Archive for June, 2009
In Design We Trust: Mike and Maaike
Posted by Brian in Designers We Love on June 18th, 2009
Recently our Surface Bloggers stumbled upon the industrial design studio of Mike and Maaike. Known for their experimental approach to design, they create ideas and unexpected solutions for products, furniture, wearables, environments and vehicles.
(From Left: Maaike Evers & Mike Simonian)
The San-Fransisco based design duo is made up of Maaike Evers, who is Dutch, and Mike Simonian, a native Californian. Their unique backgrounds yield unexpected and incredible results. This cutting edge design studio has been growing quickly, and Google chose Mike and Maaike to design the first mobile phone which will runs on the Google Android Operating System.
Littlest House on the Prairie
Posted by Wendy in Architecture on June 9th, 2009
One eco-conscious designer takes downsizing to a whole other level with his teeny tiny Tumbleweed “houses” that run from 65-140 square feet in size. More than a decade ago, Jay Shafer took his sustainable living motto to heart when he hand crafted his 89 square foot home which clocked in at almost smaller than your average closet.
Weekly Twitter Tid Bits
It’s been a very busy week and I haven’t had a ton of time to devote to my usual twitter searches. I have however learned about a few new things and hope you’ll enjoy what I’m sharing today. A few great Tweets covered companies and designers that were so much fun I decided they deserved their own posts. Those will be out next week.
There are many well informed, creative, and active people using Twitter, and sharing their new discoveries and passions. Thank you all for your insights and updates. Here are a few interesting Tweets that I read, learned from, and loved this week:
@museummodernart “The Ordinary as Object of Desire” – Robert Smith’s review of our “What was Good Design?” exhibition. http://tr.im/nyKN
This is a great article on industrial design in review of “What Was Good Design? MoMA’s Message 1944-56” runs through Nov. 30 at the Museum of Modern Art.
“What is good design?” may not be one of life’s great existential questions, but it ranks high among those that plague modern times. It is at least as old as the Industrial Revolution and the accompanying rise of factories, cheap manufactured goods and urban crowding. These developments created problems and opportunities that city planners, architects and designers have been triumphing or tripping over ever since. The results have ranged from brilliant to tragic, as a casual look at any American city will tell you.
The Cardboard Craze: Being Green at Home is Easy!
Posted by Brian in Designers We Love, Objects on June 2nd, 2009
From lighting to furniture, sculptures, room dividers, children’s toys, and everywhere in-between – designers are turning to cardboard to create great green decor and sustainable design. Most are using recycled cardboard or repurposed cardboard boxes to create modern sustainable furniture and accessories. The Milan Furniture Fair and ICFF both featured many incredible cardboard designs.
There is nothing more that we love at The Surface Blog than great sustainable design! The cardboard craze started back when one of societies most relevant architects Frank Gehry designed a cardboard furniture collection in 1972 for Vitra. The cardboard Wiggle Chair and Wiggle Ottoman are made from 60 intricate layers of cardboard. He was way ahead of the trend of sustainable design with this collection. The Wiggle chair is surprisingly sturdy and hugely popular. It is now available in new colors with modern accented lacquered edges.
Cardboard design is so popular that retailer West Elm recently collaborated with top tier event designer David Stark to create cardboard designed furniture and accessories for their latest Manhattan store opening. The limited edition products were made from left over store catalogs and waste from packaging material.
