Design

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Art Design

Play Your Next Round of Cards with a Deck Featuring Kehinde Wiley’s Signature Portraits

Games of poker or solitaire have a little more flair with artist-designed decks by Kehinde Wiley (previously). Gracing four 54-card packs are Wiley’s vividly rendered portraits of Black people, all of which subvert portraiture traditions of Western art history as they highlight subjects of the African diaspora. While fragments of the vibrant botanical backdrops adorn the cards’ faces, the reverse depicts the full works, including the artist’s 2012 painting of model Dacia Carter and “A Portrait of a Young Gentleman,” which reinterprets Thomas Gainsborough’s iconic “Blue Boy” by placing a Sengalese surfer at its center.

Two sets are available in Wiley’s shop, and the MoMA Design Store carries the other two. Proceeds from all decks go toward the artist’s residency program, Black Rock Senegal.

 

Amazing Design

A New Apple Campaign Shines a Light on the Diverse Possibilities of Accessible Tech

In an empowering new ad from Apple, accessibility features of the brand’s products take center stage. Backed by an energizing soundtrack by Australian ensemble Spinifex Gum that puts famed boxer Muhammad Ali’s 1974 “I am the greatest” speech to music, scenes emphasize the features of phones, watches, and computers that allow people with physical disabilities to access myriad creative and life pursuits: a deaf mother is alerted to her child crying, a performer uses his camera to access the stage door, and a man makes various facial expressions to edit photos. Directed by Kim Gehring, “The Greatest” is a stunningly produced campaign that evinces the powers of greater access to technology for all.

 

Design

Dramatic Flares and Organic Swells Burst from Robert Wun’s Avian-Inspired Garments

The Spring Summer 2023 collection from Robert Wun harmonizes the natural and technologically futuristic. Featuring billowing pleats and bursts of ruffles, the operatic garments reference birding or the act of watching avian creatures in their habitats, an outdoor activity that today is sometimes supplanted by digital viewing opportunities.  The collection evokes the graceful, voluptuous silhouettes of swans, cranes, and crows through full skirts erupting like wings mid-flight or pant legs that fall like feathers at rest. 3D-printed titanium jewelry augments the bird-like aesthetic, with single feathers structuring sculptural eyepieces.

SS23 follows another avian-inspired collection, AW21, which honors Wun’s grandmother who died a few years ago. He shares about the pieces in an interview:

It was about playing with material that looked like metal to create the illusion of wearing armour, but it’s actually made out of fabric. The swallow bird detail is because it’s my grandmother’s favourite bird from Hainan Island, China, where she’s from. Through the armour, there’s a softness of a pleat that cuts into a swallowtail shape, so there’s always that mixture between strength and something as delicate and light as a bird’s tail.

Born in Hong Kong, Wun is now based in London, and you can find more of his designs on the brand’s site.

 

Art Design

A Massive Illuminated Eye of 100,000 Lights Twinkles Above a Madrid Plaza

Now on view in Madrid’s Plaza de Canalejas is a gleaming eye that peers both downward at those who pass underneath its red-and-blue canopy and upward at the sky. Extending across more than 2,000-square-meters, the temporary site-specific installation is the project of design studio Brut Deluxe, which strung 100,000-plus LED lights into a web of color that hovers nine meters above ground. Mimicking the center of an eye, “Iris” is comprised of the main concentric circles pocked by anatomical anomalies like wrinkles and grooves, with flickering bulbs spread across its expanse.

Watch the video above too see the dynamic elements in action, and explore an archive of Brut Deluxe’s projects on its site. (via designboom)

 

Design

Kengo Kuma Designs a Dramatically Vaulted Cafe to Evoke Japan’s Sloping Tottori Sand Dunes

Overlooking Japan’s vast Tottori Sand Dunes is a new two-level structure that connects earth and atmosphere. Dubbed a “staircase to the sky,” Takahama Café is one of architect Kengo Kuma’s latest projects that reflects the surrounding environment. The dramatically vaulted building, which totals 199 square meters, is constructed with cross-laminated timber and reinforced concrete and features a balcony topped with a pergola for visitors to view the region. Sand from the dunes textures the Washi paper pendant lights inside, and in honor of local craftspeople and traditions, the studio tasked the Tottori Mingei pottery workshop Nakai-gama with creating the bathroom sinks, which are cloaked in its signature blue-black glaze.

For more from Kuma (previously) and his team, visit the studio’s site. (via designboom)

 

Design

New Year, New Plans: 2023 Calendars to Organize Your Year

2022 is quickly coming to a close, and wrapping up the year also means looking forward to the next. To start charting a course for 2023, we’ve gathered some of our favorite calendars for the months ahead. From the school-day aesthetic of an oversized notebook to a celestial chart, these planners will ring in the year with whimsical elegance, bold graphics, and good vibes.

 

Yearcalendar 2023 Classic

We’re partial to Yearcalendar’s giant wall-sized planners at Colossal—you’ll find the 2022 edition on a few of our office walls. The Swedish maker offers multiple sizes to fit your space so you can plan your full year at a glance.

 

You Are Beautiful 2023 Daily Calendar

Peel back layers of positivity and goodwill with You Are Beautiful’s daily calendar. The stacked affirmations reveal a new phrase for each day, offering a tiny dose of encouragement on colorful paper.

 

Katharine Watson 2023 Letterpress Calendar

Framed by an intricate floral design, this letterpress calendar by artist Katharine Watson nestles an entire year into a garden of botanicals.

 

Spectrum Wall Planner

This vibrant wall calendar from Poketo adds a healthy dose of color to planning. Each poster-sized page can be displayed individually, so view one at a time or the full year at once. Plus, it’s not dated, so you can start with any month.

 

Thoughts Operator 2023 Lunar Calendar

Since 2009, Alec Thibodeau has been releasing these celestial lunar calendars that chronicle the moon’s cycles within the Northern Hemisphere throughout the year. Ornate renderings of natural life frame the elegant letterpress print, which expertly melds artful illustration with timely information.

 

Stendig Art Calendar

This iconic, minimal design from Massimo Vignelli offers pared-back clarity for the days ahead. View entire months at once with this oversized tear-away calendar in classic Helvetica.

 

Lorraine Loots’ Hand-Drawn Calendars

We’ve long admired Lorraine Loots’ daily paintings in miniature, and the artist has two minimal calendars available this year. Pick up the larger wall design or the tiny desk model (or both!) for planning in her hand-drawn creations.

 

Rifle Paper Co. 2023 Appointment Wall Calendar

Rifle Paper Co. is known for its whimsical illustrations, and this spiral-bound calendar is trimmed with colorful bouquets each month. There’s also a blank section for jotting reminders, plans, and other notes.