I’m loving the contemporary spin [...]]]> Furoshiki is the Japanese tradition of using a large piece of fabric to wrap things in a multitude of ways (image of Furoshiki folding styles below from Gyroglyph). The concept of Furoshiki has become quite popular lately because it is so much more eco-aware to use reusable fabric than throwaway wrapping paper.

I’m loving the contemporary spin on the furoshiki from Tokyo-based design team 9brand. It’s a folding urethane laptop bag that goes something like this:

I like the way [...]]]> Useful and beautiful should fit as tightly as a dovetailed joint, and that’s what Toronto-based Hero Design Lab is after with the HERO 365 range of products. The duo behind the range say the products are about “creating an elegantly utiliarian lifestyle for the sustainable modernist”, balancing sustainability, aesthetics, durability and function.

I like the way they have reinvented familiar products as extraordinary everyday objects, like this RC-1 rain collector, for starters.

Who would have thought such a practical object could come in so elegant a guise? The RC-1 holds up to 45 gallons of water, which can be released into the watering can through a brass spigot on the base.

And then there’s the aluminium DR-1 drying rack on wheels, which can happily stand in the corner of any stylish living room, disguised as a pretty screen.

To dry laundry on the DR-1 , simply rotate out as many bars as you need to hang or drape your wet items.

Beautiful and useful shouldn’t come as such a surprise, because that’s the mark of good design, after all. But it’s surprisingly rare. And when it’s sustainable, elegant and easy to move too, it’s definitely got hero status in my books.

The radios were designed by [...]]]> I spotted a pic of a little wooden Magno AM/FM radio in the ELLE Decoration UK, and thought I’d blog it because it’s so very cute. But when I started reading more about Magno, I discovered that there’s a whole lot more going on here than just a bit of cute.

The radios were designed by Indonesian product designer, Singgih S. Kartono, in response to a whole range of needs in his home village of Kandangan in Central Java. Home farming, the backbone of the village, was in decline due to agribusiness, and village life was suffering. Kartono decided to bring his experience of rural village life, his knowledge of product design, and his interest in Craft together, and Magno was born.

Now his village is sustained by the production of the radios, craft skills have been developed, and Kartono has also begun giving back to the land, replanting trees to make up for the wood used in production.

Design can be inspiring in so many ways, and this one is a brilliant example. Do read the Magno website, where Kartono explains everything behind his thinking, materials and production methods. You’ll see why Magno (which means “magnify”) is just the right name for this brand. And get yourself a Magno at SCP.

You can pick the gifts inside, selecting from  mini tape measure corsages, small sewing kits, pencil crayons, wax crayons. Just send an email to Nadia (the nimble fingers behind [...]]]> This is just adorable. Durban handmade outfit Cupcake Couture is doing their bit for the environment this festive season, making customised crackers from recycled ingredients.

You can pick the gifts inside, selecting from  mini tape measure corsages, small sewing kits, pencil crayons, wax crayons. Just send an email to Nadia (the nimble fingers behind Cupcake Couture) to get a pricelist, and then take your pick.

Once Christmas day is over, just pop the wrapping and cardboard into the recycling bin (along with all your wrapping paper too, of course).

Visit Cupcake Couture here, and email Nadia here.

In the pic below, she’s worked wonders with nothing but old cardboard boxes, tape and a spool of twine. See pages 82 – 83 to see how to CIY (Create it Yourself).

On [...]]]> Our brilliant stylist Tracy Lynch does it again, showing us how to make stunning and cost-effective table displays with recycled paper and household items.

In the pic below, she’s worked wonders with nothing but old cardboard boxes, tape and a spool of twine. See pages 82 – 83 to see how to CIY (Create it Yourself).

On page 86, she also tells you more about how simple white paper, used as paper chains and cutouts, can make a striking scene.

You’ll notice that our free printable Spring PDFs are no longer in the sidebar. They’re still available at our Free Stuff tab, and the great news is that Tracy Lynch has come up with a bunch of brand new downloadable stencils for you, so check in again tomorrow for more…

Another way to not only save energy, but to do it with a flourish, is is to use these crazy decorative lightbulbs, found at Made in China.

via Hello Tiger

The contest, run by Dremel Tools and Platform 21, found a winner in [...]]]> The idea behind the Most Remarkable Repair Contest is to highlight all the needless throwing away that we do every day. The judges were not looking for a  recycling project – they wanted to see a brilliant and beautiful fix of something broken.

The contest, run by Dremel Tools and Platform 21, found a winner in young artist Siba Sahabi, who took a plastic bag that had become entangled in her bicycle spokes, and embroidered the story of the plastic bag’s demise onto its ripped surface.

I also liked solution the runner-up, Calypso Schuijt, found to her favourite sweater, which shrunk in the wash. Just a few well-placed nicks, and suddenly it fits again!

See more of the entries at the Remarkable Repairs Flickr group, and give some thought to Platform 21’s Repair Manifesto too, which includes jewels like:

Make your products live longer!
Repairing means taking the opportunity to give your product a second life. Don’t ditch it, stitch it! Don’t end it, mend it! Repairing is not anti-consumption. It is anti- needlessly throwing things away.

Repair is not replacement.
Replacement is throwing away the broken bit. This is NOT the kind of repair that we’re talking about.

What doesn’t kill it makes it stronger.
Every time we repair something, we add to its potential, its history, its soul and its inherent beauty.