Proving there's power in numbers
Based in London, FuseDesignCollective was formed over a
year ago by a group of design graduates from the University of
Brighton. It has now grown to incorporate graduate members
from other universities around the UK with each member bringing in new style, skills and personality to the group.
Fuse represents a new mode in contemporary British design. The Fuse designers form the nucleus of a shared network of specialist knowledge and experience. The Collective is not a business, company or a "non-profit making organization", it is a group set up by its member designers to help each other to create better design, for themselves and their clients.
Link: FuseDesignCollective
Ambient Lounge has redefined bean bags for an upscale urban market that wants style that is casual and sleek. 
The Sinimet Collection from Cortex Design is designed to provide attractive, functional and durable storage. The Sinimet storage cart is ideal for office and studio use. It has an automotive coating on the top and bottom that provides a unique finish and quality detailing. The ample storage and strength of drawers can handle everyday items, but it is also suitable for bulkier pieces like power tools. The Sinimet credenza and filing cabinet are a nice companion with beautifully engineered details and corners that are currently available in three retro colours. Cortex Design is a an industrial design company located in Toronto that provides functional prototypes and new products for the consumer, industrial and contract furniture markets.
Looking for a bathtub that is sustainable, easy to maintain and drop dead gorgeous? Stainless steel might be just what you are looking for. Stainless steel tubs come in a variety of shapes and styles that can be paired with other materials like enamel and wood. They are a good conductor of heat, and will keep the water warmer for an extended period of time. They are also corrosion resistant and should not rust. Stainless steel tubs are not mass produced, so they can be expensive and many people opt for having them custom made to suit their needs. Stainless tubs are generally in the $7,000 to $17,000+ (US) range, which is not exactly pocket change, but if you are looking for something sustainable, durable and different it might just be worth the investment.
Situated in the historical Italian city of Rimini, designer Ron Arad plans to make history of his own.
Scheduled for an early 2006 opening, the revamped duoMo hotel is set to reintroduce itself as a modern icon within these historical surroundings.
A free-thinking women's college, Wellesley features a campus that is the antithesis of traditional academic hierarchical form. Buildings are clustered and scattered across the wildly varied Massachusetts landscape, exemplifying the ethos of the school.
Fellow SCI-Arcian Jon Racek recently got in touch with us, and while I was familiar with his company, Stew Design Workshop, I didn't know that we shared an alma mater. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: for such a small school, it's amazing how SCI-Arc people seem to be everywhere doing interesting work. Jon and his brother Kevin, who is also an architect, are based in Burlington, Vermont, and design everything from furniture to architecture to graphics etc.
Czech born / London based architect, Eva Jiricna , is represented quite nicely in a recent publication of her projects titled 'In/Ex Terior'. The book showcases a selection of 39 projects and designs which includes over 250 photographs and drawings to really get the point across as to how much of a talent she really is. It's a well layed out portfolio of retail, hotels, night clubs and much, much more.
The first annual Singapore Design Festival takes flight this month with a truely broad range of design avenues such as furniture, photography, graphics, toy design, textiles and many, many more. All of which is meant to celebrate the best of design that the city has to offer.
It would seem that former pro snowboarder Marc Morisset selected the site for his home the way he would pick a line. Sited on a steep wooded hillside in Whistler, B.C., the house nearly rides the site; carving and floating down the slope while grabbing exhilarating moments of big air.
An expansion of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the Leventritt Garden was designed by Reed | Hilderbrand Landscape Architects with Maryann Thompson Architects to display a diverse array of sun-loving ornamental shrubs and vines.
IDEO is what the dot.com companies tried to be and failed. A place where imagination is rewarded, and failure is just part of the path to success. IDEO is fueled by team creativity, and they believe that your company should be too. That's why they have produced Method Cards, a set of 51 cards that are meant to get your team inspired and on the path to great design.
There's wanting space for yourself, and then there's demanding space for yourself.
Danish design company, Essey, was recently honoured with the Good Design Award 2005 in Japan for their intricate wastebasket, Bin Bin. The competition is through the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO), which is apparently the countries only comprehensive design promotion body.
If leftover people, leftover spaces and leftover materials are part of your life, then One Small Project would like to hear from you. The architects, students, designers and artists contributing to One Small Project are working towards helping and profiling the conditions of people known typically as squatters, self-builders, slum dwellers, informal settlers or displaced persons, and are highlighting the unique projects that help some of the 1 billion people who find refuge and community among the spaces that people forgot about, and the materials they threw out.
Redstr/Collective is the design initiative of Alex Valich and Christine Warren, partners in business and life, who's approach to design is eclectic, inspired and just plain fun. They describe themselves a DJs of design who sample, mix and spin to get the desired result. Their Web site design is indicative of the "tongue-in-cheekiness" of their products like beautifully decorated sickness bags, and shelves that are highlighter colour. How about hip-hop Christmas tree ornaments? 
With so much furniture on the market today it's sometimes hard to find something different. The furniture from PIE Project Import Export is not only different, but features work from some very talented and experienced designers from around the globe. Their merchandise represents some of the best work that is coming out of small young independent firms today that use modern methods and natural, environmentally friendly materials. PIE is setting out to explore the idea of 'living space' in an attempt to heighten the Modern lifestyle experience.
Vancouver designer, Omer Arbel, was recently appointed as Creative Director for Bocci, a new Canadian Manufacturer of high design objects.
If you've been reading L+L for a while, I'm pretty sure you're familiar with the work of Canadian designer, Adriean Koleric. Back in May 2005, Adriean contacted us to tell us about his 
This Finnish foursome of product designers originally met at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, and last year banded together to form a critical mass at design shows and the like.
I have tried my hand at pinhole photography, and as simple as the technology is, it takes a mastery of technique to achieve good results. And Rob Gardiner is obviously an all around expert photographer and has made an art of pinhole photography. Rob's explanation of a pinhole camera:
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