Nothing is quite as kawaii as Japanese stationery and paper paraphernalia, and Hitotoki’s latest offering for KING JIM is proof of that. The stationery brand recently launched Coffret, a collection of peel and stick PET film stickers designed by Japanese artist Smanim that resemble makeup palettes. The stickers’ transparent film material is also ideal for layering, further extending the makeup experience. The variety of shapes, solid colors, playful patterns, and foil stamping inspired by Smanim’s own artworks allows for endless configurations, whether you use the stickers for journals, planners, scrapbooks, gift wrapping, or just everyday notes.

There are five “palettes” containing different shapes – round, square, circle, bar, and triangle – and four colorways for each configuration, creating a total of 20 products in the Coffret collection. Each item contains 4-6 designs with eight stickers per design. With all the fun ways you can layer and use the stickers, the question isn’t Where can I apply them? It’s How many should I buy?!

To purchase stickers from the Coffret collection, visit tokyopenshop.com.

You’ve undoubtedly heard about the rabid popularity of Stanley tumblers, with devotees of the vacuum-insulated, stainless steel drinking vessels collecting them with the same “gotta catch ’em all” attitude of a Pokémon player. But with great collections come great responsibilities, most notably maintenance between fill-ups. To help Stanley or tumbler users keep their favorite cups clean on the daily, LG revealed they’ve developed a special slimline dishwasher specifically designed for rinsing reusable cups and tumblers.

Announced at CES 2024, the LG mycup looks nothing like a traditional dishwasher. In fact, we’d say its form factor is more closely hewn to that of an information kiosk you might find at an airport. The slim vertical design is intended to fit into kitchens with a minimal footprint, ideally situated next to stations where users fill up their favorite tumblers every day.

The mycup accommodates only one vessel at a time, offering one of two cleaning programs – Quick Wash and Extra Wash. Both modes use a 149-degree Fahrenheit hot water cycle to ensure every sip is germ free. The Quick Wash clean cycle uses LG’s bubble jet technology to wash the inside of the tumbler in just 30 seconds. In instances where the tumbler requires additional attention, the Extra Wash program adds an integrated air-drying design to clean and gently dry the tumbler with a multi-directional water jet and powerful hot air.

LG has yet to announce availability or pricing of the mycup, but it should be arriving sooner than later. The social media fueled craze for Stanley cups is likely to subside in due time, but the popularity of reusable cups and tumblers will likely continue on, something the Korean electronics giant seems to be betting upon with the announcement of such a specialized kitchen cleaning appliance.

Poured, pounded, polished, and sometimes patinated, Irish maker Niamh Barry’s process working with bronze is something like practicing alchemy. But the real sorcery is the transmutation of her ideas into a marriage of craftsmanship and modern innovation. Self-taught in metalwork, Niamh Barry’s most iconic pieces are an amalgam of meticulously engineered bronze, glass, and polycarbonate.

What’s more, her studio manages to manufacture roughly 30 furnishings a year with some of her larger endeavors crafted over the course of 600 to 1,400 hours following years of rumination. Several recent creations including the Shouldering Table, Ghost Bench, and What if Everything is Not Linear? are exemplary works showcasing Barry’s ability to defy gravity, manipulate perception, and commune with nature.

Underpinning each form is that of a 6-inch hammered gold boat, which references an artifact from the Broighter hoard – a historic treasure trove of gold artifacts from the Irish Iron Age. And while the genesis of Barry’s phosphor bronze fleet is rooted in the same spirit, each contributes a little bit more to her creative canon. “It’s difficult to say if or how these pieces correspond or advance each other,” the designer says. “All I concern myself with is listening to what my creative mind is telling me to do. It’s intuitive and visceral and expressing that with the highest level of authenticity to myself is what matters.”

The complexities of each object cannot be distilled to a singular “ah-ha” moment, but rather a fermentation. Sketches, maquettes, digital designs, and several dedicated studio assistants are activated by the slow burn of her genius. Ideas percolate, bubbling up from Barry’s subconscious until she recognizes the essence that wishes to be expressed. A series of images are then translated from her mind’s eye to paper establishing the piece’s language before those verbi-visual qualities are given physical form through model making. Engineering and craft techniques are further employed to draft workshop drawings that will help realize the final artifact.

Ghost Bench is a modest – relative to her portfolio – mirror-polished, solid hand-formed bronze seat. The seemingly floating, reflective mass is buoyed by three thin legs that are more like vertical planes thin enough to disappear. In contrast, the Shouldering Table pulls focus with its blue patinated bronze finish and organic structures that prop up a thin surface further articulated with a mirror polish around the edge.

Sculptural furniture originally launched Barry’s career but her foray into lighting design is transcendent. Considered her breakthrough piece, What if Everything is Not Linear? is of biblical proportions. A dazzling eight, hand-hammered solid bronze components join together as one sculpture that descends from above. “It is the realization of a sense I’ve had for 8 years… completely contrary to the ‘drawing’ with bronze lines that I was making,” Barry says. “It finally appeared in front of me and I thought, ‘oh there you are!’ Fully realized on paper and then finally in bronze.”

To learn more about Niamh Barry and see her work on view, visit MaisonGerard.com.

Photography of product in situ by Nigel Swann.

In an effort to challenge conventional retail experiences through unique site-specific exhibitions, the furniture and design gallery VERSO presented PALMA: Five Pieces – Collection No. 1 during the inaugural edition of Alcova Miami. It’s the first furniture collection designed by Palma, the São Paulo-based studio led by Cléo Döbberthin and Lorenzo Lo Schiavo. A natural pairing, both VERSO and Palma work with varying typologies as an exploration of the handmade, production processes, and design narratives.

As the collection’s title implies, PALMA: Five Pieces – Collection No. 1, includes just that. A coffee table, corner table, table lamp, floor lamp, and room divider keep the series simple and focused.

At first, the base of the Esfera Table Lamp appears pearlescent, when in all actuality it’s covered in aluminum foil applied like gold leaf. Its polished stainless steel cross legs and conical shade, paired with the spherical base, explore the relationship between the three shapes.

Palma used eggshells from their own studio breakfasts to create the lacquer used on the Marshmallow Console. Aptly named after its marshmallow-like legs, which are hand painted with enamel paint and marble dust, it makes for a substantial piece with a particular presence.

The B de Bola Coffee Table combines unlikely materials and shapes in its reinterpretation of the sculptural marble trompe-l’oeil. You’ll find fiberglass, aluminum foil, plaster, and more being used to create a stone-like surface that’s always unique when finished.

The visual balance of the Pinheiro Floor Lamp is achieved with two identical, seamless fiberglass cones that represent a pine tree. The base structure is hand painted and finished in a texture reminiscent of tree bark, while the shade is bare and translucent.

The Moreau Room Divider presents “spolia” from Brazil’s Art Deco past, molded in place from public monuments before being cast in bronze. You may have already noticed that the hand-painted base echoes the shape of the B de Bola table.

To learn more about VERSO’s PALMA: Five Pieces – Collection No. 1, visit verso.nyc.

Resolute in his mission to create sustainably produced products with a natural and organic aesthetic, David Trubridge is the renowned designer behind David Trubridge Lighting. It’s his belief that these principles directly affect the product’s sustainability because consumers are less likely to throw away beautiful products. The company itself is driven by this ever-present environmental responsibility, which informs all aspects of design and production within the brand – always comes before profit.

In his early 20s, post university, Trubridge spent a lot of time and energy setting up a workshop in an old stone barn that he was renovating with friends in northern England. He started off with plans to carve wooden sculptures, but in the process of renovating, he unintentionally picked up woodcraft – an easier path to creating furniture.

“I remember one day walking into my ’new’ workshop where all my hand tools, bought at old junk shops, were laid out waiting for me,” Trubridge shares. “I felt this tingling in my hands, an awesome, empowering sense of potential: I could make whatever I wanted here! That was the moment when it clicked.”

Trubridge’s work first gained attention in 2001, when Italian design house Cappellini bought the rights to his steam-bent ash recliner. The Coral light followed in 2003, establishing a blueprint the brand would use for kitset products that minimized their environmental footprint. All of his lighting fixtures are designed around the SEED System, meaning the components are flat packed and then assembled upon arrival to create the final product. The Seed System has several benefits, including a vastly reduced environmental footprint. The brand is also proud to be B-Corp certified, holds Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for their range of lights.

Trubridge’s partner, Linda, also influences his work. Whereas he’s practical in nature, she attended art school, trained as a sculptor, and has a freer, more open approach to creating. “When I took an idea for a new chair, say into fresh territory, she would always push me further. She would take my pretty little model and turn it upside down and say make it like that! And she always believed in me, encouraging me to go further.”

When it comes to the creative process, Trubridge allows himself to sink into his subconscious. After developing an idea in his mind’s eye, he’ll move on to paper. “I always have a workbook and pencil nearby to record thoughts and sketches. There I develop the idea, exploring and recording various iterations, making notes on my insights and reasons for going in different directions. This enables me to come back at any time in the future and remember what I was thinking and maybe pick it up again,” he says. Trubridge then uses these thumbnail sketches to work out the three-dimensional aspects of the object, while simultaneously thinking about how it can be made and making notes about materials and joinery. Only after all this will he take his design digital.

Today, David Trubridge joins us to share more in Friday Five!

1. Water in the Southern Hemisphere by Ron Arad

I saw this when it was first exhibited in Milan in 2007 in exactly this setting. The complexity and vision of the design and making, along with its beauty, blew me away. I think that if I had created something like this I would just stop and say, “That is it, I will never make anything as good again!” When Arad first took the design to his engineers and craftsmen in Italy they said, no way, that is impossible. But he thought he had a method and persevered. He was right. It is made with CNC bent stainless steel rods, perfectly matched to fit together and create the form. They called it a homage to impossibility. And I love the nod to our part of the world!

2. A Paper Nautilus or Argonaut

[My partner] Linda found this on a beach near our house. It was my birthday and when we landed from our boat she decided in her head that she was going to find something special for me. And there it was, right in front of her! It had been blown around two rocky points and through a narrow channel onto the beach without being damaged. There is nothing I could conceive or make that would come anywhere near as beautiful as this. And it is simply a case, which the female argonaut or octopus makes to lay her eggs in, and to live in while she incubates them as she floats around in the open ocean.

3. Torqued Ellipse by Richard Serra

Like the Ron Arad design, the appeal of this lies as much in its conception and story as in the experience of viewing it. The concept is simple enough: draw an ellipse, then another above it rotated slightly, then create a surface between the two. But how to make it? Serra knew what he wanted but he traveled the world for years until he found the only workshop capable of rolling 50mm steel plate with such precision. You need to walk through one of these to fully experience its physicality – the movement is important. As you do, the surfaces lean one way, then the other, both coming together and falling apart, molding the space around you with their massive, imposing bulk.

4. Salt Flats at Mina Mina by Dorothy Napangardi

Indigenous art is usually quite conservative, but there was a sudden flowering of very contemporary, abstract paintings from women Aboriginal artists that emerged, seemingly from nowhere, in the last 30 years. For me, this is the most powerful, important, and moving art being made today. It is a voice given to the land – this is country speaking through the women, which they say is crying for help. The women usually work sitting on the ground, immersed in a rhythmic process, spreading out from one corner to fill the canvas. Theirs is one of the oldest extant races on Earth; it is as if their 60,000-year-old relationship with their land is flowing through them onto the canvas in these patterns of dotted paint marks. That relationship is expressed through their dreaming stories which give these artworks an integrity and urgency we can only dream of.

5. Mechanical Pencils

Finally, something more mundane – my click pencil. I love this simple tool and can’t resist buying a good one if I see it. It is the vital link between my dreaming subconscious and the beginning of an idea (as in the last paragraph above). It is the essential tool that allows form to emerge from nebulous imaginings. It is more expressive than a pen, allowing tentative soft lines of exploration or dark certainties. It can easily be erased with the rubber on the other end. And it can also record verbal thoughts in a far more satisfying way than battling an annoying keyboard.

Work by David Trubridge:

Redwoods Treewalk Nightlights, Rotorua, New Zealand

David Trubridge Lighting partnered with the Redwoods Treewalk in Rotorua, New Zealand, to create an iconic nocturnal tourism experience, Nightlights. It’s New Zealand’s first design-led tourism experience. Visitors explore Rotorua’s majestic Redwood forest under the shroud of darkness illuminated by David Trubridge lights.

The 20th Anniversary Outdoor Coral Release

Coral was Trubridge’s inaugural lighting design, which has informed the basis of all David Trubridge Lighting fixtures since! To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Coral, the company launched the new Outdoor Coral pendant. The only light fixture made outside of New Zealand, Outdoor Coral is made in the USA using environmentally sound material and is suitable for outdoor use.

The Diatom Series, Toru Pendant

David Trubridge Lighting’s Diatom Series is inspired by microscopic diatoms, which live in water and produce 50% of the air we breathe. A donation from each sale in this series goes directly to Sustainable Coastlines who focus on looking after our oceans. The Toru pendant featured in the photo is the third and newest introduction in the series.

Garden City Shopping Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Grow/Seed System

Garden City Shopping Centre is a 285,000-square-foot shopping center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The design direction played upon the ‘garden’ theme, making the Coral and Floral pendants from designer David Trubridge a perfect choice for the project. Seventy-nine fixtures play an iconic role as the light clusters are found throughout the mall.

In the midst of the first months of the invasion of Ukraine, where uncertainty loomed over daily life, the 2BM Apartment in Kyiv became a symbol of creativity and resilience. Led by architects Volodymyr Petrunok, Roman Savchuk, and Olexandra Alioshkina of TOP LAB Interiors, the project not only defied budget constraints but also served as a testament to the power of experimentation and trust. The apartment, spanning 560 square feet, was designed for rental purposes, necessitating a thoughtful use of resources. However, the team decided to focus on a bold experiment with color and unconventional material usage, transforming the space into a vibrant haven.

The client leaned on the team’s expertise regarding the kitchen’s color: “I don’t like this green, but I like to trust you! Therefore, I am ready to rely on you and take a risk.” This sentiment became the driving force behind the 2BM project, turning it into an exploration of diversity in color and materials.

Throughout the interior, bright primary colors take center stage, creating a lively and unconventional atmosphere. The lively green kitchen cabinets are juxtaposed with white square tiles framed in blue grout. Opposite the kitchen in the open living space, contrasting curtains in a bright blue shade, provide balance and depth to the space.

The bedroom exudes calmness with warm-toned walls and cozy textiles, while a Yves Klein blue colored shelf pops as a focal point across from the bed. Resourcefulness was showcased in the creation of a bedside table made from leftover tiles. A cherry red color is revealed when the floor-to-ceiling white curtans open to the closet.

A bold blue sliding door made of polycarbonate plastic welcomes guests at the entrance, which is complemented by a similar shade of tile grout.

Even the bathroom follows the project’s colorful concept, featuring yellow glass for the shower/tub, a red cabinet housing the sink, and the same blue grout seen throughout.

Photography by Uliana Vinichuk.

From January 18-22, design devotees descended on Paris for the home decor, furnishings, and lifestyle trade show Maison&Objet. Located outside the city limits at the Parc des Expositions de Villepinte, the semi-annual fair is celebrating 30 years, with an increase in attendance and 70,000 international visitors swiped in. This year’s theme “Tech Eden” emphasized a dreamy optimism, biophilia, technology, and well-being while kaleidoscopic patterns, neon hues – including yellow, orange, purple, and green – as well as an eclectic pastiche of periods from art deco to 1970s were also on display. This anything goes spirit was also spied on fabrics, wallpapers, rugs, tableware, and furniture in showrooms, and at previews and events in the city at Paris Déco-Off. The companion fair showcased raw textures, materials, and finishes along with natural and white upholstered furniture emphasizing a minimalist aesthetic that continues to prevail. French designers Pierre Yovanich, Fleur Delesalle, and Pierre August Rose showcased curvy, bubble forms on sofas and chairs in shapes that are still trending around the globe. With all of these simultaneous trends, 2024 appears to be starting off as a maximalist versus minimalist year – take a closer look at some of the top contenders!

This season’s Designer of the Year is multi-disciplinarian Mathieu Lehanneur whose embrace of technology, architecture, plant life, and turbine systems resulted in Otonomy, a monochromatic installation celebrating his futuristic oeuvre.

Since its inception in 2017, 101 Copenhagen has emphasized craft and timeless design. This year is no exception as Kristian Sofus Hansen and Tommy Hyldahl’s Toe Lounge Chair Flat debuts in a cozy, nubby white boucle.

Pulpo’s German handmade furnishings encompass Italian cast glass including Sebastian Herkner’s Alwa XXL, a table supported by a powder-coated steel frame offered in three lozenge-shape sizes and multiple colors.

The Nouvelle Vague Center Table by Portuguese Dooq is a made-to-order table fabricated with tube-shaped ceramic pieces, and sealed in a craquele glaze with lacquered surface.

The idea for the Linear Table Lamp was hatched when Belgian designer Baptiste Vandaele approached Japanese manufacturer Y.S.M. at the show in 2023 with his design concept. Together they launched a Kickstarter campaign to support production of the lamp that’s currently gaining funds.

Parisian Fabien Colomines started studying woodworking in 2018 before launching Atelier Senimo last year. Ballerina is his latest piece, a mod, accordion-style lacquered table made from recycled wood scraps.

Industrial polypropylene sheaths used for electrical installations were cut to make beads and are the inspiration behind Brussels-based French textile designer Emma Cogné’s experimental Système T, featuring woven curtains, shades, and screens.

The soon to be reissued Rinck plexiglass chair on a cast aluminum base was originally included in a living room ensemble presented at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1973.

Legacy workshop Charles Paris reinvigorated their brand’s bronze repertoire by collaborating with Parisian upstart Uchronia to create a floral series of lights and accessories including Boogie, a cast mirror.

Parete is the brainchild of Michael Freedman and Daniela Guarin – veterans of Innovations USA – who today produce artful, digitally-printed custom wallcoverings, including the color blocked Plastered 04 St Andrews.

Melissa Feldman is a design writer, editor, consultant, and content strategist who lives and works in New York City. In 2007 she launched Stroll Productions, her media production company providing print and digital content to ADPro, Elle Decor, Galerie, Domino, The New York Times,
WSJ, Architectural Record, and Elle Decor to name a few.

Villa Albertine, together with Mobilier National, presented five up-and-coming designers – Atelier George, Atelier d’Offard, Chloé Bensahel, Gala Espel, and Dimitri Hlinka – at the 2023 edition of Design Miami/. The exhibition, set in a space designed by Alban Roger, explores the intersection of French decorative arts heritage and contemporary design.

Atelier d’Orffard created a minimalist living space using washi paper and papier-mâché; Atelier George’s “Solar Suspension” interpreted celestial bodies through glass art; Gala Espel blended technology and craftsmanship in her silversmith work “Archaeology of the Future”; Chloé Bensahel’s connected tapestries and merged textile tradition with digital art; and Dimitry Hlinka redefined a common radiator into an artistic statement in woodworking with “Amplitude.”

Beyond Design Miami/, Villa Albertine and Mobilier National commit to supporting French designers and artisans in the United States, providing opportunities for project development and facilitating Franco-American collaborations in design and craft, in partnership with the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation. Their aim is to foster new talent and highlight the role of design and craft in addressing contemporary societal challenges.

Photography by Matthew Gordon.

Looking for an opportunity to have your designs discovered on an international stage? The deadline to enter your work – or nominate someone else – for the A’ Design Award & Competition is fast approaching! You have until February 28th to make a decision and register here.

With more than 100 categories to choose from, your work may even qualify for more than one. A few favorites that we look forward to every year are the winners of Furniture Design, Architecture, Building and Structure Design, Lighting Products Fixtures Design, Digital and Electronic Device Design, Arts and Art Installation Design, and Office Furniture Design.

There’s an entire list of good reasons to enter, including the valuable jury feedback that all entrants receive. Entries will be judged by an international panel of scholars, professionals, and media members. Unlike other awards, A’ Design Award & Competition follows a peer-review process with anonymous voting and evaluation of entries.

A’ Design Prize winners are awarded a unique trophy and are included in world design rankings. Laureates will receive publicity, credibility, international awareness, an invitation to the awards gala, and so much more. They’ll also be granted space at the winners’ exhibition, where all of the prized A’ Design Award & Competition winners will be on display. Best of all is the opportunity to sell their design!

To help inspire your registration, we’re sharing a dozen of our favorite winners from last year’s contest. Stay tuned for when the newest winning designs are announced on May 1, 2024 – maybe yours will be one of them! Register here to enter the A’ Design Awards & Competition.