The Ornately Canadian Buoy Bench

Recently a private client who loved the Buoy bench concept (an evolution of the Buoy chair) wanted a more unique and exuberent version. And to our client’s delight we presented them with the “Ornately Canadian Buoy Bench.” With a custom Canadiana nostalgia inspired ornate pattern, and under the technical direction of acclaimed Canadian artist Bill Laing, this hand silkscreened bench has quickly became quite the attention grabber.

Dr. Martens Take A Bright Stride Into ‘09

With bright colors being the choice for 2009, Dr. Martens have unveiled their newlook 8-hole boot in some decidedly outrageous colors. And no part of the shoe is spared; expect the laces, eyelets and sole to carry the same green/yellow/red/blue colorways throughout. We can’t be sure what inspired this approach but it will be interesting to see how the shoes fare in the coming months. You can get yours exclusively here.

Smoke + Type Studies, 2007

SMOKE + TYPE
Daniel Gordon from New Zealand explores relatively undiscovered terrain by mixing photography and type. Since the first time he published this pieces there have been many who have attempted to emulate his craft but have not achieved to innovate and keep it fresh.

Cha cha lemon squeeeezer

These are simply fun, fresh, festive and have a Barcelona feel spelt all over them. John Lemon’s lemon squeezer by Studio Cha-Cha, mat ceramic and soft rubber cover. Retail for $38.
Avaliable at :: Commissaires, 5226 St-Laurent Montréal QC
www.commissairesonline.com

Wrongwoods cabinet

The cabinet is a collaborative effort between British artist Richard Woods and designer Sebastian Wrong. Woods, renowned for work that is often based upon abstractions of domestic patterns, has in this instance applied his signature woodblock print over a particularly spartan cabinet of Wrong’s design.
Retails for $4895. Avaliable at :: Bombast, 27 E Pender St. Vancouver
www.bombastfurniture.com

Crystal Fusion Hardware

Born from a love of crystal and a vision inspired by fusion of materials, K.STUDIO is a brother and sister duo based in Montreal. Creative design consultants specialized in crystal application for furniture and decor, they also design K.COLLECTION, a decorative hardware line with Swarovski® crystals inserts, available in various shapes, colors and a choice of aluminum or chrome base. Retails from $16 to $55.
Calgary :: Banbury Lane Design Centre Ltd - www.banburylane.com
Vancouver :: Cantu Bathrooms & Hardware Ltd - www.cantuhardware.com
Toronto :: Neff Design Studio - www.neffdesignstudio.com

Stick Chair

Designed by emerging new talent, Emmanuelle Moureaux, a Tokyo-based French architect & designer whose innovative approach to chair design wowed the crowds at last year’s 100% Design Tokyo, will be exhibited at the upcoming 100% Design London 2008. The design of the Stick Chair was inspired by “Mikado”, a pick-up sticks game which originated in Europe. The oblique placement of 7 round wooden sticks supports a heavy piece of acrylic, creating a perfect equilibrium. The strikingness of the design comes from its beautiful illusion of refraction: the sticks appear as if they are being soaked in water. Hideki Tanaka (Photographer)

I.V.

This self-watering plant pot’s main feature is a medical drip feed. This unique characteristic allows the plant to be nourished with water and food as it is required. Included with the lightweight fibreglass plant pot is a height adjustable metal rod, a refillable I.V. bag and a flow regulator that allows you to set watering rates to suit your plant. The drip feed provides a striking design focus as well as acting as a reminder to its owner as to when it needs topping up.
Retails from $240.
www.vitaminliving.com

Gady's Lowrida

Pending his first solo show at the R’ PURE gallery in New York, Jean‑Marc Gady is releasing two de luxe vases - one for Baccarat, the other for Bosa - at the Maison & Objet fair in Paris. With its low-angle lean and cut base, ‘Amphora’ is a crystal vase - that makes innocent fun of a house of Baccarat icon. The ‘Royal Rose’ is an octagonal vase, that can be placed on any flat surface, made from bosa ceramic.
Amphora retail price :: 2600 euros
Royal Rose retail price :: 263 euros
www.jeanmarcgady.com

Sleep Safe Tape

Sleep Safe Tape is a roll of standard transparent 1/2" wide tape that has pictures of an eye printed along the length of the tape. Many situations exist where it is taboo to sleep despite the natural inclination of humans to rest their tired eyes. Examples include meetings, lectures, and conversations. With Sleep Safe Tape, users can get the shuteye they need while appearing to be wide-awake. Of course, Sleep Safe Tape is a novelty product and might not be used as advertised except by those audacious enough. Those less bold may choose to use it as a regular roll of tape.
www.skforlee.com

Skforlee Speak er

Why speakers are called what they are. For sale in 2009.
www.skforlee.com

Trident Seat

Powder Seat allows you to use your snowboard as the seat of the bench. The board attaches to the legs of the seat via suckers to keep the board protected. It can also be flat-packed for easy storage.
vitaminliving.com

In the Round

Toronto design company Luflic introduces a unique technique by appliyng a crocheted nylon or felt sleeve to a tubular steel frame. Thirty feet of sleeve is required to upholster one chair. It is carefully designed to ensure no slippage of cheeks when sat upon.
Prices start at $2600
www.luflic.com

Saw Horse

Designed by Winnipeg Industrial designer, Matthew Kroeker, Saw Table pays homage to our ancestral furniture makers. The solid wood table contains several stylized “saw cuts” into which the nickel-plated lamp post is inserted, each providing a different intensity of light or no light at all when placed in the resting slot. A true reflection of Canadian design.
Retail price is $6500
www.matthewkroeker.com

STINK TREE

Designed by Dylan Gold of Link Studios, this wood coffee table features an extruded cutout of a tree silhouetted from the surface to the floor. Created from MDF and veneer with a lacquered finish.
Retail price is $2700
www.linkstudios.net, www.artfulhome.com

Toboggan Table

Made from wenge and zebrawood veneer by Kino Guérin, in Quebec. The harmonization of contrasting veneers brings a new facet to the notion of equilibrium, which, without being directly inspired by nature, nevertheless emanates from its essence.
Retail price is $1900
www.kinoguerin.com

Add Bank

Traditional piggy banks have had it all wrong. Jonathan Sabine, at Mat Cult Design Studio has ‘coined’ a new appropriate graphic for the money savings vessel. Add Bank will soon be available at Ministry of the Interior, in Toronto.
Retail price is $45
www.matcult.com

Knoop table

Designer Josh Urso combines his signature resin process with 1000 feet of military-grade rope to create his newly released nautical table line, Knoop (dutch for knot). Custom size on request.
Prices start at $950
www.joshursodesign.com

Concerto dining

NY designers Lovegrove & Repucci introduce their new ‘Delft’ street life dinnerware collection. Rendered in the Dutch Delft vocabulary, modern London takes on a new ‘classic’ look. The ‘Concerto’ table takes the form of a grand piano with an iPod dock to host any dinner party in Grande style.
Concerto retails from $14,000
Delft dinnerware set retails from $100
www.lovegroverepucci.com

Speaker Gods

The Giver of Divine Sound is stylish portable speaker. Mini-Gods are a direct representation of ancient and modern pop/street culture fused into one. Make room for the new gods in town!
Retails from $120
www.minigods.com

Rock the Block

The Geneva Speaker will put any ipod dock to shame. With a regal piano lacquer finish, the XL model has clear sparkling highs, detailed mids, and shake your house bass. Available in hot red, mean black or slick white.
L Model $979, XL model $1,749
www.genevalab.com

Cinepod

The minipod is essentially an amalgamation of three spheres to form one pressure-vessel, allowing sound waves to move more freely, but you won’t have to worry about having to hide these Scandyna speakers as they will fit in with any urban loft or funky interior.
Retails from $500
www.podspeakers.com

Bare it all

Italy’s Nacsound has created a line of speakers which look like something you’d find in a contemporary furniture store. Most speakers hide behind a black mesh, but the Kayak single stereo loudspeaker bares it all with a suspended double cone shaped coaxial drivers; the acoustic reflector in the middle is for accurate stereo.
Retails from $2900 - $11,500
www.trendsinc.com

Spinal monolith

If you have $180,000 burning a hole in your pocket, then consider the Grande Utopia EM. It offers mechanical adjustments in order to optimize the perfect listening G-Spot. The 4-way, floorstanding bass-reflex loudspeaker has an adjustable spine, tweaked via an integrated crank system. 1458 possible adjustments for total sound personalization.
Grande Utopia EM $180,000 for a pair
www.focal-fr.com

Sound bites

These unique subwoofers are based on the ultimate woofers, yes man’s best friend. The “Woofer” speaker system, designed and custom engineered by Buro Vormkrijgers, comes as a set of two dog-shaped co-axial speakers. The ‘Woofers’ definitely have more bark than bite.
Set of two dogs retails from $875
www.sandermulder.com
Photography: Niels van Veen, Sander Mulder.

Flod stools by Mobles 114 Barcelona

Flod stools by Martín Azúa and Gerard Moliné for Mobles 114 make an artistic statement in an organic shape that's light enough to be easily moved around yet completely stable. Though the design is created to withstand outdoor elements, it's sophisticated enough to be at home indoors.