Susanna Soares has a MA Design Interaction at the RCA in London. Her final project twas BEE’S. Susana Soares studied bees and in particular the way they can be trained to use their smell and detect pretty anything including bombs and landmines. Bees have a phenomenal odor perception. They can be trained within minutes using Pavlov ̕ s reflex to target a specific odor. BEE ̕ S explores how we might co-habit with natural biological systems and use their potential to increase our perceptive abilities. The aim of this project is to develop collaborative relations between scientific and technological research, beekeepers and design, among others, translating the outcome into systems and objects that people can understand and use, engendering significant adjustments. The object depicted provides a diagnosis using bees to detect general health through breath. I really like the concept and this new way to apply a creative thinking to scientific and technological research.

Christmas Cocktails

Snowball

Ingredient

2 ounces Advocaat Liqueur

Sprite® Soda

Ice Cubes

Preparation

Rub edge of glass with lemon, then dip rim in sugar. Drop the cubes into the glass, pour liqueur and fill it up with Sprite. Stir.

Be Aware

We Are What We do, is a new movement which would like inspire people to use their everyday actions to change the world. With action from our daily life like choose a mug instead of a plastic cup for the coffee, use canvas tote for your shopping instead of plastic bag, they want motivate people to be aware about our enviroment. They offer also products which can be a nice Christmas gifts.

More Gifts

Tobias and the Angel are a group of people who simply love handling and making quality things. They began sourcing items to create an attractive living space in 1986 and now offer everything from balls of string to antique Staffordshire jugs. Their passion for good workmanship and design led quite naturally to making their own range of furniture, furnishings and block printed fabrics including these pretty bags. Tobias and the Angel are a group of people who simply love handling and making quality things. They began sourcing items to create an attractive living space in 1986 and now offer everything from balls of string to antique Staffordshire jugs. Their passion for good workmanship and design led quite naturally to making their own range of furniture, furnishings and block printed fabrics including these pretty bags.

Gift idea's

These lovely printed purses are made by Teresa Cole, the dyou can find more esigner behind Teresa Green design you can find more designs on her web, or buy her purses at Selvedge. She uses practical textiles as a canvas for her print work a combination of art and design that can be used on a daily basis. She sources old buttons and haberdashery to add individuality to her pieces. Her purses are made from natural fabrics and screen printed in subtle colours. Each has an interor pocket and is lined in a contrasting fabric. A lovely little gift!

The Natural Wave

A very smart design of Byung-seok You. The Natural Wave is a new kind of warming plate. The ceramic plate fits perfectly into the grooves of your radiator and will keep your drinks and snacks at a perfect temperature, especially on these up and coming cold nights. The Natural Wave is sure to make any room more inviting with warm treats at hand.

Swedish Country Style

In Stockholm I bought this magazine, it is full of nice idea's for decorating the house and for the coming Christmas time, recipes look interesting too. After all Swedish is not that difficult to read if i use Dutch. I will post some recipes soon.

Special Bags

This beautiful bag is designed and made by Tineke Beunders, a Dutch designer who is using old blanket and transforming them in precious new bags. Tinneke graduated at the Design Academy Eindhoven, visiting her web you can order the bags, and find more about her studio.

Asia meets Sweden

These beautiful ceramic open pebbles are made by the Lindform company. It is a Swedish design company which tryes to combine the Asian harmony and the Scandinavian minimalism. Unfortunately their web is only in Swedish, but you can see their collections of beautiful and organic products. I found them at the Nordieska Galleriet in Stickholm, a design shop/gallery specialized in scadinavian design.

Who's next in fashion?

I recently attended a very interesting lecture from the Curator of the Musee' de la Mode in Paris. Mrs.Gilbone guided us through the history of fashion from the very beginning and she tried to answer to the difficult question "Who's next in fashion?"

Thanks to her lecture I have learned that Maison Dior was the first fashion house to become a Brand, infact they licensed their name for parfums and lingerie products.

This was a total new concept for that time, and it was the very beginning of the Brands movements.

It the end it was clear that there is no "next" in fashion, the designers names and the fashion houses identity has become a powerful world where the clothes and accessories are just a small part of it. The Brands are a strong marketing results and they can almost sell everything just labeling one of the other products.

The customer will buy those products because he wants to belong to a certain world which the Brands represent.

So the Marketing strategy is the next in fashion.

Welcome!

I would like to officially welcome you to IDEE (Italian for Ideas). These are my personal notes about things that I like, products or trends that I want to follow and remember. I hope you will visit my blog often and that you will enjoy the reading and discovering. Think of IDEE as your daily inspiring magazine from the creative world. Enjoy!!

Real Good Chair

This powder-coated steel was launched at ICFF, the smart piece of furniture gained attention for its origami-like appearance. It is from Blu Dot design group, three college friends who shared a passion for art, architecture, and design. Laser-cut perforated lines allow it to be creased and bent to perfection by its owner. (The bright, shiny colors even remind us of those Japanese paper squares.) Each seat comes in a flat box, which means you can pick up a few and transport them by yourself on the subway. It is now available at Future Perfect in New York. I think it is the perfect solution for our small apartments!

Dutch Design Week - products

WoodXPlastic

The young Singaporean designer Hunn Wai (recently graduated at the IM Master Design Academy Eindhoven) has researched the "join" value in the furniture.

As the confrontational title suggests, sheets of smoke-coloured acrylic are impaled by beech poles to construct a shelf. First a small hole is made in the acrylic sheet and is heated for an exact duration. The wooden pole is then pushed through sheet by sheet. When the plastic cools down, it contracts around the pole to create a vice-like grip. This is repeated, resulting in a strong and stable structure.

Cultivate The Sputnik coffee table is one of the many interesting products shown by the Cultivate group. Folded from one sheet of aluminium without any additional constructional elements or welds, this coffee table displays furniture design in it's purest form.

Barry Rengelink I saw these very interesting modular furniture pieces at Barry Rengelink showroom during the Lift Off event. I like the forms and the rhythm in these product. Too bad in his web there are any information about the materials.

Airdrop Shelter Rita Giesbers is the designer behind the Airdrop Shelter. Her interest for how the people look for shelters solutions in case of disasters or in outdoor life brought Rita to start a research and contact with Doctor without Borders. From this collaboration Rita got inspired and designed a Shelter which can be dropped and which contains a working stove and a decorated inside. This can bring a bit of protection and first comfort to the one that have lost their home.

Dutch Design Week - textile notes

Lise Lefebvre

I had the pleasure to meet and work personally with this young and very talented french designer. She has developped the "Aesthetics of Domestic Sound" project, where she explore the potential of sounds as a criterion for design and subsequent effects it could have on the look, feel, texture and overall experience of an object. The outcome is a range of handfelted domestic appliences, audibly but also visually silenced.

Marije Kalshoven Young textile designer Marije Kalshoven has recently shown these funny and cute bags during the Lift Off exhibition. The bags are in wool and are waved in a new curious way.

Strawberries Fabrics

Strawberries International Fabrics presents fabrics from different parts of the world which feature original, traditional designs and embroidery techniques that have been adjusted to contemporary trends in fashion and interior decorating. The fabrics are made on location from either pure silk or cotton and are being produced under close supervision ensuring that the fabrics are both very exclusive and of the highest quality. All fabrics are hand made and produced on order. This allows for customised adjustments and changes.Strawberries International Fabrics adheres to fair trade principles and ensures that all producers are adults, receive fair wages and work under reasonable circumstances.

I think this is a very good example of Humanitarian Design.

Baby Bed

Kaori Ieyasu, Japanese young designer, has created this "new" version of a baby trolley, there is also a version in felt which gently roll as an arm chair for new born, too bad there is no picture of this yet on Kaory web. A really a nice product.

Sleeping Beauty

This graduation project by Nadine Sterk is a sort of living organism, by switching the lamp on the lamp will begin the knits process, pausing only when the light is off.

The lamp is going to animate part of the space.

Magie Hollingworth

Browsing the web I found this very interesting English artist-designer Margie Hollinworth. In her statement she explains that she uses recycle paper waste by pulping disregarded material and produce a range of contemporary vessels and sculptural forms for interior spaces, inspired by primitive artifacts, archaeology and nature. I find these objects very strong and with a sense of immortality.

Recently discovered

Virginia Johnson is the illustrators of Kate Spade's books.

Sujean Rim is behind the casual chic illustrations of the super famous Daily Candy, I like the irony and the vibrant colours of her drawings.

I really love her style.

A very special Bread

Somewhere in the Netherlands there is a very special Bakery. The Baker Koos is working early every Saturday morning making all the sort of breads. These beautiful and delicious breads are the proof of his labor of love!

....and another one

and what about this? easy and usefull for all my makeup stuff!

A project to remember

I found these two lovely clutches in a small boutique in Copenhagen, my dear girlfriend Nuray brought me there.

This is the perfect weekend project when I feel in a kind of sewing mood!

Midsummer

As the lazy summer days are passing by I cannot avoid to take a sneak preview to the fall catalogues around check A.P.C.