While attending NeoCon 2023 last month, I had the chance to see and experience three new creative outdoor products from Fermob in person. The French outdoor living brand loves bringing people together, with the latest introductions adding an even wider range of versatility – and of course, lots of color. Keep reading to check out three fresh ways to bring life outdoors, whether you’re at work or play.

My personal favorite is the ADADESK, a rocking side desk that’s extremely light, portable, and reminiscent of a rocking horse! The rocking motion can actually help stimulate intellectual and creative activity in our brain. ADADESK can be used in a number of ways: sit facing towards the tabletop, sit with your back to the tabletop (it’s now a backrest), or sideways with the table acting as an armrest. Whether you’re working, relaxing, or grabbing a quick meal, this multifunctional, 100% aluminum piece offers mobility and can easily transition between indoors and outdoors.

ADADESK

ADADESK

ADADESK detail

ADADESK

BOLDER TABLE

Deceptively comfortable, the anti-corrosion treated steel BOLDER table integrates curved stools directly into its design. Whether you opt for the two-seater or three-seater, you’re going to love that it’s slightly taller than a standard outdoor table, making it ideal for meetings or meals. Both BOLDER tables complement one another. The round two-seater works well to create more intimate spaces, while the modular three-seater features a breadth of options. Individual tables can be combined to form a variety of layouts, including a circle, an “S”, and more! The more tables you add, the more people can be accommodated.

BOLDER TABLE

BOLDER TABLE

BOLDER TABLE

PICOTI

The PICOTI bird feeder, designed by Catherine Sofia, will be an instant draw for nature lovers. Strong and durable for year-round use, the piece is also weather and UV-resistant. Made using sheet steel, the clean design brings together all of Fermob’s industrial know-how. Laser cutting technology, mounting system (wall-mounted with screws or suspended by a provided cord), a removable stainless steel bowl, and 10 exclusive colors from the brand’s color chart.

PICOTI

PICOTI

PICOTI

To learn more about ADADESK, BOLDER, and PICOTI, visit fermobusa.com.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

The places we remember as children – especially those explored unsupervised and guided by our own curiosities – quietly and often imperceptibly go onto shape the spaces we desire to inhabit as adults. A favorite tree, a quiet warm corner to read, a private creek to call our own. Three years ago, architect Tsuyoshi Tane accompanied Vitra’s Rolf Fehlbaum on a guided tour around the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany, retracing footsteps where the young Fehlbaum spent his formative years amongst the expanse of fields, the same ground now inhabited by architect-designed structures.

The reminiscence-embellished drive sparked the two to build upon those memories, taking form in a collaboration that would become the Tane Garden House, a small octagonal structure recently inaugurated during the week of Art Basel.

Guided by Tane’s concept of “Archaeology of the Future,” which asserts architecture is born from the memory of the place where it stands, the Tane Garden House’s exterior evokes both yurt and the Japanese thatched roof minka. Locally sourced materials such as stone and wood procured from the nearby forest were transported short distances in the building’s construction, with local craftsmen hired to erect the intimate structure at a scale perhaps aligned with Fehlbaum’s own childhood memories.

Tane Garden House’s observation platform invites visitors to enjoy 360-degree unobstructed perspectives of the Oudolf Garten, the nearby Umbrella House by Kazuo Shinohara, and the surrounding Vitra Campus.

Despite its diminutive dimensions – measuring a mere 161 square feet, just large enough to accommodate eight people – the Tane Garden House is already being adapted for a variety of purposes. Inside a small coffee corner offers Vitra employees a respite served with refreshment. Plans to host workshops in and around the addition are being made. Employees tending to the campus bees use it, and the small hut’s outside seating operates as a supplement to the kitchen garden currently being created next to the Garden House. But the small wooden building’s primary function currently is storing gardening tools for the Oudolf Garten maintenance team.

A small fountain for watering and cleaning boots and utensils subtly emerges from the side of the small wooden house.

“Like archaeologists, we begin a long process of exploration and digging up the memory of a place. It is a process of surprise and discovery, a quest to encounter things we did not know, what we had forgotten, what has been lost through modernization and globalization,” explains Tane. “I believe that a place will always have memories deeply embedded in the ground and in history. And that this memory does not belong to the past, but is the driving force that creates architecture.”

This autumn 2023, the Vitra Design Museum is scheduled to host a special exhibition presenting insights into Tsuyoshi Tane’s work and his Garden House project.

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Twiggy seating is named after the 1960s fashion icon known for turning her nonconformist style into a classic aesthetic. Like her, this family of seating can present itself in many forms with its unexpected shapes and proportions. Designed by Rodolfo Dordoni for Minotti, the individual elements are fluid and flexible, free from models and configurations. Instead, Twiggy meets a growing need for adaptable furniture that can match our everyday lifestyles.

Bringing style and craftsmanship to any space it inhabits, Twiggy is composed of different seating elements that when joined can create a modular, semicircular, or island system. The series began with a single armless armchair that allowed the stitching and Minotti’s know-how shine. In addition to the chair, Twiggy includes a bench, a couch, and a chaise lounge, all of which can be used individually or to create a modular system.

Twiggy’s curved base matches the soft edges of the seat and backrest, and is available in two custom finishes: aluminum with a glossy Black Coffee finish and semi-glossy polished aluminum. To create the latter, the aluminum undergoes a special process – perfected by Minotti Studio – that brings out the characteristics of the metal. For the upholstery, choices include leather, nubuck, or fabric, all of which add even more drama to the stitching.

To learn more about Twiggy, visit minotti.com.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

In Wroclaw, Poland is a lively terraced house that reflects the youthful energy of the couple who owns it. Designed by Znamy się for the owners, and their two dogs, who love to cook, entertain friends, and play board games. Drawing inspiration from the whimsical world of Playshapes (wooden blocks that can be moved, layered, or combined), this modern home now boasts a fusion of structures, forms, and vibrant colors that bolster creativity, socializing, and play.

The new interior holds many elements that allow the owners to play with form. Moveable furniture sets the stage with shelves on wheels that enable the couple to create flexible arrangements and new spaces. The kitchen island is not only the place for food prep and cooking, it stores board games and houses water dispensers for their beloved dogs. The dining table’s top lifts to play games and work puzzles.

Geometric shapes and a strong palette of colors intertwine forming layered spaces rich in textures and visual intrigue. The inclusion of lots of wooden elements gives nod to Playshapes, while adding organic charm.

Three shelves set within a blue painted alcove hold a large selection of plants and objects for a touch of biophilia.

The square dining table lives under one of the hanging grids that holds plants. Similar gridded structures live alongside the wooden staircase adding a pop of color while providing safety for those climbing the stairs.

The bathroom features similar wooden cabinets as the kitchen island with geometric patterns adorning the fronts. An inset cabinet is painted a playful pink on the inside, pairing nicely with the black and white floor tile.

Photography by Migdal Studio.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

It only takes a glance to see where the Lightbone floor lamp got its monicker – the connection point between the spherical glass globes and the wooden sections. Inspired by a bamboo forest on a trip to Japan and designed by FÄRG & BLANCHE for Oblure, Lightbone was originally exhibited during Milan Design Week 2017 as part of the “Armour Mon Amour” exhibition. At that point of the conceptual phase, the floor lamp was textile and measured up to three meters tall! In the following years it’s continued to evolve into the product you see here.

“We are really happy that we were able to develop this version of the Lightbone together with Oblure,” said the designers, Fredrik Färg and Emma Marga Blanche. “This time in solid Oak and all made in Sweden.”

The floor lamp can easily be used next to a sofa, but also looks amazing in a group or two or three. Multiples begin to resemble a small forest or act to divide spaces in hospitality projects.

Lighbone is available in natural Oak with a Black stain, Smoked Oak, and Cobalt Blue. It’s also available in custom colors on request.

Black Oak

Cobalt Blue Oak

Natural Oak

Smoked Oak

To lean more about LIGHTBONE floor lamp, visit oblure.com.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

Scandinavian design is most often associated with a minimalist aesthetic, one emphasizing natural materials as a carefully considered employment of form following function. Wood often plays prominently, as does a subdued palette meant to evoke nature’s colors, with metal only used sparingly as accents. It’s all pretty much the antithesis of the PC gaming aesthetic and ethos, where gaming rigs tend to lean strongly into gaudy LED-illuminated showmanship.

Now imagine if Alvar Alto or Arne Jacobsen as an avid gamer today, and if they put their creative genius towards designing their very own gaming machine for their COD or Minecraft addiction. You might very well see something similar to Fractal Design’s North and Terra PC cases.

Fronted tastefully with a real oak or walnut paneled face, embellished with a faux leather tab, and sleek steel or brass detail buttons and ports, Fractal’s North PC case stood out enough from the crowded realm of audaciously outfitted PC gaming designs to earn the Gothenburg-based company a Red Dot Design Award 2023.

An integrated pull tab allows for easy access into the case for maintenance or upgrades.

Fractal’s Terra is a similarly conceived approach to PC gaming, featuring a smaller case option made with anodized aluminum panels and a CNC-milled, FSC-certified solid walnut front face.

Three front USB ports, including one USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C with fast charging support and speeds up to 10Gbps, are available on the exterior; seven bridgeless expansion slots within maximize the customization and upgrade options down the line.

Noting hardware upgrades play prominently in the PC gaming experience, North has designed the Terra case to be easily accessible from the side and top using an integrated tab.

An aluminum power button and two USB ports for connecting devices are integrated into the walnut wood detailing. The sum of the design makes it an ideal aesthetic candidate for a living room media PC or gaming machine connected to a home theater system.

Founded in 2007 in Sweden, followed by Fractal Design outposts opened in Dallas and Taipei, Taiwan, the company has distinguished itself by designing gaming accessories aimed at PC customers seeking an understated presence on their desktop. The company’s North and Terra cases epitomize this understated aesthetic displaying an almost architectural attention to detailing.

Fractal Design’s North PC case retails for $140 here, while the Terra PC case is available for $180 here.

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Austin, Texas-based URBS Studio is joining us for July’s Designer Desktop with a background that’s cool-tempered but energizing. Through her interdisciplinary design studio, Alyson Beaton explores the urban culture that surrounds her. The details and detritus observed all contribute to the whole of the studio’s work: grids, grit, signs, symbols, rhythm, scribbles, weeds, chaos, order, and more. URBS translates these visual tales of urban renewal and environmental sustainability through spaces, textile collections, children’s products, and more. The man-made environments that are part of our everyday lives are constantly evolving in different ways, and most of it’s nothing you or I have control over. But we’ll never tire of seeing creativity rise from the most unexpected of places.

For this month’s Desktop, Beaton shares her Glimmer design inspired by “The glimmer of light that reflects off the glassy buildings when the sun hits just right.” The trippy design is paired with the quote, “While you are looking, you might as well listen, linger, and think about what you see,” from Jane Jacobs.

Download yours with the links below!

Whichway Cover

Metropolis

Flaneur Cushion

Facade

Glimmer

Alyson Beaton, URBS Studio

DESKTOP: 1024×768  1280×1024  1680×1050  1900×1200  2560×1440

MOBILE: iPhone XS  iPhone XS Max  iPad Pro

Learn more about URBS Studio here and follow along on IG here.

View and download past Designer Desktops here.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

Tinder’s new headquarters in West Hollywood, California designed by Rapt Studio could be imagined as a thoughtful response to the transformative changes that have affected the corporate workplace dynamics the last few years. The seven-story, 77,000-square-foot project, handled by the same creative consultancy responsible for developing other creative spaces for the likes of Google, Dropbox, and Vans, is imagined to reestablish the pandemic-frayed ties that bind individuals into creative collaborative teams – and by extension, between the app users they seek to support – designing a multi-level headquarters layered with a multitude of opportunities for collaboration and connection.

Rapt Studio began the project by researching existing public space typologies, from the town square to the speakeasy, that empower a progressive deepening of ties that bind workers with their work in an organic manner.

Modeled after a town square, The Commons is the largest and most expansive of the spaces, and also the entry point into Tinder’s new headquarters. The airy environment is intended to encourage casual interactions and large enough to accommodate for company-wide gatherings.

The café — or “Boost Bar” — sits on the second floor, giving employees access to the skills of an in-house barista, and in turn providing an informal space to work away from the desk.

The IT help desk is fashioned after the nostalgic memories of the neighborhood arcade.

Diffuse lighting, custom modular furniture on wheels, and walls clad in top-to-bottom whiteboards all inhabit La Galleria, a room drawing its atmosphere from the workshops and displays of an artist studio.

A custom hot-pink central table with cutouts along the edges offers a surprisingly idiosyncratic hue to the space’s otherwise muted purpose.

Floor six is dedicated to quieter activities and appropriately demarcated as The Stacks, a tranquil communal space fashioned after a library.

Deep blue hues across plush fabrics, with curvilinear walls and curtains framing windows overlooking the LA skyline give the pinnacle seventh floor a nightclub vibe. Seating arrangements are situated to encourage engagement within intimate groups – a “secret” employee getaway of sorts.

“Connection is at the heart of the Tinder brand,” says Rapt Studio CEO and Chief Creative Officer David Galullo. “To design a space that deepens connection within Tinder, we looked to the places where we typically build relationships and then mapped them onto a floor plan. The end project emphasizes how design itself can be a force of connection.”

Tinder’s new HQ shares some similarities to Rapt Studio’s previous project, The Schoolhouse, a creative office for The Google School for Leaders. Each share the goal to spur informal engagements between team members by carving out both shared and intimate spaces, and furnished to empower employees to adapt those spaces to their needs on an as-needed basis.

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Creative and fun, Mizetto’s Summer 2023 Collection lives somewhere between work and play. The brand has pushed its own capabilities, exploring new materials, production methods, and functionality. Made in Sweden, the latest release includes a wood chair, a versatile table with attachments, a leaning piece, modular planters, and a trash/recycling bin. All share the qualities of clean lines and curves and leave you wanting to experience each for yourself. Known for its color combinations, Mizetto has also added five new “Nordic noir” hues: rusty burgundy, cloudy latte, forest green, latte, and dusty blue.

Perhaps the most curious addition is Lumber by Addi, a piece meant for leaning, lingering, and loitering. The soft beam’s release marks the first upholstered product introduced by the brand. It’s a great answer to adding seating to small spaces, and we can’t help but note its resemblance to a dynamic piece of gymnastics equipment. A quick place to stop on the go for a coffee or email check, Lumber’s small tray-like table adds further functionality to a piece with no obvious front or back. It can even be hung on a wall for maximum space saving. Lumber’s upholstery is flameproof wool, with a cover that’s fully removable, repairable, and exchangeable. The legs are powder coated metal.

Lumber by Addi Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

Lumber by Addi Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

Lumber by Addi Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

Embrace Chair by Sami Kallio Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

A wooden chair is new territory for Mizetto, so they turned to an expert for help – Finish-Swedish furniture designer and woodworker Sami Kallio. The Embrace armchair was a result of the brand lacking seating in their own spaces, and shortly after, Kallio walked in with a fully functioning prototype.

“A few alterations later, Embrace was born; a chair that seemingly hugs its user. I love how it can be hung on a tabletop and stacked, but still provide us with all the beauty and comfort we seek in a piece of furniture,” said Rickard Muskala, founder, and chief of product development.

Kallio is also behind the multi-purpose table in the Embrace series.

Embrace Chair + Embrace Table by Sami Kallio Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

Embrace Chair + Embrace Table by Sami Kallio Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

Embrace Chair by Sami Kallio Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

Plant Here by addi Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

Playful, fun, and modular, Addi’s Plant Here gives our green friends a pedestal fitting of their mood-enhancing ways. The planter pays attention to the various needs of different varietals through its accessible design, whether you’re a balcony or office gardener. Features include a generous depth, transparent inner pot for easy planting, different heights, shapes, sizes, and colors. Combine two or more to form endlessly possible installations.

Plant Here by addi Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

Pelican by Studio Nooi

Trash and recycling bins are a necessity, but that doesn’t mean they have to look like one. Pelican by Studio Nooi turns them into minimal decorative objects with touchless interaction. Their semicircular shape allows for modular design, creating an oval when placed back to back. Pelican’s design is suitable for residential as well as commercial spaces, and comes in two sizes and a variety of colors.

Pelican by Studio Nooi

Pelican by Studio Nooi Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

Pelican by Studio Nooi Photo: Jonas Lindstrom

Pelican by Studio Nooi

To learn more about Mizetto’s Summer 2023 collection, visit mizetto.se.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

If names like Yeti, Tundra, and RTIC strike a chord, you’ve likely gone through the sticker shock associated with deliberating between very large rectangular blocks of insulated plastic. Ice coolers fall under the product category of “you wouldn’t believe how much these things cost,” at least when considering options amongst a top performing tier of coolers attached to price tags of hundreds of dollars. Oyster, a new Norwegian brand will still set you back $500, but it introduces a uniquely smaller and more efficient design aiming to suck out the air from its larger and bulkier competition.

The Tempo is the most engineered ice cooler, inside and out, with an intelligently designed accessories system allowing easy and fast switches from a metal carrying handle to the included shoulder strap with only a couple turns of a dial. This assembly/disassembly construction also makes cleaning the cooler simpler and more thorough.

Even the best hard cooler requires pouring large amounts of ice to retain a cold drink temperature for hours, making for a laborious haul, ironically heating the carrier while attempting to keep the contents cool. The Tempo proposes something a bit wild: subtracting ice out of the equation. That is, if you start off by throwing in cold drinks or food to begin with. The Tempo’s patented double-wall vacuum insulation technology is so efficient in preventing heat transfer from occurring – keeping cold temps within from escaping and warmer ambient air from intruding. The cooler can keep cold foods or drinks chill for hours without ice… or for much longer aided by two included ice packs.

Two ice packs designed to fit perfectly into the Tempo are included, helping keep food and drinks cold(er) for longer periods. The precise fit of the two accessory packs into the aluminum lined interior illustrates the level of detail the Oyster team put into developing the Tempo over the span of six years. Photo: Gregory Han

The sleek extruded aluminum cooler essentially works just like those popular double-walled metal flasks you might already carry around everywhere to keep your coffee hot or water cold throughout the day, creating an insulated and vacuumed sealed interior large enough to fit 36 cans of beverages within. The only caveat of the design is if you dent it, it’s going to wear the signs of your mishaps forever (but that’s what strategically placed stickers are for).

The cooler’s rectangular shape is in itself an innovation; previous attempts to manufacture anything beyond a cylindrical vacuum-insulated shape would fail to retain their shape over an extended span of time. Oyster stands by their design so confidently, not only will they replace any broken parts, they claim their replacement policy even extends out to damage if your cooler is “mauled by a bear.”

The lid locks into a vacuum seal by securing two long handle hinges on both sides. Leave one in place and the lid levers open in a clamshell configuration. Photo: Gregory Han

Photo: Gregory Han

A strap or handle can be switched out quickly and easily thanks to the Tempo’s twist dial securing system. Photo: Gregory Han

A red nylon shoulder strap attaches easily to the Tempo for longer, heavier hauls after loading the 12.3-lbs (empty) cooler for outdoor destinations. Photo: Gregory Han

Outward appearances may give off the impression the Tempo is designed only for modest loads. But because of the thin-walled design, the Tempo offers three times the capacity compared to other rotomolded coolers of similar size.

Photo: Gregory Han

As the owner of an enormous and unwieldy rotomolded cooler, the Tempo’s manageable size is revelatory, and to be frank, suitable for more than 80% of our typical hiking, camping, or picnicking adventures. Pair that with the Tempo’s extraordinary ability to keep contents cold without bagfuls of ice, the quick-switch handle or strap carrying system, superior portability, and its subjectively standout industrial good looks, and the Tempo is arguably the coolest cooler on the market.

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.