Posts by Carl MH Barenbrug - Author at Minimalissimo

Haerfest Bag Collection

Brothers Tim and Dan Joo of fashion brand Haerfest, based in New York, have developed the beautiful B Collection of bags for Spring/Summer 2012 as well as the Capsule Collection. The bags follow a reducible aesthetic, aiming for an understated and urban sensibility. Familiar yet unexpected is always an underlying direction taken by Haerfest when designing.

Influenced by 1960s minimalism, the SS12 B Collection includes four bags – two backpacks, duffel and tote – in a range of four colours – black, grey, red and navy. The Capsule Collection includes a backpack, two duffels, and a two handle tote in black and creme, designed exclusively for the LN-CC brand in London.

Simple, stylish and wish-listed (at least a duffel is).

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Mountain Lamp

Paris based designer Leonard Kadid, who’s work has previously been featured on Minimalissimo with his Bookmark lamp, has also recently designed this minimal and delicate looking Mountain lamp.

This refined lamp with sharp lines is made of 0.7mm steel pieces, and is of course shaped like a mountain as its name suggests. It is illuminated by pulling on its thin blue wire.

A very efficient use of materials, resulting in a beautiful piece of design, which would perhaps fit well as a couple of bedside lamps.

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Airport Runway Screen Prints

Chicago based architect and designer Jermome Daksiewicz of Nomo is the mind behind this unusual series of screen prints of airport runways. One for the airport enthusiast perhaps, but these precise screen prints present interesting industrial patterns with an attractive simplicity to them.

The continually growing series in which new suggestions can be made, include such runways as John F. Kennedy International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and London Heathrow Airport and measure 18″ x 24″ in size.

Something a little different, but I like them.

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Miya Ando

If you’re not already familiar with her work, multi award-winning American post-minimalist artist Miya Ando has produced many contemporary art pieces in recent years. Today, however, we’re featuring Ando’s incredible Steel canvas collection.

Influenced by the redwoods in Santa Cruz and the simple, reductivist and minimalist setting of the Buddhist temple in Japan, where she was raised, Ando’s paintings typically consist of steel, patina, pigment, and automotive lacquer. The result is unique, refined and subtle artwork.

Ando explains why she enjoys working with steel:

The innumerable shades of grey within the material has always transfixed me. I think it is quite elegant and refined. The steel is a cornerstone of strength and permanence and yet all things are transitory. It’s really interesting to get it to go in these unexpected ways.

There’s very little doubt in my mind that Ando’s works on steel canvas are post-minimalism at its best. Beautiful.

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Kaico Series

Tokyo based Japanese designer Makoto Koizumi has created this beautifully simple and award-winning cookware series – Kaico. The series includes a tea pot, coffee pot, pasta pot with a steel strainer insert, as well as various sauce pans.

Created in white enamel coated steel with maple wood handles, the Kaico series certainly has a classic yet rudimentary aesthetic to its pieces, as well as being durable and thermal-efficient. Because of the smooth, semi-gloss finish, the cookware is also easy to clean.

These would undoubtedly be a welcome addition to my kitchen from a visual perspective, but I’d be interested to know if anyone has previously bought any pieces from the Kaico series and what their thoughts are.

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Shift by Scholten & Baijings

Minimalist product designers Stefan Scholten and Carole Baijings have created this contemporary and sophisticated storage unit, Shift, for Dutch furniture brand Pastoe.

Introduced during the IMM Cologne at Design Post Keulen from 15-22 January 2012, Shift offers a beautiful blend of simplistic form with an expressive and carefully considered use of colours. Due to the translucent acrylate sliding doors of the cabinet, the colours create a play of reveal, conceal with tinted overlays when the cabinet is opened and closed. It is available in two widths and can be either frame or wall-mounted.

Scholten & Baijings describe the design:

Shift’s clear design appears timeless, while the bold use of colours provides the cabinet with a contemporary look. This meant creating a clear design with an emphasis on surfaces and volumes. The body has been crafted from very thin materials and the handles have been recessed.

Not only is it a great way to subtly introduce colour to an interior, but the finish really impresses.

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My Book

Milan based Italian designer and architect Denis Guidone, a Minimalissimo favourite for his minimalist watches, has recently created My Book for Nava Design.

Guidone has taken a minimal, yet unusual approach to the concept of this book. He explains:

It is a blank book with a pretext to imagine a story, a book that you could write yourself, day after day; It is a white space to imagine, you can also leave the pages blank and  fill them in with simply your thoughts.

I like the idea it is not a notepad or a sketchbook per se (although it could perhaps be used as such), but instead it is a book to encourage storytelling. My Book is available in brightly bound red, white and black.

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Antiatoms Handbag

Designers Aránzazu Moreno Berriochoa, Sofía Uquillas Zuloaga, and Alejandra Salvatore make up the Madrid based studio Antiatoms, designing and producing corporate apparel with the aim of making the brand’s values visible in each piece.

The Antiatoms Handbag, part of their Paper Containers collection is a particularly interesting piece. Measuring 20.5 x 24 x 15 cm, this beautifully designed and simple accessory gives a slight twist to the common brown paper bag we are familiar with. Instead, the bag uses 100% high quality leather making it an absolute delight to roll and hold.

I really like the subtle branding at the bottom of the bag – ideally located. Also, given the leather material, I think it would look even better over time. What do you think?

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Anisha

Renowned Italian lighting company Foscarini have collaborated with Barcelona based design studio Lievore Altherr Molina to produce the beautifully simple and understated LED table lamp, Anisha.

Anisha is available in two sizes and two colours – pure white or red. The design is based around a halo of diffused light, creating a backlight effect to see and appreciate the figure of the lamp in the best way possible.

Foscarini describes the design:

Like a fluid and enveloping frame, an irregular ellipse that gives a sense of becoming, Anisha outlines an empty space, defines it and fills it with its light, producing a magical sensation. Its plastic, dynamic shape generates multiple reflections on its surface and reveals its sculptural essence.

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ORA

Specialising in the design and production of bespoke lighting, Australian design studio ilanel, have created ORA – an eclipse-like interactive and contemporary wall-mounted luminary with a minimal aesthetic finish.

ilanel explains:

ORA is a piece that mediates between light and darkness through transparent colour. It is an interactive lighting structure that engages in experimentation and exploration of coloured illumination.

It has been designed to encourage personalisation of the colour, influencing the atmosphere in a space. This is done by adjusting three knobs on the face of the design, which represent the colours red, green and blue. Endless interactivity. Super.

Photography by IJ Productions.

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