With Christmas just over a week away, some of my last minute Christmas gift ideas might be just a tad risky but if you haven't purchased by now you obviously need help. Anyway you can always order and if they don't arrive in time just produce a lovely printed image with a little IOU scrawled at the bottom.
The IN-EI lights by Issey Miyake are a wonderful combination of delicate light, ecolocically sound materials (recycled PET) and Miyake's amazing use of pleats. Starting at just over $320 for the 'Hoshigame' at the top of the post, the lights are affordable (for designer lighting) and beautifully sculptural. They can be purchased from Artemide stores across Australia.
The 'Elevated' vase is available from the e-store of French brand Colonel for 82.78 euro, which is a little over $126 in Australian money (plus postage - that bit's up to you). Currently they only have grey and pink in stock. While you're looking at their little site you might like to check out another great present idea - the 'Dowood' table lights by Isabelle Gilles and Yann Poncelet. They come in two sizes 20cm diameter x 30cm high and 30cm diameter x 25cm high - for 78.70 euro and 76.25 euro respectively. These sycamore veneer lights come printed with a bold geometric pattern in a wide variety of very cool colour combinations. The frame is powder coated metal in white.
Just in case you aren't into the colours shown in the image above, here is a little look at some of the other colours on offer. Each light has five different colour combinations to choose from.
I'm also pretty in love with the 'Drift' stool by Lars Beller Fjetland from new Italian brand Discipline. Available in Australia from Stylecraft you can just go and buy these (stock permitting) - either in oak or stained in black or red. The stool has a cork seat - either in natural or dark cork. The price is around the $300 mark, which although quite expensive for a stool that sells for 168 euro in Europe, saves you contemplating the cost of shipping which is bound to be half the price of the stool itself.
Something else I have been lusting after for some time is 'Hook', wall mounted coat hook by Danish designer Line Depping. I first saw this in Milan in 2012 at the Danish Crafts Mindcraft 2012 exhibition and wanted one then and there but have had to wait until Sebastian Wrong - formerly the design director of Established and Sons set up his new enterprise with Hay - wittily called 'Wrong for Hay'. The beautifully lyrical coat hook is 599 Danish Kroner (dkk) if you can work out a way to buy online from Hay in Denmark, which is just $123 plus shipping (anyone know a Danish backpacker coming to Sydney?) The hook is made from a special highly bendable ash and has concealed mounting points at the back. Line Depping has also designed a great table that Wrong for Hay are releasing early next year called 'Frame'. I seem to love just about everything Line Depping does - check out her website if you love soft understated Danish design, but if you are after the' Hook' you may have to wait until early 2014 and buy it through Corporate Culture, the Australian distributor.
Another lovely online purchase that I stumbled upon is the Copper Lamp No 1 by Steven Banken. The solid walnut and copper pendant lamp is being offered for 200 euro by US based, online design store Fab (reduced from 270 euro). Both the timber and metal parts of the light are turned on a lathe. Gentle and beautiful, this has gone on my wish list too. Banken is a Dutch designer who was a 2010 Eindhoven graduate.
With that I'll wish you a great Christmas and New Year from Design Daily and I hope this has helped a little with your Christmas gift dilemmas.
David Harrison