ID2015: the end of something, or the beginning?

When the Glass Society of Ireland asked me to contribute to their annual journal, it provided a great opportunity to reflect (boom boom) not only on glass, the discipline I specialised in years ago for my undergraduate degree, but also on the year that has passed: 2015, the Year of Irish Design. It's been an interesting thing to look on at from afar, and a particularly curious thing to consider from my current Scandinavian location. Read on...

Nordic Makers

The timing has been pretty funny: as I move to Copenhagen, a Danish duo open a design store in Ireland. Based between here and Dublin, Klaus Kristian Sørensen and Louis Weyhe Funder opened the doors of their shop, Nordic Makers, in Dún Laoghaire three months ago, bringing limited edition work from small studios and emerging designers all over the Nordic region to an Irish audience. And as Klaus and Louis tell me here in Copenhagen, that Irish audience is lapping it up.

Superfolk at DesignMarch

Last time Irish design studio Superfolk featured on I Like Local, they were showing a range of simple, thoughtful products at Stockholm Furniture Fair in 2010. Last month they returned to northern Europe to exhibit at Iceland's DesignMarch, and Jo Anne and Gearóid got in touch to tell us how they got on. Read on...

Irish Design Haul

Well, this is a post that's almost one month too late. Sorry. Better late than never though, right?! At Christmas time I got some fab presents, and quite a few of them were great products by Irish designers. (Let it never be said that I am difficult to buy for.) Pictured above and listed below are the items in my excellent Christmas Irish design haul (clockwise from top left):

The Nutella Drinking Glass

Recently in one of the classes I've been taking as part of my MA in Curating Contemporary Design I had to give a short presentation analysing an object. Any object at all. And while there are billions of objects in the world, and at least tens of thousands of brilliant ones, I came back to an old favourite. The Nutella drinking glass is one of the simplest but most clever things you'll find on a supermarket shelf anywhere in the world, and here's why.

LDF 2014

London Design Festival returned from 13 - 21 September, with heaps of exhibitions, trade shows and events all over the city. I excitedly began attending talks, launches and happenings and really enjoyed the more curated or discursive aspects of the festival. But by the time I reached my third trade show, my energy - and patience - began to wane. There were a whole host of great new products launched, and then A LOT more that weren't great at all. And while different but not great is one thing, when I saw product after product after product all looking the same... sigh. BUT there was some cool stuff on display, so I thought I'd take the four main recurring themes I noticed and show you my favourite versions of them (or antidotes to them). Behold:

Post Tropical Lighting

Last night I went to see Irish musician James Vincent McMorrow play at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. This was the second time I saw him perform live, the first being in the Barbican back in January (how dreamy!). James is an amazing songwriter and performer and his most recent album Post Tropical is one of my favourites of the past few years. But great music aside, his performances of late have been done amid stunning lighting design by Conor Jacob. Conor has filled the stage with pyramids of light, each glowing, pulsing and changing colour as each song unfolds. In the background, 3d mapping brings a round surface, interruped by yet more pyramids, to life. It's not so easy to describe in words what he's achieved, and I certainly can't do it justice. Instead, click through to watch a video of the lighting in action, directed by Emma J. Doyle and made by James "purely to capture something that I love, and to share with people ... This video is all about the lights." James is currently on tour around Europe, so you might be able to see the show in a venue near you...

Clay Creatives

This article first appeared in Image Interiors & Living, July/August 2014

Ceramics has a history spanning millennia and providing archaeologists and historians with key information on how humans have shaped their surroundings and manipulated materials all over the world. In Ireland ceramic artefacts have been found, now part of the collections of the National Museum of Ireland, dating back to as early as 3500 BC. But Irish pottery and ceramic ware is not solely an artefact in a museum, Irish ceramics live and breathe, they develop and evolve today both in functional and sculptural terms, with a number of artists, designers and makers all over the country creating beautiful work worth celebrating. Here is a look at just a small number of those makers pushing the boundaries traditional techniques and exploring contemporary aesthetics, functions or concepts.

Portuguese Patterns by Nevoa

New Portuguese design brand Nevoa has launched a range of objects for the home combining traditional joinery with one of Portugal's Best Things Ever: tile patterns. Intricate patterns are screen printed on carefully made wooden boxes, frames, stools and more to create attractive contemporary items with traditional roots. I'm a particular fan of the geometric bookends (pictured at the bottom), but click through and maybe you'll find a favourite of your own...

Propaganda Porcelain at the British Museum

Created in 1901 but not decorated until 1921, after the Russian revolution, the above plate is on display in the 20th century rooms in the British Museum. Depicting a young worker marching towards a red (state-owned) factory and stamping over cyrillic characters spelling out the word Kapital (meaning capitalism), the plate depicts a reinvented Russia, marching towards a brighter (communist) future.

danishdesign MAKERS

Back in January Danish collective danishdesign MAKERS brought a range of furniture to IMM Cologne, featured on MocoLoco. Entitled Please Do Touch, their display of work was inspired by the hands-on nature of both designing and enjoying design. Echoing the purity and honesty of Danish design culture, they showed some really simple and charming pieces. My favourites are as follows: Blind by Johansen Faurschou, pictured above, is a light which you push up within its shade to reduce light emission or pull it out to increase it; great industrial-looking clocks by Birgitte Due Madsen and Jonas Trampedach (below); Coffee N Rest tables by Thomas Albertsen (pictured third) and table-cum-trays by Signe Hytte (pictured bottom). Click through to find your own favourite!

The Barbican

In the relatively short time that I've been in London, I've done what I can to explore and learn about this massive city. Though I've only scratched the surface, I'm certain I've found a place that will remain one of the city's highlights for me, no matter how long or short a time I live here. The Barbican in the City of London (London's financial and commercial centre, within ancient boundaries, is a city within a city) is an area with a long and complex history and is now the site of a brutalist complex of residential buildings, amenities and The Barbican Centre, a massive and wonderful arts venue. As a recent convert to brutalism and a long-standing fan of the arts, this place is heaven for me...

Reimagining Traditions at LDF

This article was first published in Architecture Ireland #271.

From 14 to 22 September the 11th edition of London Design Festival proclaimed that 'Design is Everywhere' and it certainly seemed that for those 9 days it was. While in a showcase the size of LDF there is a myriad of projects, products and trends to be seen (here's a post about one of the highlights), one thing that struck me about a number of the exhibitions and products I saw was a reimagining of tradition, in terms of process, material or aesthetic. A number of designers and curators presented work which stemmed from, revisited or played with the notion of the traditional, whether it was taking traditional forms or aesthetics and playing with them or engaging with traditional materials and processes. At a time when technology and its advances seem to be at the centre of so much of what we do, many of us keep coming back to our past.

New Stuff

Lots of new products have appeared in the past two months: with LDF happening here in September, the Irish Furniture and Interiors Fair going on in Dublin recently and more, I guess now's a good time of year to get new work out there. So here's a little round up of some new stuff from Ireland, Scotland and here in England that has caught my eye. First up is Birmingham-based studio Plant & Moss with their range of Polka lights, launched at 100% Design back in September. Polka takes a simple shade in a range of bright colours (or a brushed brass finish) and applies it to two table lamps and a pendant. The tall table lamp is particularly cool, pairing the sleek shade with a wooden base and wing nut to adjust the direction of the light, combining a bright, bold focal point with a rough and ready design solution.

100% Norway

A real highlight at the recent 10th edition of London Design Festival was 100% Norway, also celebrating its 10th birthday. An annual exhibition presenting the best and most interesting of Norway's product design, mixing established and emerging designers working across a variety of scales, materials and objectives, I'm really glad to have made it to this year's show (thanks to the guys from Designgoat for pointing me in the right direction: I would have totally missed it otherwise). Commemorating 10 years of exhibiting in London by bringing together 10 established designers and 10 emerging ones, 100% Norway presented a range of confident, attractive work. Some pieces totally fucntional, others more playful or expressive, all of it was designed and made to high standards and proved that while Norway hasn't been cultivating its design industry for as long as its other Scandinavian neighbours, they haven't let that hold them back now.

Gillian Kyle's Tunnock's Treats

There are many great things about Scotland (the buildings of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Edinburgh festivals, everything the city of Glasgow has to offer...), but top of the list is easily treats by Tunnock's. A family-run company based in Uddingston just outside Glasgow, Tunnock's have been making delicious Caramel Wafers, Snowballs and more since 1890 (read about their past and present in this fab piece over on the Telegraph website). Their pièce de résistance is the Teacake, a chocolate-covered mallow biscuit that I can't believe I'd been living without for so long. How did I ever survive?! Celebrating these and other iconic Scottish food, drinks and historical figures is Gillian Kyle, a Glasgow-based textile designer. She's made a host of work from her Local Heroes (and Villains) range of homewares celebrating people such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh (and his super-tache) and Bonnie Prince Charlie to a recent collaboration creating products for Glenfiddich whisky. But the crowing glory in her body of work has to be her Tunnocks-inspired textiles, mugs and cards. The latest addition to the range is the Caramel Wafer cushion, pictured above.

Tile-Inspired Tables by Susan Harper Furniture

At the recent Craft Scotland Summer Show (at which I swooned over Fiona Daly's British Sheep Breeds collection) there was another range of work that caught my eye and I think regular readers will understand why... Susan Harper has produced a number of tables inspired by Victorian tile patterns. YUM! The tables are simple, really beautiful and totally up my tile-obsessed street, referencing a fab form of decorative arts in slick, muted colours. Click through for more images, check out Susan's website for a look at more of her great work and keep an eye out for future Craft Scotland events here.

Artime Clocks by Life With Art

Portuguese designer Pedro Gomes (who featured on the blog recently) has just launched a new collaborative project with an ethical bent. Life With Art aims to create art and design products that positively impact on the environment through sustainable materials used to maximum effect with a minimum of waster, 100% Portuguese suppliers and a partnership with Portuguese NGO Plantar uma Árvore. Life With Art's first range of products are the Artime Clocks and each time you buy one a tree gets planted by Plantar uma Árvore.

Recycled Bags by Alkemi

Recently Dublin got itself a new shop specialising in a variety of products, gifts and jewellery designed and/or made in Ireland in the form of Mayfly in Temple Bar. While browsing through the vast amount of stuff they're selling online as well as in store I came across Irish-based designers Alkemi. Alkemi take materials that may otherwise end up in a landfill such as rubber tyres, seatbelts, newsprint, plastics and more and recycle them to make a range of bags and other accessories. The results are great: ranging from items that look quite industrial such as the tyre-turned-shoulder bag pictured above and the rubber iPad sleeve below to chic accessories like the handbag made from recycled plastics at the bottom, Alkemi's products take upcycling away from its sometimes naff origins (stonewashed patchwork denim bag, anyone?!) to make ethical, stylish and affordable products. See more over on their website and get buying over on Mayfly.

Suri Collection by Pedro Gomes

Portuguese designer Pedro Gomes has just launched the Suri Collection - a set of six chairs, each with a subtle difference. By utilising a combination of woods, fabric colours and treatments, supports and legs, Gomes gives each chair in the Suri Collection a different look, feel and character. The chair's two upper components - a round back and a seat which curves up elegantly on either side to create arms - are created using various wood laminates and are upholstered differently for each chair in the collection. These components sit on top of a variety of different legs, my favourites being the wooden ones pictured further below. Gomes has plans to further develop the collection for use in the work environment, and I'll be curious to see what adaptations are made to the chairs for the workplace. Have a scroll through the images to see which one's your favourite, and find out more at suri-collection.com.