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Designer Spotlight: Bjørn Wiinblad

casasugar — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:00:37 -0700

If you're wondering where Jonathan Adler got his inspiration for his Utopia series, or where Tord Boontje got his taste for saturated colors and fanciful flora, look no further than Danish artist and designer Bjørn Wiinblad. This midcentury ceramic artist set up his own studio in 1952, and continued to reproduce his designs through the 1990s.
Much of his work is inspired by the fairy tales of fellow Dane Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote such well-known stories as The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Pea. Starting in the 1950s, he produced silver, glass, furniture, and ceramic designs for Rosenthal Porzellan AG, and also designed posters, costume and stage designs, tapestries, and textiles for hotels and restaurants across the world. His work is particularly popular in Japan.

To see more images of his work, and to find out whether or not his work is a good investment,

Nice and New: Jonathan Adler's Druggist Collection

casasugar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:15:43 -0700

Billing himself as "your 24-hour pot dealer," Jonathan Adler gets cheeky with his new collection of pottery, Druggist ($24-$55). Billed as "An Apothecary of Emotion" his collection features translucent porcelain pieces that are first thrown on the wheel. Afterwards, the trompe-l'oeil chains and names of the emotions are added.

Modeled after old apothecary jars and finished with an unglazed matte finish, these pieces are fun and slightly sinister at the same time — especially the mug that declares "love" on one side and "hate" on the other. Still, I would love to have a few of these pieces. I think the apothecary jars especially would be great vessels for all of the cotton balls and q-tips needed for your nightly ablutions. Oh, and they wouldn't look bad on that French Apothecary Chest either.

Designer Spotlight: Hella Jongerius

casasugar — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 06:00:09 -0700

When Ikea tapped Hella Jongerius to design a line of socially conscious vases in 2006, many of us were thinking, "Hella who?" But design junkies know that Jongerius's influence reaches far beyond the blue-and-yellow confines of Ikea. With her cutting-edge combination of industrial design and traditional craft methods, the Dutch designer's reputation has spread from Amsterdam's Droog Design Collective to the European design cognoscenti.

But I like Jongerius's stuff for even more basic reasons: It is beautiful and very much unlike the other beautiful things I admire each day. The ways in which she combines folksy tradition with sleek aesthetics always impress me. The Majolica Large Multicolored Vase, for instance, uses 17th and 18th century ceramic designs for a wholly modern look, while her Worker Chair might serve as seating in a farmhouse of the future. To see some of my favorite Jongerius designs, just click on the photos below.

Bird Jug & Mug: Love It Or Hate It?

YumSugar — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 03:58:39 -0700

I have a thing for little birds, they're pretty darn cute and add a nice rustic flair to modern elements. They're also pretty trendy right now, which is okay in my book. Yesterday I saw this lovely bird jug and mug set and just swooned. The mug is £4.95 ($10) and the jug is £19.95 ($40). What do you guys think, love it or hate it?Source: Another Shade of Grey

Bird Jug & Mug: Love It Or Hate It?

Love It

Hate It

Undecided

Your Fancy Coffee Deserves a Fancy Milk and Sugar Set

YumSugar — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 03:29:21 -0800

Since so many of you enjoy your coffee with cream and sugar, I thought I'd share this cute set with you. I'm a sucker for great design and clever innovation and Tonfisk's Newton Milk and Sugar Set definitely captures both. The sugar bowl acts as a lid for the milk and has a slick mechanism that will keep it still while you pour the milk.

Unfortunately, like most really great designs, this set doesn't come cheap. You can get it plain for $62 or with a gold interior for $125.