market' demands it or a result of schooling? One thing can't be denied, the annual design week has definitely grown and matured in the last few years. This video features works and exhibits by Decode, Knauf and Brown, IntroNY, ByAMT, RWB, TokyoBike, Lindsey Adelman, Monumental Moonmilk, Jenny Nordberg, Future Perfect, designjunction, sight unseen, l'arcobaleno, fab, Rosi, Li, Huy Bui, Moving Mountains, Amma studio, vitsoe, GT2P, Max Lamb. Music: Midori by Beat Culture

This is the third video in our special Nacho Carbonell series featuring his latest projects. Inspired by Italo Calvino ’s masterpiece ” The Invisible Cities ”, Nacho constructed a stylised village that hides within it a mechanism that is archaic and mysterious. At the opposite end of the 'village' there is a glass block composed of several layers of geological sections which represent the months of the year in turn facing the village. At regular intervals the village suddenly shoots against the glass block destroying it slowly, layer by layer, bullet for bullet, creating a cycle of continuous transformation showing the influence of human nature in our landscape. More information on nachocarbonell.com

Steven Learner walks us through Collective 2, Design Fair in New York. Collective is a unique fair in that it focusses solely on collecting design, something strangely missing in the long list of New York City fairs. The combined exhibitions of the Design Academy Eindhoven and Hella Jongerius were welcome as they bring a broader perspective to the whole. But also the variety of galleries enabled visitors to see both current, past and future trends in furniture design. More information on collectivedesignfair.com Music: CHLLNGR "Datter" (creative commons sharealike3.0) Video: Designguide.tv

This video takes a look at the process behind producing one of Kustaa Saksi's Hypnopompic rugs at the Textiel Museum in Tilburg. Saksi realised ‘Hypnopompic’; a series of eight vivid large-scale tapestries. Hypnopompic means the dreamlike state of consciousness filled with illusions that can occur between waking and sleeping. The brightly coloured pieces combine recognisable creatures and organic designs with surreal visualisations. A wide range of natural and synthetic materials, from viscose, lurex and metallic yarns, to alpaca wool and mohair, add extra depth. The wall hangings on display have all been developed and produced in the TextielLab. textielmuseum.nl

Every year the IMM cologne fair picks their best up and coming designers for the D3 Contest. We take a look at our personal favourite designers selected as well as some of the winners of the 2014 contest.

A tour of our favourite galleries and artists from the Design Miami 2013 show. Featuring Formlessfinder, Humans since 1982, Jon Stam, Julien Carretero, Guilherme Torres, Simon Heijdens, Nao Tamura, Wonderglass, Tahar Chemirik, Nacho Carbonell, Djim Berger, BSL, BCXSY, Wonmin Park, Nika Zupanc, Rossana Orlandi, Gijs Bakker, Reinier Bosch, Dominic Harris, Stuart Haygarth, Carpenters Workshop, Campana brothers, Studio Job, Maarten Baas, rAndom international.

OBJECT is an art fair in Rotterdam presenting limited edition pieces in design, art and fashion. The location of this years' event was the "Rotterdam", a new building by architectural firm OMA (Rem Koolhaas). Visitors could wander through the vacant apartments on the 30th floor and see the design labels combined with the spectacular views of the city. Featuring the works of: Kranen / Gille, rENs, Prooff, Makkink & Bey, Functionals, Beeldenstorm, EKWC, House of Ababa, Lex Pott. www.objectrotterdam.nl

Das Haus – interiors on stage is the simulation of a home at the IMM 2014. Every year a designer is invited to create a their vision of a home according to their personality. Louise Campbell created a structure of two overlapping barns with a footprint of 240 m2 and made of wooden beams, larch shingles and many different fabrics. She designed “Das Haus” as a home “for him and her, for slow and fast, soft and hard, light and dark, colour and material, British and Scandinavian – with a tranquil space in the middle where everything fits together with some quirks, but no conflicts. And in this case, “him and her” doesn’t just mean male and female, but the masculine and feminine side within each and every one of us.

The High Line is a public park built on a 1.45-mile-long elevated rail structure running from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street on Manhattan's West Side. The High Line used to be a freight rail line, in operation from 1934 to 1980. It carried meat to the meatpacking district, agricultural goods to the factories and warehouses of the industrial West Side, and mail to the Post Office. The High Line design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Operations (Project Lead), Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and planting designer Piet Oudolf.

Two Landlords and two Ladies, plus a magnificent Mansion have created an Exhibition that opens up a dialogue between past and present trends. Like one would do with a flower composition, 16 artists display their pieces in an untouched environment of blissful past beauty developed over the centuries by a generous family who later wished to share their home with everyone.

Dirk van der Kooij collaborated with A. Raymond to create a new modular system with which you can create objects from a chair to a lighting system. www.dirkvanderkooij.nl www.design-museum.de

Wieki Somers and Rafael Mutter created this chocolate slicer, inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s chocolate grinder. Each block of chocolate weighs over 100 kg, and when thinly sliced they reveal patterns in the form of African bobo (cocoa pickers believe they have special powers for a good harvest) masks

Formfantasma takes a closer look at charcoal, it's ancient uses, the good and bad properties of the material. For this they created a number of experiments in the confrontations series together with charcoal burner Doris Wicki, one of the last artisans who still produce vegetable charcoal through slow combustion of wood. This project is part of the confrontations series held in the Vitra Design museum.

2012Architecten were invited to design and build with the almost perfect production waste from Vitra Factory.

For this project Lucas used a synthesized version of his parents' DNA to visualize a crystal, in a way creating a new piece with his origins. Lobmeyer then produced 1100 handmade reproductions of this crystal and Lucas' had his parents construct a chandelier out of them during a live performance at the Vitra design museum at art Basel 2012. more info on the exhibition on designmuseum.de and www.premsela.org for the project

One of the many brands launched this year in Milan is New Duivendrecht. Founded by Frederik Roijé and Victor le Noble, the brand is a manufacturer of contemporary furniture by Dutch designers. The main goal being to make high quality products which are both sustainable as well as innovative. All of the pieces are produced locally in the Netherlands. www.newduivendrecht.com

Presented during the Milan design week 2012, ‘Contemporary perspectives in Middle Eastern Crafts’ explores a new realm in design. Expanding on traditional crafts with the input of a new generation of contemporary designers. Specialized techniques by artisans from the Middle East were re-imagined to create new works for the exhibition. www.carwangallery.com

Louise and Jean-Baptiste started this new furniture and lighting company. It produces all products in Europe in human-sized factories. These design enthusiasts aim to show what their vision is of French design while keeping the products more warm and towards uninhibited luxury instead of cold and conceptual. Not all designs are made by the French as they have sought out great talented designers throughout the world to develop products for them, ranging from Italy, the Netherlands to Israel and the US. lachance.fr

By conducting research and experiments the Invertuals have transposed the theme of vulnerability onto contemporary designs. Balance, delicacy, curiosity and transience were sources of inspiration. “Almost unnoticed we have shaped a society without danger. Nevertheless things happen to us we can’t control. ‘Untouchables Retouched’ is a visual dialogue about re-balancing and re-valuating the beauty of vulnerability.” Dutch Invertuals is a collective of individual designers who are always in search of the limits of their profession. They present pieces that reflect their contemporary viewpoints in images, objects, materials, insights and stories. Participants: Daphna Laurens, Edhv, Mieke Meijer, Raw Color, Jetske Visser, Jeroen Wand, Maurizio Montalti, Kirstie van Noort, Susana Camara & Mike Thompson, Adrien Petrucci, Paul Heijnen.

Inspired by the four classical elements, earth, air, fire and water, Nacho Carbonell has incorporated subtle references to these through the design of his hand made lightbulb. In an ingenious way, water in the bulb creates a sea-like light reflection from the light source, (the representation of fire) into the environment where the bulb is placed. Additionally, the user can interact with the lightbulbs size by pumping air into the lightbulb, another reference to an element. This in turn changes the reflection of the water in the bulb. Be it by inflating or by pouring, hanging or floating, this lightbulb demands from us that we play with it and define how we would like to use it, and always with subtle references to the earth, air, fire and water.

Karimoku new standard collaborates with emerging international designers focussing on high quality craftsmenship combined with contempory design. The products are predominantly made of solid Japanese hardwoods such as maple, chestnut and oak. The collection was presented in a 100 year old aparatment in Milan during the salone di mobile 2012. In addition to existing products, 9 prototypes were also exhibited. Designers like Scholten & Baijings, Big game, Sylvain willenz, Lucien Gumy and the Karimoku design team were shown in the 4 rooms of this apartment. more info on karimoku-newstandard.jp

The organic reference is explicit on the light designed by Studio Formafantasma which looks as if a traditional bulb has been stopped in the process of transforming into a leaf. Unusually asymmetrical the light is meant to be use as a single piece or as a flock of glowing leafs. With the limited edition the organic world is not anymore only a formal reference. As a continuation of the previous work of the studio ‘Botanica’, the vessel of the bulb is produced with a 19th century material re-developed by Formafantasma composed by a polymer extracted from insect excrement that colonize trees mixed with wood powder. more info on booo.nl video by designguide.tv music: "Night Owl" by Broke For Free (brokeforfree.com/)

Blub – the name is as distinctive as Pieke Bergmans’s lighting objects themselves. A new population of rudimentary creatures with their own distinctive character seems suddenly – blub! – to take over the room. Bergmans’s clever work seems to have been created in passing, by intuition and on impulse, while in reality it is the result of keen observation and structured experimentation.

Rogier van der Heide is a lighting designer whose creativity knows no bounds. Working in partnership with others, he achieves breathtaking results. His luminous costumes stole the show at the Black Eyed Peas’ Paris concert, and his lighting added an extra dimension to Zaha Hadid’s Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi. Van der Heide makes use of the latest techniques, but always in a subtle manner and in combination with craftsmanship and a fine sense of design.

Piet Hein Eek’s new production location, which he calls “the factory”, manifests his intention not only to design and produce objects but to give the whole trajectory a characteristic public dimension. With his ability to direct the design process all the way from the germ of an idea through the encounter between product and user while providing it with a context, Eek occupies a unique position in the Netherlands. The factory is Eek’s ultimate design to date.

The atelier, the shop and the closet: within this magic triangle, Van Heist seeks and finds fashion’s nuances. Hellofashion is an ongoing investigation into the ideal wardrobe, which Van Heist conducts in her own eccentric yet well-founded way. Introspection, playfulness and evolution combine to result in a highly successful total design from the heart. This fashion collection for all seasons radiates fun and virtuosity.

The Microscopic Opera installation makes minuscule organisms visible and gives each one its own sound. It's a marvelous example of an exciting collaboration between science, design and art. The work allows the viewer/listener to enter the living environment of microscopic worms. Munnik renders the invisible visible and poses questions about how we engage with the natural world and about our position as human beings.

Hans Gremmen’s books and projects are compelling because of their keen sense of contemporary developments in photography. For instance, he made The Mother Road, a film about Route 66, out of a sequence of Google Street View images. Gremmen’s designs are of a high quality, clear and effective. He is continuing the Dutch tradition of the photo book but taking it a step further.

Ester van de Wiel has expanded the notion of the designer’s role by setting herself up as a project initiator and curator. On the basis of extensive preliminary studies, she designs frameworks for interventions in public space and invites designers and artists to respond within their parameters. Through this method of working, she inhabits an in-between position as a designer and creates space for an essential deepening of the design profession.

For years, Waag Society has been the chief proponent of open design in the Netherlands. The organisation plays a pioneering role, identifying, studying and fostering possibilities by initiating projects such as the Open Design Lab and making possible places like Fablab Amsterdam and the Dialogue Café. Waag Society helps people to imagine new possibilities in design, manufacturing and the use of objects. Sharing information and data means sharing culture. Open design is the future!

The TouchDoc Money & Speed is the first iPad documentary to make complex processes and data understandable in a cogent way. Its interface design is effective and gives users a new way of exploring information. Catalogtree has not only done pioneering work but has set a high bar for future TouchDocs with this design.

Bart Hess is a designer for tomorrow. He combines fashion, textiles, video art and photography in a surrealist manner. A bit of plastic begins to move, and watery slime becomes the fabric of a dress for Lady Gaga. With his fascination for the human body and the manipulation thereof, Hess influences other designers and pushes the boundaries of the textile design profession.

During his childhood in Afghanistan, Massoud Hassani would make toys to be blown by the wind. Sometimes they would end up in a minefield, where he could not retrieve them. Now Massoud’s wind-powered creations are re-designed specifically for clearing minefields.

Overview video of the main exhibition hall at the DMY Festival 2011 held earlier this year. Includes works by ESAD de Strasbourg, Lund university, Manufactory, Platform 10 of the RCA, Yiannis Ghikas, Eva Marguerre and Marcel Besau, DMY Makerlab, Fabien Dumas, Ett la Benn, E27. www.dmy-berlin.com

In her ‘Species’ knitted collection, Nanna van Blaaderen allowed herself to be guided by the idea of offering an alternative for animal skins as a fashion and interior product. Fascinated by the beauty and diversity of the animal kingdom, she designed a series of knitted fabrics that represent the coats and markings of various animal species in their three-dimensional tactility and textures. She drew inspiration from images of animals and animal skins. She elaborated her ideas for the ‘Jaguar’, ‘Zebra’, ‘Cat’, ‘Zebra back’, Giraffe’ and ‘Scale’ knits at the machine.

Borre Akkersdijk, who graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven last year, worked in the TextielLab to produce knitted textiles that are padded with a filler thread. The result is a range of ‘stuffed’ garments, including trousers, a parka, a cape and a jacket. When the pattern components emerge from the machine they are ready-made. The fabric’s patterns are derived from an old kilim, which had belonged to a favourite aunt who recently died. This rug was woven by hand, so it exhibits crooked lines, irregularities and the marks of age, features that Borre imitated in the digital conversion. It is like his personal signature in an otherwise industrial product. Borre Akkersdijk experimented with the production of thickly padded knits on the large circular knitting machine in the TextielLab. The machine was specially fitted with so-called padding mangle for this project, making it possible to produce knits that are padded out with filler threads. The investigation focused on the knitting of lengths of cloth in which the pattern components are filled out. The edges of each section remain attached, so the padding remains inside when the pattern components are cut from the base. Finishing is no longer necessary. The first test, with just a sleeve, pointed in the right direction immediately. He then carried out colour tests on the actual pattern, a hand-drawn kilim motif. How do the colours mix together and to what extent must they vary and follow the pattern? He eventually decided to knit the garments in colour mixes, because this renders the fabric more lively and exciting. More info on the artist: www.byborre.com The exhibition can be seen until September 2011.www.textielmuseum.nl

Bertjan Pot presents his new tablecloths today for the textile museum in Tilburg. Designguide.tv was commissioned to make this ‘making of’ movie of his project ‘Font of the loom’ which takes us through his process of designing a typeface that could be weaved with pixel precise fabric bonds. Bertjan chose to use a series of texts downloaded from wikipedia and used those to weave the tablecloths with. At first view the tablecloths look a little mundane but when you look closer you’ll see biographies of Michael Jackson or a detailed description of what a Haiku is. The most important thing is, according to Bertjan, not the content of the texts but the actual letter and with this project he tries to bring across the beauty of typography with technical precision. textielmuseum.nl

A rare look into the process of setting up an exhibition, something thats usually not done until a few hours before opening up to the public. Atelierdorp is an unconventional and almost incidental collective of designers who feel united by design. For the second year in a row, the young designers present a group exhibition of their personal work. As they have moved their studios to a new location in the centre of Eindhoven, they invite you to have a closer look at their work and the place where it has been created. Atelierdorp opens its doors. In their new headquarters, Atelierdorp shows how different styles can co-exist without conflict, how multiple identities grow and how a community proves its importance in a world ruled by the individual.

Formafantasma was recently commissioned by Plart, to create their own interpretation of the polymeric materials. As many of our daily objects come from oil/plastic they will remain relevant as we move forward to alternatives. Andrea and Simone take a closer look into the history of polymers which goes back centuries in the forms of resins and other methods of preserving. Botanica is the resulting project, the objects displayed in the collection are designed as if the oil- based era, in which we are living, never took place. The designers researched and hunted for information, digging into the 18th and 19th centuries, when scientists began experimenting draining plants and animals in search for plasticity. With botanica, studio formafantasma offers a new perspective on plasticity, reinterpreting centuries old technology lost in mass production of oil derivatives. more information on www.formafantasma.com

Achille is watching us is a self-initiated project brought to you by Matylda Krzykowski from the personal design blog Mat&Me and Marco Gabriele Lorusso from creative collective Made in Design Studio. The Achille is watching us exhibition, a presentation of personal objects from various international designers.