creative nation

it's a busy weekend for the right-brains of the east coast… this saturday the city of brisbane will not only host one of the nations only full blue skies, it will also showcase the states best-known creatives at the Renegade Market.  Head to fortitude valley between the hours of 10 and 3 to pocket a piece of creative goodness.

further south, VIVID Sydney is in full swing.  you have until june 9 to admire the enormous (and free!) Good Design Showcase in martin place… a carefully curated selection of the the best in cutting-edge design and innovation from around the globe.

for those of us on the isle, the Design Centre Tas launches its Winter In Design program with it's usual belly and soul warming finesse.  Tapas, tunes and a tipple are on offer… as are a few 50x50 boxes in which you may submerse your noggin for full exploration of the senses.  hmm.. curious?  drinks will be poured from 6pm this friday.

So… what's happening in the west??

in vogue in vogue

a heavily oaked interior. the air infused with tobacco. a smouldering Marlon Brando perched over a scotch soaked bar.  greasers and communists aside, Vogue Living have nailed the atypical leather associations.  the graphics, however, conjure an scene more reminiscent of silver screen boudoir than gentleman's bar.  soft feminine hues, a smattering of sumptuous homewares and the, now famed, "autumnal" Pod Luxe.  yes, that's us peeking from the pages of this months style bible. generous praise to the Vogue Living stylists for demonstrating the versatility of our beloved leather pendant.  oh, and for the tip on that Jardan chair… ooh la!

Reggie

Reggie in certified local tassie oak and dyed black FSC eucalyptus

hypnotised this past month by the textural giddy-up of my new drum pendant light, Reggie, I missed whispering howdy to the outside world. so a booming happy wednesday and without ado here's...drumroll...rrrrReggie, dedicated to Tasmania's tallest growing hardwood Eucalyptus Regnans. or good ol' Tassie Oak as we botanically challenged like to say.

Reggies inside chevrons laid flat

the big issue

teddy bears, huh? those threadbare companions with undone stuffing and missing bits reveal their stories directly to camera at the studio of photographer, Mark Nixon, and feature in The Big Issue Taiwan. ironic juxtaposition. in the same issue but not so frighted is my itty bitty story of luminous things. 'twas an enriching experience working with Vivian Yang and Hui-Min Tsar.

cotton on the riviera

completely sochi-fied out from a blur of flying, twirling, olympic lycra, that I flipped down to poland… the reason for no posts these past two weeks. albeit, this heady tour was (regrettably) via eyetv and the pages of the polish 'riviera' magazine where the grandeliers skated onto the 'new designs' page. ah, the life of a light. and lycra.

natural lighting

French financial paper, Les Échos, warmed the euro winter with a botanical theme in last weekend's mag. leafing through perfectly manicured pages Parisians stopping to admire George Clooney sipping beans also got the 'pure pleasure' of other odes to nature...including our Pod Luxe. Voila!

mona and the leathered eggs

happy everything! holidays seem a distant memory but this morning's radiowaves declared easter's looming. really?! alas, my leather eggcups and vessels currently look like this. on saturday at 12pm they'll be dramatically trussed, studded coddled egg cuddlers. along with fetching vessels. MONA market, Hobart - 12 to 5pm.

interior design magazine

cucumbers and bananas feature in my morning smoothies (a tropical phase) and are also handy bookmarks for New York design tabloid Interior Design Magazine's fall issue...where the Pod Luxe hangs with a bunch of light-minded designs. tis the season for lame metaphors. isn't it?

festive marketing

if you're in tropical melbourne today (dec 8) then jostle in for the final day of The Big Design Market, Royal Exhibition Building...over 250 'designer shops'...close to the amount of hand cut 'leaves' for our wall. say hello to our new range.

aand if you're in Hobart, get down to the Masonic Temple where there are many beautiful present possibilities to be procured at the market. our fave creative collective, DOT (Designed Objects Tasmania) will be hosting their very own pop-up shop, brimming with covetable wares & illuminated by a few fine grandeliers, of course!

think BIG

think festive shopping is an oxymoron?  you've been visiting the wrong places scrooge.  now rid your sacks of that coal and nasty dollar store fillers, and prepare your list for The Big Design Market!  this weekend, melbournes Royal Exhibition Building once again provides the dramatic backdrop for over two hundred independent designers to showcase their wares.  2 Brothers Brewery will be bringing the jolly, alongside a troop of merry meal makers (everything from decadent triple choc brownies to beatbox burgers). intoxicated by the creative air, you may just be moved to partake in one of the many crafty workshops on offer…  and while you're at it - steer the tots toward the badge maker to knock up a few nifty home-made stocking stuffers.  

fashion, accessories, homewares, textiles, lifestyle and kids products, stationary, books and a spectacular new light by moi!  that's right - we'll be unveiling our latest pride and joy at this three day design extravaganza, so be sure to pop by (it's fab lighting for a few shameless selfies).  all the details and an a drool-inducing gazette can be located on The Big Design Market site.

images courtesy of The Big Design Market

street light

with all the recent focus on our luxe leather, we couldn't resist grabbing a moment to tinker with some timber - to get back to our roots (tassie oak, to be precise) and see what materialises.  a flurry of slicing, folding, weaving and questionable origami interpretations ensued…  and from it 'Street Light' emerged.

a nod to our incredibly public-spirited pal, Caitlin Street, this little number is our most personable yet.  customisable in shape, size, interior colour… as a stand alone lamp or simply as a shade.  so grab a ruler and a swatch book and tell us - what does your street look like?

profiled and postable

it's the news we hope all you lighting enthusiasts have awaited…  Pod Luxe is only 3 - 7 working days from a power point near you!  that's right, our luxurious leather pendants have joined the collection of unique homewares to dot the delightful shelves at hardtofind, and are ready to 'add to cart' pronto.

in honour of the new arrival, hardtofind have also given us our very own cyber spread.  so, after you've bagged yourself a couple of pendants (who can say no to free shipping?!), jump to their blog and peer into the grey matter that conjures these luminous creations.

photos: Chris Crerar

alex the great

photo via TEDxSydney

juggling a portfolio that reads like an atlas; the workload that ensues a ranking in Phaidons 100 most influential designers worldwide; and a darling, new baby girl - it's little wonder why Alexander Lotersztain installed his luscious, fur-lined restaurant, Depo, beneath his west end studio, derlot.

photo via Design Addicts

the man is unquestionably prolific, and we had the pleasure of working with him at the recent flat.stack.fold workshop in queensland.  endearing us with his argentinian bred accent, and passion for designing a sustainable world (both flaunted in his TEDx talk), Alex helped us tweak the Pod Luxe into the mailable masterpiece that it now is.

so, if you're looking for a little weeks-end inspiration, or motivation, be sure to scan Alex's website (may require a few sittings), and also the highly desirable furniture he's created with our fellow taswegian designers under the one/third label… and then have a lie down.

Plantation by Derlot Editions

WORKSHOPPED 13

"how can design be future proofed for a disposable society?"

it's the question that's seen fifty home-grown bright sparks weild hammer and pixel to bring you fifty innovative responses at Workshopped13.  honoured to be asked for our input, we saw no better time to debut our new 'mod tech meets ancient craft' pendant - Pod Luxe.

emulating the success of the designers they foster, Workshopped kicked off in 2001 as a hobby, with 5 designers and an opening night figure of 400.  ok, so thats not a bad crowd, but...  zip forward to o-twelve and we have the single largest event on the australian product design calendar, with a history of 200 designers, and over half million names on the visitors book.

Workshopped13 is free (yep, save your coins for all the goods you'll soon be adding to your wish lists), and runs from august 15 - 25 at sydneys supa centa moore park.

photo: chris crerar

the new black

thanks to the wonders of modern technology, and good taste, we welcome our boldest timber yet - eucalypt in liquid amber.

fine slices of sustainably managed, FSC endorsed eucalyptus, penetrated with a deep black (liquid amber) dye. the result? a veneer which embodies all the bewitching boldness and versatility of an eco resin in a sensuous, tactile timber light.

but enough with the pitch - Chris Crerar captures the essence perfectly with this moody black baroque.  the only question now is - which style will you choose?

stacked, folded, done, dusted.

the final installment of flat.stack.fold 2013 was delivered at full-tilt this week.  two fruitful, brisbane-based workshops, devoured by nine extraordinary tasmanian designers, culminating in the completion of nine extraordinary, new tasmanian designs.
loading our precious protos in the dodge (l-r) master craftsman Jye Edwards, Street & Garden Furniture Co. director David Shaw, and Design Tas GM Rye Dunsmuir

noteworthy highlights?  our mentor, David Shaw, delivering us to Brand + Slater Architects in his fabulous ex-Vegas dodge… enlightened moments behind-the-scenes at metal fabricator, Rockpress… a beer-fuelled presentation (at west ends über cool watering hole, Depo) to haled designers from Luxx Box, Derlot,and the curators from Artisan… and, of course, the buoyant feedback received for our newest luminaire - a flat-pack version of pod luxe - 'bolb'!  

watch this space for details on the official unveiling of our future-friendly creations in september.

euro-meets-wildlife watering hole, Depo - co-founded by director of award winning design studio, Derlot, Alexander Lotersztain.  the mans prolific!  

imagine, collab, create

the conflux of rolodexes and blackberries will be audible in brisbanes fortitude valley, next wednesday, as we hobnob with the cream of queenslands design industries. renowned for their exclusive networking events for the architecture and interior design community, The Arc Agency are set transform brisbanes Judith Wright Centre with a careful edit of covetables, canapé and creative conversation. setting the mood will be a dazzling array of our finest grandeliers, courtesy of our date, and sleek brisbane stockist, Lumen-8.

rsvps are essential, so head to The Arc website pronto.

the ultimate flat pack?

constructed entirely of wood.  clever interlocking joinery (not a nail in sight!).  these spectacular seventeenth century curves are hauntingly familiar, wouldn't you say?  perhaps we were channelling the adroit russian carpenter responsible for Kizhi Pogost, when we created our timber lights? centuries beyond the build, this marvel of the architecture world still stands on its little russian isle as testament to the beauty and durability of sustainable design.  envisioning a cotton pendant illuminating each of its twenty two domes… what do you think?

photos: Laban66 and Matthias Kabel

latitude love

this stunning transformation of the classic cage light is credit to the innovative disposition and modernist propensity of perth designer Flynn Talbot.  an industrial decorators dream, 'Latitude' perhaps takes its name from it's ability to direct the light in whichever angle you wish - indirect uplighting, downlighting, spotlighting… options endless. ourselves? we plan on moonlighting with a sleek teal number, post haste.

tasmania by hand

whilst tassie revels in it's rep for covetable goods forged by the hands of it's inhabitants, few people are aware of the enormous expense involved in transporting these precious wares across the bass and into loving homes on the mainland... and beyond.

next month, our little island incubator will deliver five gifted artists and makers, under the creative collective known as Tasmania By Hand, to melbournes exclusive Design:Made:Trade show. throw a little support (and some dosh) their way via their Pozible crowd funding site here.