Dieter Rams at Vitsœ by Anne Brassier

Dieter Rams is known as somewhat of a God amongst the design cognoscenti but lesser known outside of that world. Except of course by the work that he produced for Braun. In 1955 Dieter Rams began working for a little known electrical company called Braun (pronounced ‘brown’) and quickly became an influential force within the company. From 1961 Prof Rams was head of design until his retirement in 1995.

SK4 record player by Dieter Rams for Braun. The first record player to have a plastic lid.

To mark the occasion of his 80th birthday today, Rams invited Vitsœ to release the transcript of his speech, ‘Design by Vitsœ’, which he gave in December 1976 in New York City; it provides an insight into a design ethos that was remarkably ahead of its time.

And if you still want to learn more about this iconic designer, watch this nice video with Dieter Rams in conversation with London’s Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic. I’m not bragging, but I was stood behind the camera for the entire time.

Another Country launched in 2010 to much acclaim in the industry. The brainchild of Paul De Zwart, founding publisher of Wallpaper* magazine who wanted to make furniture that would last and have a timeless appeal.

Another Country makes contemporary craft furniture calling on the familiar and unpretentious forms of British Country kitchen style, Shaker, traditional Scandinavian and Japanese woodwork. It’s the spirit and functionality of these honest forms of furniture that we endeavor to re-interpret for a modern customer.

“This first collection from Another Country is as clear and simple an interpretation of our intention as we could manage. The second mixes things up a bit.” Paul says when asked about the two collections that they have released.

The antidote to poorly made furniture, Another Country makes furniture from solid wood, FSC-certified no less, thankfully, creating objects and furniture that will last a lifetime and get passed down through generations. And these pieces will wear so well, as have products from the likes of Ercol in the past. Now we have a new player in this game and the world is all the better for it.

Invited alongside visionaries such as Italian Vogue’s Franco Sozzani and Purple’s Olivier Zahm to dream up a film celebrating the partnership between the Italian automaker and fashion house, Director Chris Sweeney created a giant plastic model kit of the Fiat 500 by Gucci like the ones he used to make as children. “It’s an extreme, austere fashion version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Wallace and Gromit, which are very playful, silly, colorful and magic,” explains Sweeney of his film.

Hopper and Space are taking these classics and breathing new life in to them. Upcycling if you will. Arriving at their site I was greeted with the dulcet tones of 1981′s Teena Marie who offered background music for my shopping along with many other vintage songs, giving me a glimpse in to the world of Hopper and Space’s Ben and Joe.

These two are not the serious side of design, and thankfully so as there is plenty of that already around. They are forcing us to realise that this is supposed to be fun and individual. Furniture is their number one passion – a mission to share their love of stylish well made pieces.

“Our furniture collection invites you to invest in functional objects of beauty for your space. Bright colours, stylish lines and sturdy timeless design is what we are all about. Our upholstered pieces offer a unique opportunity to snap up a unique piece that is designed to last; something to use, cherish and become part of your history.”

You can also find their pieces at folksy.com/shops/hopperandspace, and join their colourful world on the Hopper and Space Facebook page.

So, Kinfolk, yes. It is beautifully crisp and clean, so elegant. In their words “Kinfolk is a growing community of artists with a shared interest in small gatherings.” They recognize that there is something about a table shared by friends, not just a wedding or once-a-year holiday extravaganza, that anchors our relationships and energises us. Rather poetic, don’t you think?

Every element of Kinfolk, from the features, photography, and general aesthetics, are consistent with the way they feel entertaining should be: simple, uncomplicated, and less contrived. Kinfolk is the marriage of an appreciation for art and design and a love for spending time with family and friends.

I’m head over heels.

Issue 3 out now… shop.kinfolkmag.com/product/volume-three

Modernism Week is an exciting celebration of mid-century modern design, architecture and culture in the good ol’ USA. This design aesthetic, originated in the 50s and 60s, was typified by clean, simple lines and celebrated elegant informality which came to define desert modernism.

Kaufmann Desert House

The interior of Park Imperial South on South Araby Drive, Palm Springs

A date to put in to my diary for next year… I could do with some sun!

Alberto Alessi said, “This seemed to me like a worthy tribute to “Juicy Salif” (1990), the most controversial Citrus-squeezer of the twentieth century.”

To celebrate the launch of the mysqueeze citrus squeezer, designed by Roland Kreiter for Alessi, mydeco.com searched for filmmakers to create a short film showcasing the product that Kreiter created.

The four winners of the competition won the opportunity to make their film and have it shown on mydeco.com. From narrative films inspired by American Psycho to conceptual films focusing on the shape, the filmmakers challenge our perception of what mysqueeze is and made it a desirable object. Here is my favourite film…

The Florinda chair, designed in 2011, is a mixture of beech wood and plastic combined in a simple shape that was conceived to erase the boundaries between zones, and lends itself to a wide range of different interpretations: from the dining area to the home studio, it can also easily adapt to restaurants, cafes and public areas, due to its contemporary look and versatility.

“Katie is a genuine new voice in design writing. She does Q&A in a fresh and unaffected fashion, allowing her subjects the space (both literally and metaphorically) to develop ideas and points of view. Deceptively reverential, she poses unaggressive yet astute questions that extract new insights.”

Barbara Chandler, design writer for the London Evening Standard

Have you ever wondered how Max Fraser put together ‘The Joy of Living’ exhibition, what inspires Anthony Burrill’s slogans or even what is John Makepeace’s favourite colour. Well, Katie Treggiden created the blog Confessions of a Design Geek to answer these important questions.

Skip forward a few months and she won the mydeco.com Design Democracy Award for Best Interior Design Blog and more recently has committed her interview to paper with the release of ‘Interviews, volume 1‘ full of eighteen of her favourite interviews.

The book is the first in a series of books to be released from confessions of a design geek in a limited edition of 1,000 and is priced at £10 and even better that 50p from the sale of every copy is donated to Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres.

Watch this short video to see behind the scenes of making her debut book…

“…[Katie] stands apart from other design writers… She turns designers into real people. [She] allows designers to speak in the same words as the people who use what they’ve made. There is something very democratic about [that].”

William Shaw, Web Editor for the London Design Festival

Over at Heart Home, Kate Baxter spent some time talking to Katie. You can read her interview at Heart Home blog.

“26 Typewriters” was a very successful exhibition held at Envoy Enterprises gallery in New York for one night in September 2011. 50 vintage typewriters were collected, reflecting 70 decades, including classic models such as the “Groma”, built in Germany in 1944 and the “Olivetti Valentine” by Ettore Sottsass in 1969 as “antimachine machine.” Exit Content chose 26 images to produce a series of prints and published a book of 36 pages in limited edition. Can you hear my geeky heart pounding?

To fall in love with this even more, watch this type-omatic video…

You can buy the book from colette for £34.31. If you would like to buy me one, feel absolutely free.