The More I See, The More I Like

When we were in Paris a few months back, we were super keen to visit the well acclaimed design store, Colette.  When we finally arrived at where the store should have been, a gentleman handed us a flyer re-directing us to their tiny little make-shift store around the block whilst they renovated the store to make it even bigger and better!  Disappointed that we'd miss out on having a good old oooh and aahhh at what was in store, we were, however very impressed by the fresh, clean and slightly tongue-in-cheek stylings of all of their signage and flyers.  Little did I know then, that they were in fact penned by none other than the illustrious designer Anthony Burrill.  Much more recently I have become quite the fan of his clean and clever graphical style.  Now living and working out of The Isle of Oxney, Kent, he has designed campaigns for London Underground, Playstation and online work for Kraftwerk.  He also created the BUPA advertising campaigns which I have to say is one ad campaign that I find very inspiring.  Anthony's work is also currently available for purchase at Concrete Hermit.  

Hey St Jude

St Jude's, founded by printmaker Angie Lewin and her husband Simon, is a fabulous fabric house that work alongside a range of eclectic designers creating incredible screen printed textiles and stationery. The style is modern british with a whimsical fifties-style edge!  They like to keep things local and print all of their fabrics in Britain.  A really special piece you should really take a squizz at is their Ernest Race Rocking Chair upholstered in their fabric. I really love the way their fabrics reminisce a time of impeccable styling, yet take it all to another level of cool. 

The Artful Lodger!

Hotel Fox in Copenhagen, Denmark opened it's doors to 21 different artists to help them celebrate the launch of the new Volkswagen, by creating what is now one of the world's most exciting and creative hotels! Artists include (and pictured above in this order) Genevieve Gauckler, Friends With You and Rinzen. Each artist was asked to create specialised themed rooms from graphical designs to street art and Japanese Manga. The result in my eyes is very inspiring and I think this sort of project should take place a lot more often, lord know Travel Lodge could use a hand! On a serious note this opens up a lot of scope to artists and designers giving them a wonderful all encompassing canvas to work with and in turn creates a wonderful, desirable hotel for the business owners. We would give our right arm to take part in the next one, so Hotel Fox if you're listening....

Find A Friend In Pepe!

We all like friends that are handy in the kitchen, and these ones are that and then some! Pepe and Friends, Created by Ceramic designer Camila Prada of Vinila Designs, is a wonderful family of cute ceramic creatures including, "Rif and Raf" Salt and Pepper shakers, "Big Daddy" Cookie Jar and "Pablo" the honey pot, whom we couldn't resist and had to buy one which is now proudly sitting on our kitchen table alongside our plastic tomato. Camila, a Canadian artist now based in Stoke-On-Trent is inspired by traveling to different cities and when designing new characters has a test called The Smile Test - if it makes you smile, then it's going in the right direction. Well Camila, I'm smiling, in fact I'm grinning from ear to ear.

Okido Is OkeeDokee!

I have wanted to post something about Okido for some time now because, well, quite simply, it's brilliant! Okido is the brainchild of multimedia designer and scientist, Sophie Dauvois and illustrator Rachel Ortas, and is beautifully illustrated by contemporary artists and designers. We even had the absolute pleasure of creating a very special and exclusive Speakerdog Paper Toy that appeared in a previous issue of the wonderful little magazine. Okido is published quarterly and is aimed at children aged 3-7, but don't let that stop you picking up a copy I guarantee you will also fall in love with it and be making courgette rockets in no time! Please also take a look over the website it's full of great things to read and do!

All hits at MissPrint!

Super design duo Yvonne and Rebecca Drury of MissPrint Productions have created a stunning collection of contemporary interior products. All the lovely products inclusive of wallpapers, cushions, lampshades and vinyl wall kits are designed and hand printed in their small East London Studio. Be sure to pay their website a visit and beautify your home.

Ekobo Bamboozle!

A great design from Ekobo. The new range of "Multifaceted Organisers" made from bamboo, available in 2 sizes and in a variety of beautiful colours: smoke, tomato, mandarin, lime, white and black. They are the perfect place to store your utensils or anything else for that matter!
Ekobo, based in France, combine their wonderful contemporary designs with a lovely ethical way of working. Bruno Louis and his wife Boo (with the help of other product designers) have developed a range now 250 products strong all made from 100% bamboo + 200% design and available in eye-popping zingy colours! Working alongside over 100 families from bamboo villages in Vietnam, Ekobo work directly with the local craftsmen, cutting out middlemen and resulting in well paid artisans and carefully monitored working conditions. Brilliant.

'Post' Modernism...

Ben found a little inspiration in our fluro post-it-notes and created these super wonderful mini artworks!!! I love them!!!

Ghost Patrol!

This is only a snippet of an absolutely beautiful wall in Fitzroy, Melbourne painted by the incredibly innovative Graffiti writer Ghost Patrol. He sculpts, paints, draws and sews. GP works with whatever media he can find or afford to purchase including but not limited to spray cans, paper, pens, markers, wood and clay. Please delve deeper into the world of Ghost Patrol.

Raymond Gems Adrian Porcupencil!

If you didn't already know we have just released Series 4 of the Speakerdog Paper Toys. This ace design was created by Raymond Gems Adrian, It is well and truly going to find a place on my desk for one very special HB! Check out the other amazing designs by artists Adolfo Serra, Aybs, Castleforte, Cherdpong Sikkhajareon, Chocolate Log, David Huyck, Dundoland, Emily Glaubinger, Fixeuno, Grapheart, Jawa, Joe Scarano, Kenn Munk, Marshall Alexander, Mephisto Jones, Mike Stoneroad, Phil Corbett, Rawlyn Farley, Raymond Gems Adrian, Shin Tanaka, Tommy FFF and Tubbypaws here.

Tell Phibs!

Phibs is an old friend of mine from my days back in Melburn! One of my fave new-school Graf artists by far, incredibly talented... his speed, line precision and colour use just blows me away. When I owned my cafe/gallery I was lucky enough for him and a couple of other Melbourne Graf artists to fill my courtyard with some awesome pieces! you can see more of Phibs work here