Relay (re)presents Mitab

We are very excited to announce Relay Design Agency has been appointed as the UK and Ireland Agent for Swedish furniture brand Mitab.

Mitab specialise in furniture for pause and interaction. Furniture that compliments and enhances its environment rather than dominating it.
From their base in the city of Tranås, on the banks of Lake Sommen, Mitab have consistently worked with the top design talent of the day to develop and manufacture a strikingly graphic and energetic collection for the contract market. The current stable of designers include Form Us With Love, Joel Karlsson, Swedish Ninja and Jonas Wagell.


We are extremely proud to be working with Mitab and feel they add an exciting new dimension to our portfolio. We will keep you posted on all new developments, but in the meantime if you would like further information or would like to request a brochure, please contact us via our website. Further information can be found on www.mitab.se.

RCA Show 2011

It's Degree Show time of the year again. Already! The RCA Show is always a real highlight, probably because of the diversity of courses all showing together, but also the fluidity between courses. Printmakers show ceramics, textile makers show chairs, goldsmiths produce chandeliers in cork and LED........

Before we get started, can we take a moment to offer some advice to graduates? Please, please find some time to update your website with your new work before the show starts. We know you are incredibly busy in the run up to the show and you think your head might explode, but please find the time to update your site. The show was liberally sprinkled with "Strictly No Photography" signs and while business cards are good to help visitors, if your work is not on your site, how are people going to remember you? There is a lot of competition out there and design writers, manufacturers, retailers etc will just move on to the next graduate if they cannot find what it was that initially excited them.

This year was the first time the entire Fine Art faculty showed in their new Battersea home, allowing everyone (Fine and Applied Arts) more room to breathe and everyone benefitted. After last years presentation, which was somewhat chaotic to say the least, this years crop appeared more polished and ready for the commercial world.

In Design Products, Jack Smith (who we mentioned in a previous post here) showed his simple but effective folding Stool and an equally simple but effective DIY Birdbox made from 2 pieces of plywood and a set of instructions.

DIY was the name of the game for many of the Design Products graduates, with Tom Hatfield showing Workspace in Brackets, a folded steel bracket designed to accept standard timber sizes. The concept was inspired by young, start companies (we like it already) who need an office space, but may not be in a position to take on a fully fitted traditional office. With a little ingenuity and elbow grease, you can create your own office with minimal expenditure - just make the bits you need.

James Stooze went one step further and presented a downloadable PDF entitled "how to make a chair open source". Basic DIY skills and access to everyday household tools are all you need to create your own chair from discarded materials. No packaging, no shipping, no waste.

Beautiful Mistake by Tien-sheng Huang was exactly that. Using the concept of shrink fitting, an engineering concept not often found in furniture, cooling metal shrinks to form a joint, thus eliminating the need for extra materials like screws, brackets etc. Shown in hardwoods and polished brass, we have a feeling you will see these snapped up by a manufacturer immediately.

Over in Communication Arts & Design, Chris Stoneman showed the mesmerising Fluted Motion. Rather than projecting onto a solid surface, a light-like glass sphere suspended from the ceiling acted as both projector and "screen". The glass acts as a secondary layer before the animation reaches the ground, distorting it and creating two separate focal points.


Textile designer Eva Malschaert produced a beautiful space divider composed of ribbons of elasticated fabric in soft pastels that can be clipped together at will creating a bespoke and constantly changing screen.

Over in the Fine Art show, the line between art and design became ever more blurred with printmaker Ashley Rich creating a ceramic cityscape and sculptor Alex Strachan creating a room divider in metal and finished in a pinky flesh tone.


Another print graduate incorporating traditional design principles is Evguenia Jokhova whose vast city blueprint covered an entire wall.


Where will this art/design crossover end? And how? That remains to be seen, but one thing we can be sure of is the quality of this year's graduating class. Some names to watch!

Clerkenwell Design Week 2011

We've been very slow posting our thoughts on this years Clerkenwell Design Week. Suffice to say, since the show ended we've been busy catching up with enquiries generated by the show (actually, we've been pretty busy since we started putting the stand together).

The reaction to the Ӧrsjӧ collection was fantastic. For many visitors it was the first time they had seen the pieces in the flesh, so we tried to select a cross-section of pieces, new and old, that reflected the Ӧrsjӧ commitment to quality and innovation. From the new 2011 collection Baklava, Crane and Great White sat alongside the perennial favourite that is Lean and relative old-timers like Mushroom and Ginko. Our only regret was that we couldn't show more.


We have posted a few images here, but we have added an album to our Facebook page.

The Farmiloe Building is a wonderful venue for an exhibition. The old glass merchants lends a relaxed atmosphere to proceedings, and everyone certainly seemed to enjoy an after work stroll through the stands with a beer or wine in hand.

There was certainly a strong Scandinavian presence in the Farmiloe Building, with Swedese, Zero, bsweden, Bolon, Offecct, Magnus Olesen and Muuto all showing alongside big-hitters like Andreu World, Moooi and Ligne Roset. Note to self: brush up on basic Swedish for next year, because I think they'll all be back!
British brands also had a strong showing with new collections from Lee Broom for Deadgood, Hitch Mylius, Another Country, Pinch and Scene.
The one downside to being an exhibitor is that you tend to miss out on other events taking place around Clerkenwell, and there was certainly a lot to choose from. The House of Detention showcased younger designers and brands, the normally quiet showrooms hummed with activity, Lulu Guinness invited everyone to be a pin-up and then of course there were the parties..........

All in all, we're looking forward to Clerkenwell Design Week 2012.

Ӧrsjӧ to exhibit at Clerkenwell Design Week

Milan 2011 - Rossana Orlandi

We didn't make it to the Wallpaper Handmade show at Brioni, Elle Decor's Young Talent at Stella McCartney or Established & Sons (strategic decisions have to be made) but there was no way we were missing out on a trip to Spazio Rossana Orlandi, the Milan institution. A highlight for many this year, the venerable Orlandi always pulls together an eclectic mix of designers and brands to produce a feast for the eyes. This year was no exception.


Set around a courtyard, designers from Scandinavia to Japan showed an amazing array of products, from porcelain birds, lighting and furniture all by Jaime Hayon, a beautiful installation by Daniel Rybakken and Story Vases by Front produced in collaboration with 5 South African women. The vases actually tell the stories of these women using traditional Zulu beadwork and touch on subjects including family, poverty and the effect of HIV on their society.


Also on show were delicate paper vases by Torafu Architects, and teardrop glass pendants by the students of Sweden's Konstfack school. A definite high point was the Oak Inside installation by Christien Meindertsma for Thomas Eyck.

To end our Milan coverage, we thought we would let the pictures do the talking, so here is a selection of what was on offer at Spazio Rossana Orlandi.

Torafu Architects

Simon Klenell & Kristoffer Undin, Konstfack

Imaginative Table by Supawan Sihapoomichit & Emilia Ӧster, Konstfack

Daniel Rybakken

Thomas Eyck

Nika Zupanc

Formagenda

Jaime Hayon

More images from our trip to Milan can be found on out Facebook page, simply by clicking HERE.

Milan 2011 - The city

Matali Crasset Dip in Space by Head-Geneve and Matali Crasset

The part of the Milan fair that takes the greatest toll on footwear is that which lies beyond the glass and steel cage of Rho. The Fuori Salone is also growing at an incredible rate, with the new kid on the block, Ventura Lambrate, nipping at the heels of the more established Tortona area. Then there are the showrooms, the galleries, the Triennale, the temporary spaces........

To say it is disheartening to see Mini Coopers suspended from a crane (why?!) when you arrive in Tortona is an understatement. The area seems to have been deluged by corporate tie-ins and the young designers that gave the area its energy have been side-lined, from the Mini Coopers to the Tom Dixon collaboration with Blackberry. What is interesting about this development is understanding why these brands want to be here - they know their customers are increasingly design savvy and they know the importance of delivering a "brand experience". It's no longer just about the product.

Having said that, we did enjoy the Matali Crasset installation with HEAD Geneve, Vertigo Bird from Slovenia showcased lighting from designers including Nika Zupanc and Mathias Hahn and we stumbled across newcomer Eumenes, with designs by Paola Navone and Jean-Marie Massaud.

Boy's Lamp by Nika Zupanc for Vertigo Bird

Eus by Paola Navone for Eumenes

Young designers have migrated east to Ventura Lambrate. Now in its second year, Lambrate lacks the energy of Tortona, but that is in part down to the generous amount of space. Less claustrophobic than Tortona, shows can spread out and breathe in a way that's impossible for all but the moneyed few in Tortona.

Many of Europe's top design schools displayed works by students and recent graduates. The RCA Intent show was the perfect opportunity to show it's recently launched Design Products Collection to the wider design world. Of particular note were Will Shannon's Metro Cabinet, Jack Smith's Folding Stool and Hye-Yeon Park's In-betweening Clock we loved so much at the RCA Graduate Show in 2010.

Metro Cabinet by Will Shannon

Benjamin Hubert also popped up at Ventura Lambrate, with his Pod privacy chair in pressed PET felt for Dutch brand De Vorm. Hubert was prolific this year and Pod was certainly one of his most impressive pieces - the shell being constructed using the largest single piece of felt pressed to date.


The Brits certainly made their presence felt with 2 group shows on opposite sides of Milan. At Spazio Botta in Porta Romana SCP, Case, Ercol and Pinch came together to show the quality of British craftsmanship, working predominantly in wood. The opening party was certainly popular, but it was unclear if all those people were there for the furniture or the free beer!

Porta Romana party in full swing and Iona Cheval Mirror by Pinch

Over in Tortona, Design Junction brought together a diverse slice of the UK design world, from Wedgwood to Modus, via the re-launch of Ernest Race's mid-century classic designs and Michael Sodeau's Anything range of stationery.

We certainly think Benjamin Hubert and Nika Zupanc were the "names to note" from our whistle-stop tour of Milan.

Milan 2011 - Salone Satellite

Salone Satellite is the official area for young designers at the main fair. Unfairly tucked away at the back of Halls 22 and 24 (the furthest point from the entrance for most visitors and therefore overlooked by many), Salone Satellite gives young designers and brands a standard white cube from which to sell themselves and their designs.

Based in east London, Corinna Warm returned to Milan with a van full of new designs. Her most confident collection to date, she has garnered a lot of attention from the international design press in the last couple of weeks, and deservedly so. Her new collection of lighting, tables and even a large desk, using materials ranging from walnut to brass and gloss paint finishes, made quite the impression. Warm was also visible with in Tortona, with her Circus pendant shown last year now in production with Innermost.

Marina tables (top) and Glaze pendants (bottom) by Warm

Jarrod Lim presented the Idle rocking chair, while Atelier Takagi presented the beautiful Market Research tables in marble, wood and steel atop the New Basics table and alongside the fun, bird-like Big Bounce light.

Atelier Takagi - Market Research table (top) and Big Bounce (bottom)

Tucked away in the corner, we also found Lina Nordqvist, who presented an elegant salon complete with striking bookshelves, classic sofa and luxurious leather pouff.


It's a shame you have to walk so far to find these designers (it is worth noting that in Stockholm you will find the "Greenhouse" area adjacent the main contract hall!), who are often more exciting than the main event, but as with all the best things in life, it's worth going the extra mile!