adonde

Where are you? Where are you going? If you have ever studied Spanish in your lifetime, you are probably familiar with this word and its definition.  But, are you familiar with the ecologically minded, French design brand that goes by the same name?

The two designers behind adonde, Laurent Serin and Javier Gutierrez Carcache,  have created an impressive, natural, recyclable, locally produced, minimalist line of modular tabletop items that are both functional and stylish.  I found a nice quote on a European Consumer Choice website that gave this brand high marks for its products.  The quote was from one of the company’s designers who stated, “When an object is beautiful and useful, you don’t put it away.” I can’t agree more.

Adonde’s items are the type of things you would proudly display on your kitchen counter, table or shelf, not to be concealed behind doors.  While not massive, their product range is large enough to satisfy any entertaining needs.  Could you image having a set of 12 of their dishes?  They would look stunning against a rustic wood table.  Their colourful cardboard based organizational products are also neat.  They come in different geometric forms and you can store anything from paperclips, pens, pencils, markers, stickers and glue.  However, I am personally a big fan of their flower vases and teapots (see below).

If you are interested in learning more about the company, they have an excellent flickr stream and of course you can connect with them on their website. (Forgive my lack of question marks, especially the upside down question marks at the beginning of the word- I can’t make it happen on my keyboard!).

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Fun Items for a Tabletop

Here are my favourite items for a tabletop right now!  I think they should all be in my house, on reserve so I can access them at whim and decorate!!  Happy Thursday. The sun is shining and I am about to hit the road for Berlin.

Found Muji

Have you heard the news? Muji, the Japanese home goods brand that continues to expand around the globe and entice customers with its simple, everyday products, recently re-branded and re-launched the location of its first ever Muji store in Tokyo’s Aoyama district and called it Found Muji.  Every time I am in a city and see a Muji store I stock up on cute little items, especially their pens.  When I was living in Hong Kong in 2003 and again in 2006 I couldn’t get enough of their colourful pens and office organization items and simple brown paper notebooks.

For those of you Mujites who love the brand’s minimalist, affordable products, natural style, and endless hours of in-store fun, Found Muji looks to be even cooler.  I love what they did with the concept behind the new store.  Instead of showcasing their own Muji brand, they are selling the goods produced by small businesses and revealing the stories behind each of the products they’ve selected for the Aoyama store. Now that I think about it, Found Muji actually reminds me of ABC Carpet Factory in New York, of course with an entirely different aesthetic-

Maybe this will be a concept that expand globally.  What a treat if they do!

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design friendly jam

I spent most of the day preparing a Power Point deck for my lecture tomorrow and funny enough, I got an idea for my blog post as a result of my research for class.  I am big fan of the package blogs, The Dieline and Lovely Package and have featured product designs from both sites, on my blog over the past couple of years.  Today, I was hunting down examples to illustrate the concept of positioning in marketing and decided to focus on jam brands.

What I learned is that jam is a tricky item to position and requires extra creativity to carve out a niche in the mind of the consumer.  I think at one point in time, positioning jam based on a comparison such as, made with 100% fruit and no sugar added versus the alternative (less than 100% real fruit with additives) used to be a differentiating factor for a new entrant.  A company could enter the market with a new jam and have a home in the customer’s mind with its 100% fruit product.   However, after digging around for examples, I discovered a lot of  jams were 100% fruit with no sugar added, which crossed out that idea for positioning.  So I had to come up with another set of criteria.  Chunks versus no chunks? Organic versus non-organic?  I decided to use design as a position, why not? I blog about it anyway.

Here is a round of my design friendly jam that I am sure tastes good (as it is 100% fruit, no sugar added) but looks fantastic due to the talented package designers behind the label.

1. Fruita Blanch from Spain- These guys are so popular from a design perspective they have their own stationery and font.  I wonder what the price tag is on a jar of their jam?

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2. SuperJam from Scotland- Simple packaging, bold font and bright colours stand out.

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3. Uten- Norway – Natural and homemade looking and a reusable jar with a label attached with a string so you can make your own once you’ve finished theirs. Cool angle.

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4. We Love Jam from California- Minimalist jam.  Love it!!

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polka dots and spots meet art

I am excited for the weekend as I have a couple fun things planned.  First off, I think I am going to try baking Smitten Kitchen’s Apple Sharlotka for dessert. Second, I learn to ski and take a lesson!  One of the goals I set in Prague was to learn how to ski.  I haven’t been on skis since I was six years old.  Since Prague is central to so many mountain ranges (in driving distance), I wanted to re-learn how to ski to make the most of my winters in Europe.  There are a few mountains in the Czech Republic and we thought about checking out Spindleruv on Saturday for the day.  Lastly, a visit to the David LaChapelle exhibit at the Rudolfinum in Prague until February. I know if I don’t make a plan to go the exhibit will be long gone before I get there.

Speaking of art, to sign off with something fun for your Friday, I put together the work of two different artists who have both done magnificent things with polka dots:  Damien Hirst, the British artist and Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist.

The first set, is of my favourite painting by Damien Hirst, a picture titled “LSD.” The first shot is actually a play on Damien Hirst’s LSD painting by the famous, British street artist, Banksy. If you don’t know who Banksy is, watch the documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop and you’ll be up to date!

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Next up, a really cool exhibit titled “Look Now, See Forever” that is taking place at the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art on now until March 2012 by Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama. In the pictures below, you’ll see the immersive room Kusama created for kids, called “World of Dots.”

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New Year’s Round Up of my Favourite Illustrations

I am a sucker for patterns.  I find there is something so calming about a colourful, repeating pattern.  I came across Orange You Lucky, an illustrator from Ottawa (yeah-yeah Canada!), which is my source of inspiration for this post.

Although today we had sun in Prague, in addition to high-level winds, to brighten your day if you have grey skies where you live, I wanted to share a handful of my favourite illustrations.  The first set, are shots from Orange You Lucky.  I love her use of colour and her patterns are adorable!  I think any of the shots below would look terrific, framed on the wall of a kitchen, living room or in a kid’s room.  I know I have some empty, white walls in my front hall that could use a DIY project and some colour. One of the reasons I was drawn to Orange You Lucky’s illustrations because they remind me of some of my other favourite pattern designers such as Orla Kiely (below) and Marimekko.  Don’t you agree?

Orla Kiely’s “Living” patterns.