My fascination with the Japanese tea ceremony isn’t anything new, I suppose it comes from my general attraction towards the lifestyle and mentality over there. I also quite like the idea of Buddhism and zen, this is also a theme that I tend to see in other designers that I admire, it’s sort of weird how everything links together in a way. Charles and Ray Eames for example had definite ties with Japan, even holding a Japanese tea …
I’ve spent most of my time at the pottery studio lately experimenting with a mixture of glazes, also testing a variety of application methods to see what effect they have on the finished pot. This includes sponges, brushes, also just standard dipping. The problem I seem to be having is that I’m a stickler for functionality, so instantly the form has to be both easy on the eye and, more importantly, nice to hold in the hand. But what I’m coming to realise …
Japanese designer Oji Masanori has been of major interest for many years now, he mainly designs ‘living’ products, this includes furniture and other smaller goods for the household. One of his most popular series was that designed for metal casting company FUTAGAMI, he made a selection of goods such as a small set of office trays, paperweights and a few pieces of kitchenware …
Often a company’s product line-up is dictated by the type of designers that they get on board, individuals like Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa are synonymous with a simplistic / functional ideology, so it’s obvious when they’re hired what sort of ethos that company is striving for. Companies like Plus Minus Zero and MUJI, for example, are intriguing to say the least. Although I love the fact that everything is based on function …
When it comes to pottery I like the look of simplistic vessels that are pure in form, when it’s obvious that they’ve gone through a process of elimination, reducing any unnecessary elements. With me this has to come through in all aspects of craft and design, often the best designs, whether that be architecture, furniture or smaller works, all have this common trait and the output means …
Nikari aren’t a company that I’ve really come across before, which is quite embarrassing considering they were founded in 1967 and have been producing quality furniture for many years. It’s particular distressing because the furniture is up there with some of the best I’ve seen to date, and I had a great time browsing their website which I feel suits my own ideology and thought processes as a designer. The workshop itself was set-up by …
