London Design Festival 2013 – 1/4

The London Design Festival was my first stop after returning from China a year ago.12 months have flown by; but it's great to see how companies and designers have developed fresh new designs to exhibit this September.

Now autumn is firmly here I dosed up on cold and flu tablets eager not to miss all the design action on its opening weekend.

PearsonLloyd 1:1 Inside Design at Great Western Studios |  A selection of new products of key recent work selected to illustrate the PearsonLloyd design language.

At the preview evening we were treated to an intimate Q&A with Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd, everyone was gathered on the 20, 3 metre long plywood boxes; which were modular and could me moved to suit the spaces purpose.

First stop on Sunday 15th the Victoria and Albert museum. Quite a few small installations at the V&A this year but no show stoppers like the Bouroullec Brothers; Field of 2011.

God is in the details | One of the best parts of visiting the V&A during LDF is exploring the space and discovering contemporary design exhibits mixed within the permanent collection; in vast Victorian spaces.

14 Designers were asked to pick their particular favorites, following the theme of Designer is here there and everywhere.

The Swarovski lens allows the viewer to focus in on the minute details, that a passer by might usually miss in the overwhelming assortment of what the V&A has on offer.

ALESSI Made in Crusinallo|A display of prototypes and behind the scenes of the processes used to manufacture and design the Alessi collection.

Is was great to see some hand made models a contrast to the ever increasing 3D printing.

Above | ‘Resonance’ Centrepiece and ‘harmonic’ baskets designed by Abi Alice.

Above | Ally Capellinos “Bums on Seats” . Using the standard Bauhaus tubular steel stacking chair; Ally looked at the way the sitter positions themselves on the chair (to get comfy) the leather slings are then customised to suit the particular seating position.

Design of time | People discovering what makes a Panerai watch tick.

One of the highlight of this years displays were; the vertical lighting instillation that covered 2 floors by Omer Arbel for Bocci.

Obligatory stop in the Ceramics and glass and furniture floor.

Above | Finalists of the Bodleian Chair competition. The competition was to design a new chair for the historic Bodleian Libraries in Oxford.

The six shortlisted finalists were;  AL_A & Herman, Barber Osgerby & Isokon Plus, Hugo Eccles & Race Furniture, Matthew Hilton & SCP Ltd, Michael Sodeau Partnership & Modus Furniture, TNA Design Studio & Benchmark.

Above | Julia Lohmann Worshop with prototypes of the Oki Naganode  installation. Which can be seen in the Leighton Room of the V&A a structure in Japanese Seaweed, cane and aluminium.

This is the full scale piece.

Wind Portal by Najla El Zein | 5,000 handmade paper windmills, that have been installed and move ever so slightly from the drafty breeze of the huge V&A corridors, each upright tube is actually synced with a computer program so the movement flows though the piece. I great combination of low-tech and high-tech marrying together.

Final stop the Moleskin sketchbook relay| I was privileged enough to be one of the 70 London based designers invited to take part in the collaboration with Moleskin. A brand I am an avid fan of as my shelf of filled classic pocket sketchbooks will illustrate!

The theme of this years campaign  was "design is here, there and everywhere".

Using 5 pages of the Japanese concertinaed A5 Moleskin we we're asked to respond to the following 3 questions: Illustrate what objects, items, systems and details you cannot live without in a private space or public domain. Examine what needs improving within your professional or personal life. Draw something you would like to design but haven't had the opportunity to design before.

It was so interesting to see how different creative minds responded to the same brief; some analytically, some literally and others conceptually. It was great to be associated alongside establish design names like Russel Pinch, Bethan Gray, Simon Pengelly, Michael Sodeau, Tomoko Azumi and Luke Pearson to name but a few.

I decided to got for a literal answer for each question; adding in answers, colour and pattern true to me...even if that meant I admitted my orange squash addiction! I only had 3 hours to complete the sketches before I was off traveling again; I found the blank pages quite ominous to start with; knowing I would my pages could be sandwiched between anyone! Here are a few photos from the sketching stages…

…to my chuffed face at the V&A.

As a bonus surprise; each designer received a goody bag as a thankyou – a good addition to my Moleskin collection.

Squint | After the V&A there was just enough time to squeeze in a quick visit to Squint. A patchwork sensory overload from fluorescent velvets to shiny lamay fabric; plastered all over chandeliers to dining chairs.

I really liked this little hallway storage piece.

The Graffiti interior really helped add to the visual spectacle.

With Sunday over the task of day job and trying to see as much of LDF began!