YDN Design Guide

Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk take us on a tour through their latest collection. The designer couple usually has the same starting point but their different working methods bring a unique approach to each of their works. For this collection they took their inspiration of the past and the idea of making a collection of works. It’s about memories about forgotten objects, values or techniques. www.projectjoost.com www.kikiworld.nl

Fundamentals - legal and less legal ways of using our playgrounds. Twelve artists, with origins in the graffiti scene, show public space work created for this exhibition. With works by Matthias Wermke/ Mischa Leinkauf, Erosie, Boris Tellegen, Olivier Kosta-Théfaine, Influenza, François Morel, Honet, Navid Nuur, BLU, Jeroen Jongeleen. www.mu.nl

Lichting is the official graduation show for the most promising fashion designers graduating from the seven Dutch fashion academies. designguide.tv made a best of selection of this years’ lichting at the Amsterdam international fashion week 2008

Made in China, made in Holland, made in Italy…What does it really tell us about a product’s origin? Is a car or a toy or a shirt ‘made in China’, just because that’s the country where it left the factory?
For Made in Someland, MLY used modern, ecologically friendly textiles, such as bamboo yarns, while avant-gardistic silhouettes reflect the 19th century travel component which inspired the collection. Far Eastern influences are clearly visible in the ethnic, Asian designs and patterns, while the presentation of the collection has a typical Dutch setting, with Eindhoven skylines, Dutch heath lands and industrial landscapes. aifw 2008, amsterdam fashion week
www.mly.nl

Lotte’s work focusses on the social-cultural and ecologic aspects of design. Something that is often the starting point of a project. Jeanne talks to Lotte about her work and how the Dutch relate to this world-wide eco trend. For example, “Watt’s new?” lamp: Many people already apply energy saving lamps in their homes. Often the shape of the lamp and the lampshade do not match. This new energy saving lamp is developed using the advantages and design freedom of the technique. www.lottevanlaatum.nl

Remember those little pirate radio stations in the 80’s? Enter the p2p radio broadcaster by Juan Esteban Rios, this little device provides a means to transmit audio content to local radio receivers, and by having the listeners act as peers, the network can be expanded as much as it needs to. Overlooked communities in remote areas or poor urban environments can now take back the radio airwaves. The device is also powered by handcranking it, 1 minute for every 40 minutes of airtime.

Tord Boontje explains: “Rainwater is the lifeblood of our garden, you then catch a glimpse of a wild and lush vegetation and enter a landscape which is larger, more airy, throbbing and bright. Along the way you can experience different emotions by choosing different directions and visions: the peace and calmness of the serene and romantic white garden, the powerful stimuli of the psychedelic and symmetrical garden or the vibrant energy of the colourful and revitalising garden.” www.moroso.it, www.tordboontje.com

Powered by nothing but sunlight and some threads, Thomas Traxlers’ “The idea of a tree project” shows us how objects can grow during the course of a day. The installation is powered by a couple of solar cells which power the entire device, causing the process to move faster or slower depending on the amount of available light. The speed of the process determines the amount of saturation of the thread, giving a visual recording in the resulting object. Thomas Traxler just graduated from the IM Masters department of the Design Academy Eindhoven, 2008.
mischertraxler.com

designguide.tv talks to Nacho Carbonell about his new project, ‘Evolution’. As a reaction to the current information overload, Nacho created a refuge where you can escape to. The recycled paper originates from recent newspapers. Evolution explores different ways of communication, the private and the public form.

see more on nachocarbonell.com

Jon Stam, just recently graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven, shows his unique approach to a portfolio in the form of a wooden cabinet. His work is presented in two distinct ways, opening the drawers and looking at objects and pictures stored in the cabinet or by taking out a drawer and placing it on the RFID reader which shows the content on a computer. It also connects via an USB port for those of you who don’t have the RFID reader (yet).