THE DESIGN

‘Urban Pulse’, designed by Eric Lim and featured at this year’s International Furniture Fair, mirrors the landscape outline of today’s developed urban society. The distinctive shape of the chair was inspired by ECG readings .

“Urban Pulse is inspired by urbanized landscape structures and the readings reflected on electrocardiogram, or more commonly known as ECG. The peaks and troughs of the ECG model the beating of the heart, where irregularities in the heartbeat are represented by more peaks and troughs of higher intensity and closer proximity. Coincidentally, the peak and trough design of the chair also mirror the landscape outline of today’s developed urban society. Urban Pulse attempts to conjure up the feeling of tension and anxiety - through a series of irregular peaks and troughs throughout the design of the chair. Urban Pulse is made from fiberglass colored in red to further emphasize the feeling of tension. The bold design also aspires to remind metropolitans living in the era of urbanization to slow down their pace and relax, allowing the heart to take a rest.”

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THE DESIGN

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We totally love disposable-to-design here at Culturepush. Magmag, a recycled magazines ashtray, is two designers’ interpretation of printed matter in our daily usage.

“magmag reminds you of the hidden gifts yet to be identified within the pages of old magazines. To question what is of essential in the mundane printed matter: think how to deal with a magazine, not where to dispose of it. A series of print advertisements were produced to share and encourage different ways in which we can treat an old magazine. ‘melting+paper’ thus, translated into questions of how print medias are being interpreted in our daily usage.”

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THE DESIGN

One of the pieces that fascinated me at last month’s Furniture Design Awards was the Incomplet Table-Chair, designed by Interior Design student Melvin Ong. This year’s competition invited the participants in the Young Designers and Students category to work around the theme of “Tension”.

“I was trying to see the theme of of the competition in two ways. When the chair and table are apart, they are unable to support themselves which results in a tension of existence. As furniture that support people and items, they are not self supporting. The other interpretation of tension can be seen when the chair and table are pieced together. The physical tension between the back legs of the chair and slots in the table top hold them together, allowing both to exist purposefully.”

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THE DESIGN

Designed by How Sim, and part of his Original Edition series, the Mimo & Simi bar stools will not fail to stimulate your imagination. ABS plastic and EVA foam interplay with each other to make a stark statement of design. The bar stools received the Most Honorable Mention Award in the open category at this year’s Furniture Design Award competition.

“Mimo & Simi is a set of bar stools shaped like the heads of a couple. The design originates from toy figurines. There are a few designs in the Mimo & Simi series. The original edition is the basic design while mythology, celebrity, Super hero, etc will be limited editions.”

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THE DESIGN

Chairs are absolutely covetable, when they look as good as the Hage chair, designed by Puah Kim Sing. The chair was shown at the 2008 Furniture Design Awards (FDA) exhibit, where it received a Young Designer Merit Award.

“The Hage chair is practically unbreakable even though there is tension when one sits on it. It is formed from a single rectangular piece of plywood with the letter H cut out from it. The plywood cut-out is then molded into the Hage chair. Through moulding the plywood, the structure acquires strength that makes it safe for use. Yet, it retains a buoyant effect, similar to that of a spring, when sat on. Natural beauty and strength are key qualities of this molded plywood piece.”

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THE DESIGN

Wirawan Hasbi Suryanto’s Adam and Eve Love Chair was one of my favorite designs at this year’s Furniture Design Awards (FDA) exhibit, which took place at The Singapore Expo from 9 till 12 March. The theme for FDA 2008 encouraged participants in the Student and Young Designer categories to explore the element of “Tension”.

“Tension can be defined as a balanced relation between strongly opposing elements. I relate this definition to a relationship between couples. When an argument arises, both parties shout out loud about their point of reasoning, which creates a balancing act of tension force. Adam & Eve is love furniture that reacts and changes trough this balancing force, using black to represent Adam and white to represent Eve. Inspired by the beauty of a swan, Adam & Eve took the elegance of its smooth body curvatures and surface indentation. Each form is represented equally, proud and strong. Despite these characteristics, they are physically weak. When you try to sit, Adam & Eve will give a great deal of instability. Without each others support, Adam & Eve will not be functional and become a sculpture piece. A scar line is created in each of them as a representation of a lifetime bond, a scar line that is responsible for the connectivity between Adam and Eve. This scar line creates a need of dependency and a tied knot between Adam & Eve. They may be a strong representative of their own, but their weakness is obvious when they choose not to depend on each other. When users understand the need of existence for Adam & Eve, they will be reminded of the importance of a loved one.”

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THE DESIGN

Nico Teo’s obsession with sewing has led her to create her own universe of fantasy designs known to us as PLUSHISM. First launched at the end of 2005, PLUSHISM already stocks numerous plush toys in an eye-popping array of colors.

“Animal SAM is a fun loving helpful and positive creature. It has a passion for the little things. It wants to rock the world! Miracles will happen when you get to know this beautiful creature.”

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THE DESIGN

If your collection of CDs takes center stage in your living room, you can display them within this unobtrusive, streamlined QUADRA frame, designed by Lui Honfay. The design won first prize (Grand Award, Young Designer Category) in this year’s Furniture Design Award competition, organized by the Singapore Furniture Industries Council.

“Order and chaos can be observed within QUADRA. The CD shelf which comprises regular grids, become and disordered, with the injection of irregular shapes of various sizes within the middle section that is designed to accommodate CD casings of different sizes. Therefore, chaos arises due to functionality. In QUADRA, function and aesthetics are fused together, creating tension.”

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THE DESIGN

EverydayWeekend designers Herman Rahoam and Aiwei Foo extend the usefulness of a bed by transforming it into a part-chair, part-bed furnishing.

“The clash of prints and other theories is one of three chairs that we have made under EverydayWeekend, a label that combines our abilities and disabilities, but mostly something we would think is exciting enough to sustain the interest of what we are doing. The structure of this chair is a reclaimed bed which we turned into a floor chair. Now the ‘bed’ is not just for sleeping, but we have removed its bedroom status, to blend in with other living room activities. It has become more versatile as you can still lie on it or sit on it, do anything to it or let your pet have it. All cushions are hand made, with carefully chosen fabric in a juxtaposition of different prints. The reason for using different prints is intentional, so that they clash with each other, yet still feel like everything looks ok.”

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THE DESIGN

Sound is omnipresent, yet we seem not to notice it …

Yong Jieyu’s Paper Ceramic Loudspeakers are part of a noise and sound research project, looking into different aspects of sounds in our environment and our relationship with them.

“When the phonograph was invented, scientists talked about how broadcasting will liberate mankind from lonely isolation. There is perhaps an innate need for us to broadcast our views, propagate our beliefs and share our passion. I created the paper ceramic loudspeakers to draw memory to the way a child uses paper cones as loudspeakers. Since then we have advanced many materials in an attempt to perfect sound amplification. The loudspeakers are made with discarded musical scores and ceramic. Ceramic, having one of the lowest sound absorbent coefficients is one of the best materials for sound amplification; while discarded musical scores are given a second chance to fulfill their destiny - the propagation of music.”

THE DESIGNER

Yong Jieyu is currently pursuing a Masters degree with the Design Academy Eindhoven. ” I am interested in the connection life and design draws.”

Spotted! is a digest of fly work by fresh off creatives.

THE DESIGN

4843 creatives and institutions from 98 countries have participated in this year’s ‘Dining in 2015′ competition co-organized by designboom and macef. Among the shortlisted entries, I spotted the AG Chopsticks designed by Hock Heng Yap.

“In the past, royalties in the Korean kingdom were using silver (AG) chopsticks to test their food for poison. Although the presence of poison is not of much concern in our modern day society, there is however a growing awareness for the detection of harmful bacteria within our food. Hence the mounting interest in food science and the advances made in bio-sensors. A major breakthrough in this area of science is the use of chromatic conjugated polymer as a fast and simple way to detect harmful food bacteria like E.Coli and Salmonella. When the organic polymer comes into contact with these bacteria, the proteins within the bacteria will cause it to change color. By moulding the polymer in a pair of silver chopsticks, users are provided with a simple tool to test the freshness of their food, safeguarding themselves from possible food poisoning.”

THE DESIGNER

Hock Heng, an Industrial Design graduate (2005) from the National University of Singapore, is currently working as a Design and Technology teacher.

“Having worked as an industrial designer before, I saw the need to inculcate a greater sense of design appreciation in Singapore as I sincerely believe that design will shift the nation forward. Hence, the switch in career from a designer to a design educator. Through school, I hope that it will be possible to instill a spirit for creativity and innovation in the nation’s young minds and, in time, build a design-oriented nation. My philosophy is based on the idea of designing things as how we will use it. This is achieved through keen observation of everyday life and human interactions.”

Spotted! is a digest of fly work by fresh off creatives.

Founded by Sabrina Lee, MY PAPER CUTS lets you make greeting cards for fictional and insignificant occasions, and for one or two better-known ones. Most of their spin offs require a certain degree of self-involvement, and you will need paper, a printer and a trickle of imagination.

Sabrina is always looking for illustrators, graphic designers and copy writers to come up with off-the-wall anecdotes. So, if you possess magical fingers or a sharp tongue, you can send your artwork to stare@mypapercuts.net.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that all the cards are free.

THE DESIGN

Hans Tan was one of the participating designers in Droog’s 2007 Master Pieces exhibit. His design, Vitrine of a Vase (above) is a derivative from his research on ‘The Imaginary Mass of Things’, a search for lightness in the metaphysical weight of things …

“Material objects seductively cram our lives not only physically but also mentally, masquerading as stability and meaning. In fact, this immaterial component, which may be described as the idea or the image of an object, so often overwhelms us without the actual presence of its object. Design has always been much more of an idealist discipline than a material discipline, and objects have always been seen as a secondary, material shadows of something non-material.

The vitrine is effectively an imaging device - the intrinsic function of the object is abandoned, while the image representing the object is preserved. In that sense, a vase in the glass vitrine of a museum is synonymous to one that is left decoratively empty in the living room. As a wry response to this observation, ‘Vitrine of a Vase’ floats in indistinct acknowledgment by being an object between a vase and the display of itself.”

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THE DESIGN

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Graniph , one of my favorite T-shirt stores, started accepting entries for their second installment of the Graniph Design Awards. Last year’s edition saw them receive 25.000 works from 46 countries. Amongst the winners, was design-savvy Mark Tsi, who hyped up his tee with a solid looking ’skullskape’ print.

“Skullskape was born in January 2007, from the fusion of random vector lines and bright digital paints. A fellow designer inspired me to take part in the Graniph Design Awards. My design stems from a series of drawings based on skulls and many nights of depression. This was the only piece that did not require my pen or the scanner, and thankfully with a little help from my friends, which gave me that edge to visualize and create. So along with many other designs which I had submitted to last year’s competition, this one earned me a bronze award. And Graniph was sweet enough to brighten my day by sending me a box full of Graniph tees with Skullskape on it in four different sizes! Having said that, a little bit of sadness works for me too.”

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Core 77 have announced the winners of their Greener Gadgets design competition, which challenged participants to come up with new and innovative solutions for consumer electronics, addressing issues of energy, health and toxicity, new materials, product life-cycle and social development.

Final year NUS Industrial Design students, Cheong Yian Ling, Cindy Liew , Joanne Lin and Lionel Wong received a notable entry with their design dubbed Bottle of M, which is not just a Message in a bottle, but above all, a Motivation to save the world.

“Water consumption from PET bottles creates a worldwide environmental problem of ineffective plastic disposal and accumulation. People are usually aware of plastic recycling possibilities and methods. However, more often than not, the follow-through with this practise is a different matter. Our design is inspired by a student exchange experience in Europe where most of the homes do not have potable water readily available from taps, and where we joined in the experience of purchasing bottled water from supermarkets and disposing of the bottles in separate bins weekly. The “culture shock” left a deep impression on us and thus the inspiration for our design.”

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