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The design proposal from the Zaha Hadid Architects’ studio successfully transforms what was once an ordinary space to an exciting new dimension in interiors.  Zaha Hadid’s inspiration was elemental water in all its forms and the result is a spectacular and influential space in the heart of London’s Chelsea Harbour.

Zaha Hadid and her team have created a design that is not just purely visual, it also uses the art of precision and control to help the visitor understand the relationship between the architecture of the space and the design of Roca bathroom products.

www.roca.com
www.rocalondongallery.com

Pantone LLC, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT), and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today unveiled the PANTONE® Fashion Color Report Fall 2012, a comprehensive overview of designers’ use of color in their upcoming collections. Released on the first day of New York Fashion Week, the PANTONE Fashion Color Report features the top 10 colors for women’s and men’s fashion for fall 2012, along with designer sketches, quotes and headshots. The report is available for free download at www.pantone.com/fall2012

From love potions and the magical hour of sunset to witches and warlocks, fantasy and illusion are inspiring designers this fall season. With an unexpected mix of darks, brights and neutrals, they cleverly manipulate reality to transport consumers to an enchanting place, free from the stresses of everyday life.

As the season transitions from the heat of summer, Bright Chartreuse, a vital yellow-green, pays homage to a typical spring shade and creates a bridge into the cooling days of fall. Reminiscent of bright green foliage, it provides a perfect accent to every color in the palette.

Like the name implies, Pink Flambé is a delicious, vibrant pink with a bit of heat to it. Pair it with vivacious and enticing Tangerine Tango for an ongoing retro feeling. Or, to bring a calming element to the mix, combine these vibrant warm tones with Ultramarine Green, a deep, cooling blue-green. Ethereal Rhapsody is a grayed-down purple that also encourages comfort and serenity with its quiet, muted tone.

Honey Gold, a mellow, burnished yellow, suggests the soft-muted tones of sunlight to brighten a fall day. Pair it with sensible and strong Olympian Blue, a patriotic blue that will surely make its way into fall and winter athletic apparel.

Rich and robust, French Roast is a tasty, sophisticated hue that is a great alternative to the black and charcoal basics typically worn in the fall. Other staple neutrals include elegant and versatile Titanium, the quintessential cool gray, and Rose Smoke, a veiled rose tone that pairs well with Rhapsody and Titanium.

Similar to this season’s palette for women, there is something for everyone in the top color selections for men. Rhubarb, a deep, pungent hue, brings intensity to the palette, and is best paired with Tangerine Tango and Honey Gold for a collegiate look. To hit the ski slopes in style, combine Ultramarine Green with Bright Chartreuse and Olympian Blue for the ultimate in winter athletic apparel.

Moving from the vibrant tones of fall to more neutral basics, Whitecap Gray is a classic off-white, reminiscent of an overturning wave under a winter sky. Sea Fog, a gray with a muted purple cast, exudes just the right amount of confidence and masculinity. Pair these two neutrals with the strength of Titanium for a subtle and sophisticated direction. Combine all three neutrals in a dress shirt or tie with basic, versatile French Roast for a classic fall look.

The colors featured in the PANTONE Fashion Color Report are culled from the PANTONE FASHION + HOME Color System, the most widely used and recognized color standards system in the world. Each season, Pantone surveys the designers of New York Fashion Week and beyond to collect feedback on prominent collection colors, color inspiration and color philosophy. This information is used to create the PANTONE Fashion Color Report, which serves as a reference tool throughout the year for fashion enthusiasts, reporters and retailers.

http://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr.aspx?pg=20948&ca=4

HOW’s design competition (launched in 1988), this is the only awards program to specifically recognize outstanding promotional work—whether it’s a self-promo to showcase a design firm’s capabilities, a project that touts a client’s goods or services, an announcement for a major life event or a student résumé or portfolio. HOW’s Promotion Design Awards celebrates design work that’s engaging, memorable and effective at moving the viewer toward action.

Paris-based designer Matali Crasset has envisioned ‘Maisons Sylvestre’, four small dwellings or ‘feral houses’. The structures are made from combinations of acacia wood, douglas pine and galvanized steel which camouflage themselves into the landscape.
each cabin is outfitted with a wood stove, gas lights, compost toilets and an outdoor water supply facility.
‘these lightweight structures are foundation-free and can be moved around the forest without harming nature or upsetting the ecosystem,‘ says Matali Crasset.

various modules
image courtesy of matali crasset
www.designboom.com

Snappy Tables provide a simple solution to compact living spaces. Founder Dean Robinson crafts each petite table from bamboo, plastic or or maple Europly, adding a convenient handle to the lightweight frame for a portable, easy-to-pack piece of furniture. The handle also serves as the starting point for unfolding the which easily swings open and rests on its legs.

http://www.snappytables.com/

The Literary Platform is hosting an international competition inviting creatives to produce an animation that illustrates a rare and prophetic audio recording of Douglas Adams talking in 1993 about the Evolution of the Book.

In 1993 Douglas Adams, the world-renowned author of The Hitchhikers Guide of the Galaxy, recorded a short piece of audio for his US publisher of the time – Bob Stein of Voyager Expanded Books. Who would know how prophetic his words would sound nearly twenty years later, and how accurate his sense of the evolution of the book was.

In this short recording, kindly donated to The Literary Platform by Bob Stein, Douglas Adams charts the evolution of the book from the ‘hardware problems’ of writing on rocks, to scrolls, to the bound book and finally the silicon chip.

The competition invites creatives to produce an animation that best illustrates the words of Douglas Adams. Entrants are invited to use part, or all, of the Douglas Adams recording to create an animation to complement the words.

How to Enter

Entrants are asked to upload entries to a new user-generated competition platform called Launchpad6. The public will be able to vote for their favourite animation in order to help the judges get down to a longlist of candidates. The judging panel will then choose their winner, and the winning entrant will be announced on Towel Day – the annual celebration on the 25 May, which is a tribute Douglas Adams. On that day, fans around the universe proudly carry a towel in his honour.

Prizes

The winner of the competition will win an iPad2 loaded with Douglas Adams books and apps and a Don’t Panic towel to carry on Towel Day. Selected entrants will also see their work hosted on The Literary Platform and exhibited at an event to tie in with Towel Day celebrations.

The competition platform is now open for entries and the deadline for uploading entries is 15 April 2012. The longlist will be announced on 30 April with final judging leading up to the Towel Day announcement on 25 May 2012.

About Douglas Adams

Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a “trilogy” of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television series, several stage plays, comics, a computer game, and in 2005 a feature film. Adams became known as an advocate for environmental and conservation causes, and also as a lover of fast cars, cameras, and the Apple Macintosh.

http://www.theliteraryplatform.com/getting-the-book-invented#the-brief

Seoul designers HawaSoo have designed a clothes rail, a lamp and a stool that are styled like components of a bicycle, called Breeze.

despoke.com
dezen.com

The abbreviation MUJI stands for “mujirushi ryohin” and can be translated as “No brand, good-quality products“. This phrase reflects the set of values which has guided the company’s activities since its foundation in 1980 – functionality, minimalism and timelessness. Design aficionados across the world are not only attracted by the natural and simple appearance, but also by the environmentally-friendly manufacturing process of the MUJI lifestyle products for home, bath and office. You can now choose from a small selection of products of the Japanese brand MUJI at the Vitra Design Museum Shop.

www.muji.eu

The Design Museum today unveiled plans to create the world’s leading museum of design and architecture at the former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington, London. Designs for the site have been produced by two of the world’s most innovative architectural practices: John Pawson has redesigned the interior of the Grade 2* listed building and OMA has planned the surrounding residential development.
http://designmuseum.org/news

Taking in a period which spans the 1948 austerity Olympics to next year’s 2012 London Olympic games, British graphic design,  furniture, architecture, industrial products, fine art, ceramics  and fashion stand to be included.

The museum will display 350 works – 250 from its own collection and a further 100 borrowed items – telling the story through three thematic galleries. 

Exhibition curator Ghislaine Wood has worked with co-curator Christopher Breward to bring the exhibition together over two-and-a-half years.

http://www.designweek.co.uk/va-brings-in-ben-kelly-to-work-on-british-design-exhibition/3030820.article