Scottish designer Catherine Aitken’s Fade Stool collection is a clever fusion of modern minimalism and vintage charm. As a recent winner of the European award Time to Design, the 29-year-old was given a 3-month residency at the Danish Art Workshops to create the Fade seating collection. Which kind of look like a bunch of fancy French macaroons, don’t they? Pastels of raspberry, cream, mint green, etc. And I want them all. As a stool. A bedside table. A plant stand. Whatever. Gimme.
Using a plywood plate atop a powder-coated steel frame, Aitken wrapped the plate in colorful cotton cord—both natural matte and satin finishes—sourced from Japan.
The gathered cords (shaped by repeated threading through a hole in the center of the seat) create a lovely, subtle color fade that plays with pattern and light. It’s a non-traditional material for furniture and it works. And the cord probably makes the seat a little cushy, too. Bonus.
Photographers with a knack for experimentation fashion DIY pinhole cameras from coffee cans, shoe boxes and pretty much any other recycled material they can get their hands on. But Elvis Halilović, the Slovenian industrial designer behind the ONDU pinhole camera, takes a more exacting approach. For his line of six cameras, Halilović uses only locally-sourced chestnut and maple wood, and shapes each camera body in his family's wood shop. His design uses strong magnets instead of visible screws, and he finishes the wood with a natural oil varnish.
Moments of information addiction are inevitable. If you find yourself stuck in a technology loop, endlessly bouncing back and forth between email and Twitter and whatever else you need to check, designer Chelsea Briganti's Blokket bag could help slow you down. The bag's fabric is made of a nylon and silver blend that blocks cell phone reception while keeping your phone out of sight. Although leaving your phone in the bag all day might drain your battery, a few minutes of peace wouldn't hurt. [via BLTD]
Chelsea Briganti is the co-founder of the New York product design studio The Way We See The World. Blokket is in stock at the MoMA store. 
For some of us the aughties were all about the emergence, or re-emergence, of dance punk (summed up by James Murphy as "live drums and synthesizers") and no one did it better than DFA, the New York record label founded by James Murphy, Tim Goldsworthy, and the often unsung Jonathan Galkin. Directed by Max Joseph, the vid does a nice tidy job of summing up the label and its sound, artists, and attitude with brevity and a sense of humor—and also gives us a gimpse inside the label offices and studio.
From the same technology that is used to design buildings, Hot Pop Factory, the jewelry line known for its 3D-printed style, has produced yet another interesting collection. The Boreal collection is made with recycled cherry and polymer wood from the Boreal forest in Canada. The collection is as unique as the forest itself; the chain and closure on each necklace appear exceptionally delicate when paired with the bold design of the wood pendant. There are eight different styles available from $74-$98.
The Boreal collection is now available online from Hot Pop Factory.
Related
-
Digging through the riches in the Vitsœ archives on Tumblr
-
Meet the rising stars of Danish design.
-
Welcome to Nothing Major, an online journal exploring new visual culture, brought to you by the folks at Pitchfork.