Design

Meet Paul Belford, a creative agency out of London who focuses on advertising and branding. Their approach to design is admirably simple, resulting in pieces that are clean and easy to appreciate. Check out their work here. ——————– Also worth viewing… Nathan Godding Studio Patten Heartwork 2011 Not signed up for the Grain Edit RSS Feed yet? Give it a try. Its free and yummy. Share This A Huge thanks to UncommonGoods for sponsoring this week’s RSS Feed!

So far we’ve seen many examples of kitchen utensils being repurposed into customized, low-tech and eco-friendly objects, but these gorgeous colander light shades by New York-based designer Nadia Belalia bring a special steampunk sensibility. Inspired by the “abundance and rawness” of industrial material in the New York, she created the series of lighting fixtures which combine the strength of metal with soft oval forms. Belalia’s lamps are currently on display at this year’s ICFF in New York. Read the rest of Nadia Belalia’s Steampunk Lamps Are Made From Repurposed Colanders Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: "lighting design", colander light shades, green design, icff nyc, Nadia Belalia lamps, new york design week, New York Design Week 2013, NY designers, recycled colander design, recycled design

Graphic Design Student Chris Lissaman got in touch with me after seeing another graphic design student interview I did a while back and asked if he could do the same. I liked his work, so said yes. 1. What is you name and Design Portfolio URL? Name: Chris Lissaman Portfolio: http://www.facebook.com/ChrisLissamanDesign 2. What you are studying and where? I’m studying BA(Hons) Graphic Design at the University of Derby, and I’m in my 2nd year. 3. Please could you share some of your favourite pieces of your work and talk me through them? My projects are all start with a brief, and I research, develop and refine to a final design. The following projects have been set during my 2nd year and range from branding to app design. Some of my design work: THE CHILD PRINTER This is a conceptual direct mail campaign for the children’s wellbeing charity, NSPCC. It was inspired by The Human Printer project, an experiment by QUAD as part of the Format photography festival. I noticed how even the nicest people insult their printer or complain about it despite the work it does and time it saves, and I wanted to highlight that by comparing it to the real abuse children receive. SKETCHIMALS This self-written brief challenged me to use graphic design to tackle the issue of children not getting outdoors enough. Children are much more likely than previous generations to be inside the house all day, sat in front of screens such as TV, tablets, and smartphones. My idea was to create and app aimed at children that encouraged them not to use it! After educating youngster on healthy ways to live through a quiz format, the app would then pose challenges – such as to not use the app for the weekend – to be rewarded with in-game coins. This incentivised game-play is what I wanted and I’m really pleased with how the characters look! NEW LIGHT The photography department at the University approached the graphic designers with a competition brief to design the visual identity for their end of year exhibitions under the name ‘New Light.’ It was mandatory that would be shown in an A5 photography postcard catalogue, which showcases a photo from every student in a publication that can be given to industry professionals, students, and the general public. My approach was to take the recognisable aperture shape and give it a contemporary feel that is clean, professional and eye-catching. I used this same approach for the cover design and continued it across a number of inside pages. 4. What are your favourite things about your course? I’d say my favourite thing is that I enjoy the variety in the briefs we are given. Some of them are very particular and need a set outcome such as the photography catalogue, and some are self-written such as the Sketchimals project which I was free to create anything that met the brief. 5. What are your ambitions for the future? I’d love to work for a graphic design studio, and I’m heading towards branding and corporate identity as an expertise. I’m getting married next summer so I’m looking to find a job straight away or my wife won’t be happy! It excites me to think I’ll be doing what I love for a living. 6. What other artists, designers or illustrators do you admire? I’ve come across the design studio Ragged Edge Design, headed up by Max Ottigon, and I’m a big fan of their designs. I think it’s the clean and contemporary style that I aspire to create myself. 7. Do you read any design magazines or blogs that you would recommend to other student designers? I occasionally buy magazines such as Computer Arts if I think a particular issue will help me get to grips with a new technique, but I mainly stick to flicking through the magazines in the University library – it’s cheaper that way! On Twitter I follow design:related (@designrelated) which often posts links to interesting things in the design world. http:/

i am painting my bathroom slowly. i decided against showing you any sneak peeks bc it's a bathroom. what am i going to show you? a piece of the baseboard with the toilet sitting beside it? ok if you follow me on instagram you actually saw that. i'll tell you this.. it's dark but not black and it's everywhere. i painted everything but the crown molding and the ceiling. i thought i'd go ahead and do the bathroom before the living room bc i needed to pop my paint-the-molding-the-same-color-as-the-wall cherry in a smaller space first. i will also tell you that if you are painting yourself go ahead and splurge on the farrow and ball. you know you want to. it is a dream to work with. better than benjamin moore. waaaay better. use an inexpensive paint as an undercoat in the same color if you have to cover up a dark color. or if you have a large room to cover. bathrooms are tiny and i was going dark over light so i didn't really need an undercoat. i only needed one gallon of the farrow and ball. but in my living room i will need 2 gallons of paint so i bought a cheap undercoat in a dark gray and then the farrow and ball black blue on top, just one gallon. anyway.. i can't wait to show you. it's pretty awesome. but it will need styling and i still don't have a mirror bc i can't figure out what i want and i have about as much as a gallon of farrow and ball paint to spend on one. in the meantime, here are some awesome bathrooms to get your bathroom juices flowing (gross)... via pinterest. the reveal is scheduled for this week.

Read the rest of HawkinsBrown Unveils New Green-Roofed Prefab Prep School in Kent, UK Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Alpha Plus Group, breeam certification, BREEAM rating, green school design, Hawkins\Brown, Hilden Grange Prep School, Prefab school UK, redevelopment UK, school design, sustainable building materials, Sustainable buildings, Victorian buildings UK

Inspired Magazine Inspired Magazine - creativity & inspiration daily Every so often, I’ll bring up ThemeForest and trawl through the latest additions to the site’s massive database of ‘HTML-by-numbers’ WordPress themes. I’m usually impressed, but today I’m frustrated. I think I’ve finally spotted a trend in the skin-deep design differences between themes, one that’s summed up by recent development tendencies towards natty page designers featuring very rudimentary drag-and-drop functionality. As the world becomes more technically literate, and moves away from supermarket digital goods, I think we’re bound for a boutique, creative and hand-crafted digital revival. What we’re seeing at the moment is a curious blend of Henry Ford and Modernism – but the web will soon, I feel, move beyond that. What’s a WordPress page builder? In the loosest possible terms, WordPress page builders allow you to use pre-designed, ‘kind-of-modular’ blocks of HTML and CSS, rearranging them within a page structure as you see fit. As a result, you can put together an attractive site, populate it with media and copy, and host it – all within a few minutes. That sounds great. What’s the problem? Head over to ThemeForest and take a peek. There’s a lot of convenience there: flexible layouts, one-click purchase, and integrated hosting. There’s also a distinct lack of creative innovation.That sort of statement makes theme developers’ hair stand on end. A lack of innovation? Ridiculous. Commercial WordPress themes are beautifully and neatly coded, and designed from the ground up to fit loads of new user scenarios. And a lack of creativity? WordPress designers may well – and rightly so – take umbrage at the notion. The best themes are painstakingly constructed to fit loose and varied client briefs. Making them is an immensely creative exercise. I’m not quarreling with these points. What I’m saying is that there’s a real lack of ‘creative innovation’ – deviating from established routes, by combining elements from across disciplines, and creating something unique. There can’t be, as WordPress themes aren’t intended to be unique. They’re intended to be useful. The web’s an information machine. Surely useful is better than unique? Right now, we live in a browser-based ecosystem. People tend to view the web through a variety of different window sizes, with (essentially) the same kinds of control over what they see. WordPress page builders work well in this world – the pages are designed responsively to flex across smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops. They present information in an optimal and logical way. But this is changing. The way we consume the internet’s information is already moving away from the browser. Once you discover RSS (Really Simple Syndication) readers, you’ll see what I mean. And the move to ‘local information formatting’ isn’t limited to RSS. Services like Pulse, Newsify, IFFFT, Flipboard, Alternion and Meople represent the bold new face of the internet. These so-called ‘information aggregators’ deliver the web’s nebulous and tendrilous stream of information in a much more consumable form-factor. This isn’t a ‘phase’ – more the ‘next phase’. How can you be so sure about that? What’s the fastest-growing internet phenomenon right now? Personalised aggregation. Google know this, which is why they’re pedal-to-the-metal improving the personalisation of their products. Google Glass won’t work unless it’s neatly personalised. Google Now won’t, either. These aren’t just services the company feels have promise: they’re believed to be the media of the future. So what has this got to do with WordPress? If information can be distributed more efficiently through personalised aggregation, getting folks to your website is going to need something special. What can you do to get people to hang around on your site, while you advertise to them? Brick-and-mortar retailers went through this problem

The following post is brought to you by Arper. Our partners are hand-picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design. Arper has long been one of my favorite Italian design companies because of their consistency and simple modernism. With the introduction of new products in Milan 2013 this year, they surprised me with their colorful upholstery and whimsical wall storage. Ply stools and tables by Lievore Altherr Molina Ply is a series of tables and stools with a triangular shape and engineered to create a continuous line from top through legs. Dizzie tables by Lievore Altherr Molina Dizzie is a demonstration of something that may seem obvious but can have unexpectedly pleasing results: a sole change in color or material can radically alter appearance and attitude. Catifa cover by Lievore Altherr Molina New fabrics and covers for Catifa 46-53 are now available. Learn more about the Catifa collection here. Available in Kvadrat fabrics, these cushions are designed for both comfort and warmth. Aava seating collection by Studio Antti Kotilainen The Aava chair was born from Arper’s first collaboration with Finnish designer Antti Kotilainen, takes this chair form into wood. It also includes a stool version. He explains that “structure-wise the aim of the collection was to compose a seat component that would work perfectly with a whole range of different bodyworks––technically as well as aesthetically.” Read an interview with Antti Kotilainen here. Saya chair by Lievore Altherr Molina Saya chair, upholstered, by Lievore Altherr Molina Saya, which was released last year, is reimagined in a few different versions this year. The addition of a sled base makes it a more contract-frienedly option. Additionally, an upholstered version adds to the functionality and comfort. And a “mini” Saya is created for the little ones. Wing coatrack by Lievore Altherr Molina Wing is a wall-mounted coat hanger that animates the wall with its striated arms, twisting out like a sculpture. Song freestanding coatrack by Lievore Altherr Molina Song is my new favorite coatrack of all times. Coats and scarves and hats form a harmonious song when placed upon the eight music note-shaped arms. It’s available as free-standing or wall-mounted versions. Song wall coatrack by Lievore Altherr Molina Cuscini cushions by Lievore Altherr Molina A selection of nice, graphic-driven designs to complement the rest of this collection. But that’s not all. I’m very excited to announce that Arper will exhibit for the first time at Neocon in Chicago June 10th-12th with a new permanent exhibition space at the Merchandise Mart. Go visit them at Space #339 on the 3rd Floor!

It’s not often you see a intra-terrestrial program at NASA, but the GROVER is just that – a remote and autonomous’satellite’ that surveys environmental data on Greenland. While not as glamorous as its space or Mars-bound relatives, it has a certain purpose-built charm to it.

Personal illustrations

Over a thousand ghostly white shoes protrude from the walls of this New York store for shoe brand Camper, designed by Japanese studio Nendo (+ slideshow). (more...)