100 beste Plakate des Jahres

100 beste Plakate des Jahres is an anual competition for the best German, Swiss and Austrian posters. The winners are presented in a travelling exhibition and can be seen online. Below some of my favourites...















Burri Schaefer
















Volker Kuehn















Tachezy Kleger
















Hesign
















Florine Kamm

100 beste Plakate des Jahres

Geoffrey Cottenceau

This is already my third mention of Geoffrey Cottenceau. I have to conclude I am a fan.

I have discovered his portfolio website here.

Underground warnings

Don't you think it is odd that the London Underground puts these figures out in the open? I wonder if that's typically British..
These posters are only three out of a bigger series. It adds up to a terrifying number of accidents. Scary!

The posters are designed by Anthony Burrill.

Rene Knip

I always enjoy seeing René Knip's posters for the Concertgebouworkest in the streets of Amsterdam.

René Knip

Corporate Design Publications

I love good information design, so I was immediately attracted to the Corporate Design series. These books are developed for the students of the Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd because of a lack of analytical literature about corporate design. Authors Julia Laub and Carolin Oelsner were so nice to offer the first two issues to download here. But the printed set is definitely worth buying!
































(via Swissmiss)

Bookshelves

This is the day of great bookshelves. First I saw the Opus shelving system at swissmiss. They can be bought at Design Within Reach. And the muted colours of the selected books look so good.


















Then, at designsponge, I found this display from the Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco.


















Ooh, my fingers itch to start sawing and glueing!

Beastman

Last year I wrote about Geoffrey Cottenceau's animals. It seems that many people have liked his idea, because I keep on seeing fabricated animals everywhere. Below Cottenceau's elephant and seal and Euro RSCG's campaign for outdoor brand Aigle. I'll try to find more examples.


























PS. I am very confused about copyright issues in design. When are you just inspired by something and when does it become stealing? When are you following the fashion of the moment and when are you just too lazy to be inventive?

Because of the internet it has become so easy to get access to good design. And therefore, great ideas spread quickly and are copied all over the place.

For example: there is a trend to present your work like this: (already discussed in many blogs.)



















(I found this picture online, but have made the poster white, because I don't want to point my finger at anybody...)
For me, it seems that when I see an idea for the first time, I cannot use it. I don't want to steal! But when I see it all the time, the idea has become public and I feel free to use it. But (un)fortunately, that's also when I get bored by it!

Theo Jansen

Artist Theo Jansen studied science at the University of Delft in Holland. After sticking to painting for seven years, he embarked upon a project with a flying saucer - which really flew. It flew over the town of Delft in 1980, drawing the people into the streets and sending the police into pandemonium. For about the last ten years he has been busy with the creation of a new nature - not with pollen or seeds, but with plastic yellow tubes. He makes skeletons which are able to walk in the wind. Eventually he wants to put herds of these animals out on the beaches to live their own lives.

source: www.strandbeest.com
See the animals in action at www.strandbeestmovie.com (choose video)

Tropenmuseum commercial

Alexandre Lagoët and Rick Coolegem of Saatchi and Saatchi have made a campaign for the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. The campaign highlights that there is a story to be told about every artifact in the museum. Printed ads and the website give a fortaste to a visit to the museum. Next year there will also be a storyteller in the streets of Amsterdam. The wonderful illustriations are by Chris Buzelli.

Chris Buzelli
Saatchi & Saatchi Amsterdam

Gijs Bakker

I know Gijs Bakker as one of the founders of Droog Design. This strip chair was his very first product in 1974. Together with the Dutch laboratory TNO he developed a new revelutionary technique to bend laminated wood. Gijs Bakker has said it is essential for an artist to be able to take time to refine a product or process. It took a period of 1,5 year to take this chair into production. Fortunately, producer Castelijn gave Bakker all freedom he needed.

source: www.designmatcher.com

Theatre posters

The Dutch Theatre Institute has recently announced its theatre poster awards. Below are my favourite nominees.

Levi van Veluw

Levi van Veluw is a very talented artist, who just graduated form the Artez Art School in Arnhem, The Netherlands. His work can be seen at the ArtOlive exhibition until tomorrow!

Levi van Veluw

Chairs

For me, the chair is the ultimate design object. There are so many different solutions to create a beautiful, functional chair. It is also exiting to see how during the last century new technologies were quickly implemented in new chairs.



















Above some classics, by Poul Kjaerholm, Arne Jacobsen, Jasper Morrison and Charles & Ray Eames (clockwise from top left).

Libraries

Yesterday I visited the University Library in Utrecht, the Netherlands, designed by Wiel Arets. It's a beautiful, exiting building (espacially for those with vertigo!).












Amsterdam just got a new library too, developed by Jo Coenen. It makes me happy that in the public sector there still is a budget for projects like these.

Wiel Arets Architects
Jo Coenen

Mibo

Mibo was launched in 2001 in a bid to inject some colour and pattern into the then glass and steel world of domestic lighting. I particularly like the textiles.

Mibo

Magical Finland

Two illustrators who take you to a fairytale world. They both have Finnish roots, let's go there!

Klaus Haapaniemi:


















The Taika range for Iittala









































Sanna Annukka:

Inka Jarvinen

Inka Jarvinen

EricandMarie

At the website of Eric and Marie Design Studio you can find interesting use of materials and formats.

Eric and marie

Studio8 Design

Studio8 was established in 2005 by Matt Willey and Zoë Bather, formerly creative directors at Frost Design. Another inspiring discovery.

studio8design

Niche modern

Beautiful lamps from handblown glass by Niche Modern.

They are based in the US, so the lamps are designed for 110 V, but surely there is a way to use them in Europe too? (and how can it be that I have a degree in industrial design engineering and not know this? blush)

Niche modern