I know, I know: London Design Festival was in September and it’s now November. Last one – I promise! I couldn’t complete my coverage without including my favourite “Emerging Brands” from the show that started it all off; 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} Design. The Emerging Brands section featured new(ish!) designers, one of whom was Arther Analts. His shelves (above) launched at Clerkenwell Design Week and provide a place to empty your pockets when you come through the front door, so you don’t have that mad panic trying to find your keys when you come to leave again.
Craig Foster has spent a long time taking lamps apart. He became frustrated by the number of unnecessary components and materials – the average was 30. He said: “The aim of the Kurk Lamp was to use the minimum number of parts, without compromising on the personality and character of the product.”
David Irwin was one of my top discoveries of this year’s LDF and once I’d found him, he seemed to pop up everywhere, with products for deadgood and products on the Designers in Residence stand at designjunction.
David’s M Lamp for Juniper was inspired by 19th Century miner’s lamps and the mining heritage of the North East of England where he lives. I have challenged him to make a Cornish version next! It’s wireless so it can double up as a torch – and a light tap to the top adjusts the lighting levels between dimmed, normal and emergency (ie very bright!). It’s got so much character – it reminds me a little of the Pixar Anglepoise light.
The other product of David’s that caught my eye was this EXTL light for deadgood. Driven by a desire to limit waste, it is made from a single sheet of extruded metal. The sheet is cut in alternate directions to form six pieces that fit together into a hexagonal cone. Just one other piece of metal and three silicone bands, which fit into existing grooves, are all that is needed to assemble it.
I think I first met Lorna Syson the first time I ever came to 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} Design, many years ago – and it’s always a joy to bump into her.
She was showing, amongst other things, this fabulous midcentury inspired chair and wallpaper, her trademark ruffled cushions and a completely biodegradable cushion made from 75{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} wool and 25{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} stinging nettles.
And last but not least, I loved the Potluck Series by Lola Lely including these rather gorgeous portable stools in beech, walnut, ash, tulip and steel.
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- out and about :: designersblock (LDF12)
- out and about :: tent london (LDF12)
- out and about :: 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} Norway (LDF12)
- out and about :: brompton design district (LDF12)
