In the bleak midwinter we’re still curling up on the sofa and getting engrossed in good books, film and tv. What does this have to do with design you may ask? So glad you did…
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This month I:
Abigail hit Top Drawer at Kensington Olympia to see what was coming next in the world of interiors. If you think we’ve hit peak tropical, you ain’t seen nothing yet. We are also seeing a welcome return to a natural pallet, both in terms of colour, and materials (not so great for Rachel’s wool allergy). Below is a round up of what Abigail saw…
Rachel devoured Michelle Obama’s autobiography becoming. Quite aside from being a style icon herself, and Rachel’s shared love of the Saab 900, this book was a welcome meditation on what it means to help places get ‘unstuck’ and that so many of the ‘choices’ we make are actually dictated by our built environment.
Good Design / Bad Design
While at Top Drawer Abigail also fell in love with these mud-ball chandeliers, handmade by women affected by HIV living in South Africa. Knock-offs about but these beauties are still looking for a UK distributor.
Good Design is when you have a genuine connection, not just to the look, but the to the whole story of an object. Can materialism ever be good for people? This led to a discussion of the ethics of objects, in particular Rachel’s new found love of meal-kit delivery services (Mindful Chef is particularly ‘ethical’) and reminisced about the Great-Grandmother Edna Ruth Byler who helped to set up one of the first fair-trade organisations, Ten Thousand Villages.
A little closer to home, Rachel’s good design is a clock that you can tell the time on, and bad design is a clock that makes you work a little too hard.
Her watch – a lovely Mondain Helvetica (she has the No1 Light model with steel strap) is good design (easy to read, lovely on the wrist, a timeless timekeeper).
The Ikea Clock that her children pretend is the moon is less good… the odds are you could be VERY late if this was your only timepiece.
The Big Topic
It was a trip to the (home) cinema and a trip down memory lane for Abigail and Rachel. Abigail has identified two kinds of movies firstly period films that make you want to visit the stately home (think Atonement) or the page turners that suck you into place based conspiracy theories (think Da Vinci Code).
Rachel on the other hand reflected on how all her life choices are dictated by the films of Nora Ephron, When Harry met Sally specifically.
Abigail then set Rachel what shall hence for be known as the W. E. challenge, and Rachel counter challenges with the Much Ado about Nothing double bill (both the Branagh and the Whedon versions).
Designing Together
We’ve been watching (who hasn’t???) the Marie Kondo series of Netflix. What we love about this that unlike other ‘tidying’ shows (Hoarders, Consumed) there’s no judgement. You may end up with more stuff than a strict minimalist would find necessary – but it all speaks to YOU. And that’s really what good design is all about.
Next month I will
We’ve set an ambitious challenge to do both a visit to the Design Museum Home Futures exhibition and a real live design consultation! #challengeaccepted.
