30.5.13
Mataerial: real 3D-printing
Mataerial Introduction from Mataerial on Vimeo.
More high-tech this week:
Mataerial is a collaboration of designers Sasa Jokic and Petr Novikov with Joris Laarman Lab and the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.
Spotted on Dezeen.
Check out the entire article here.
28.5.13
Everyday energy: The energy collection by Marjan van Aubel
 |
| photograph by Wai Ming Ng for Marjan van Aubel |
The Energy Collection by Marjan van Aubel is a range of everyday glassware that is capable of collecting solar energy.
To get the technical part of it all right, Marjan cooperated with Michael Graetzel of the Ecole Polytechnic Federale Lausanne.
Because it's thát complex, i'm just gonna go ahead and copy/paste the entire section about the exact workings of the collection from her website:
Within each glass is a photovoltaic layer of dye Synthesized Solar Cell. This means that the properties of colour are being used to create an electrical current. This technology was invented by Michael Graetzel at EPFL. It is a technique based on the process of photosynthesis in plants. Like the green chlorophyll which absorbs light energy, the colours in these cells collect energy.
Graetzel uses a porous Titanium dioxide layer soaked with photosensitive dye – a natural pigment extracted from the juice of blueberries or spinach. He discovered that the dye that gives the red or blue colour to berries, gives off an electron when light strikes it. One side of the glass is positive, the other negative and when the cell is exposed to light, the dye transmits its electrons to the titanium dioxide and releases an electronic current.
The glassware uses sunlight as a sustainable source of energy, but can also work under diffused light. This makes them much more efficient for use inside the home compared to standard solar panels, which only work in direct sunlight and are not suitable for indoor use.
Different colours mean different properties. Each colour has a unique wavelength and collects different currents. For example, blueberries and raspberries have their own voltages and levels of efficiency according to the colour spectrum.Source: www.marjanvanaubel.com
 |
| photograph by Wai Ming Ng for Marjan van Aubel |
 |
| photograph by Wai Ming Ng for Marjan van Aubel |
To further clarify the working of the Energy Collection, this little video was made:
Lovely.
27.5.13
The tidal-thing
 |
| Veranda Time & Tide clock by Weems & Plath |
For over three months i've been living near the seaside, and still i have no idea about the tides.
i've come to the point where i recognize high tide, which means that whenever i'm walking towards the sea with someone who's not from around here, i can say in a proud 'don't-you-know'-kind of way: "It's high tide."
(recognizable by the teeny tiny strip of sand left in front of the beach bars, it's kind of obvious, actually)
Sadly that's still as far as my knowledge stretches. Maybe if i had a proper clock like this one, the whole tidal-thing would slowly start making sense.
23.5.13
Popping pop up
 |
| Supersize popup by Jacques Pense / Jung von Matt for Ambi Pur |
Brilliant work by German designer Jacques Pense / Advertisement agency Jung von Matt.
i came across this lovely image while checking Pinterest on my mobile, and didn't initially notice the can in the corner.
In fact i didn't notice the can until i googled the image and found out it was a commercial installation for Ambi Pur.
hm..
After finding out it was indeed an advertisement instead of an art piece, i was hesitant featuring it on this blog.
Then i stopped and thought again: OF COURSE it should be featured.
It should be featured because more companies should invest in installations like this instead of just implementing the well-known cardboard-semi-artsy-installation-with-free-samples.
Hurray.
For more information and images, check out Jacques Pense on Behance.
22.5.13
21.5.13
The History of Typography by Ben Barrett Forrest / more on t y p e _ l o v e
Alright, so we established the fact that i love typography in this post titled t y p e _ l o v e.
Imagine my smile when i discovered the following lovely short film on Dezeen:
This well-made little stop-motion video by Canadian graphic designer Ben Barrett-Forrest takes us through the history of typefaces in only five minutes.
For more work of this talented young designer, check out the website of Forrestmedia, (his graphic design company).
20.5.13
Patricia Piccinini - lovingly bizarre and up in the air
 |
| Patricia Piccinini - The Young Family 2003 photograph found on Brooklyn Museum |
Patricia Piccinini's work is usually bizarre and unsettling, but never really scary.
The creatures she creates somehow strike a nerve. They mesmerize me and i can't stop looking at them, while at the same time my belly starts to ache a little bit and i notice a growing unease within myself without being able to pinpoint the exact source of it.
Well, now the Australia-based artist created a hot air balloon.
?
Yep.
Nothing wrong with your reading skills, i indeed mean one of those gigantic balloons floating in the air.
And there she is, the Skywhale:
 |
| Photographs courtesy of Patricia Piccinini |
Isn't she lovely? (and Bizarre)
The Skywhale was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of Canberra, and comes complete with her own website and twitter-account where i also found this lovely little video:
More creatures to be found on Patricia Piccinini's website, as well as current and upcoming exhibitions
(the closest one being in Wallsall, England -near Birmingham- 'the Nature of the Beast exhibition' in the New Art Gallery runs until June 30th).
Spotted on Designboom, by the way
Do you like the work of Patricia Piccinini?
You might also be charmed by the fishy creatures of Dutch artist Peter Zwaan which i wrote about on this blog last year.
Happy new week!
16.5.13
Wood done well: we do Wood
 |
| Scoreboard coat hanger Photograph courtesy of We do Wood |
We do Wood is a Danish furniture company based on the vision that eminent design and strict sustainability principles go hand in hand. (no, i didn't make that up, it's on their website)
 |
| Scoreboard coat hanger Photograph courtesy of We do Wood |
i especially love the Scoreboard coat hanger (pictured above). It's made from Bamboo or Ash tree and comes in 3 different sizes, each board is delivered with 12 pins in three different lengths.
Yep.. on the wishlist.
spotted in Bloesem blogs.
15.5.13
14.5.13
Thriftstore treasure: the Stern Lady
Today i brought this stern looking lady home:
To be precise: i bought the painting at a thrift store in Amsterdam but T was the one actually bringing it home since it was too large for me to carry on the train (not that the painting is gigantic, but i had babyboy with me).
Anyway, now she's living with us.
Since her austere look makes her less appropriate for the bedroom (at least for my sleepy head), i guess she'll be roaming the house for a while until we've found her a proper new place to live.
The painting is signed 'Hessel de Boer 1950'.
A little google-action taught me that Hessel de Boer was a Dutch painter who was born in Haarlem in 1921, lived in Den Haag and died in 2003. De Boer was best known for his subtle and colorful townscapes, but painted quite a few portraits in his days, often of fellow artists.
i wonder who this woman is and why she's looking at me so intensely.
i'm sure she'll tell me as soon as she's settled in.
 |
| photograph by WorldofDriftwood |
To be precise: i bought the painting at a thrift store in Amsterdam but T was the one actually bringing it home since it was too large for me to carry on the train (not that the painting is gigantic, but i had babyboy with me).
Anyway, now she's living with us.
Since her austere look makes her less appropriate for the bedroom (at least for my sleepy head), i guess she'll be roaming the house for a while until we've found her a proper new place to live.
The painting is signed 'Hessel de Boer 1950'.
A little google-action taught me that Hessel de Boer was a Dutch painter who was born in Haarlem in 1921, lived in Den Haag and died in 2003. De Boer was best known for his subtle and colorful townscapes, but painted quite a few portraits in his days, often of fellow artists.
i wonder who this woman is and why she's looking at me so intensely.
i'm sure she'll tell me as soon as she's settled in.
13.5.13
Virginhoney @ Flickr
 |
| Virginhoney Photograph courtesy of Sabine Timm / Virginhoney @Flickr |
Artist and illustrator behind this (ehm...) interesting Flickr-name is Düsseldorf-based Sabine Timm.
I love the playful world she creates and could easily waste away an entire workday on her Flickr-stream, but managed to restrain myself and spent just enough time to pick a few photographs to share with you:
 |
| Temporary buildings Photograph courtesy of Sabine Timm / Virginhoney @Flickr |
 |
| Furniture faces Photograph courtesy of Sabine Timm / Virginhoney @Flickr |
 |
| Replica Photograph courtesy of Sabine Timm / Virginhoney @Flickr |
 |
| There's an elephant on my clothesline Photograph courtesy of Sabine Timm / Virginhoney @Flickr |
 |
| Combersation Photograph courtesy of Sabine Timm / Virginhoney @Flickr |
Happy Monday! (i hope yours is sunny and springlike, instead of wet and cloudy like here)
Discovered at All the Mountains.
Check out Virginhoneys' Flickr photostream for more fun and photographs.
10.5.13
9.5.13
8.5.13
The ordinary done pretty: Star Spangled BBQ Spatula
 |
| Star Spangled Spatula by Jacob Riley Wasserman for Areaware photograph courtesy of Areaware |
Although i wouldn't soon splurge on a USA themed spatula like this (being Dutch and all), i can still appreciate the straightforwardness of the design and its large 'why didn't i think of that'-factor.
The Star Spangled Spatula is designed by Jacob Riley Wasserman for Areaware is made by the all-american company Lamson&Goodnow and should 'last a lifetime' (as Areaware states).
7.5.13
The Party.
 |
| from my instagram |
Yesterday i was out and about, enjoying the sunshine and gathering supplies for our Grande fête this Saturday.
T and i decided to throw a party for all kinds of reasons: both our birthdays (my 30th), Xam being 6 months old and our unexpected move to the seaside.
And since it's fi-nal-ly (seriously Fi-Nal-Ly) spring, we chose the obvious tropical beach BBQ theme (well, i picked it, T is just going along with it...).
Now, since we're in the Netherlands and it's only May (not that June, July or August are much better), the forecasts for next weekend are actually not that great, which means we might end up moving the whole scene indoors.
oh well... At least we'll have pine-apple paper plates to eat from and paper straws for our cocktails. All will be awesome.
3.5.13
2.5.13
t y p e _ l o v e
 |
| via Josephmakes |
Even though i'm a product designer by trade, i love graphic design and have spent many a night (i'm talking hours and hours here) downloading new fonts.
Finding the right typeface has become a whole lot easier with the sample-pages that circle the web (more specifically: Pinterest), usually put together by graphic designers and/or bloggers.
A few overviews i discovered lately:
 |
| From Elegance and Enchantment.com |
 |
| from Yellow Bliss Road |
 |
| from Amanda |
 |
| From A subtle revelry |
Also, how about this little sampler of ribbon and frame dingbat fonts:
 |
| from She's kinda crafty |
