Design

Section

Craft Design

Miniature Interior Decor Elements Crafted With Impeccable Detail by Kiyomi

Japanese miniaturist Kiyomi imitates antiques with a stunning attention to detail, creating worn and clouded glass jars, slightly tarnished silverware, and cases packed with dozens of drawers. The talented craftswoman produces pieces for dollhouses out of paper, wire, wood, and other materials that imitate their larger companions. To give her audience a sense of scale, the artist will present her small works alongside a scaleable object, either placing a miniature chair on the seat of a regularly proportioned seat or dwarfing a set of drawers by putting it on the step of a ladder. You can see more of her antique items and delicious-looking fake pastries on her Instagram and website.  (via My Modern Met)

Craft Design

Geometric Animals Come to Life in DIY Lamp Kits by OWL

OWL, a Lisbon-based lamp brand founded by two architects in 2016, offers a wide range of friendly wild animals that can be turned into volumetric lamps using simple folding techniques. As you might guess, OWL offers a few different owl designs, as well as roaring hippos, curious rabbits, and proud penguins. Hugo Formiga and Teresa Almeida, the designers behind OWL, explain to Colossal that their “most recent designs have focused on large, endangered mammals. The selection tends to raise awareness about wildlife and simultaneously recreates the animals in a playful and abstract manner. The designs seem to trigger stories about themselves and are conceived as fun lighting objects with a hint of personality.”  You can find their range of DIY kits on Etsy. (via Colossal Submissions)

Design

Illustrations Transform Nike Air Maxes Into Concepts That Pay Homage to Their History

London-based creative agency Rosie Lee took the original design inspirations for iconic sneakers and turned them into conceptual sculptures that architects and sneakerheads will especially appreciate. Paying homage to the Centre Pompidou, the museum in Paris that inspired legendary Nike designer Tinker Hatfield to create the Nike Air Max 1 in the late-1980s, the team at Rosie Lee transformed the iconic shoe into a 3D model of its Parisian inspiration. The illustration closely resembles the inside-out architectural elements that Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, and Gianfranco Franchini used when designing and building the complex in the 1970s.

The creative team also created 3D illustrations for two other Air Max models: the Nike Air Max 90 and the Nike Air Max 95. The Air Max 90 concept is built entirely out of speakers and rigging as a nod to the culture of record crate diggers (“early adopters” of the sneaker model, according to Rosie Lee), while the Air Max 95 illustration was made to resemble the anatomy of a human foot since that’s where the sneaker’s designer, Sergio Lozano, found inspiration over 23 years ago.

Rosie Lee works on interdisciplinary retail design, branding, and digital projects. You can find more of their latest work on Behance and Instagram, and view their full portfolio on the Rosie Lee website.

Design History Illustration

Who’s She: A Laser-Cut Guessing Game That Celebrates Accomplished Women Throughout History

Who’s She is a new guessing game by Polish designer Zuzia Kozerska (previously) which celebrates the achievements of famous women across the world. The laser-cut wooden board flips up to reveal the faces of 28 painters, athletes, scientists, and astronauts, in a similar style the classic Guess Who? game did from the late 1970s. Instead of posing superficial questions such as “does your character have glasses?” the game asks players to inquire about achievements and contributions like “did she win a Nobel Prize?”.

Faces range from the early 20th-century painter Frida Kahlo to contemporary athlete Serena Williams, all illustrated in watercolor portraits by artist Daria Gołąb. The game is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. You can follow the evolution of the project on Instagram. (via My Modern Met)

Design

Around the World in 80 Ways: Infinitely Arrangeable Earth and Moon Puzzles

Puzzle wizards Nervous System (previously) explore the expansive qualities of earth and space in two new mind-boggling puzzles. The Infinite Earth puzzle includes 442 pieces, and the Infinite Moon has 186. Each can be rearranged in virtually an unlimited number of times. The math behind the magic is an icosahedral map projection, which applies the topology of a sphere without the traditional boundaries. You can learn more of the math behind the transposition from sphere to puzzle on Nervous System’s blog. Nervous System individually prints and laser cuts each puzzle on birch plywood in their Somerville workshop. You can find the Infinite Earth and Infinite Moon puzzles in The Colossal Shop!

Design History

An Appliqued Solar System Quilt Used as a Teaching Aid in the Late 19th century

In the late 1800’s, teacher and astronomer Sarah Ellen Harding Baker spent seven years embroidering a star-covered quilt for her classroom in Cedar County, Iowa. In lieu of satellite images, the wool appliquéd quilt was created as a visual aid for her classroom to try to visualize the broad expanse of the universe. The design of the quilt is similar to illustrations in astronomy books of the time. It features a bright sun at its center, with several planets moving around the large star with their own orbiting moons, and Halley’s Comet streaking into the upper lefthand corner.

The piece was finished in 1876, a time when astronomy was presented as an “acceptable” interest for a women. This might have been the reason it was a popular theme for quilts of the time according to The Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where the quilt is currently stored. You can find several celestial examples in quilt historian Barbara Brackman’s Solar System Quilt post on her blog Material Culture. (via Open Culture)

Design

A System of Root-Like Benches Spreads Organically Through a South Korean Public Park

Root Bench is a multi-height bench system installed in Hangang Park in Seoul, South Korea. The design is a winning proposal by Yong Ju Lee, which creates a circular protrusion of roots that provides space for rest and relaxation. The nearly 100-foot diameter installation is formed from conjoined slats of wood attached to a metal frame, and sprawls from a centralized point in the park. Three different heights accommodate children’s seating, adult chairs, and tables for picnicking. This provides space for all sizes, and allows gatherings that vary from intimate to community-wide celebrations. (via Designboom)