“This led us on to the idea of co-operating with craftsmen in poorer parts of the world, thus highlighting their handicraft and their cultural tradition and perhaps, in the long run, contribute to creating more work for the local craftsmen. When design and craftsmanship meet, we hope to create more attractive products for which you can charge more reasonable prices so that the local craftsmen get a fairer share than what is often the case.”

Without lingering anymore, they managed to get in contact with Furntech, South Africa’s Centre of excellence for the furniture industry, and their project, Forbidden Fruit, was accepted. To have a better knowledge and image of what they would have encountered in South Africa, they studied the wealth of traditional handicraft. Furthermore, they established contact to a ceramics studio called The Potter’s Workshop, whose work they found highly inspiring, and met different metal workers who really enjoyed the idea of working with them.

You can see the final outcome in the picture below, really fresh from head to toe…

As for the Superheroes – not an action movie, nor a Marvel comic book – the things flew much easier. Desiring to continue exploring the culture and craftsmanship of other countries, this time, Mattias and Tor headed to Vietnam. With the support of a Vietnamese furniture company called UMA, they were able to visit various artisans.


Observing the craftsman method to create small bowls by fixing paper thread around rolls of seagrass, 
the designers decided to personalize and scale-up the dimensions of this craft technique into furniture pieces.

And so, with the help from seagrass and plastic weavers in Ho Chi Minh city in Southern Vietnam, they have produced the collection Superheroes.

Presented for the first time at DMY Berlin 2011, the shade and the stool series are in production and available at UMA in Vietnam.

While most of the world is still wondering whether the design is all about conceptualizing and creating products for a consumer society without involvement at a deeper level, the Swedish duo is getting on with mixing up traditional craft techniques with contemporary design. Mattias Rask and Tor Palm strive to work with exotic artisans, this way creating objects with a story behind them, objects to remember and fall in love with. And now, all we have to do is wait and see what is their next check-point on the world’s map.

Forbidden Fruit, South Africa

The pendant lights feature ceramic shades that have been painted with tiny details representing strawberry pips. Above them, the cords are fitted with layers of colorful discs made out of lacquered wood.

Last Fruit Standing is the name of the adjustable floor lamp, which presents the same hand-decorated ceramic shade and a massive wooden rear. Its foot is also made out of wood and the cord is stitched to its length.

The Forbidden Fruit sideboard presents a yellow-painted drawer with massive wooden front.The legs are fixed in some grooves underneath the drawer, which make the mounting easier and the sideboard stable

The stool is made out of the same materials as the sideboard, and it has four metal legs that slot into grooves on the bottom side of the seat. Therefore, there is no need for screws and fittings.

Superheroes, Vietnam

The stools have an internal metal frame in which rolls of dried seagrass are wrapped to create the structural form.

The pendant lamp, a vibrant design that merges Vietnamese crafts with Scandinavian design.

Glimpt
Furntech
The Potter’s Workshop
UMA

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2. Sylvain Willenz is Designer of the Year 2009
3. A collection with true Finnish blood

And now I am evaluating different solutions for avoiding this “excuse” for the future. Look what I ran into.

If your desk is as cluttered as most, then this is a perfect tool to help keep you organized. All your cords are kept tidy by the Spacestation by Bluelounge design, known for cable management devices. The smart design not only hides power cords, but also acts as a USB hub to keep your computer connections neat as well.

Front
Underneath
Before
After

Again Bluelounge, in partnership with American designer Greg Fulco came out with a multi-puropse clip, called Cabledrop. The clip can easily be fixed behind or onto any surface or adjacent walls to helps reconfigure one’s desktop.

Designer Harry Allen has created the WM25 wire stay for Doug mockett & company. The small cord organizer uses an extruded rubber piece with has a series of flexible grooves. The user simply pushes the wires into the grooves where they will be held. Simply attached the piece to any surface and your cords will be that much more tamed. It comes in powder blue, mango and avocado.

Another American designer (a coincidence?) Micah Maraia proposes a cord management product line called Dotz. Each cord consists of colorful tags with icons of particular products, so users know exactly which cord to insert into each port.

And the cable cubes of Keuhne Jaeger German Studio presented at DMY Berlin design festival 09 is a modular cable arrangement system for the wall. Each cable can be attached to a cube with the appropriate connector. The cubes can be plugged into one another to add on as many cubes as needed. In addition, every module can be fixed on the wall, when there is a need for more stability.

So, being organized isn’t a bank-ish attribute. You just need color, imagination and a nice job to be passionate with.
If you have ideas, jump in! Is still Monday.

Bluelounge
Greg Fulco
Harry Allen
Doug mockett & company
Micah Maraia
Keuhne Jaeger

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