Emiliano Godoy

"I consider design a tool to renew our production and consumption structures, a way to change unsustainable patterns of product development into a sustainable innovation process." said Emiliano

Another amazing furniture designer, Emiliano Godoy, from America.

His work isn't as "Organic" as the ones in the previous blog, but most of them are also made by wood.

In the first picture, it's one of Emiliano's recent work, the "drip table", I love the cobbled together feel of all the bits and pieces of saplings and the different wood tones you get from each piece. I definitely wouldn’t mind sitting down to a meal at this table.

He's works are stylish, and very comfortable to look at. The varietions of using wood to design furniture, you need to be creative as there are a lot of restrictions in such a design, such as it's colour, how strong the wood is and how far you can bend it.

And take a look at his other designs.

Organic Furniture

I have a soft spot for furniture that feels both organic andwoodsy and industrial or edgy at the same time. Here are some incredible furnitures made by designer Bram Hendriks.

Bram Hendriks is based in Holland, he creates beautiful wooden furnitures that features natural details like live moss on bark and industrail decorative details like screws arranged in a studded fashion.

Organic is definetly the key word in our next 10 years, as everyone is talking about chemicals and how its bad for our healths, it's important for us to live more naturally, so less plastic, less added chemical. Bram is doing just what we needed, and these furnitures look good as well, so why not start this trend by changing the little stuff at home, such as a little chair or cabinet, the shape of his furnitures are just brilliant, just like bringing the whole forest back into your room.











































And here is Bram's website.
http://www.sgaaf.com/

Desktop wallpaper

Here are some interesting desktop wallpaper designed by artist Lena Corwin.

These wallpapers are based on the designer's passion of travelling, I like the colour used for her wallpaper as things are comfortable to look at, maybe it's becasue there are lots of empty space on the wallpaper, but isn't that just what you want for a desktop background? nice and comfortable that makes you relax, after typing a 2000 word essay or spending 3 hours editing pictures.

There is a calendar and non-calendar version, in different colour, both colours are comforatble for our eyes to look at. I like the doodles and the items she has chosen to illustrate, you can tell that each one of the items has it's own value and have been thought before drawing it down on the wall paper. I would rather use this as a wallpaper, than a photograph of someone or illustration of a cartoon character.

Shanghai

Shanghai now is a big city in China, Asia, and the whole world, lots of major fashion shows, head offices, and exhibitions take place in this city. It is such a fast growing area as the place was nothing like it is now 100 years ago, which means theres is a lot of cultural change in the people, buildings and designs.

In this blog entry, I'm going to show you the architectural difference between old Shanghai buildings and the new ones, as you can find massive towers in the city, but there are also poorer areas with houses that does not look as attractive, but they do have some historical values in them.




































Shanghai mixes East and West culture, and walks through the city never fail to turn up something unusual and unexpected. With at least 20 million people spread across miles and miles of high rises, walk ups, and old buildings from the Shanghai’s pre-Revolution days, the city is one for the urban explorer. So it only follows that artists of the singing, playing, painting, writing, and photographing kind have often made Shanghai their muse.







































A little geography: Shanghai is divided in two large sections separated by the Huangpu River and known respectively as Pudong and Puxi (literally east and west of the river). I’ve spend the past four years in Puxi and I say without a doubt that it is definitely the superior side (some say it’s PuYork versus PuJersey.) Consequently, this guide deals mostly with Puxi which is the older, more diverse part of the city. I’m arranging this guide (roughly) based on the districts where each place is found.

Brian Reyes Condoms

The designer of the condom package is called Brian Reyes, he painted some style on safe sex, with a new condom outfit based on his 2010 Resort collection.

Designing condom package by fashion designers is a new try, the graphics on the package looks quit emotional, but the size of structure of the box is similar to regular condom boxes, which is also boring.

they are available online at www.properattirecondoms.org.

Paul Smith Evian Bottle

Paul Smith has collaborated with Evian to design a limited edition glass bottle in vibrant colours - with a nod to the famous stripes.

Paul Smith is a famous fashion brand, with its trademark stripes, and colourful fashion items, it brings a different look and energy to the Evian, which is a brand that sells bottled water. The multi coloured bottle will have five different coloured caps to be collected by those Paul Smith fans.

The bottle comes with a very clean design and features the signature colors of the designer, along with his signature. The bottle is now available at finer food stores.

A new way to drink tea

This is a new design of tea cup and filter, it is made by designer Vuk Dragovic.

The teacup is made up of two hemispheres. Between the hemispheres is a thin net which prevents the tea leaves from entering the cup. While the aroma from the tea leaves is mixed with hot water, the cup is covered with the top hemisphere, preventing the aroma from evaporating into the air.

After 3 minutes, when the tea leaves have released their flavor, the tea cup is ready to be flipped 180 degrees and the leaves will be separated from the tea. All that is needed is one hand movement in order for the leaves to be separated from the liquid, in other words, for the tea to enter into one hemisphere from the other without spilling.

This is quite creative as drinking tea is traditional thing, Vuk is bringing a new dimension to it. Although I think that using the normal method would be more convenient and easier, but why not try something new.

Pentawards 2009 packaging design award

This is the winner of Pentawards 2009 packaging design award.

The Diamond Pentaward Best of the Show prize went to the Kleenex Slice of Summer boxes by Kimberly-Clark USA.

I like the packaging, they look so fresh and tasty, espeically the colour of the boxes, unlike the usual boring tissue boxes.

The shape of the box is also quite special, most of the normal ones are in a rectangular shap, and this one is triangular, which looks more modern and fashionable to put in our house.

BeiBang

A solo exhibition from the Chinese illustrator/artist, BeiBang, in China.

BeiBang's work is quite abstract, with those long, directional lines, they make his works look very oriental, just like the traditional chinese and japanese art.

Those faces on his works show a kind of loneliness and unhappiness, this is one exhibition that I will be missing out as I have already flied back to Leeds.

Jan Vaca

Another photographer, Jan Vaca, from prague. Jan is a photographer / journalist, so some of his works would be related to politics, the society and maybe war, which also means that he doesn't take photographs on a commercial basis.

Below is the "Usti-Aussig" series from Jan, they look very emotional, it was developed during the period between 2000 -2002, and it chronicles the emotional experiences that leave indelible tracees. Usti nad Labem is a town in northern Bohemia wiith a history similar to other medium sized towns in central Europe, before the second World War started, many Czech citizens left in the town, due to their fear of the Nazi regime. they were soon followed by the local Jewish population.

All of these people left traces in Usti nad Labem, regardless of theri nationality, so Jan has chosen the pictures of those people who lived in there between 1939 and 1948, and stolen their faces. They all belong to those streets, and they are still present there.

Ben Stockley

Ben Stockley is a photography from UK, Recent work has seen his images published in I-D, Vogue, Big& Wallpaper as well as commissions for Nike, Audi, Vodafone & Sony.

I like the composition and lighting of his photographs, the feeling of space, and air, makes you feel comfortable and light. And his work doesn't look commercial, very contemporary.

Most of his works look emotional, it looks like there is a story behind those photographs

XFUNS

XFUNS is an art journal from Taiwan. It releases every month and I always buy it when I go back to Macau. It introduces artists from all over the world, with interviews in Chinese and English.

It does give me a lot of inspirations and new ideas, as it introduces artists in all areas of design, such as illustrators, photographers, graphic designers, product designers and webpage designers etc.

When I am stuck with my work, and running out of ideas, I always look and read this kind of magazine to refresh my mind, as these books tell me how other artists think and how they get inspired, their method to produce their work, it does help you a lot, so every time that I get feded up with my work I will take a break and read the articles inside, as they are only few pages long, with pictures, it is good to see more of other artists work anyway.















http://www.xfuns.com/

Nate Williams

Nate Williams isan artist, illustrator from the south central America.

I like his work, you can call it weird and childish, but I think these are the elements that make his work look so different and attractive, unlike the fancy illustrations that you usually see(such as japanese manga style), his work looks more western, simple and colourful, with less lines and complicated backgrounds. He's illustrations make you laugh and happy.

Post-It Love

Since I saw the malaysian short film, I am now in love with them, it costs you less time to finish a story, unlike the usual long films where you have to spare out an hour or two, and sit in a quite room to watch. This is just like fast-food, quick and easy, but short films are meaningful, I think it takes more skills for the producer to deliver what they want to say in such a short time, the create a story, with characters that can make you laugh or cry, and also deliver the message.

The 3 mintues short film is made by Si & AD from the UK, it is called post-it love, a sweet and cute relationship, loving the backgound music as well.

Hand cut ornamental art

This is one of my favourite by japanese designer Aoyama Hina, her works are all created by hand, and a craft knige, just look at how delicate the artwork is, everyone knows that cutting out words by hand is a pain but look at the detail of her work, the word perfection comes into my mind, she has got hands as steady as those of the world’s best surgeons, wish I can make something like that.

Zingolo

Yes, this TV spot is just like a MV and its very long too, but many international TV spots are quite long nowadays, and I’ve seen a Obama campaign spot which is like 30 mins long~

This video is really funny, with it's happy tune and music, people's faces and activities, it doesn't look like that it is a commercial video, Cadbury always do something fun and different, just like their core identity, the recent eye brown advert is a good example. And this video also show the culture of Africa, where coco beans mainly come from, which says cadbury also care about their suppliers, not only their customers, african music, people, decorations and where it was shot, shows respect to the coco beans farmers.


Title: Zingolo - Client: Cadbury (UK)

Photography by Zhang Peng

This is something quite different, horror, blood, kid....

I like the compositions, use of colour and make up, and also the costum, everything makes the photos looks so striking, looks like it's been influenced by japanese manga, as the make up on the girl looks very much like a manga character, you will either like it or hate it, and I think it's brilliant.

Tong Lau

唐樓(pronounced as "Tong Lau"), was a tenement building design in late 19th century to 1960s and unique to Macau, Hong Kong and southern China.

This is a picture of a typical Tong Lau, with a much taller building in the background.





















Tong Lau is essentially a balcony-type tenement building for residential and commercial use. The ground floor portion is reserved for commercial use, mostly by small businesses like pawnshops> and food vendors. The upper floors were residential use and catered to Chinese residents of Hong Kong. Most Tong Lau were 2-4 storeys tall and 15 feet (4.5 m) in width.

19th Century Tong Lau encompassed Chinese and European architectural features. The Chinese component was based on building design from southern China, mainly in Guangdong Province. European influences were usually Neoclassical.

The Tong Lau roof used wood and/or Xieding tiles and iron was used for the balconies. The balcony's design was based on the Guangzhou-style. Windows used French styling and were made of wood and glass.

The upper floors were supported by brick pillars and protruded out to the edge of the street.

Inside, the the floors were connected by wooden stairs. Most floors ranged from 450-700 square feet with very high ceilings. Top floors were often living quarters for shopkeepers and their family.

The post-war boom and influx of immigrants meant Hong Kong ran short of housing. Tong Lau were seen as a solution and many of these buildings were renovated to become rental units.

Rooms on the upper floors were divided into smaller rooms and sublet as units by owners. They would only accommodate bunk beds. The middle of the floor was common space for tenants to eat and stretch. Bathrooms and kitchens were also shared amongst the tenants on each floor.

Tenants paid for electricity and water on a monthly basis.

The sublet of floors in the Tong Lau results in changes in housing regulations in Hong Kong (Laws of Hong Kong 123 °F (51 °C) chapter "Building (Planning) Regulations", 46).

After the 1960s, many Tong Lau were demolished to give way to taller apartment and commercial buildings. Comparatively few Tong Lau are found in Hong Kong today.