Although I often talk about furniture, I rarely ever discuss those smaller handmade woodworks. This could be wooden utensils for example, such as spoons and other tools, or even vessels and containers. I guess it’s not all that often that you see craftsmen making such goods, or they’re not really covered online in such a way that it’s appealing on the eye. In my attempt to bridge the gap between content and products that we …
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I’ve been hunting through a selection of different makers that specialise in metalwork for the shop, mainly vessels like bowls and plates since we already stock some brilliant cutlery by Rieko Fujimoto. These goods are generally hard to come by, usually you have a lot of cutlery being produced but not many bigger pieces such as these. One creative that has designed both is Japanese metalworker Yumi Nakamura, she’s quite a …
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This blog gives me a place to showcase all my inspirations, but it also allows me to hunt for people that we could represent in the shop here in the UK. All of a sudden we seem to have become a destination for Japanese craft and design, possibly thanks to my fascination with the culture and also their eye for simplicity and attention to detail. I often receive emails from happy customers say …
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iichi has turned out to be a fantastic resource, I find myself searching through different craftsmen and makers on a regular basis. If you don’t already know, it’s a bit like the Japanese version of Etsy or Folksy, so you have all these different creatives selling their work online. Last time I presented the works of Fushimi Lacquer Workshop, all made by lacquer craftsman Fushimi Maki in Kanagawa, Japan. Today I’m showcasing some wooden …
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Alongside some of the handcrafted goods that we talk about on the site, I also like to mix in manufactured or commercial goods from time to time, there’s just one caveat, each project has to have a strong emphasis on functionality and simplicity. One company that instantly caught my attention through their striking design was Portugese cutlery maker Cutipol, and they certainly cover the two areas that I’m talking about suffic …
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Mass production has its place on this website and society in general, as a designer myself I take a lot of inspiration from these industrial products that now shape our technological world. Naturally as we’ve progressed as humans we have looked to manufacturers to meet our consumer needs. One DVD title I often revert back to is Objectified and is played on my TV or computer every now and …
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You’ve probably noticed my little fascination with wooden objects as of late, I’m embarking on a small project myself which will involve me making wooden spoons and cutlery. Actually, I ordered a couple of books off Amazon Japan last week which arrived yesterday, both are by an author named Nishikawa Takaaki, ones about handmade spoons and utensils and the other one is based on …
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Stumbling across the M.Saito Wood Works website really made my morning, I’ve been thinking about the different ways of manipulating wood for a little while now and carving small objects seems like a good way to get used to the material. Originally I was just cutting and sawing bases for some wire sculptures that I’ve been producing but now I think it would be great to take it that one step further and make some utensils that I could use on a daily …
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For a while I’ve been admiring the works of designer Kirsten Hecktermann and today seems like the perfect time to take an in-depth view into the objects and how/where they’ve been made. Kirsten is actually a textile artist, designer, and stylist based in the UK, but this cutlery showcased in this article is all handmade at her fathers workshop in Kenya. Kirsten was born in Kenya …
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After visiting the studio of Mari Andrews in yesterday’s post I’ve kept my nose to the ground in the search for another super creative individual and thankfully I stumbled upon the website of Finish designer Tapio Wirkkala. Now Tapio is unfortunately no longer gracing this earth since his passing in the middle of the eighties, however he has left behind him an expansive array of designs that have in some cases come to typify what …
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Today I thought you might appreciate this brilliant selection of imagery from the When Objects Work website. This company was founded by Beatrice de Lafontaine in 2001 after a career in the bespoke interior decoration business. The Belgian company produces and distributes exclusive objects designed by leading designers and architects, such as Shigeru Ban and John Pawson, whose work has a minimal and simple aesthetic. In fact I’ve …
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Today I found myself exploring the life and works of one of the most famous product designers in Japan, Sori Yanagi. It was sad to hear when he passed away at the age of 96 late last year, but at the same time I couldn’t help but marvel in his achievements and stature. An incredible human being that played an important and fascinating role in Japanese modern design, helping to kickstart the economy after World …
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