Bike Furniture

This amazing querky furniture has been made entirely from recyled (pardon the pun) bikes, from handle bars to tyres. The primary designer for this range Andy Gregg was inspired by his work on bikes and in bike shops. The furniture created is marketed as contemporary and comfortable, and would certainly be a statement piece in any living room. I love the way a passion for bikes can be turned into furniture, two seemingly totally different areas. It shows that a good designer can create something really interesting design wise for something everyday. The key to these designs is the designers love of the objects in the first place.

Coat Hanger Dinosaurs

The current window display at Harvey Nichols in Leeds really distracts fro the rest of the windows in the city centre, making the efforts of the likes of Topshop and Debenhams look dim by comparison. I love the way that the traditional wooden coat hanger has been used to create the enormous and complex displays. I feel that this these displays sum up the store well, with the traditional department store being represented by the standard wooden hanger while the modern and intriguing designs created hint at the chic layout and luxurious products inside. Harvey Nichols often use interesting and unusual concepts for their displays, far more interesting than the standard clothes on manikins that other stores offer. It shows that displaying everything in store may not be the best way to sell. Instead they hint seductively at products which are surrounded by intriguing design. I am really looking forward to seeing what they produce for the Christmas season.

Shoulder pads...Should we have left them in the 80's?

Recently shoulder pads have been sauntering up and down catwalks around the world, and are tipped to be a must have in every girls autumn/winter collection. But is this just societies cry for vintage...are we looking past the fashion mistakes of the 1980's? Why do designers bring back trends which, lets face it, unless you have the body of Kate Moss, look pretty horrendous and often stupid on us mere mortal women? Just because something has been done sucesfully before does not mean we need to recreate it, or that it will work with a modern twist.

I am all for vintage, the luxurious feel, the glamour. But these things are evokes by the 1920's classic cuts, the makeup of the 1940's. Personally I don't feel that the 1980's has that glamourous edge. Should designers have left the 80's well enough alone? It could be argued that leggings have made an unbeliveable comeback, and who saw that coming? And it is true that celebrities such as Lady GaGa have become the embodiment of the 80's. Though, yes, she often looks crazy and I would be shocked if anybody walked into a lecture looking like that. Vaintage chic? yes. Re-embodied fashion disasters? No. I certainly will be missing out on this particular must have.

However if I do get shoulder envy I could always did my mothers out of the attic...

British Design...Stamp size.

I recently recieved a letter, and it was the stamp which caught my attention. I did a bit of internet digging and found that it belonged to a collection of stamps released by the Royal Mail in January this year featuring British design classics. The stamps commemorate ten different icons of British design, giving a nostalgic and patriotic overview of Britain, both stereotypical (the bus and the mini) and innovative and fresh ( the chair and Concorde). Most of these designs originate mainly from the 1930's and 1960's, this is perhaps because a design can not become an instant classic, and these certainly stand the test of time. I love the nostalgic feel of these stamps, and it certainly makes you reflect on what classic design might consist of, and what makes it stand out. I also love the way a country can be summed up quite sucsincley in 10 images, imagine the list they started out with. It leaves my wondering how simple images could sum up other things, the area I live in, my favorite place, my friends, my life? This seems like an interesting way to look at things,10 images to create a country. I can say I have never been a stamp collector before, but these might be worth the £4.40

Obama...a joke?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/aug/05/obama-as-joker-poster

Posters of Obama with the jokers face (form Batman), in particular Heath Ledgers latest creepiest version have recently been plastered around Los Angeles and other parts of America. Using street art as their medium the widely unknown ‘artists’ have chosen to attack Barrack Obama. This is a wise use of the medium and directly conflicts with the street art by Shepard Fairey which was widely popular during Obama’s election campaign. This, no matter what the agenda of the people who created this, is a striking image. This is because of the juxtaposing images places directly on top of each other. Firstly Obama, whose images, mainly due to his election campaign represent something strong, powerful, reliable and safe. Secondly, the joker’s face, associated with menace, chaos and fear. By superimposing one on top of another we are asked to question each image, for what we really know of it, in this case Obama. Though this image does not seem strong enough to combat the iconic status that Fairey’s image has propelled Obama to, and the general public of America still on the whole idolise their new president.

The guardian, accuses this image of being racist, minstrel like, though in reverse. And though I can see the connection in the visual styles I feel this is more of a political attack, through a cleverly used medium, though perhaps with a rather crude image.

Wacker Eins

Wacker Eins is a Berlin based illustration team which specialises in fashion illustration, they often sell their illustrations to advertising companies and fashion/lifestyle magazines. For example they were recently commissioned with outdoor advertising for the “spring” campaign for one of Berlins most successful shopping centres, this was particularly interesting to me considering my last project for university, where the brief was focused around outdoor advertising. The sketchy hand rendered style of their illustration gives both a fashionable and relatable touch to designs. The designs are also contemporary and hidden detail is often inserted, such as the flies on the dress of the illustration above. This gives a deeper meaning to the images and makes you question their true meaning, whether there can be true beauty without a little ugliness, even if it is well hidden.