Note This!

Note illustrated by Marco Menaballai. L-R: Kristoffer Fagerström, Alexis Holmqvist, Cristiano Pigazzini, Susanna Wåhlin, Johannes Carlström

Without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest thing to emerge from Stockholm Design Week this year was Note Design Studio. Slowly building their reputation over the last few years by staging their own Marginal Notes shows, this year they moved to an old light bulb factory and presented Note Open - a temporary studio and exhibition space .

We brought some friends with us to Stockholm this year and were ever so slightly excited to for all of us to have guided tour by Susanna and Cristiano, two fifths of Note. They had 8 new products on show, as well as pieces from previous Marginal Notes and their Bolt stool for new French brand La Chance (which just happens to have been awarded a Wallpaper* Design Award 2013).

Susanna Wåhlin demonstrating Vinge

Products ranged from lights - we may have mentioned the new Vinge for Örsjö once or twice before - to bike stands and bathroom sinks and even a prototype Boet bench for Mitab to accompany the Boet stool. The prototype was so new, it arrived just in time for the opening of the show, but too late for the brochure, so the image below will have to do for now.

Susanna is actually from the town of Örsjö and her family have a long history with Örsjö Belysning, so it seems fitting Note should design a piece for the brand. In fact, if you would like a lesson in the proper pronunciation of Örsjö, then watch Susanna's Style File interview with Wallpaper*.    

Note stand (and product design) for ZilenZio

Apart from the exhibition, Note's handiwork was in evidence all over the city - Vinge and their Teluria candelabra for Klong popped up at Glass Elephant, they not only designed the products but also the stand for ZilenZio (above) and they designed the Greenhouse exhibition. The layout for Greenhouse was based on baroque French gardens and instead of straight rows of boxy stands, rows were curved and some walls were removed to create an open atmosphere, where designers could meet and experience the show around them, rather than feeling they had to stay in their designated box. It also removed the intimidation visitors sometimes feel about stepping onto stands - they were on the stands before they even knew.

Greenhouse exhibition design concept. Image from stockholmfurniturelightfair.se

We said it last year, and we'll say it again: Note are definitely a name to watch. For more examples of their work, check out their website: www.notedesignstudio.se

Mitab's MiStand at Stockholm Furniture Fair 2013

Mitab presented a new stand concept at the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2 weeks ago (how time flies). A variation on their successful "Stand On Your Own" concept, MiStand sees the responsibility passed to a young architect or designer to present their perception of the brand. This year, Jonas Wagell was selected and he responded in his characteristically colourful way. Primary colours sprang out from a soft grey background, catching your eye and attention.

New on the stand for 2013 was the Mute sofa by Joel Karlsson. A long time collaborator with Mitab (his products include Tweed, Shadow and Anywhere) Mute is a companion piece to the Stereo sofa. Featuring the same distinctive Button detail, Mute is a high back sofa for modern working. A private hub without the expense or restraints of partition walls! Mute is available as a 1, 2 or 3 seater with frame colour and upholstery of your choice.

Also on the stand was the Boet stool by Note Design Studio we launched at designjunction in September. What visitors to the stand didn't see was the new prototype Boet Bench - you had to visit Note's own Open show to see that. Fresh off the production line, just in time for the show opening, Boet Bench will be available later in the year. 

Boet Bench at Note Open 2013

Raster, the acoustic panel by Asshoff & Brogård, which launched last year, was shown in the new Leaf pattern. Raster can also be ordered with custom pattern and/or any colour you like.

For a complete tour of the stand, which included products like Risto, Cumulus and Highway Lounge, check out (and like) our Facebook album. 

Relay is off to Stockholm

We hope to see you all there!

#YoungSweden at designjunction

London Design Festival came, saw, conquered and has already left the building. The 10th anniversary of the LDF also marked the 2nd outing for designjunction.

Moving to a new venue, the former Royal Mail sorting office on New Oxford Street, designjunction has mushroomed from its initial incarnation in 2011. Visitors and exhibitors alike were staggered both by the scale of the building and just how quickly designjunction has grown. Featuring top quality pop up shops, flash factories, temporary bars and restaurants as well as a high standard of trade exhibitors, we presented Young Sweden and were delighted to be involved.

Focusing on young designers like Jonas Wagell, Form Us With Love and Joel Karlsson working with older, established brands like Mitab, Ӧrsjӧ and Trӓullit, Young Sweden was an opportunity to showcase the design talent coming from Sweden. It also served to highlight the bonds between some of our differing brands.

Note Design Studio are a design collective we've mentioned before. Back in February, a prototype of their Boet stool featured in the Work in Progress show curated by Jonas Wagell. Now, it is being produced by Mitab and we took great pride in launching it at designjunction. Available in 2 heights, the contrast between the rounded cork seat and the smooth metal frame drew many admiring glances. This is the first collaboration between Note and Mitab, but probably won't be the last. In February they will design the Greenhouse area of the Stockholm Furniture Fair and they just may have another product launching with one of our brands, but sssssh....it's top secret for now.

We also showed the Trӓullit Dekor acoustic hexagons by Form Us With Love for the first time in the UK. In just over 4 hours and using 300+ hexagons, our lovely intern Liz created a real showstopper. People gravitated towards the installation and couldn't help but touch it.

Daniel Svahn's Quiet Riot screens were also a UK first, and complimented Jonas Wagell's Montmartre Bar series.

While Jonas Bohlin may not be the youngest designer featured on the stand, we feel his Kvist is a young design, and as he has had a prominent role in educating the next generation of designers, he is more than deserving of his place. 
 

The rough copper of Kvist, the warm cork of Boet and the woodwool of Trӓullit made for a very tactile stand and visitors couldn't resist running their hands over them.

Clerkenwell Design Week 2012

The 2012 Mitab Collection is here

2012 is our first full year representing Mitab and it is a delight to kick things off with such a strong collection. Six new products from 5 designers, all with that Mitab edge, shows their commitment to supporting young talent.

Jonas Wagell continues his collaboration with Mitab with a brand new sofa system and new forms for the Montmartre series.

Cumulus is a new sofa for lobbies and restaurants that combines the practical requirements of a contract environment with the more generous and inviting appearance of a domestic sofa. Wagell's distinctive and playful aesthetics (literally) take the edge off the strictures of public area seating. Single, two seater and corner units can be combined in a variety of formats and an extensive selection of fabrics to ensure your Cumulus is as unique as the cloud that gave it it's name. Cirrus pillows optional!   

Jonas also find time to add some new pieces to the Montmartre family. Montmartre Bar keeps the familiar splayed leg and rounded foot of the original table but extends it to a barstool. The turned wooden seat and the beautifully considered footrest make Montmartre Bar extremely comfortable. The corresponding table comes with coat and bag hooks for peace of mind and added comfort.  

You can also have a low stool at 46h cms which would work perfectly with the original Montmartre table.

Joel Karlsson has worked with Mitab for several years now and is fond of archetypes. Simple, unfussy silhouettes that do exactly what it says on the tin. Shadow storage units are a first for Mitab. The Shadow table is perfect for meeting rooms, so it makes sense the storage should come from the same family. In two sizes and available in any colour you like, Shadow will fit seamlessly into any meeting room.

In 2009 Daniel Svahn designed the Mitab stand for the Stockholm Fair via the Stand On Your Own program and in 2012 he was back with his first product designed for Mitab. Quiet Riot clearly references a barricade, a brutal yet effective and functional piece of design. Available in 2 formats, portrait and landscape, with 4 fabric panels per side, Quiet Riot acts as both a room divider and notice board.

Office 4 Ideas, aka o4i are a multidisciplinary design studio based in Stockholm. Risto is their first collaboration with Mitab. The objective for the project was to create a slimline, refined and ultimately comfortable stacking chair for meeting and restaurant environments. There are no visible fixings, allowing for incredibly efficient stacking. A mesh back with upholstered seat and optional removable upholstery are all contained within a small footprint making Risto perfect for modern business. 

Raster is new concept in acoustic panelling. Designed by Asshoff & Brogård and inspired by modern architecture, Raster is a flexible panel in rock wool and recycled aluminium. The perforations in the aluminium are made with CNC and over time standard patterns will be added to the range.

Mitab stand, photo courtesy of Architonic

Mitab will join Ӧrsjӧ and Mitab at Clerkenwell Design Week in May. Don't forget to register for your chance to see the new products in the flesh. 

Mitab at the Stockholm Furniture Fair

A Christmas thank you from Relay

2011 has disappeared as if a mere blink of an eye. It started with Ӧrsjӧ supplying all of the bedroom lighting for the new Radisson Blu Stockholm Waterfront (interiors by RPW Design) and Zeitraum winning not one but two Interior Innovation Awards at IMM Cologne.   

During the year we provided Rvw Mollis chairs and Zeitraum Morph Bar stools to Virgin Atlantic Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 (interior design by Glock, supplied by SCP Contracts), Zeitraum collaborated with new illustration paper Wrap for Show 2 at Viaduct, Ӧrsjӧ exhibited at Clerkenwell Design Week for the first time (but not the last!), we started our collaboration with Mitab by delivering Lobby sofas to the new Westfield shopping city at Stratford (thanks to Conran Contracts) and ended the year working with Edge Architecture and Design and Viaduct to deliver Morph Bar stools to the 5th Floor cafe at Harvey Nichols. 

You can now also find us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. Don't forget to follow and "Like" us for instant updates on new product launches and project installations.

Phew! We're off to put our feet up before it starts all over again in January. 

To everyone that has supported us this year, we say a huge thank you. Have yourself a merry little Christmas and we look forward to seeing you all in 2012.

Tramshed 2011

A video from Tramshed 2011, with a cameo by Relay, Mitab and Ӧrsjӧ courtesy of De La Espada.
(Updated with HD Vimeo version)

Mitab and Ӧrsjӧ at Tramshed 2011

Mitab and Ӧrsjӧ joined forces last week for the London Design Festival 2011, coming together to exhibit at Tramshed. Here are a selection of photos. More photos from Tramshed can be seen in our Facebook album HERE.

 

Mitab and Ӧrsjӧ at Tramshed 2011

The 2011 London Design Festival is fast approaching and is bigger than ever. Back for its 9th year, design districts are springing up all over London and there is so much to do that unless you have a tardis or a will of steel you won't make it to everything. Our advice is to pick up a copy of the yellow ICON Design Trail distributed across the city to make best use of your time.

Having said that, can we recommend you make some time to visit the Tramshed in Shoreditch, where Mitab and Ӧrsjӧ have joined forces to present some of the hottest names in Swedish design. Furniture by Form Us With Love, Swedish Ninja and Jonas Wagell will sit alongside lighting by Claesson Koivisto Rune and Matti Klenell.

Form Us With Love have quickly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the Swedish design scene and look set to emulate the international success of Claesson Koivisto Rune. Matti Klenell is the master of quiet craftsmanship, preferring to let his work do the talking, while Jonas Wagell and Swedish Ninja bring a certain sense of joy and fun to their work.

The Tramshed debuted at last years LDF and has already become a "must see" show. New collections by Søren Rose and Benjamin Hubert for de la Espada, the ever-fresh Ercol and new British design from the likes of Plant & Moss and Reeves Design will all be complimented by a seminar series conducted by Sam Grawe, who until recently was Editor-In-Chief at American style bible, Dwell.

Our hotlist for the rest of the Festival includes the CKR retrospective at Skandium, Hemma at the Swedish Ambassador's Residence, Noma Bar's "Cut It Out" at Outline Editions, John Pawson with Swarovski in the stunning St. Paul's Cathedral, Viaduct's Show 3 and if all else fails, make sure you give yourself a couple of hours at the V&A. Acting as the festival hub, the V&A will play host to a myriad installations, displays, talks and workshops. The perfect one stop shop if you're pressed for time during LDF.

For more details on the events happening across London check out the LDF website and Twitter feed. If you are a Twitterer, use the hashtag #ldf11 to search for posts and promote your event. We'll be tweeting as we go - you can follow us HERE.

See you at the Tramshed!

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.