google ad sense 728 x 90

Scandinavian Luxe: LYX Furniture Designer Michael Malmborg

If you know any of Michael Malmborg's work, chances are you know the Wing Lounge Chair, shown below, given it's extensive coverage on design blogs and furniture design sites (as well as being featured in a Nikon Coolpix commercial starring Ashton Kutcher):

WING Lounge Chair:

A reincarnation of the classic wing chair, created for the future. This recliner is made for serious cocooning and is the closest you can get to weightlessness. The upholstery in the Wing Chair is made by open cell visco elastic memory foam, developed by NASA and used in all spacecrafts.

The foam adapts to our body shape and temperature leaving you in cosmic comfort. WING Lounge Chair is the first and only chair ever to be certified by The Space Foundation – tested and recognized by NASA. WING is also the biggest single piece of bendwood ever used to create a chair.



But what you may not know is that Michael is the founder of LYX, a luxury Scandinavian furniture and lighting store, and has several other unusual pieces of furniture worth noting.

Moduluxe Sofa:


A fully flexible design that allows you to design the perfect sofa, using a number of modules. And not only can you combine different types of upholstery like soft Swedish leather and fine Danish fabric. You can also select a base for the sofa that matches your style

Tripps coffee table:


The thick wooden or hi-gloss painted top engraved and supported by mirror polished aluminum.

Zig zag chair:


This serpent inspired lounge chair almost forces the spectator to examine it closely. And despite it’s abstract look, it’s quite comfortable. The strong aluminum alloy frame and a thick layer of supporting foam, it perfectly balances the weight of anyone who dares.

Roy Maccassar Dining Table:


The solid Roy table is extendable from 6 to 10 seats with ample of space for animated get together’s (390 cm / 12.5 ft). The unique extension mechanism is seamless using the latest magnet technology.

The Pris Chair:

The Pris chairs are made with thick mirror polished aluminum frame and very generous upholstery. They are also available with or without armrests and with a low or high back.

Bongo lounge table:


The thick acrylic board, with naturally frosted edges from the water cutting, creates a magic effect. Especially at night or in a dark room when the table acts like a luminary as the edges catches light and reflections in the dark.

The Cell coffee table:

A combination of soft, rounded lines and hard, mirror polished stainless steel gives Cell a techno-organic look. The fine wood, together with its solid form and handmade quality, creates quiet elegance and luxury.

Lightspeaker Lamp:

It is shaped like a loudspeaker, but instead of emitting sound it emits light. The "bass & treble reflectors" in the polished white acrylic box are really light reflectors with mirror topped bulbs. And the volume control is really a dimmer.

The LightAir ion purifier:

The LightAir is probably the world’s most efficient air purifier without even looking like one! It pleases the eye and restores the body - the unique technology combined with award winning design delivers 99.94% clean air. The simple transparent form feels at home in any environment. No expensive filters need to be replaced – just clean the collector when necessary.


Above: LYX founder Michael Malmborg

About LYX:
LYX is the Swedish word for luxury. Rooted in the Scandinavian designs of the 60s and 70s – their furniture and lighting embody pure, simple and clean lines. LYX exists for customers that are special, both in taste and in their willingness to spend a little bit more on a unique piece of furniture.

Their pieces are handmade, of high quality and not in high volume, which adds a bit more to their worth and cost. The pieces are inspired by the traditional Scandinavian design, but makes a stronger and more luxurious statement.
LYX has been published in +100 international media since the premiere in November 2003.

Visit LYX here.

Julian Wolkenstein's Unusual Photography





Photographer Julian Wolkenstein has shot a lot of images you are probably familiar with. Having photographed large ad campaigns for food, cars, airlines and more, you've come across his commercial photography for everything from Sony and Vodaphone to Snickers in many international publications.

While he's an adept portraitist, landscape and commercial photographer (his work is really beautiful), it's his non-commissioned work that I find so interesting because it is both simultaneously beautiful and bizarre.

Take a look.

People as pets:




Horses with hair extensions:


Harmony gets her hair braided for the shot shown at the beginning of this post:

above image courtesy of MSNBC

Yawning people portraits:




See all his work here.

Be sure to my post on Wolkenstein's Echoism Project in which he marries left and right sides of people's faces through digital composition

Omas Planet Pens Are Out Of This World! Marte Limited, Gaia & Apollo 11



These three amazingly detailed limited edition luxury writing instruments from Italian pen maker, Omas, are from their Discovery series. Although the series has 5 different products, it's these three pens that represent space exploration that I find really interesting.

The Marte Limited edition (Mars excursions):


The artistic representation in rose gold of the surface of Mars has the faithful map of the red planet. We rediscover Olympus Mons (the highest point), Hellas Planitia (the lowest point), the Herschel, Huygens, Schiapparelli, Cassini, Gale and Lowell craters, the Walles Marineris, the incredible system of canyons, which in reality, is more than 4000 km long and up to 10000 m deep.


Above: The dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) of the polar caps is a succession of small, brilliant diamonds equal to 2k.

Four rubies indicate the landing points in chronological order : Mars 3 (URSS) which landed on December, 2nd 1971 in the Terra Sirenum, of the Viking 1, the American probe which landed on July, 20th 1976 in the Chryse Planitia and of the Viking 2, another American probe which landed on September, 3rd of the same year in the Utopia Planitia.



Lastly the representation of Mars Pathfinder (USA) which landed on July, 4th 1997 in the Chryse Planitia, an area with immense channels, a consequence of great catastrophes which were excavated in a few weeks by gigantic volumes of water. Martian time is engraved onto the final ring of the nib holder on which we also find the expected dates for the next trips: 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030 inside the simulation of the “Schiapparelli Tracciato”.



The clip, shiny on the front and engraved on its sides, is a detail of Tycho Brahe’s Mural Quadrant, the astronomer to whom we owe the foundations of the modern day laws of planetary motion as he was able to detect, thanks to this system and with great precision, the position of a heavenly body.



Finally the nib, also in rose gold, upon which appears a half-bust of the Greek god, an emblematic signature of the fascinating adventure.
Price: $43,000.00 USD

The Gaïa: "Trip to the centre of the Earth":



The depths of the Earth, like the sky, have since the most remote ancient times, inspired in Man wonder, curiosity and deep interest which has led fantastic visions of the underground world. This refined fountain pen represents the interpretation of a symbolic and fantastic trip to the centre of the Earth.




The Limited Edition “Gaïa”, Omas has exclusively used precious materials, like the yellow and white gold 18K and the Omas "Gaïa Grey” vegetable resin; the Crystal Rock, the Onyx, the Hematite, the Emerald and the Diamond, brillant cut, contribute to enrich and to embellish the body and the cap of the fountain pen.



On the bicolour nib, in gold 18K, a precious and refined engraving completes the fountain pen. The Limited Edition "Gaïa" is available in 30 piston fountain pens.
Price: $37,000.00 USD

The Apollo 11:

An artistic interpretation in white 18K gold commemorating the landing on the Moon: this event represented a crucial moment in the History of Humanity and has been commemorated on occasion of the 30th Anniversary.




The pen is made of dark blue vegetable resin, mixed with silver dust, evocative of the starry sky. The body and the cap represent two different themes: Men on the Moon, on the cap, robots collecting Moon samples, on the barrel.


The rhodium plated 18K nib is engraved with the mission coats of arms: the Eagle named “Columbia and Eagle”. A genuine work of art made in 69 numbered pieces by French goldsmiths. Piston filling system.
Price: $35,000.00USD



How can you purchase one? Go here to see a list of worldwide dealers and distributors.
contact info:
Omas S.r.l. - Via del Fonditore 10 - 40138 Bologna Italy Tel ++39 051 6027911 Fax ++39 051 6027980 Email info@omas.com P.Iva 00305800377

Please donate

C'mon people, it's only a dollar.