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 …
Anything Dieter Rams is sure to captivate me, I’m constantly reminded of his design ethos thanks to a poster on my office wall referencing the famous ‘ten principles for good design’. It’s been a bit of a godsend when facing certain design tasks, I can always look back at that and get a few visualisations of what I should be aiming for, usually it gets me back on the right track. I’m …
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 …
Next week I think I’ll get myself down to The Midcentury Show taking place at Lords in London. It wil be my first time but I’m looking forward to seeing some nice furniture and other goods up-close, preferably the classics that have aged well and have stayed modern over the years. To me it’s always more interesting to see the older models rather than newer models, although manufacture …
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 …
