Design

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Art Craft Design

Sequined and Baubled Masks by ‘Damselfrau’ Fascinate with Mysterious Beauty

Self-taught artist Magnhild Kennedy (previously), who works as ‘Damselfrau’, uses found and vintage materials to create elaborate masks. Mesh netting, sequined appliques, ribbons, beads, and pompoms come together in Kennedy’s wearable artworks, which she documents and shares on Instagram. Leaving space for her eyes, the artist otherwise completely obscures her face and poses against a blank background with patterned fabric draped around her shoulders. The artist declines to attach specific meaning or intention to each creation, instead leaving the interpretive experience up to the viewer.

In an interview with Yatzer, Kennedy explains that she grew up in an artistic household, and describes her start as a mask-maker as “a fluke”: in the 2000’s she began making masks as a fun thing to wear when going out to clubs with friends. Over the last decade, Kennedy has continued to explore the seemingly limitless possibilities of the mask as medium, and teaches herself new sewing skills to add to her repertoire of techniques. The artist explains to Yatzer that she draws inspiration from domestic environments: “I’m inspired by people’s homes and how they live with their objects around them. I often feel like I’m decorating a space, more than making a mask.”

You can see more of the artist’s ever-expanding collection of masks on Instagram and view select editorial commissions on her website gallery.

Design

Enamel Pins Turn International Architectural Destinations Into Pocket-Sized Accessories

Pagoda House, Tel Aviv

The husband and wife duo behind Drop-a-Pin have turned their love of architecture into an enamel pin business, transforming some of the world’s most recognizable buildings into miniature, 2-D renditions. The Drop-a-Pin duo explains that, thanks to their professional training as architects, most of the buildings they’ve turned into pins are ones they were familiar with. The pair spent the last five years traveling around the world to document buildings they love.

From Nakagin Capsule Tower in Toykyo to the Geisel Library in San Diego, each pin conveys the facade, silhouette, and color palette of the buildings that inspired them, while keeping a clean, minimalist look. “We developed a simple method we learned at the university in a course called Basic Design,” the team explains to Colossal. “The first and only law is to maintain the minimum number of lines necessary so that the building can still be identified. Once the lines in the design could no longer be erased, we reached the destination.”

Drop-a-Pin is currently raising funds on Indiegogo, where you can place a pre-order for the pin design of your choosing. See more of their designs on Instagram.

Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

Pantheon, Italy

Villa Savoye, France

Clockwise from top left: Guaranty Building, Buffalo NY; VitraHaus, Germany; Notre Dame, Paris; house on Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv

Geisel Library, California

Eames House, California

Nakagin Capsule Tower, Tokyo

Design Food

A New Circular Juice Machine Turns Orange Peels into Bioplastic Cups

Freshly squeezed orange juice is a welcome sight at cafes worldwide. The machines often showcase about-to-be-squeezed oranges with pinball machine-esque wire loading racks and clear cases that allow the consumer to see their juice being made in real time. International design firm Carlo Ratti Associati (previously) takes the immediacy of the experience to another level. ‘Feel the Peel’ is a prototype machine that uses orange peels to create bioplastic, shaping bespoke cups to hold the juice made from the cups’ own innards.

In a press release about the project, Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) explains that the approximately 9-foot tall machine handles 1,500 oranges, and the peels accumulate in the lower level. The peels are dried, milled, and mixed with polylactic acid to form a bioplastic, which is then heated and melted so that an internal 3-D printer can form each recyclable cup. CRA shares that they will continue to iterate, and are considering creating clothing from orange peels as a future functionality.

Follow along with CRA’s wide-ranging projects on Instagram and Twitter. If you enjoy Feel the Peel, also check out the cone-shaped french fry holders made from potato peels, designed by Simone Caronni, Paolo Stefano Gentile and Pietro Gaeli, as well as Mi Zhou’s toiletry containers made of soap. (via designboom)

Craft Design Music

A New Modular Paper Organ Allows Users to Build and Tune Their Own Functional Musical Instruments

Wolfram Kampffmeyer (previously) loves to play with paper. The German artist uses the seemingly simple material to create three-dimensional shapes and figures, often designing products that users can assemble themselves. His newest project, PAPERorgan, is a fully functioning modular organ that is fueled by an inflated balloon. The instrument can run for approximately 40 seconds on one balloon’s-worth of air, and plays a range of notes depending on how each user chooses to tune and expand their organ. For paper organ aficionados, Kampffmeyer clarifies that he has spoken with fellow instrument designer Aliaksei Zholner (previously) to ensure that his design and commercial product are not derivative or competitive.

Kampffmeyer is currently building awareness for the product and will be funding production on Kickstarter. Follow along with the journey on Instagram and Facebook, and sign up for email updates on PAPERorgan’s website.

 

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A post shared by PAPERorgan (@paperorgan) on Aug 29, 2019 at 2:05am PDT

Art Design Illustration

Delicate Flowers Blossom From Inky Black Backgrounds in Esther Garcia’s Stylized Botanical Tattoos

Chicago-based tattoo artist Esther Garcia creates inky black backgrounds on her clients, which are interspersed with delicate floral designs. Sweet peas and garden roses, along with butterflies and birds, emerge from black palettes edged in stylized patterns. Garcia, who is largely self-taught and has twenty years of experience as a tattooer, is known for her lush botanical designs and her artistic project-based approach to tattooing. She shares with Colossal that her current series of black background tattoos began as a solution for cover-ups (a new tattoo deliberately designed and placed to obscure an older one that is no longer wanted).

“I found it meditative and very enjoyable to make a smooth saturated surface where there was chaos before, but pretty soon I was looking for ways to make it a bit more ornamental,” Garcia explains. “I am very influenced by Dutch master paintings of lush florals and fruit, and I love the depth and richness that a dark background offers. It turns out to be a great way to evoke delicacy in a tattoo, and doesn’t need to involve cover ups at all.”

In addition to continuing her tattoo practice, Garcia is also working on a textile and commercial design collaboration with Chicago designer Kyle Letendre, and a traveling workshop series to educate younger artists on cultivating a unique style and sustainable business. You can see more of Garcia’s tattoos on Instagram, and see what upcoming projects she has available on her website.

Design

Wooden Detailing and Hanging Plants Provide a Modern Update for an Industrial Building From the 1950s

All images via Andrés Gallardo Albajar

In 2014 Auckland and Los Angeles-based Fearon Hay Architects were asked to convert a dilapidated 1950s building in Taichung, Taiwan into a boutique hotel. After a site visit, the studio decided integrate as many of the existing elements of the building as possible, embracing the original character of the raw industrial building. The resulting SOF Hotel still has the charm of the seven-decade-old structure, with natural timber furniture elements, large glass enclosures, and sporadic gardens that provide a minimal and modern update. Hanging plants protect rooms from the busy streets below, while a large open atrium provides bright, central light. You can see more of Fearon Hay Architects projects on their website, and follow more images by the project photographer Andrès Gallardo Albajar on Instagram.

Art Design

Sculptural Metal Jewelry by Ewa Nowak Helps Wearers Avoid Being Tracked by Facial Recognition Technology

Several methodologies have been tested to try and thwart growing facial recognition technologies, however perhaps none are as elegant as Polish designer Ewa Nowak’s metal jewelry. Her project, Incognito, was born out of her own uneasiness about the global state of privacy, and was tested using Facebook’s DeepFace algorithm to ensure its success.

The implement is worn like glasses, with arms reaching around the wearer’s ears. Two round pieces of metal cover each cheek, and an elongated piece extends upward between the eyes, creating a trifecta of polished objects that help deflect software used IRL in security systems and public cameras, and online through social media.

Incognito recently won the Mazda Design Award at the Łódź Design Festival. You can see more of her projects, including a reflective mask also used as a way to keep one’s anonymity, on her website and Instagram. (via Plain Magazine)