ICFF 08: Products from the EX49 booth

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The EX49 Booth had tons of cool stuff to offer, here are a few of my favorites:

GAUCHO: Inspired by the argentinean cowboys yet produced in the black forest (by rebman vision) – designer tanja schoeller’s interpretation of a gaucho-style seat features a purist design consisting of two interlocking circular pieces of different woods (nut, cherry, african zebrano, maple, olive ash or beech) providing for a bouncy yet stable seatingPicture_24

The toiletry bag made out of old-school swim caps. I ‘think’ it’s designed by black forest native jutta rothe. It’s designed by pension f. produkte.
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The superstylish iphone and ipod felt cases by katja hettler and jula tullmann made me look. They are definitely head turners for boardrooms and coffeehouses alike.

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Randi Lockemann explained the concept of ex49 (ex=export/ 49=german country code) was created to provide emerging, talented artists from germany with the opportunity to exhibit and sell their products overseas. Products well chosen! Hat tip from swissmiss!

ICFF 2008 First Highlights

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I just got back home after having spent a 6 hours walking around ICFF. I have complete sensory overload and would love to just sit in a room with white walls and stare. But no, here’s s quick overview of my personal ICFF 2008 Highlights;

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I nearly fainted and kissed the booth guy at Pablo upon seeing one of their latest lamps called LIM. Not on their site yet, not for sale yet, but oh boy do I want one. The images unfortunately don’t do it justice but just imagine that you can take off that long slim bar with the lights on it and reattach it via magnets any way you want to the base. Completely minimalistic modular lighting. Lim was definitely my personal lighting highlight of the show.

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Inflate’s mobile/inflatable Office in a Bag concept made my heart jump. Mini conference room anyone?

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One of Offi’s latest inventions is this collapsable table with chairs. Perfect for a small office or apartment. Fold down to a beautiful sculptural table and opens up into a workstation/dining table or whatever you need it to be. A versatile beauty! Yay for furniture that folds down! (it’s apparently not on their site yet)

UPDATE: Srdjan Simic, the designer of this wonderful piece emailed me with some more information: It’s called PAKET and will be available mid august through Offi’s large distributor chain in US, Europe and Japan. It will be available in white, dark grey and orange.

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I just spent the past 20minutes searching for the flyer/business card that goes with these pictures. No luck. Can anyone fill me in what the name of this designer was? Her wallpaper had me gasp for air. How awesome/crazy is this? LOVE! What’s her name? How unbelievably fantastic and different is this wallpaper by Tracy Kendall? (Somebody please design a better site for Tracy)

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A visit at the Ameico booth triggered a lovely short walk down memory lane: These Branex Design / Tam Tam Stools made me chuckle. We had one growing up, in bright orange, and I vividly remember playing with it, rolling around on it, putting stuff in it’s secret compartment. And sure enough, there were yumme chocolate covered raisins hidden in one of the ones in the booth. Apparently their design is celebrating its 40th anniversary. I definitely will have to get my hands on a few of these. Maybe for our new office, ladies? ;)

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The Rodenhook Modular Shelving System gets my swissmiss thumbs up. While I am not crazy about those angled shelve modules, I could definitely see this system in use with only the ‘regular’ ones in someone’s ‘soon to be the moved into’ new office space. Ladies? The gentleman in the picture is Martin O’Flynn, the mastermind behind this beauty of a shelfing system.

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One more highlight, before I have to run off and put on my ‘mommy hat’ for the night: I was so excited to meet the designers behind 25togo at the DesignBoom both. I bought myself one of the Photo Camera bags and am happy to report that the Leica D-Lux 3 fits in it perfectly. (I wasn’t able to find a pouch for it so far, they are always too small for the Leica lens and I was simply not willing to pay $80 for the custom photo bag). Couldn’t find the Photo Bag on the site, but there’s the very cool “My Document” Laptop Bag. It’s such a wonderful experience to buy directly from the designer.

More to come tomorrow. Little Ella Joy wants to play now…

broadcasting from ICFF

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I am sitting in the PRESS office of the ICFF and am having my first ‘elevated heartbeat’ moment because of LINK a new product designed by PearsonLloyd. Link is a completely modular room divider system. As versatile as it gets! Fabulous!

Off I go to see what this years International Contemporary Furniture Fair has to offer. So excited. I shall be posting throughout the day. Hoooray! Happy monday everyone!

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I just fell in love with this lamp by benjamin hopf & constantin wortmann. Oh my!

Mshelving now available in all white…

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… or with a touch or red, for the swiss in me. I am about to faint at the sight of this beauty. MShelving by Loadbearing.

ring ring magazine/book holder

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*Love* this minimal free standing magazine rack, as well the wall mount version. This could look great next to a kids bed to hold a few books….

coat/shoe hanger entrance of my dreams

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I am tempted to bring the above picture to an architect and say: “Can you please build me a house around this entrance? Thank you!” What a beauty of an entrance!!

Brooklyn Design Hightlights

I only had a few hours yesterday afternoon to go through Brooklyn Designs, but it was enough to spot a few gems.

My heart nearly stopped when I disovered Big Prototype’s Dining Table/Coffee Table. I love anything that folds down or simply has multipurpose.

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John and Sara folded the table into a coffee table in a matter of seconds and I was completely smitten. If we had the space, this would my table of choice. It’s not up on their site yet, but should be shortly.

Another furniture highlight was the freestanding fractal drawer cube by Takeshi Miyakawa. To me, this piece defines a perfect mix of art and design. I absolutely want to have one of these in my future big beautiful minimalistic design studio.

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Last winter, I stopped a woman walking down the street because of her wool hat. I was THRILLED when I discovered that same hat at Brooklyn Designs yesterday. Created by Pip Squeak Chapeau. And even though summer heat is just about to hit us, I couldn’t help myself but buy a black version of it. Wheeee! Plus I bought some unbelievably cute linen dresses for little Ella Joy. Couldn’t find them on her site.

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I was thrilled to see so much activity at Joey’s booth. His sorapot is a beauty. I love the packaging he created. Such a perfect offset to the sleek feel of the pot. Hat tip to young entrepreneur Joey!

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I was also happy to see Tina Shoulders from LaidBackHome. Her latest pillow creation, the Breakdancer Pillow caught my eye. At first glance, you don’t see what the shapes actually are. Very subtle, I like that.

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And then of course, there’s always Lotta Jansdotter. She’s the queen of simple beautiful designs. My current favorite is her mustard colored runner.

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And lastly: These removable Wall Bins by Produce Design made me gasp for air. Every cell in my body is screaming: ME WANT!

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take a sip take a seat

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Designed to sit on, this giant coffee cup can also be used as storage. Love it.

step stools

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Step Stools inspired by the simple versatility of American Shaker furniture, these nesting stools pull out to make a set of steps. Designed by Paul Loebach.

minimalist towel rack

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The stainless steel frame of the Ambrogio book stand becomes a simple yet functional towel rack without the wooden trough. Design by Stephen Burks.

indoor/outdoor

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I share the excitement for these indoor/outdoor mats with the abitare ladies: They’re woven from 50% recycled plastic and polyester, are resistant to rain and mold, and–here comes the best part–the smaller sized mats can be washed in the machine! They’re perfect for beach houses, kitchens, porches, mud rooms, gyms.

Screw – Outdoor shower

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Screw – Outdoor shower. Plug your regular garden hose to the end of the stainless steel tube and your shower is ready for use. A designy, simple outdoor shower. Wheee! (Just looked at the price, outch!)

typographic felt rugs

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Typographic Felt Rugs by John Agelii

Nappak Sleeping Cube

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Nappak Sleeping Cube. A temporary shelter.

(via stylespion)

Inflatable Lounger With Built In Speakers

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This Inflatable Lounger(GBP 20; about $40) built-in two speakers that you can connect your i-Pod, MP3 player, or CD player.

Core 77 Milan 2008 Design Coverage Roundup

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Here is Core77’s Milan Design Week coverage to date, in one easy, sit-back-and-enjoy package. Exclusive galleries coming soon! Oh, and I want that couch made out of swiss army blankets. Oh my!

Beehive SoftBowls

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SoftBowls are a line of decorative bowls made from 100% molded wool. Manufactured in Philadelphia by one of the last remaining millineries in the US, each container is handmade by local crafts people. Practical as storage containers, planter cozies or decoration they liven any home or office. Designed to minimize environmental impact, SoftBowls are produced using less than one tenth of the energy needed to create their ceramic counterparts.

Beautiful!

sofa box

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John Hofgartner from Winterthur, Switzerland emailed me about his sofaBOX invention. How fabulous is this? He doesn’t have a site up yet, but if you think you’d like one, email him.

1960’s red spherical desk lamp

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1960’s red spherical desk lamp

space saver: IKEA laptop station

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Perfect for small NYC apartments: IKEA space-saving Laptop Station.

Baby-Safe Beanbag Coffee Tables via West Elm

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Beanbag Tables from west elm.

ART over TV by Hoss

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Daniel from Switzerland emailed to and shared his invention ART over TV. Eerie timing, as G and I were just discussing in length that we would only mount a tv in our living room if we had a mechanism in place that would slide a painting over it / hide it, when not in use. Eh voila, that’s what ART over TV does. When the TV is turned off the Hi-tech system – ART over TV – glides the picture of your choice into the position across the screen. This precision made lift holds any painting up to 20 pounds. It slides invisibly and smoothly.

Genious, isn’t it?

Elastico Bookshelf by Arianna Vivenzio

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Elastico Bookshelf by Arianna Vivenzio