Summer Yard Sale

As an aspiring designer, I find it heartening to see other creative-types emerging from their studios and actively creating opportunities to engage the wider public. In Krakow, they seem to be doing a great job of it. Similar to Targi Dizajnu, which I posted about a little while back, Yard Sale Cracow is organized 4 times a year by local artists to show and sell the fruits of their labor amidst a laid-back atmosphere complete with music, food and drinks.

This year's summer edition of Yard Sale Cracow was held in the outdoor courtyard of Betel Klub. Thanks to facebook, I did a better job identifying all the artists whose work is pictured, so you can check out their online stores too.

Some humorous decor by GarazShop

Wallets, pouches by Mybag and custom gear for your bike by Distanz Bikes

How cool (and patriotic) is this bike?

More waterproof accessories for your bike  /  Lego accessories for your self by Agabag

Pretty hand-painted cups by Magda Barcik, and coinpurses by Maua in the background

Colorful dolls and a whale-print tote by Miszko Maszko

Meanwhile, the bright colors and playfulness seemed to spill out onto the square (Plac Szczepański)...

Some hip rides

The obvious place to cool off

All images taken by me - Copyright 2012 CozyCity. Please cite if borrowed.

I wasn't able to identify all of the products shown in my photos. If you see your product, please let me know so I can tag you.

Design Crush : Nendo

Nendo is just the kind of design firm that I imagine must be loads of fun to work in. A combination of high productivity, creativity, simplicity, curiosity, and humor - all things that should be on any good designer's checklist.

Their mission statement speaks for itself:

     Giving people a small " ! " moment.
    There are so many small " ! " moments hidden in our everyday.

    But we don’t recognize them.
    and even when we do recognize them,we tend to unconsciously reset our
    minds and forget what we’ve seen.

    But we believe these small " ! " moments are what make our days so
    interesting, so rich.

    That’s why we want to reconstitute the everyday by collecting and
    reshaping them into something that’s easy to understand.

    We’d like the people who’ve encountered nendo’s designs to feel these
    small " ! " moments intuitively.

    That’s nendo’s job. 

And a well-done job it is turning out to be. Besides capturing those amusing " ! " moments, Nendo is also taking advantage of modern technologies and materials in interesting ways. Honestly, I had too much fun sifting through their various works, and it's hard to choose just a few favorites. Commencing hodgepodge of furniture, housewares, gadgets, interiors and exhibitions (really, there's quite a lot to choose from):

Clockwise from top left: maki lamp for Foscarini, press lamp for Lasvit, transparent lamp made with sight-protective film

dancing squares private exhibition

zabuton chair for Morosco, reinterpreting the form of a japanese futon mattress

notescape for Moleskine / dress-up vases / laquered paper 3D printed bowls

top-tea set with lid shaped to condense steam back into cup (lid toubles as spinning top)

oppopet wireless mouse for Elecom

data hook for Elecom / data clip for Elecom

hirata no boshi exhibition for work of milliner Hirata Akio

space design for Established&Sons @LDF exhibition, inspired by london fog

Interior design for Puma House Tokyo

Woodblock and Linocut

Inspired by a recent visit to Krakow's Manngha Center for Japanese Art, I've been looking into woodcut and linocut printing techniques. The Manngha Center has a beautiful collection of original woodblock prints by both Hokusai and Hiroshige, two of Japan's most celebrated artists from the late 1700 / early 1800's. The center also hosts fun cultural and artistic workshops for all ages (during our visit we discovered a fantastic playroom hidden away in the basement).

It was my first time seeing an exhibition of woodblock artwork, and there were two things in particular that made an impression (pun intended). The first was the expressiveness of the tiny people portrayed in Hokusai's prints, how lively and dynamic they appeared. The second was Hiroshige's ability to evoke a mood in his prints based on weather conditions. A common motif in many of their prints is the ever-looming Mt. Fuji.

Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai

Hiroshige Ando

Each of these prints required multiple blocks (one for each color) to be carved with intricate precision.  
Printing with woodblock or linocut is limited to simple lines and limited tones, resulting in a textured graphic quality that's unique to the method - using wood instead of linoleum also adds the texture of the grain. Once the block is cut, it can produce hundreds of original copies. Modern prints are just as enticing, an affordable form of decorative artwork.

 Prints by Magprint  1 | 2 on a moleskin notebook

Clockwise from left: prints by Sadanobu, and thebigharumph 1, 2

Animal prints by annasee 1 | 2

Color Blocking in Warsaw

I'm kicking off my coverage of Polish design with the fun, catchy interiors of MiTo: a cafe/bookstore/bistro/lounge/gallery/(whatever you want it to be, really) space located in the Mokotowie district of Warsaw.  

For a relatively small footprint, I'm impressed that they've fit in so many functions plus a wide assortment of seating options, while still maintaining plenty of breathing room. A clean white backdrop helps to visually enlarge the volume of the room, while black is used to define and partition sections. The rest is supersaturated, controlled chaos.

Though not exactly in line with my definition of 'cozy' (the whole place is probably best cleaned with a hose), there's still something so attractive about the space. Its bright, graphic quality is reminiscent of legoland or a comic strip. Makes you feel like a kid - a creative kid who's got stuff to do, and plenty of energy to do it (perhaps with some extra encouragement from that shiny espresso bar).

All images via domosfera.

Light Years

These lamps by Danish design company Light Years have been floating around in my mind for several days, and I'm trying to figure out why. What exactly makes them so memorable, aside from the beautiful styling and photography (by Yellows Photography, also Danish)? At first glance they're very plain and simple, no bells or whistles, nothing particularly striking or surprising.
But I'm thinking that's exactly the point. In the absence of distractions you get to see the 'soul', the essence of that lamp. The designer's intention and flawless execution are glaringly obvious, down to every detail. 

^ Ok, really, who can resist a mini version of something?

^ This one reminds me of falling asleep in class...

Oversized shiny black lamps make a pretty bold statement, but could fit gracefully into an industrial-style setting. I'd save the dreamy matte-finish cloche lamps for more homey decor. 

Dream Office

This image of Swedish artist Mats Gustafson's home studio in Stockholm captures a certain effortless, balanced tonality and style that I think is actually pretty difficult to pull off. I'd say that this is pretty darn close to my idea of an ideal working space. I love the drawers with their subtle variation in wood grain, the desk, the lamps, the small piles of 'controlled clutter'. The clean white backdrop, the quality of light coming through the tall windows.

Image via Koolandkreativ

Ferrous Craft

Today I am admiring the beauty of Japanese cast iron wares from the Iwate Prefecture, where the traditional craft has been practiced since the 17th century. It is said that becoming a decent ironware maker takes at least 15 years, and becoming a master craftsman requires at least 40. It seems to me that the creators of these items are masterfully combining their understanding of the traditional craft with a rather modern appeal.

Nambu iron trivet and teapot by Roji Associates

Iron ornaments by Nobuho Miya for Kamasada : 1, 2 / 3

Yonabe Pot by Nobuho Miya for Kamasada

Made by the same casting methods since the 17th century, each piece can last more than a hundred years with proper care, and even if broken it can be recast. I think that 'good design' in today's world should aim for this kind of durability and functionality, while maintaining harmony with the environment in both the production and use of an object.

Bottle openers by : (clockwise from left) Nobuho Miya, Tadahiro Baba, and Tokyo-based Jurgen Lehl

  

In addition to being useful, these cast iron pieces also carry quite a bit of decorative value. They emit a sense of timelessness, and the feeling of being close to nature - especially when the iron is paired with other raw materials like wood, wicker, or stone.  You could think of these pieces as works of functional art, to be passed down through generations. 

Iron kettle (tetsubin) and trivet by Rikuchou Ogasawara

Images via Analogue Life and Emmo Home

Ancient Wool

[Local Bay Area company: Peace Industry, based in San Francisco, workshop in Turkey]

These beautiful, natural, chemical-free felt rugs look and sound too good to be true... yet here they are. The felting method by which they're made goes back to neolithic times in Central Asia, and was on the verge of obscurity when the duo behind Peace Industry revitalized it and brought it into the international market. Check the About section on Peace Industry's website for the inspiring story of their work, and in the meantime enjoy their handmade primitive-turned-modern designs:

Images : Peace Industry Collection

This kind of textile really strengthens the case for having only hardwood or tile floors in homes, partially covered with natural-fiber rugs and never permanent carpeting. If I ever get to build my dream house or dream cabin, at least one of these rugs will have to find its way in. Oh and those two snuggly pups below are more than welcome, too.

Images : Peace Industry Collection

Silhouettes

I'm both smitten and amused by these monochrome wall decals from ferm LIVING:

Image : ferm LIVING

Images : ferm LIVING 1 / 2

Edit: Those knit poufs in the above-right image are rather attention-grabbing, no? I'm pretty sure they are the same ones as these from CB2. ferm living also has square ones.

Images : ferm LIVING 1 / 2

I love the silhouettes' playfulness and simplicity, each one evoking a certain memory or association. The birds sitting on power lines could be music notes on a scale. The tree branch is reminiscent of my mother's favorite tree, the patchy sycamore (or plane tree). The 'hydrangias' actually look more like weeds that used to give me awful allergies... I like the idea of trapping them harmlessly on the wall (take that, pollen!).

There's also the nerdy part of me, analyzing how the sharp contrast between wall and decal stimulates our brains on a cellular level. Your visual cortex automatically approves.

[Local to Bay Area and Krakow : ferm LIVING products can be found in 9 different stores in San Francisco, 2 stores in San Jose, one store in Oakland .... and also one store in Katowice, near Krakow, Poland. See Store Locator.]

Mad for Mint

Mint in herb form has been my beloved go-to tea leaf for as long as I can remember. Mint in color form, on the other hand, has never gotten much of my attention. I never considered it as much of a wardrobe option, nor as a potential wall color. It was usually waved off as one of those 'pastel baby colors', or worse, reminiscent of toothpaste and dentists. Yet now, suddenly, I can't get enough. Mint has managed to sneak its way into my consciousness, spawning a full-blown infatuation with all things minty (including its siblings, sage and turquoise). Maybe it's a longing for real crisp winter weather, or maybe it's a memory of azure waters in the Virgin Islands which I visited a few weeks ago. 

Either way, Mint is surely proving to have great potential as a decorative element, adding both freshness and serenity to a room or an outfit. 


Minty home

Images from House to Home, clockwise from upper left : 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Minty decor, including a lovely paper cut-out from Poland (lower right)

Images clockwise from upper left : domesticcharm / anthropologie / bialakura / dahlhaus via room6 

  

Dressing for chilly weather

Images from Anthropologie : 1 / 2

 Or for warm weather (ps: if you haven't noticed, mint gets along well with red and coral)

Images Clockwise from left : Doo.Ri spring 2012 rtw via style.com / Dariami / Anthropologie

Mint is surprisingly versatile. It's lovely with warm tones, like light wood or shades of red, but also complements a cool gray or slate. It is at once both wintry and summery, soothing and stimulating.
And if that still isn't enough... go get yourself a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Yum.