STRATA DESIGN//

joseph egan + hunter thomson: anamorphic typography

'it's a point of view'recent british graphic design graduates joseph egan and hunter thomson from the

chelsea school of art and design created an anamorphic type installation as part
of their final project. initially interested in exploring the relationship between
architecture and graphic design, these large scale typographic structures only
become legible when viewed from a specific point of view. while some of the letters
overlap over various surfaces, others required very little skewing to perfectly align
with the other letter forms.

'it's a point of view'

'it's more than just print'

the phrase 'it's more than just print' was specifically chosen in an attempt to challenge

conventional thinking of graphic design as a largely 2d oriented art form.

'it's more than just print'

Cut Attache’z by Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay

Aqua water-based touchscreen mobile phone lets you see through

Designed by South Korean designer Bon Seop, the “AQUA” is a cellphone concept, inspired by drawing on the table with water, which features a progressive design to attract next-gen customers. Presenting a transparent body together with graphical user interface (GUI), the futuristic mobile handset comes with AMOLED display to enhance the experience of the user. The source of the interface is a water-based touchscreen. Users can delete the icons of the interface by simply rubbing the display with their hands. The cellphone runs on liquid type battery that apart from being eco-friendly supports the transparency of the screen as well.

+ The Naked Chair

Here, we talk to Wendy Chua about the Naked Chair.

It's a standard question, but we’ll ask it anyway; where did the idea for the Naked Chair come from?
Designed during the recession, the idea was to be frugal with materials and intelligent with logistics. Instead of an excessive use of material to hide "ugly" structural details, we thought stripping the design to its bare structure as a form of aesthetics is a better way to go.

‘Flat Pack’ – words synonymous with Ikea – is an important feature of this product; why was this decision made?
We wanted to redefine flat-pack. We believe the word can conjure up imagery of good material and good design as well.

I’m assuming the name 'Naked' is significant, what does it mean and where did it come from?
Naked refers to the stripping of superfluous expressive designs to reveal the beauty of the structure.

Physcially, the chair has a lot of different angles working together, was it a complicated design to get right?
We have been working with Bolia DK who is the producer of Naked chair and it does have its challenges. We have added a couple of ribs to strengthen the cantilevered metal folds to increase its product lifespan.

Generally (if you can generalise) where do you find inspiration for your designs?
Anything from a traditional craft detail on an old temple door to a poem that springs forth imageries!

Could you tell us a little about how Outofstock operates, and how your international approach works (are you all based in the one place)?
We are mainly based in Singapore and Barcelona, Gustavo has recently joined us in the Asia office! We use skype and other online business tools to communicate. We also meet up once a year in Europe for a nice retreat.

Okay, one for our readers; when you all actually manage to meet up in person, where do you go for a coffee/meal/for entertainment? ('cause there’s always time for play, right?)
The last time we were together, we had lunch on the pebbled beach of Nice, enroute our roadtrip back to Barcelona from Milan. (Thanks to the cancelled flights due to the Iceland volcano eruption.)

Where can we buy the Naked Chair?
It will be available from Bolia DK soon. ~

‘Domestic Ponds’ by Duende Studio with Mathieu Lehanneur, Benjamin Graindorge and Eric Jourdan at the Galerie BSL

With “Domestic Ponds” at the galerie BSL, Duende Studio ends its cycle of research about domestic water features which began in 2008 with “Local River” in tandem with Mathieu Lehanneur. This cycle is the most vernacular part of a wider fascination for living objects in a literal sense, that is objects which use or manipulate living organisms, of which the exhibition “Eden ADN, genetic design” lay the basis in 2006 at the St Etienne Biennial. The aquarium, connected here to a purifying garden, is both the perfect metaphor of our human condition stuck in a frighteningly finite world and an object paradoxically judged as very has been, reserved for aficionados of aquatic maintenance. With these three new pieces conceived with Mathieu Lehanneur, Benjamin Graindorge and Eric Jourdan, “Domestic Ponds” therefore proposes a new aesthetic, practical and metaphorical vision of the aquarium from 17th September to 27th November 2010 at the galerie BSL.

An Furniture

Ax sheets (A3, A4, A5, etc) have “Silver Ratio” that promotes productivity by keeping the dimensions always (approximately) in the same ratio of width:length when they are folded in half. Inspired by these Ax sheets, we assigned fresh sculpture of distinctive ratio to furniture, which makes the furniture economical by saving raw materials. Since An Furniture also can be rearranged and relocated to a closet, a bookshelf, a storage cabinet and a drawer by a straightforward process, there would be no furniture better than this for single-person households.