TACTILE WONDERLAND

Zadok Ben David

2012-01-24T17:12:00.001Z

So beautifully poetic, loving London-based artist Zadok Ben David who created this incredible installation using 12,000 cut steel botanical specimens modeled from old textbook illustrations, each embedded in a thin layer of sand.

CHASE & SORENSEN

2011-11-24T10:07:00.003Z

If you're not in the know already...Hackney Downs (East London) is home to the fabulous Chase & Sorensen - a haven for all lovers of Danish 60s furniture and anything Nordic, run by Brent Chase and Signe Sorensen. Although they have been up and running online for some time now, they have only recently opened up a retail unit, and what a retail unit it is. It's that classic combo of home interiors/coffee shop and it really is such a treat.

We initially came across Chase & Sorensen through a Swedish friend of ours, Lovisa of Lonndorr leatherworks and accessories, who is currently stocked there. As are a few other Scandinavian designers...but it's really the furniture that gets us going. Especially because, unlike other places in London, Brent and Signe's mission is to provide well designed, affordable furniture. They can do this because they source their entire inventory directly from Scandinavia. Every few weeks Brent and Signe will drive to Denmark to source their collection themselves, effectively cutting out the middleman and enabling the business to keep its prices highly competitive. Each item is hand picked based on its keeping with the Danish modern design aesthetic and not simply for the designer name attached to the item.

The ever-changing collection of furniture includes a variety of reasonably priced sofas, lounge chairs, dining sets, storage units, lighting, ceramics and art.

They are all arranged beautifully in a light & airy space that also immediately makes you feel at home...making it the perfect place to stop and have a coffee and a light lunch or snack. If the furniture is not to your taste then perhaps the food will be. They serve up a classic assortment of Scandinavian dishes designed especially for them by Robert Agren, current chef of the delightful A Little of What You Fancy.

Enjoy!

All photos are courtesy of Chase & Sorensen.

For more info:

CHASE & SORENSEN
238-B Dalston Lane
London, UK
E8 1LQ

+44 (0) 208 533 5523
+44 (0) 754 098 3777

info@chaseandsorensen.com

DESIGNER PROFILE: NASEEM NIARAKI

2011-10-18T10:54:00.000+01:00

Naseem Niaraki is an Athens/New York based graphic designer who we absolutely adore here at Tactile Wonderland. Naseem got her start designing in-house for Kate Spade, then at M·A·C cosmetics. She went on to do an MA in Communication Design at Central St. Martins from 2005-2007 where she added to an already impressive portfolio with an incredible project that I remember well and often think about - LAYERED - a fashion magazine made up for four issues that analyze and critique fashion's influence and impact on our everyday lives.

The four issues of LAYERED magazine

My favorite of all the issues is the Beauty issue...simply because I love the way in which Naseem so cleverly uses imagery taken from fashion magazine to create visually arresting and playful patterns and graphic layouts.

THE BEAUTY ISSUE
A completely visual issue, creating cognitive experiences for the viewer about the subject. Each page portrays different processes associated to beauty, illustrating examples such as Reproduction, Imitation and Replication.

Naseem's work is full of visual playfulness...and according to the designer herself, she loves the use of visual puns. This is apparent in all her personal work and crosses over into the work she produces for her clients. A perfect example of this that has totally blown me away is a series of promotional posters Naseem designed exploring the nature of trends. This series was a fashion story inspired by nineteenth century botanical classification.

In 2009 Naseem co-founded and now runs her own design studio - ANNAGRAM STUDIO - with Amalia Anastasopoulou. The name "ANNAGRAM" was initially inspired from the name "ANNA" which is an annagram of their initials "AA" and "NN". They chose the name Annagram because it is visually and conceptually very playful, much like the work they produce. They work on a diverse range of projects from print to screen, including but not limited to Logo Design, Brand Identities, Promotional Collateral, Websites, Motion Graphics and Textile Designs. Overall, their goal is to create work that is both creative and sustainable.

I urge you to take a look...it is very beautiful and polished indeed.

Our Stand at 100% Design September 2011

2011-09-29T13:25:00.000+01:00

For all you curious people out there...just wanted to quickly share with you what our stand looked like and what delightful products we had on display at 100% Design this year in conjunction with the London Design Festival.

Tactile Wonderland stand @ 100% Design 2011

Pekalongan & Deciduously Mirrored

Pekalongan - Hand silk screen printed sateen with feather laser cut detail

Pekalongan - Hand silk screen printed sateen with laser cut feather detail

Pekalongan printed onto hand made tiles
Deciduously Mirrored - Digitally printed FSC certified sustainable non woven

Renda - hand made porcelain lace light
Deciduously Mirrored - Digitally printed FSC certified sustainable non woven

For more information on any of our products or for sample requests please go to our website

TACTILE WONDERLAND @ 100% DESIGN 22-25 SEPTEMBER 2011

2011-09-12T09:31:00.001+01:00

We will be presenting our latest creations at 100% Design from the 22nd to the 25th of September 2011 as part of the London Design Festival. Renowned for our hand silk printed fabric wallcoverings with intricate laser cut detailing, we will be unveiling an enticingly new mural design. Inspired by Delft tile motifs of flora and fauna with laser cut feathers that come away from the wall to reveal peek-a-boo glimpses of colour. Alongside this we will also be exhibiting our first digitally printed wallpaper collection and homeware range for 2011 – Petit Tactile – in an intriguing space that can only be described as an interior wonderland.

Mural Design

The digital wallpapers are an eclectic and exciting mix of designs that offer fresh bursts of bold colour and trippy elegance ranging from nature-inspired prints such as Butterfly Away and Love Bird to geometrically sophisticated prints like Floralee, Jungle Fever and Deciduously Mirrored. The wallpapers are printed onto a high quality sustainable FSC Certified non-woven wallpaper base using organic solvent inks and are available in 3 metre panels and 10 metre rolls @ 52cm width. Due to the bespoke way in which we work, all of the wallpapers can be customized in terms of colour, size and design.

Butterfly Away Wallpaper

Love Bird Wallpaper

Floralee Wallpaper

Jungle Fever Wallpaper

Deciduously Mirrored Wallpaper

To complement the new wallpaper collection we will also be launching a new homeware collection including luxurious cushions to match the digitally printed wallpapers, beautiful indigo tiles with a hand drawn mural silk screen printed onto them (above said mural design), and exquisitely delicate porcelain lights embossed with antique lace.

To coincide with the launch at 100% Design we have created an online shop where we are offering an early bird 30% discount on all wallpaper orders placed before midnight on the 5th of October.

Come on over to 100% Design at stand X93 to say hello to us and check out all of our lovely wares. Look forward to seeing you there!! To register for free entry go to www.100percentdesign.co.uk/tactile.

CRISTÓBAL BALENCIAGA MUSEOA

2011-09-02T10:26:00.004+01:00

On a recent visit to my father's home in a small fishing village in northern Spain I was astounded to discover the newly opened awesome homage to Balenciaga dominating the landscape nearby. A vast collection of the very best of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s couture tailoring is displayed theatrically in moody aquarium like stages - categorized over 6 rooms including bridal, day, evening, cocktail and classics.

The building itself is an ergonomic interior designed in the vein of Cristóbal - a feast for the eye with a giant slate coloured decoratively cut cube cocooned inside a waving glass structure letting in the light from the surrounding mountains and dwarfing visitors.

It's hard not to be overwhelmed by this wonderland of texture, structure and exceptionally architectural shapes as well as seamlessly challenging silhouettes that are comparable in our time to Hussein Chalayan but of the 1930s..

The genius unfolds before your eyes throughout the space with animated drawings from 2D to 3D that accompany the dresses.

Balenciaga has been technically experimenting since 1947 with the presentation of the barrel line, which eliminated the waist with a curved arch at the back. This was followed by the semi fitted line in 1951, the tunic in 1955 and the understated named sack dress 1957 - true milestones in the history of western fashion. Coco Chanel sums him up perfectly,

"Balenciaga was the only true couturier. Unlike his contemporaries he was able to design, cut, assemble and sew a dress on his own beginning to end!"

I love the use of sumptuous embroidery, outrageous feathered head wear and his exquisite shapes.

The exhibition reads like a Hemmingway novel with a glimpses into the lives of the distinguished clients that commissioned dresses for grand events or an elegant cocktail party which allowed the freedom of escapism from the simplicity of day wear.

If you are nearby, I implore you to go and take a look - it truly is a magnificent show!

Images taken by Rebecca Otero at the Cristobal Balenciaga Museao

Useful information

From Jun 01 to Sep 30

From Tuesday to Sunday

Does not close at midday

From 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM

From Oct 01 to May 31

From Tuesday to Thursday

Does not close at midday

From 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

From Friday to Sunday

Does not close at midday

From 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Closing days: Monday

Designer Profile: Pernille Snedker Hansen

2011-08-22T10:36:00.000+01:00

Today I would like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the oh so lovely and very talented designer that is Pernille Snedker Hansen. The Danish designer based in Copenhagen is part of the Faberland collective and set up her own studio, Snedker Studio, in 2009 where she develops innovative surfaces for interiors. I am absolutely in love with her new body of work Marbelous Wood. According to the designer her main drive is to challenge how we look and experience the surfaces that build up our environments. She wants to make people curious and enjoy the visual treasures in details and unexpected materials. And boy has she not only achieved but surpassed this with her new collection of wooden flooring.

Marbelous Wood challenges the wood we use in our built environment. Pernille feels that the innovative way in which she applies organic patters onto the wood is an "expression of the untold possibilities in wood, where function and aesthetics reach a sublime level of harmony. The marbling techniques added to the wood flooring gives the wood a supernatural, organic, colorful and vibrant pattern that engages a dialogue with the natural growth rings of the underlying wood."

The wood floor has an impressive scale, and the delicate marbling displays an equally impressive degree of detailing. I am obviously not the only one crazy about Marbelous Wood as it was nominated at the Danish Biennale for Crafts and Design 2011. Here's a little video of the designer showing the process she uses to create each individual beautifully trippy piece.

The Biennale jury were suitably impressed...this is what they had to say:

”The very idea is striking. To marble an entire floor, using an old and almost forgotten technique to vitalise a simple pinewood floor and turn it into a powerful visual, almost psychedelic experience – now, that is truly remarkable and worthy of recognition! With a huge work effort, the designer adds synthetic, caramel-like marbling to the humble pinewood, thus turning this plain Nordic raw material into a valuable object that one yearns to own and see unfolded on floors and walls.”

We love love love Marbelous Wood and have a feeling that you will too.

All images are courtesy of Snedker Studio.

Delft Blue

2011-08-18T10:27:00.000+01:00

My current obsession is Delft tiles. I'm not sure if this is because I'm half dutch...but I love the use of imagery taken from Dutch landscapes, agricultural scenes, animals, children playing as well as fruit and flower arrangements.They seem to have a narrative to them...as if they are telling a story. This would make sense as the drawings were often inspired by stories from the Bible. They evoke sentiments of cutesy quaint Holland in the same way as clogs do without that cliched kitsch vibe. The blue and white, originally inspired by Chinese porcelain, add that olde worlde touch of sophistication.

I love the the way the glaze begins to crackle over time and the way that each tile has a mini design on all four corners so that when placed next to each other they create a pattern of their own.

Not only did the clever Delft potters create individual tile patterns, but they also created beautiful murals, sometimes covering large walls, or in the case of the farm below, whole rooms. Isn't it wonderful?

Antique Dutch Delft tile interior dating back to 1797

This is a tiled room on a farm in Friesland, the Netherlands, at the end of the 18th century.

Traditionally Delft tiles were used on fireplaces, walls, floors, in kitchens, and also as decorative art. These days tiles are generally assigned to kitchens and bathrooms which of course makes sense seeing as they are naturally waterproof. However, although I think they work great in these environments, I wonder why they haven't been embraced as a feature wall? Why don't we see the use of tiles in living rooms or bedrooms in modern day interior styling? Or perhaps displayed as works of art in their own right? It's definitely a dream of mine to someday tile one of my living room walls in Delft tiles... one day...when I am finally grown up enough to buy my own little place...
So would you tile one of your walls? Would you use Delft tiles?

We are currently working on some tile designs of our own inspired by Delft tiles which we will be unveiling at 100% Design this coming September. It has also inspired one of our wallpaper designs in our new digital wallpaper collection - Petit Wonderland. Please come along to stand X93 to take a little look. Look forward to seeing you there...

Jungle Mania

Jungle Mania - Delft Blue

A Sensational Focus On Food

2011-08-13T17:04:00.000+01:00

Using food as a creative design process seems to be growing in recognition.

Recent exhibits demonstrate food as a material art form. Pioneers of this craft are people such as Bompas and Parr, the Experimental Food Society, and the loft project, who all run workshops and interactive show pieces using molecular gastronomy to create engaging food that trigger ones senses.

Guixe has recently released his book “Food Design” a graphically illustrated book of aesthetic food design. In the US food has moved into the gallery at MoMA’s PS1 where we saw NYC battle San Francisco in an intense culinary food fight dubbed Le Grand Fooding. The winner was then displayed at the gallery. Here are a peek of some of the artistic chefs I love working with food:

Industrial Designer Mike Clare likes to scare old people with the net space-age technology we have these days, so he created cookies that when held up to a webcam pop out with a crazy 3D shape. The cookies are modeled after black-and-white augmented reality markers that do stuff when you take a picture of them with your phone, something marketers are hoping will catch on. New technologies are clearly better in cookie form, but the real question is, do they taste any good?

The chocolatiere Dominique Persoone has developed a product to add another dimension to the culinary experience to include smell as a sensation. Chocolate shooter is a unique and visionary approach from a chef.

These sonorous cakes by Julie Rothan are composed and pressed chocolate vinyls in collaboration with the band "Raphäelle Latini “ the result is sonorous identity linked to the emotion and to the process of manufacturing of the cake.” Every cake expresses an emotion through its taste, its colours, and the sound that it produces.

For many people the idea of designing food is largely about its appearance but for Marije Vogelzang it’s also about the story behind the food and how it is interacted with. Her interest is not limited to design or food, but rather the verb ‘to eat’.

'I think of an eating designer as someone who is sewing the food, harvesting the food, taking it out of the ground, cooking it, sharing it, serving it, putting it on the table and then putting it in the mouth and then eventually going to the toilet - that's also a part of the design process,' says Marije.

Emily Crane and De Culinaire Werkplaats have both developed fashion with food.

"My Project focuses on creating fashion using boundary-less techniques from the everyday – I cook, blend, culture and form ice bubbles as silhouettes," explains Emily.

De Culinaire Werkplaats are a design workspace and restaurant, they want to challenge the preconceptions of food and have designed 'Taste the Unwearables exhibit and a meal that featured edible fashion designs made from fruit and vegetable gelatin-based fabrics (no meat, they're vegetarian). "Let fashion melt on your tongue."

Caravan Crazy

2011-08-08T12:43:00.000+01:00

It being the height of summer...and friends of mine going off to experience the luxurious wonders of 'Glamping' I've decided that it is appropriate for our first post to be about some excitingly trippy and gorgeous caravans (and photos of caravans in the case of the talented Miss Walker who I shall be introducing to you below) I've had the pleasure of coming across in my time.

First off we have the fabulous Lippity Clippitin, a transformed 1969 Avion caravan (or trailer), a psychedelic attack on the senses. Each and every part of the caravan has been lovingly restored with splashes of colour, a plethora of trippy patterns and geometric inspired shapes. The designer, Will Gurley, describes it as 'a home away from home, a touring exhibition, and an exploration in place making, a time capsule, a treasure trove. More than a trailer Lippity Clippitin' is an experience and a great friend'.

To view more of Lippity Clippitin and some of Will's other projects please visit www.willgurley.com

Next up we have the Catavan, by the oh so talented and very beautiful Vicki Elizabeth Murdoch. A graduate of Chelsea School of Art, Vicki has transmogrified a 1969 Cheltenham caravan into kitty cat heaven using cat imagery in a fun filled collection of printed textiles.

Like Vicki's prints? See more at www.silkenfavours.com

And finally I will leave you with some photographs taken by the lovely Hilary Walker for a coffee table book on caravans. Only ever using natural light, she captures quirky yet chic and delectable interior shots.

For more of Hilary's photographs, and trust me that it's definitely worth taking a look, head on over to her exquisitely designed website www.hilarywalker.com.au

Images courtesy of Will Gurley, Vicki Murdoch, and Hilary Walker.