I have a newfound respect for the humble sipit (clothespin)! Gerry Stecca is the artist behind these amazing sculptural installations.

I hope this will inspire you to look at ordinary things in a different light. Have a great week!

Crepe-paper flowers are among my favorite craft projects back in grade school! Martha Stewart Weddings has a nice tutorial on how to make them in two ways: single-petal and continuous-petal methods. If you plan to give something to your friends and loved ones on Valentine’s Day, these flowers make easy and very pretty tokens.

Start making them over the weekend so you have enough to give away on the 14th! -ardel

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*images via Martha Stewart Weddings

While interior design has been flooded by all things ornate, kitschy, detailed and patterned in the past couple of years, it seems that I always fall for the simple, no-nonsense designs. In almost everything—from fashion, jewelry, and graphics, to art, architecture, and interior design—I naturally gravitate towards clean lines, tailored silhouettes, and well-made products that do not need to scream for attention. I know I can live with them for a long time without eventually becoming dated.

These are the kind of designs that I personally recommend to my clients when buying the main furnishings for the house. Think Tim Gunn’s 10 Essential Pieces, home edition. A streamlined, well-made sofa, bed frame or armchair can go well with almost any style and any accessory, just like your basic black dress, classic white shirt, and well-fitted jeans. They are like your investment pieces.

However, like your basic black dress, classic white shirt, and well-fitted pair of jeans, furniture pieces in perfect “basic” designs are quite difficult to find (unless you have enough budget to buy from those European furniture stores). Camerich, a high-end Asian furniture brand took advantage of this demand and created a line of quality contemporary furnishings that are more affordable than its European counterparts. Combining sleek, well-proportioned form with comfort and design flexibility, Camerich is increasingly becoming a designer’s go-to brand and a homeowner’s must-have furniture piece in over 40 countries worldwide including Australia, France, Spain, Japan, the UK, the US, and the Philippines.

While Camerich’s pieces seem very simple at first glance, the details of the furniture reveal a well-thought design. I love how each furniture show some form of contrast that makes it interesting, like pairing the massive yet plush body of a sofa with slim legs, and combining the traditional elegance of marble with the more modern industrial appeal of blackened steel frame.

Their sofa’s are also designed with removable fitted covers. Apart from making care and maintenance easier, this feature allows you to change the look of your sofa by opting to have additional sets of covers in another color or fabric. Camerich has a wide variety of fabric and leather options so you can choose a color, pattern, texture, or material that will suit your personality or your space’s changing style.

Here in the Philippines, Camerich is carried by PLC107 in Makati. To provide designers and homeowners with more display pieces and design settings, PLC107 recently moved to a new and bigger showroom. Visit them at Warehouse 1C (Gate 2), La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Chino Roces Ave., Makati City to view Camerich’s latest 2012 collection. You can also view their website www.plc107.com or call them at 840-2678.

Kraak & Smaak from WEAREWILL on Vimeo.

I used to be very good at multitasking. Back in high school, I remember being able to juggle group presentations, reaction papers, exams, and choir practices all at the same time without going crazy. I only had two things to give up: my lunch break and my after-school time with friends.

It’s a different story thirteen years after. With all the work that I have to finish combined with the recent holiday and post-holiday events, I needed to let go of one item in my to-do list. That explains the 40-day hiatus.

All three of us are still busy but we feel that the (unannounced) break that we took from Design Folder is long enough. So now, we’re happy to announce that we’re squeezing DF back into our busy lives! Hehe

To start our ‘regular programming’, we would like to share this fun and clever video from Dutch artists Kraak & Smaak. Enjoy! -ardel
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Suddenly it’s Christmas at home!

As usual, I have no plans of decorating the house for Christmas. After spending the first couple of weeks of December making Christmas decorations for clients, I have no energy left to decorate our home. But because of the red flowers that I brought from my brother’s wedding over the weekend, the house got an instant Christmas makeover!

Inspired by the decorations I made for a Petron station, I made three additional tabletop Christmas trees from old magazines, spray painted them in red and gold, and finished them off with a sprinkle of gold glitters. You can find a video tutorial from Martha Stewart here. The project is quite time consuming, but you can easily make them while watching tv.

Above is a variation of the magazine Christmas tree. By alternately gluing (or stapling) three points of the folds together, you can create an accordion pattern for your tree to make it look more fancy.

To  give my trees a bit of height, I simply placed them on top of my ceramic candle holders which functioned as a base.

Total cost: P0.00

I just hope the flowers will last until the 25th.

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Compared to interior and furniture design, trends and concepts in fashion change and evolve much faster. It is not surprising that fashion often becomes a muse for developing new designs in furniture and interior design, and even in architecture.

Aside from the quirky and innovative furniture pieces, our guest blogger Deepa was also able to take a peek at some of the most exciting fashion accessories featured during Dutch Design Week 2011 (DDW). Today, Deepa shares with us the out-of-the-box accessories from Dutch jewelry designer Hartog & Henneman.

Just took a quick look at their website and the ‘gold fever‘ necklaces (above) caught my attention. I love the petri dish-like styling! Something pretty for the science geeks. Enjoy our Monday eye candies! -ardel

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One of the best parts of Dutch Design Week (DDW) was choosing a little slice of yummy design goodness to take home with me. For an avowed accessory addict such as myself, that little slice was a piece of wearable design from conceptual jewelry duo Hartog & Henneman.

Made of industrial rubber, the collar I bought at DDW is part of Hartog & Henneman’s Out of Office collection. Each piece in the collection was designed using simple office supplies such as a felt-tip marker, compass or puncher, bringing new meaning to the words “office wear.”

That should clue you in to the perspective, creativity and wit embodied in the work of Jiska Hartog and Michiel Henneman. Trained silversmiths who studied art at the AKI Academy in Enschede, the Netherlands, this award-winning duo obtained their masters’ degrees in fine art from the Wimbledon College of Art in London.

If the trick to good design is asking good questions, the question Hartog & Hanneman explore is: “What is a jewel?”  In questioning how a jewel is defined, they say a jewel isn’t simply composed of minerals, but is also made up of the culture around it: what it means to people, what we desire, what we value, and why.

Would we adorn ourselves with everyday objects like paper clips and push pins over diamonds and pearls? Maybe, but something needs to shift to get us to do it. And Hartog & Henneman plays in the place where that shift occurs. Often, it’s simply about materials. I love the idea of a human bulletin board adorned with these silver pushpins, but probably wouldn’t feel the same way about sticking plastic pushpins into my jacket.

In their gorgeous Silverstone collection, gemstones are replaced with matte silver that is polished with wear, slowly getting shinier over time. Is it any less, well, precious than real precious stones?

Bomb Wreck Jewelry, their collaboration with artist Jonas Staal, takes scrap refuse from a bomb blast in Baghdad, Iraq, and turns them into objects of value and desire. Fused together by the heat of the blast, these “worthless” shards of melted glass, wire and motor parts took on a new beauty in the designers’ atelier.

A story behind each piece, and a question behind each story: that’s conceptual jewelry design for you. Hartog & Hanneman’s designs invite a closer look at what we choose to adorn ourselves with, and why. And they sure look pretty too.

(photos via hartog & henneman)

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Sharing with you our friends’ lovely Tagaytay wedding last weekend.

The whole ‘Geng’ including the four of us helped wedding planner par excellence Apple Consunji coordinate the whole event.  We met with the bride at Sonya’s Garden, proceeded to  Caleruega for the ceremony, and had a delicious feast at Antonio’s. Thanks to our group’s official photographer, Ian Santos, for the beautiful pictures!

One down, two more weddings to go. Hello December!

Two days after our Manila Fame 2011 show, the designers from the Netherlands celebrated creativity with their annual Dutch Design Week. Amsterdam-based writer Deepa Paul-Plato, Ana’s batchmate from college, is kind enough to share with us the highlights of one of the most awaited design exhibitions in Europe. {Thank you so much Deepa! )

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In the last week of October, all things Dutch and design converge in the town of Eindhoven for Dutch Design Week (DDW). With over 1,500 designers (from household names to individual shops to fresh graduates) exhibiting their work at more than 300 events spread out over 65 locations, DDW is a massive showcase of the simplicity, originality and quirk that Dutch design is renowned for.

A sense of playfulness and curiosity transforms the ordinary—the ephemera of our everyday lives, such as home furnishings and lighting—into the extraordinary. Dutch designers have a knack for questioning the usual to produce something unusual, and infusing whimsy while retaining function. Examples of this mindset abound at DDW.

While designs for the home are generally reserved in color and pattern, they are bold with shapes and materials. It’s all about asking questions. Does this always have to be a certain way? Can a spade also be a chair? Why shouldn’t a vase live and grow along with the flowers in it?

(Top photo) Organically shaped bookcase, Smool design by Robert Bronwasser, (above) Spade Seat by Nic Roex,  (below) Birchwood chest of drawers by Werner Neumann and Fungus vase.

Curiosity begins early. Graduate projects by students of the Design Academy Eindhoven already show the same sense of playfulness and curiosity. Can food be a work of art, or playtime an opportunity for learning?

Refrigerator 2.0, a small transparent refrigerator for individual pieces of food, by Eva Smeltekop

Material Teddy, a toy combining the different smells and textures of natural materials to trigger cognitive development, by Makiko Shinoda (www.makikoshinoda.com)

House Wine, a winemaking system for the home by Sabine Marcelis

Tap Water Carafe, design that points to the origins of drinking water, by Lotte de Raadt

Oturakast, shelving that can be taken apart into individual units (for storage or seating) by Rianne Koens

Reverie, a table that revives embroidery in a modern and stylish way, by Anne Vader

For lighting, the sense of playfulness takes on the harder edge (and visual impact) of the industrial.

“Magnetic” describes the Nail Cloud (below) by Ilian Ernst, in more ways than one. This visually arresting lamp uses a strong magnet to suspend a “cloud” of metal nails around a central bulb. You can add more nails and change the shape of your lamp simply by holding each nail to the central cloud for a few seconds. Don’t worry, it’s not strong enough to pick up metal cutlery on the dining table.

The Refinery lamp, also by Ilian Ernst, is inspired by the gas pipes of a refinery.

What is color?” is the question that student Dennis Parren of the Design Academy Eindhoven seems to be asking with his graduation project. The CMYK Lamp (below) plays with the relationship of color and light. Casting cyan, magenta, yellow shadows, the lamp enlarges and recreates its own lines, drawing one into a network of color.

When we look at everyday objects, do we still ask questions or take things at face value? What kinds of questions are we asking? Ask, and ye shall transform. Seek, and ye shall design. -Deepa

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Valerie Chua’s solo exhibit happening tonight at Heima, Makati. Here’s a sneak peek of her works c/o Heima. Lovely pieces! They somehow remind of the illustrations in the ending theme of  70s anime Candy Candy.

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“Valerie Chua is a self-taught illustrator from Manila. She started painting halfway through college and has never let go of the brush since then. She specializes in traditional media such as watercolor, gouache, and acrylic. Her work is predominantly influenced by East Asian watercolor artists and magical realist literature and poetry. Backyard of the Universe is Valerie’s first major solo exhibit, marking her breakthrough as a painter who specializes in illustrative art and storytelling.”

Probably one of the highlights of the recent Manila Fame show is the addition of live vignettes featuring craftsmen (and women) in action—weaving fabrics, carving wood products, and weaving rattan and buri furnishings. Whoever thought of this is a genius! It gives a human face to the featured products. At the same time, seeing how the furnishings and decors are tediously made somehow adds to their value.

On top of the usual furniture and decors, there was also a section for Philippine textiles. Twinkle Ferraren’s collection made from paper fabric (fabric made from plant fiber pulp) caught our attention. They look very similar to linen but they are actually made from pineapple fiber pulp. Twinkle is a young fashion designer who designs paper-art clothing since 2005. See her collection here.

Another interesting collection is the recycled crafts from Bayan ni Juan. I think most of them are made from shredded magazine pages, rolled, and made into small beads and cones.

This just proves how much talent we have in this country. I’m not just talking about the designers behind the furnishings, but also the men and women who make it possible for the drawings to become actual objects. We’re definitely a handmade nation!

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