Typography Memory Game

For Type A personalities.

(via SeaSaw designs)

Soho Dining

at Fernandez & Wells. Perfect on a blustery Autumn evening.

If you find yourself on Beak Street and not so keen on the mandatory hour wait at Polpo , then try their sister restauant Polpetto at the top of the French House. And if you can't get in there (let's face it, it will be an hour wait) then wait a wee bit longer for the owner's third venture Spuntino set to open next month.

EXHIBITION: Japanese Fashion

Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion is the first exhibition in Europe to comprehensively survey avant-garde Japanese fashion, from the early 1980s to the present. Curated by the eminent Japanese fashion historian Akiko Fukai, Director of the Kyoto Costume Institute, the exhibition explores the unique sensibility of Japanese design, and its sense of beauty embodied in clothing.

15 October 2010 - 6 February 2011
Barbican Art Gallery

For me, this is an extraordinary reading/living room.
(via Design to Inspire)

2 Willow Road

Architect Ernö Goldfinger designed 2 Willow Road, NW3 for his family in 1932. Doors marked with red paint and light elegantly manipulated along the curved gold banister. Inhale and exhale in each modernist musty room and wish you were wearing Vena Cava


Ernö's circle included Bridget Riley, Max Ernst and Henry Moore. Their works are positioned casually in the living room and bedroom of this preserved gem.
National Trust tours

Company update

I'm slowly (emphasis on slowly) navigating my way with my business idea. I'll need to be nimble and flexible and like Lea says, think big before thinking small. I like that the idea will morph into something I might not have imagined as yet. First steps for small businesses: get a domain and a mantra!

(via design is mine)

Happy Weekend

Brunch. The next time you are over at Flat 14...

Tramshed

Shoreditch's Tramshed* hosted several designers this week as part of the London Design Festival. Day beds made from Dorset oak and tilted plant pots. The general feel was 50s Scandi-design so not sure it could be called a 'new direction in design'.The highlight was Benchmark furniture's takeover of the top floor to create a carpenters workshop.

*the venue was originally the electricity power generating station for the Shoreditch tram system.
(apologies for smudgy iPhone photo. Going to invest one day.

Jing and Mike

(Setting: a standard London office with dismal blue carpet and strip lighting)
Me: You look so smart. Mike with the silver clip on your tie and Jing with your petal skirt.
(lifts up the iPhone to photograph)
Mike: We look like we are in Press Gang.
Me: Good point.

Chicago

Going to a work public programming conference in the windy city this November. Have you been? Any tips, suggestions, recommends? I'm aware that it gets wee a bit cold there in November so will be sure to pack thermals in a thermal suitcase.

(Cloud Gate, Anish Kapoor's contribution to Millennium park).

Anthology

In a post Domino world, most design interested bloggers have turned to online magazines including Rue and Lonny. But for those craving actual print,look no further than Anthology.
(via Ruby Press)

Happy nearly one year David!

This played in Trafalgar Square today. D's not technically-our-anniversary-yet tech present. I'm blushing! Still blushing.

(picture taken at Lake Montbel)

Talk: Public Art Private Money

Where should the arts look for funding in an era of austerity? Corporate backing? Private wealth? US-style philanthropy? Or none of these. As the recent anti-BP protests at Tate have shown, the relationship between art and business is still controversial. Burt what choice do cultural institutions have with government spending in retreat?

Speakers including John Woodward (the recently resigned Chief Executive Officer of the UKFC), Alex Beard (Deputy Director of Tate), Colin Tweedy (Chief Executive of Arts & Business), Marcus Romer (Artistic Director of Pilot Theatre, York Theatre Royal) and former Chairman of Arts Council England, Christopher Frayling. The discussion will be chaired by BBC Radio 4 Front Row presenter John Wilson.

Thursday 23 September, 7.30pm at ICA

Act One

My friend Rea has decided to become an actress. She actually decided this when she was 15 but aged 28 has concluded that fundraising for the arts can wait, acting in plays cannot.

She is performing in Chaika Casino, part of Theatre Souk – a market place of performances hosted by Theatre Delicatessen at their building just behind Selfridges.

Dates: 21st September -10th October
Times: Tuesday to Saturday from 7.30pm.
Location: 3-4 Picton Place, London, W1B 2HL.
More info here

Lonny

Thank you Sarah Berry for pointing to Lonny magazine's archive pages. A tonic for a Monday afternoon.

The Squid and the Whale

Spend a few minutes swimming through this lovely blog.

That time of year..

I was away for Rosh Hashanah. I stole an apple from an apple orchard and got some miel so felt slightly less guilty. I'll repent on Saturday. One for the list.

On another Jewish note, love the Sukah City competition in New York. Some of the winning designs as follows.



(via BLBGBLOG)

London Design Festival

My profile on Kultureflash. Yes, there will be robots in Trafalgar Square in a few days time. Yoshimi Battles.

Push the button

We tried to get into an Italian tapas place last night but ended up in an opulent room worthy of Don Draper, with a button at every table. I must have been transfixed by said button (and 3 spoonfuls of salted caramel ice cream) as I can't remember what the restaurant was called! I will of course locate it and google map it for you shortly.

My London Shopper

I've talked about Sindiso Khumalo before. Sindi has launched a new (ad)venture. mylondonshopper sells her own designs and in addition offers a personalised shopping service to clients who may want to buy items off other websites that do not deliver to South Africa.
Love her new website and her email signature sign off
Sindiso Khumalo
Shopkeeper

Blueprint: playground of the future

Wired's winning entry for a 2024 playground.
Click on image to read details of the bungee jungle and the stroller rink.

Lower ground

I work on the lower ground floor and occasionally feel like Beckett's Winnie in Happy Days. I wouldn't mind being submerged in this forest office though.
(via swissmiss)