Today I would like to share the Riding coffee table designed by Emilie Cazin with you. The table is made of white oak and the parts are joint by elastic straps and leather bands. The straps and bands play a decorative over a functional role but give the table an own personality and make the composition as a whole more exciting. The wood and the vibrant red straps give a nice contrast. The table is part of Cazin’s Riding collection which also includes a bench and a storage piece. Cazin closely collaborates with the French furniture company Singularité who provide these, limited edition, furniture pieces.

BANK is minimalist money box made of elastic rubber by BIG-GAME design studio. We have featured the Lausanne based studio before. I just love their outspoken, minimalist and colorful products. And like many of their other products BANK has a playfull touch. The usage is simple: slip coins in the slit, press it and turn it upside down to get the coins back. The only downside I see, compared to a ‘traditional’ piggy bank, is that one can retrieve the money back a bit too easily ;). BANK is produced by Praxis, Hong Kong.

During 5 years London based studio Industrial Facility and LaCie worked together on Little Disk Hard Drives. The project covered over 10 product variations, ranging from 1.3” to 2.5” drives, and capacity’s from 30GB to 1TB, leading to a holistic design language. They aimed to liberate the drives of all unnecessary details, and making them more reliable. Some might say the products were too simple –  but over time, they created a greater sense of value and relevance for their application. The hard drives, varying sizes and capacity, are small minimalist boxes without joints or hinges. When you remove the cover, an integrated USB cable, sockets, a back-up synchronisation button, adapters and voltage plugs are revealed. Each hard drive is made from ABS Plastic. For the makers it was important that the drives involved no paint in their finishing, resulting in easier recycling of parts, and a more authentic wearing of use over time.

Stockholm based design studio Form Us With Love created this stunning modular hanger named Prosthesis. In medicine a prosthesis is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing. In this coat hanger, the prosthesis unifies all its parts to a beautiful unit for storage of clothes. The hanger, made of wooden modules and a dyed metal joining piece, is manufactured by Malmö based RVW.

Chicago based designer Dan Goldstein created a minimalist chair, named Re-Ply, made of a steel frame and discarded cardboard boxes. A chair which reminds me a bit of the of the Hardoy chair (butterfly chair). Goldstein discovered a way to mold 4 plys of cardboard into a comfortable shell. The fibers of the cardboard fibers are strong enough for the chair’s construction. The shell is attached to a triangular steel base with two bolts. The bolts make it possible for one to gently rock the chair. I love the concept that the shell can be created from up-cycled cardboard and easily can be recycled after years of use. The use of cardboard also makes it possible to easily customize the shell yourself after purchase.

Check this minimalist, analog clock named Chip. All elements are precisely laser cut from recycled chipboard. That is where the name comes from. Hidden inside is a traditional clock mechanism which drives the hour and minute disks. On the front there are subtle visual references for 3,6,9, and 12 hours. I like the clock as it is but if you do not like the blank chipboard you can easily customize the clock yourself, or adjust over time. Washington, DC based Captital Craft is founded by Matt Ford and Nick Jessee with the aim of creating products with a purposeful simplicity. Using the strength of Kickstarter they found funders for the first production.

Meet the #3 chair by StudioGorm, minimalist and strong chair influenced by classic Egyptian furniture. The seat, made of laminated wood, is gently curved at the top and bottom edges and placed on a triangulated joint, giving the chair its strength. “A chair you can pass on to your grandchildren” the makers say. The #3 chair comes in a neutral or a crayon colour finished seat. There is also a slightly wider seat version available which can be used as a small bench for two. StudioGorm is a collaboration between John Arndt and Wonhee Jeong. Arndt and Jeong met during their master program at the Design Acedemy in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. They founded their studio in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, but are now based in Eugene, Oregon – USA. I really like their products; simple, practical but thoughtfully made with attention for details and finish.

Looking for a great backpack? Glasgow based Trakke creates a timeless backpack, named Krukke. A bag that is built for adventure. One would be surprised how much gear can be packed in this minimalist bag. Besides a big stow away compartment there is a front pocket, large enough to store A4 documents. Subtle side pockets give you the opportunity to store a water bottle, and a zip pocket to safely store your valuables. The bag is made of waxed cotton, available in the colors mustard, green, purple and black. I love the philosophy behind Trakke’s handmade bags. They want to make products that last and consider the durability of each component by imagining how it will look in 20 years time. You will probably only buy one Trakke bag in your lifetime, so we design it to carry your life.

Inspired by traditional ladders, former Konstfack student, Yenwen Tseng created the Ladder Coat Rack. Last year the Taiwan based designer founded his own studio. You can easily arrange this light-weight rack according to the use and space arrangement. The rack can stand alone because of a pair of hidden hinges and offers numerous ways of storing your clothes. Place it leaning against the wall it you have a new way of how a coat rack could be. Later this month, September 20-23, Yenwen Tseng will be showing his coat rack during the upcoming London Design Festival at Tent London.

January 1st Tilman Zitzmann, a Germany based interaction and graphic designer, decided to channel his enthusiasm for minimalist graphics in an on-going personal project. Each and every day he publishes a new minimalist art piece, based on geometric shapes, on his tumble log named Geometry Daily. I get a serious flow when I draw simple shapes, combine them and experiment until they start to “sing”. Zitzmann explains that he wants to concentrate on relevant things, as our daily lives are full of noise and complex dependencies. He wants to concentrate on the idea and execute it straight-forward, without fuss. Since the start of the project he has build up an impressive collection of graphs of which I made a tiny selection attached to this post.

I love the vibrant colored sleeves by reWrap. The sleeves are created according to the Cradle to Cradle principle. This means: 100% reusable materials, 100% renewable energy and 100% social production. The sleeves are made of felt (98%) and yarn (2%) and are fully biodegradable. To avoid unnecessary use of materials for the label, the logo is stamped into the sleeve, a nice detail. By time the logo will slowly fade. The makers expected the use time to be 5 years and after use your sleeve will turn into compost rather than waste. The sleeves – available for laptop, Macbook, iPad and iPhone – are sewn together in a small Amsterdam located workshop that provides employment to people with a handicap.

Looking for a flexible and light structured shelving system? Do not look further. I would like to share Meccanica, a great minimalist shelving system by Demode, engineered by Valcucine, with you. The base unit frames of Meccanica are made of iron with a electrophoresis coating, connected together by using mechanical joints. The framework can be easily assembled by the end user and can be recomposed and customized extremely. All door types – wood, metal or covered with removable fabric – can be customized in various colors. On request one can also have the frames lacquered in a personal preferred color. “We can not longer continue to produce without worrying about the goods that will accumulate in the environment tomorrow” says Valcucine so at the end of it’s life-cycle Meccanica is easy to disassembled and can be 100% recycled or reconditioned by 90%. The use cases for Meccanica are endless, where would you use Meccanica for?