NOV 27 TOOLING, THE NEW MERGER
In the 1980s you ‘made it’ when your portfolio, billfold or handbag had your blind stamp initials inscribed and was made from hand tooled Coach Leather.
Fast forward to the 21st century and the world of craft has evolved into almost two distinct pathways.
Hand forged goods as on found Etsy are driving the new publicly traded company's stock to new highs, within the landscape of hi-tech CNC routers, laser cutters, 3-D ingenuity and fine crafting or ‘tooling’ of the digital kind. Both methods are going on in Brooklyn within blocks of each other and around the globe. Both methods are sending innovative shock waves through the design industry in popularity and trend setting.
The dilemma comes when one feels the need to personally love one form of creation over the other.
There is much cache' assigned today to subscribing, defining and claiming your ’style’, be it your attire, your food preferences or way of eating or even drinking. Custom lattes and cups that hold the precise shots of espresso and have our personal initials of a sort engraved on them by the barista are not too far off from the days of Coach. When we sit to decide our next purchase online, who needs to subscribe to one form or another when there is a new option? ... the emergence of the merge.
Creativity designed in advance or during the craft both require ingenuity and process, either way, it’s the new way you can have your Starbucks, Craft & Tech and enjoy them all too.
A stunning hand sewn/tooled portfolio offering found on Etsy today.
Image below: https://www.etsy.com/listing/251256195/laptop-sleeve-portfolio-laptop-case?ref=finds_l
(Below) AKMD is a bicontinental furniture and accessories company that aims to merge the best of American and Indian design and manufacturing. Officially headquartered in the U.S., the company was founded in 2011 by designers Michael W. Dreeben, who lives in Chicago, and Ayush Kasliwal, who lives in Jaipur, India. “From a design and production standpoint, the business really tries to take advantage of our relative strengths,” says Dreeben, who first met Kasliwal in Jaipur while studying vernacular woodworking on a Fulbright scholarship. “It’s a matter of strategically marrying our best resources together.” The table illustrates the desire to fabricate design that reflects the past with an innovative nod to the future. The chunky hand hewed top piece of wood atop the delicate expression of legs seems counter balanced yet it is sublime and an instant classic all the same.
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/akmd-new-furniture-collection
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/akmd-new-furniture-collection
(Below) The Furniture Makers’ Company has announced a total of 21 recipients of Design Guild Mark 2015 Awards. Now in their eighth year, the Design Guild Mark Awards were created to promote excellence and raise the profile of British design and innovation. They recognize and reward designers working in Britain, or British designers working abroad. The award demands the highest standards in the design of furniture for volume production. (Below) Kerning Cabinet Collection by Samuel Chan for Channels. The cabinet offers a solid and practical purpose yet too is elevated to lift mass and allow the piece to compliment a room not overwhelm it.
http://www.furniturenews.net/news/articles/2015/05/817488794-design-guild-mark-award-recipients-2015
(Below) "Troy Backhouse, the project leader of the award winning furniture design Ane said, "The Ane stool has solid timber slats of timber that appear to float harmoniously, yet independently from the timber legs, above the steel frame. The designer states that the seat, hand crafted in certified eco-friendly timber, is formed through the unique use of multiple pieces of one shape of wood positioned and cut in a dynamic way. When seated on the stool, the slight rise in angle to the back and the roll off angles on the sides are finished in a way that provides a natural, comfortable sitting position. The Ane stool has just the right degree of complexity to create an elegant finish."
Image stool: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/04/prweb12685543.htm
http://inhabitat.com/mood-object-exhibition-at-fuorisalone-2015-shows-designs-that-reflect-the-interiority-of-the-designer-photos/
Image stool: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/04/prweb12685543.htm
http://inhabitat.com/mood-object-exhibition-at-fuorisalone-2015-shows-designs-that-reflect-the-interiority-of-the-designer-photos/
(Below) Athanasios Babalis is an industrial designer based in Thessaloniki Greece.
He studied product and furniture design at the London Metropolitan University and at the Royal College of Art in London, England.
The laptop portfolio below embodies both 20th and 21st century ingenuity that seems to be the merger acquisition that is appearing on the design scene. While honest materials in furniture and product is appreciated, the intrigue now is how the design looks when combined with tech-like materials.
If successful as in the below molded wood portfolio form, then a new form of product envy is born.
He studied product and furniture design at the London Metropolitan University and at the Royal College of Art in London, England.
The laptop portfolio below embodies both 20th and 21st century ingenuity that seems to be the merger acquisition that is appearing on the design scene. While honest materials in furniture and product is appreciated, the intrigue now is how the design looks when combined with tech-like materials.
If successful as in the below molded wood portfolio form, then a new form of product envy is born.
“Mood – Object” exhibition is a spiritual spot at Fuorisalone at the 2015 Milan Furniture Fair, featuring works of Chinese designers. The furniture at the exhibition is based on a deeply-rooted belief in Asian culture that the materials that surround us are derived from our minds and reflected through the objects we create. The pieces on display are meant to be a mirror of the spirituality, mind and soul of the designers who created them."
What is really illustrated is the merger of materials again and our response to them as 'accepted' or not more so successful or not.
Fascinating indeed when combining fluid and constraint forms.
What is really illustrated is the merger of materials again and our response to them as 'accepted' or not more so successful or not.
Fascinating indeed when combining fluid and constraint forms.
Take for example the men's wooden watch (below) crafted by a supplier on Etsy, only a few years back it was far more awkward with substantial mass...since streamlined and given an elegant shade of grey and wood tone, now the modern tech/craft combo is s sleek contender and a solid seller.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/243086967/mens-wooden-watch-anniversary-gifts-for?ref=market
But perhaps it is TOG that is the real game changer of tech-craft fusion, TOG based out of Brazil has not only reshaped furniture to meet the demands of hi production but has done so alongside technology.
The end result is both innovative and practical. An open source, collaborative studio concept.
About TOG: http://www.togallcreatorstogether.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/TOG-Press-Release_eng.pdf
Philippe Starck designed the TOG flagship store in Milan, the store all about the customization of space reflecting their furniture within.
"Last year, 2014, collaborative furniture brand TOG’s launch at Salone de Mobile forged an innovative new era of customisation for the design world, in that same way that NikeiD has transformed the interactivity of the apparel market.
The Brazilian company, whose creative studio and production is all based in Italy, burst onto the Salone scene with the help of some heavy industry hitters - Sebastian Bergne, Industrial Facility (Sam Hecht & Kim Colin), Ambroise Maggiar and Dai Sugasawa included.
This year, TOG is returning to Salone with an expanded repertoire that debuts eleven new product families in addition to welcoming Italian architect and furniture designer Antonio Citterio into the TOG community."
http://thefacedesign.com/Leisure/Interior_Design/TOGs_flagship_store_is_just_as_customisable_as_their_furniture
The end result is both innovative and practical. An open source, collaborative studio concept.
About TOG: http://www.togallcreatorstogether.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/TOG-Press-Release_eng.pdf
Philippe Starck designed the TOG flagship store in Milan, the store all about the customization of space reflecting their furniture within.
"Last year, 2014, collaborative furniture brand TOG’s launch at Salone de Mobile forged an innovative new era of customisation for the design world, in that same way that NikeiD has transformed the interactivity of the apparel market.
The Brazilian company, whose creative studio and production is all based in Italy, burst onto the Salone scene with the help of some heavy industry hitters - Sebastian Bergne, Industrial Facility (Sam Hecht & Kim Colin), Ambroise Maggiar and Dai Sugasawa included.
This year, TOG is returning to Salone with an expanded repertoire that debuts eleven new product families in addition to welcoming Italian architect and furniture designer Antonio Citterio into the TOG community."
http://thefacedesign.com/Leisure/Interior_Design/TOGs_flagship_store_is_just_as_customisable_as_their_furniture
Click on the link below to view a video on TOG's works
http://www.wallpaper.com/w-bespoke/lets-play-tog-the-innovative-furniture-brand-is-expanding-its-game-changing-model-of-customer-customisation#15788
http://www.wallpaper.com/w-bespoke/lets-play-tog-the-innovative-furniture-brand-is-expanding-its-game-changing-model-of-customer-customisation#15788