Industrial design from Prague

Martin Žampach  is an industrial designer in Prague, the Czech Republic. He does really interesting and varied work and as with so many of my recent finds, I met him through Twitter. Industrial design represents a nearly perfect convergence of wide range of disciplines. It's art, it's science, it's engineering, it's math; pick a skill set and it comes into play. I've been fortunate to meet a number of industrial designers in the last year and getting glimpses of how they do what they do is a thrill to say the least.

Martin's been involved in some beautiful and clever projects and his entire portfolio is on the web, you can find it here.

Some highlights include glassware designed for Moravské Sklárny Květná. In English, that's the Moravian Flower Glassworks, from the Czech village of Strání-Květná.

Here's his Jar Rádiovka, based on an old beret.

Photo by Jiří Jevický

This is a container inspired by a spinning top.

Photo by Jiří Jevický

And my favorite, this is the Vespertillium clothes pin set. Martin was on the team that designed it for the Art Lebedev Studio in Moscow.

You can see these creations and the rest of his portfolio on his website, Martin Žampach.

Lookie what KitchenAid's selling in Europe

It's not fair. KitchenAid's selling this gas/ induction combination cooktop in Europe but not in North America.

It has three gas burners and two induction burners and it's the perfect hybrid. Gas plus electric means that nobody converting to induction needs to buy new pots and pans. Cross the Atlantic with that thing already!

Step 90cm by KitchenAid

Every picture tells a story don't it?

As a designer, I believe that every room tells a story too. Whether it's consciously or unconsciously told, there's a narrative that connects a room. So with that said, what story does a bathroom that looks like this tell?

And here it is in silver, though to class it up we'll call it platinum.

So what's the story? Or more tellingly, what story would you tell after coming into contact with a bathroom such as this?

All fixtures by Lineatre.

Art, math, science, music and life --together at last

Many thanks to the amazing Julie Richey who sent this to me this morning on Facebook. It sums up perfectly where my head was when I was thinking of a logo for myself.




Art, math, science, music and life aren't in conflict. They are the same thing.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

From Houzz:

traditional home design

This space is undeniably fussy and romantic, from the chandelier to the Hotel de Paris sign. However, the particular shade of blue gives the room a bit of an edge, saving it from saccharine sweetness.

What edge? Maybe this room remembers seeing the edge as it slid into the abyss. I don't care what color these walls are painted, the hokey Hotel de Paris sign and the antique grocer's scale make for one cloying sideboard. Saved from saccharine sweetness? Hardly. This vignette is giving me a cavity.

It does make me wonder though, do Parisians hang fake signs that read New York Hotel or The Inn of Los Angeles in their dining rooms in a failed attempt to appear worldly and sophisticated?