In honor of Women’s History Month, this week’s round-up presents some of our favorite collaborations with female designers. Working together, these pairings, teams, and ensembles channel the creative energy generated when the genders mix it up.
As the waning weeks of the season whistle by, equip your Eames Wire Base Low night table or Nelson Basic Cabinet Series Bookcase with a little design reading with these six great books of art and design.
This Saturday, December 15, marks the centennial of influential artist and designer Ray Eames. Together with her husband Charles, she created some of the most distinctive design, photography, and artwork of the 20th century. Celebrate the legacy of Ray’s distinctive style and joyful creativity with these Six Ways to Ray Eames.
*Opening on February 23, 2013, The California Museum in Sacramento presents “Ray Eames: A Century of Modern Design,” revealing “a new perspective on Ray’s 60-year career in the arts, along with her influence on American culture and significance in history as one of the 20th century’s most influential artists.”
It’s hard not to smile when you come across a space like this one in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Thoughtfully designed and packed with vibrant color, the small studio apartment — a cozy 335 square feet — includes a collection of vintage and modern lighting, artwork, Soviet-era pottery, and pieces by Charles and Ray Eames, old and new. Take a look to see how its owner, Rustam Babayev, creates harmony in one room that must be all things: workspace, living room, kitchen, and bedroom. Read more
Here’s where we’ve been traveling for the past seven days.
1. Mid-century modern interiors and exteriors captured by photographer David Lauer via Plastolux.
2. “The Coolest Co-Working Space We’ve Ever Seen” on Wired.
3. “Desktop Arsenal: 10 Tools We Can’t Live Without” at 99U.
4. What do you think about this chair designed to let you do you office job in the park? (Via The Atlantic Cities).
5. Netted’s Back to Work Guide 2012.
6. Clever “Desk Collection” stationery at dearhancock.com.
7. This house of glass featured at Design Milk.
8. The cargo container office by RoccoVidal filled with Mirra Chairs spotted by Office Snapshots.
9. Designer and photographer Jennifer Chong’s apartment (and her Eames Molded Plastic Armchair) on Apartment Therapy.
10. This preview of the exhibit Addressing The Need: The Graphic Design of the Eames Office at designweek.co.uk. Who’s up for a trip to London?
Here’s a look at what we’ve been bookmarking.
1. This poster (above) inspired by the Eames Lounge Chair from Weavers of the South Sea, available at Etsy.
2. A look inside the bold new CitizenM hotel in London at Ideas to Steal.
3. A tour of the Smith-Clementi residence in Venice, CA, on Design Milk.
4. An excerpt from the article “Some Thoughts on Eames” by Janet Fiske McCullough in the special 1961 ZODIAC annual at eamesdesigns.com.
5. “Design is everybody’s business” at Business Insider.
6. 15 tips to maximize your home office productivity at IT World.
7. “Living with Greens” at Modern Findings.
8. The clean, cool AA House designed by the Office of Architecture in Barcelona (via Contemporist).
9. The Trollstigen Tourist Route Project by Reiulf Ramstad Architects up in in the Norwegian mountains (and over at Dezeen).
10. Inspired to get the work to-do list done early and step out to catch some of summer’s must-see outdoor art as recommended by Architectural Digest.
Photo: Weavers of the South Sea
1. “Herman Miller meets Wonder Woman” on the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s Tumblr.
2. A bookcase that magically stores chairs and tables at PSFK.
3. ”Are You Spending 1,000 Hours Preparing for Your Next Job?” at the Harvard Business Review.
4. LA Observed’s short chat with Allon Schoener, author and periodic guest at the Eames House in the 1950s.
5. It comes equipped with Wi-Fi … could you use this as an occasional outdoor office? (Via Design Milk)
6. These home-office solutions for cords, cables, and devices at Apartment Therapy.
7. The Selby’s tour of jewelry designer Philip Crangi’s NYC home and studio.
8. Did you see our SAYL Chair on True Blood? (Via latimes.com)
9. This discussion about design knockoffs at last weekend’s Dwell on Design home show. (Via Dwell)
10. Hither and Thither’s coverage of our Pop-Up Shop in Soho, NYC. There’s still time to stop by — it’s open through this Sunday, July 1.
It’s the end of the week — so here’s another roundup of the posts (and apps) that have been filling up our last seven days.
1. This look at the offices of Ray and Charles Eames at OfficeSnapshots.com.
2. The 6 Things You Need To Look For in a Home Office Chair from Apartment Therapy (well said!).
3. Stylish laptop cases and bags at Design*Sponge.
4. A sneak peek of the forthcoming Domino special issue from Curbed.
5. We toured this home designed by architect Christopher Polly on Contemporist in Sydney….
6. …then headed southward to check out the peaceful Marion Bay House in Tasmania (via Habitus Living).
7. Charmed by this paperweight found by Ideas to Steal.
8. Getting around to reading “Get To Work By Meeting Procrastination Head-On” from Fast Company.
9. The Minds of Modern Mathematics iPad app in honor of Ray Eames’ centennial.
10. And as the makers of Eames molded plastic chairs, we have to agree with Dwell: Color makes people happy.
At a Pecha Kucha event for the American Institute of Graphic Artists last year, graphic designer Andrew Byrom presented a series of takes on what a business card should – and shoudn’t – be. His son passed out a wooden card made literally from “The Desk of Andrew Byrom.” Andrew’s witty presentation softened his rigorous rethinking of the function of graphic design, and the involvement of his 9-year-old son made it a family event. Currently, the Eames exhibition that Andrew curated and designed with Deborah Sussman for Pacific Standard Time is at the A+D Museum. Here Byrom speaks about his work, how he works, and Ray and Charles Eames.
You established your firm in 1997. What led to that point? After graduating from The University of East London in 1996, I worked briefly in the design department of Routledge, a leading academic book publisher. In 1997, I opened my own design studio in London and worked for various clients including Penguin Books, The British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, The Industrial Design Centre, Time-Out Online, and The Guardian newspaper. Around this time I also began teaching graphic design at The University of Luton and Central St. Martins.
I moved to the States in 2000 to teach at Northern Illinois University. In 2006, I moved to Long Beach, where I am a Professor at California State University. I divide my time between teaching, designing for various clients, and playing with my sons Auden, Louis, and Julian.
I have recently been commissioned to design typefaces and type treatments for The New York Times Magazine, UCLA Extension, and Sagmeister Inc.
Above: A quote from the Eames’ on Byrom’s dining room wall.
Late last year the Herman Miller team attended Art Basel in Miami. We were the furniture sponsor for the event which meant all the restaurants and bar areas were awash in our designs. We also had a booth devoted entirely to Eames pieces that was graced with a drawing by Ray Eames.
The drawing was of the room that she and Charles designed for Alexander Girard’s “An Exhibition of Modern Living” (catalog below). The show was commissioned by the Detroit Institute of Arts in late 1949 and Ray’s drawing for their “room” depicts a wonderfully colorful space complete with totem-like sculpture, an Eames table and molded plywood chairs. It was also the first public glimpse of the Eames Storage Units which today find their way into many a home office.
Photo: Randall Ross / modernism101.com
Our booth for Art Basel was designed by Herman Miller Creative Directors Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows. “We wanted an artful graphic for our space and we loved the idea that Ray Eames created it as a collage to illustrate a display space,” says Bassam. “Our display booth was also done to show an important point of history for Herman Miller. It’s important to remember where these pieces we’ve used throughout Art Basel’s public spaces came from.”
Bassam also stressed the importance of showing art. “We were part of Art Basel so we also thought it important to show art which we feel is an important link to the artful background of Herman Miller. Showrooms and displays were well known for their use of art and combinations of objects. So, we just couldn’t have a dry corporate graphic!”
Above: Ray Eames at her Case Study home with models of the sculpture similar to the ones in her drawing for the “Modern Living” exhibition.
But there’s more to this image that initially meets the eye. “Note it was the first time the public would see the model of the Eames La Chaise, which Charles and Ray designed for MOMA’s Low Cost Furniture Competition,” says Daniel Ostroff, editor of EamesDesigns.com. ”If you look closely at the drawing the faintest outline of it is shown in the foreground, which is where it was actually placed in the exhibition room.” You can hear Ostroff talk about the La Chaise here.