Cement Made Charming: Pull + Push Design Products For The Home

In the last couple of weeks, designer Nobuhiro Satou has made quite an impression amongst design bloggers and community product sites.


Above: designer Nobuhiro Satou with one of his cube planters.

For those of you not yet familiar with Pull + Push, let me introduce you to their charming, industrial-looking cement tabletop product line, all of which are available for purchase.
Coasters, planters, incense burners, ashtrays, lamps and more, Pull Push products are hand-crafted and all of designed by Nobuhiro Satou. And they are reasonably priced ranging from $7.50 - $120. USD, especially for items made by hand.

The Coasters:

Above: the simple cement coaster, in 2 sizes with protective underside


Above: The corner coaster (4 pack). buy it here.

Above: the Corner coaster is also sold as a single. buy it here.

Above: One of three cement coasters that integrate a map. buy it here.

The Incense Burners:

Above: the House pot

Above: The Cottage Pot (also available with colored glass windows)

Buy the $ 56 Cottage Pot incense burner here.

Above: the Tou incense burner. buy it here.

The Planters:

Above: the cube planter ($80. USD), also available with colored glass windows (see below):

Buy the cube planter here.

Above: the Dan flower vase, buy it here.


Above: The Haisui planter ($48. USD) Buy it here.

Above: the Hei planter buy it here.

Above: the Truss Planter ($48 USD) Buy it here.

Above: The Pipe Planter ($48. USD) Buy it here


Above: the Mansion planter ($120 USD). Buy it here.
The Ashtrays:

Above: the cement ashtray buy it here.

Above: the Kiso ashtray ($48 USD). Buy it here.

Above: the Foot ashtray ($50. USD) Buy it here.


Above: the Ash Block buy it here.

Miscellaneous products

Above: the Building Lamp buy it here.


Above: Their cement pushpins ($7.50 USD) Buy them here.

The products are small in scale, adding to their charm:


They've also created several products in conjunction with other companies:





A bit about the designer, Nobuhiro Sato:
1999: Graduated from The Kyoto Seika College fine arts department design subject construction field.
1999-02: Joined Modeling production company in Kyoto.
2002: Established PULL+PUSH PRODUCTS with the concept of “Doors” to pull and push new ideas in and out. Every item is personally handmade. Every product is Nobuhiro Sato’s style to convert things we take for granted into inspiring new ideas Sato has endless ideas on incorporating architectural buildings into our lifestyle interior goods. Utilizing his expertise in cement modeling, he created a whole line of unique products that are not only decorative, but also functional.

You can buy all their products at their site by clicking here.
Or find many of them here.here.
Or here.
Or here.

Colette's Cool Collaborations

One of my favorite stores' websites is that of Colette, whose physical store has been located at 213 Rue Saint Honoré since opening in march of 1997. The french cyber home to Cap and Pep (Capperino and Peperone, the two adorable dog 'mascots' created by designers Kuntzel + Deygas) and all things cool when it comes to art, fashion, style, music and design.



The site design is a delight, an engaging interface accompanied by hip music you can opt to turn off, down or up. And the site is very deep, you can spend hours on it.



Because the site is all flash, several surfers have missed out on Colette because it doesn't show up when you 'google' something.

They have so many wonderful projects in the works, images to see, exhibitions to attend, I wish I could tell you about them all, but instead I've chosen to focus on some of their recent collaborations between artists and designers. So, be sure to settle in when you have some time and surf their site: http://www.colette.fr

Never a stranger to collaboration, Colette has premiered many limited editions of fabulous items in conjunction with Medicom's Be@rbricks, Kid Robot's Dunny Series, Absolut Vokda, Disney, and Goyard to name but a few. Go to their site and look at archived issues of their newsletter or look under their 'design' section and you'll find a million things to write home about.

But today I'm talking about four of their most recent collaborations.

1. Famous japanese label Comme des Garçons meets artist KAWS for a series of limited edition products: leather wallets, men & women t-shirts, wool bags & fragrance sets. This amazing collaboration should make many people happy. Starting November 15th at colette and on colette.fr, then from November 24th at Comme des Garçons, Dover Street Market, OriginalFake.




Buy the Comme Des Garcons and Kaws Products here.


2.Longchamp and Paris DJ Michel Gaubert have collaborated to come up with the MG collection. A mini-collection that address creative, practical and technical needs. From ipod cases to high tech bags. Below are some pieces from the collection:






Buy the MG collection here.

3.Sexy & scorching hot, the colette Sex candle (they named it, I didn't) is back in a Purple magazine's Olivier Zahm designed box, with Terry Richardson pictures (the photographer who shot the controversial Tom Ford Cologne ads I blogged about) & an unseen print from artist André.




Buy the SEX candle here.

4.In 2005 Finé Japon decided to launch it's project for new bottle designs. Finé Japon plans to make people more aware of the connection between aesthetics and functionality of products. For its first new bottle design, Finé asked Karim Rashid to collaborate after having admired his bottle and packaging designs for clients such as Issey Miyake, Kenzo, Shiseido and Prada. After 2 years of work with Karim, Finé is pleased to be able to finally offer you its new, limited edition bottle "that captures the fluidity and purity of thermal artesian water". Worldwide premiere at Colette.

the current bottle:


Karim's New Bottle for 2008:

Finé Japon Water

Limited Edition Beck Sticker Poster For "The Information" CD

Beck
The artwork for Beck's most recent album, 'The Information', took the form of a collaboration between 20 leading graphic artists curated by London design team Big Active and Beck himself. The album package is sold featuring a blank cover, each CD containing one of four different sticker sheets encouraging the listener to create their own unique artwork in a way that is highly reflective of Beck's idiosyncratic approach to his music. To celebrate this collection of talent we've produced this unique piece of sticker art memorabilia including work by Jody Barton, Estelle & Simon, David Foldvari, Genevieve Gauckler, Michael Gillette, Jasper Goodall, Han Lee, Mat Maitland, Will Sweeney, Kam Tang, Kensei Yabuno and Vania Zouravliov.



details of poster:





"The Information" £150 + Delivery
(Approx USD300 / EUR220 + Delivery)

"The Information"
Art lithography & foil on kiss cut semi gloss sticker sheet stock.
Sheet size: 37x59.5cms
Limited to an edition of 200
Signed by Beck and hand numbered (see signature and number detail above):


Buy the poster here.

Christmas Cards Worth Framing: Barbican Estate Christmas Cards by Stefi Orazi & Wallpaper Magazine's Bespoke Christmas Cards

Stefi Orazi's New Christmas Cards

The sharp angular lines found amidst the Modernist architecture of London’s Barbican may not convey the most obvious inspiration for seasonal tidings. But appreciators of all things abstract can now send their Christmas greetings in one of Stefi Orazi’s Special Edition Barbican Estate Christmas cards.




Click here to see more Of Stefi's cards

Earlier this year Wallpaper Magazine was elated with Orazi’s first foray into card design, which again drew inspiration from her Barbican setting. With such a strong affiliation for her local architecture, the London-based graphic designer has swung into the festive spirit, transforming her beloved muse into a geometric winter wonderland.

Fans of Orazi will have to be quick off the mark though, as she is only producing the range in 100 Special Edition packs, each containing eight contemporary illustrated cards and envelopes. However, the designer’s Barbican passion shows no sign of abating as she has recreated her illustrations on a larger scale in collaboration with fashion company Chris Tibor.

visit the artists' site and purchase cards here
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W* Bespoke Christmas Cards

To celebrate the festive season in our usual style-conscious manner we have enlisted the creative talents of some of our most cherished designers from the year gone by. The four chosen designers, who range from intricate illustrators to graphic artists, have crafted their own homage to Christmas in the form of a bespoke card designed exclusively for Wallpaper* that are to be produced as 250 limited edition sets.
Card 1: Körner Union
In 1999, art students Sami Benhadj, Tarik Hayward and Guy Meldem formed Körner Union. Through the sharing of ideas and tools they aimed to promote and enhance the development of their individual production as well as create collective works. Through taking on various artistic experiments, Körner Union have flourished within different mediums of design, from photography to illustration, and have now applied their never bashful humor to the festive season.

Card 2: Ahonen & Lamberg
After a stint studying graphic design in both Helsinki and Paris, Anna Ahonen & Katariina Lamberg decided to pool their creative talents and set up shop. Since opening the Ahonen & Lamberg design studio in the autumn of 2006, the Finnish design duo have been trying their hand at art direction, graphic design, and illustration ever since.

Card 3: Parra
Parra is something of an underground star in his hometown of Amsterdam, where his club posters and flyers are treasured by a generation of design fanatics. Almost entirely self-taught, Parra employs a minimal color palette, beautifully hand drawn typography and esoteric characters, all of which hark back to the screen posters of the 1960s and 1970s. Only taking on a few commercial design jobs each year, the designer prefers to devote his attentions on the posters through which he has found success.

Card 4: Supermundane
London-based designer Supermundane isn’t unfamiliar with collaboration, having previously worked with the likes of Orange, New York Times and actress-turned-songstress Juliet Lewis. In fact, it was his work with SleazeNation and Good For Nothing magazines that first took his pared down, hand-produced aesthetic to a wider audience. Although Supermundane has become known as an illustrator, typographer and art director, it is his graphic art, which depicts a Utopian world of organic shapes and beasts displaying hope, melancholy and beauty that has inspired the design for his W* Bespoke Christmas Card.


SOURCE: Wallpaper magazine

Walter Martin & Paloma Munoz: Wonderfully Wicked Winter Wonderland

Cerealart is proud to present an exhibition of photographs by Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz,
November 16, 2007 - January 25, 2008.

Like fairy tales or dreams Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz construct trancelike, metaphorical panoramic photographs and snow globes. The collaborative team, which have been working together since 1993, draw from art historical references ranging from Goya and Persian miniatures to literary references from William Blake to Zadie Smith.