GRAY

made: party plate

item: party plate
origami pattern designer: tomoko fuse
material: paper
courtesy of: fabulous origami boxes, written by tomoko fuse
comments: my favorite origami books are written by tomoko. her origami patterns are beautiful and so well engineered. this plate has many uses and it is quite sturdy. i love that it's made with two different papers, one for the base and one for the liner. it's fun to pair contrasting or complimentary papers. her book can be purchased on amazon. all paper geeks welcome.

corvo chair

item: corvo chair
designer: noé duchaufour-lawrance, france
materials: walnut or maple, upholstered seat
courtesy of: elle decor magazine
photo via: http://bernhardtdesign.com/
comments: can a chair break your heart? this one can. the lines are the perfect combo of curvy vs straight. it's posture, with the subtle lean of the back legs, feels incredibly strong but because of all the open space has a lightness to it. oui?

color story credenza

item: color story credenza
designers: angela finney-hoffman of post 27, shaun owens agase and tyler peterson of stone blitzer, chicago
material: walnut
courtesy of: chicago home and garden magazine
photo via: http://post27store.myshopify.com/products/color-story-credenza
comments: you had me at credenza. the shape, proportion and material are exquisite, but the colors just stopped me in my tracks. check out their website or better yet, if you are in chicago, stop by post 27, you won't want to leave.

wooden radio

item: wr03-cube/4b
designer: singgih s. kartono, indonesia
materials: pine, mahogany and fabric
courtesy of: habitus living magazine
photos via: http://www.magno-design.com/
comments: these radios are beautiful in design, materials and craft. they are made in the designer's village which helps provide work to people in an area that is struggling. it's an admirable story of a designer who chooses to use his design skills to help the community he is from rather than leaving for more profitable work. good design + good deeds; something i am seeing more and more of these days. makes me happy.

flotsum and jetsam table

item: flotsum and jetsam table
designer: marcus o'reilly architects, australia
materials: found and colored driftwood on a black steel base
courtesy of: habitus living magazine
photo via: http://www.marcusoreilly.com/index.php
comments: this table is beautiful and modern. the contrast of the worn, soft and rough driftwood to the steel base in combination with the muted colors just makes me giddy.

naoto fukasawa

some pieces designed by naoto. pics were taken at luminaire in chicago after the presentation he gave last june at the museum of contemporary art.

jose thenee

architectural artifacts, 4325 n. ravenswood avenue in chicago, had a comprehensive exhibit (ironwork and drawings) recently of jose thenee's work. thenee was an ironworker from argentina. amazing work, beautiful in it's detail, proportion and expression. they had an entire wall covered in his drawings, put me right over the edge. just beautiful.

design revolution roadshow

some pics of the design revolution roadshow last year. was lucky enough to hear emily pilloton speak about her book, "design revolution: 100 products that empower people". the book is full of amazing work that uses design skills and design thinking to solve problems for communities in need. the pics are a few of the designs mentioned in the book. from top to bottom, grow, an energy delivery device that resembles ivy growing on the side of a building. it harnesses solar as well as wind power. solio classic, a universal hybrid charger for handheld electronics that uses solar energy. and lastly, an educational toy. follow the work that project h design, a non profit that she founded, is currently working on at their website. check out their blog for a full explanation of the work and the incredible progress they are making. http://projecthdesign.org/