The 2010 collection was born ’where the indie scene brought rock back to its heights’, between Milan & London’s east-end. That same electrifying vibe is expressed in the Rocket design. Inspiration is, quite obvious!, derived from their infatuation for rock n roll and disco culture. Out of the 10 design items in the 2010 collection, three items are awarded trendey points:

First, the GuiTray, a shot tray in the shape of a colourful guitar. It’s a little tray ’dedicated to all those who, every now and again, savour a cheeky drink’:

True rockstarness with a twist! A functional yet playful decor item. It will easily blend and immediately give the situation a rock vibe. Compared to the coffee table in similar design, whose steel legs and overall feel don’t appeal to us as much, these mini guitars are lively and fun. Not for eveyday use maybe…(?) but definitely something to bring out for the party. Trendey points: 7,5 out of 10. GuiTray is made of Plexiglas® and aluminium alloy, and is available in transparent, translucent orange, translucent red, and translucent violet. It includes 6 glasses. Price tag approx. EUR 59/$80.

Secondly, the wine rack, Wine Jack. As the designers state, it is ‘an innovative interaction between container and content’. Any music nerd of a home decorator would embrace this! It is set to be a focal point of any room. A statement item. Late 80′s early 90′s feel: it’s nostalgia. And it’s smart.

The nerd factor is obvious, but you know what, there’s nothing trendier these days than being a nerd! Design shows a high level of originality, but because it only hits *the true music geek* straight in the heart it gets trendey points 6 out of 10. Wine Jack is made of metal and Plexiglas®. Price tag EUR 149 (approx.$200).

Lastly, but not leastly, the coaster set Nap(kin)ster. It’s a cheerful set of 6 headphone-shaped napkin holders. Material: Plexiglas®. Music nerdiness is again (as with GuiTray) well-balanced to playfulness.

Also, the strong colour trend is observed; the vibrant colour mix will actually bring joy to any dull table. Some may see an underlying message of ‘sit back, relax and be yourself in your own world’ or maybe… ‘at this table, we listen, we don’t just babble on about us and ours’. Hah, either way, a nice decor item! Trendey points: 6,5 out of 10. Price tag EUR 29 (approx.$ 40).

Have a further look @ Rocket and for purchases visit Yook.

Tea pot is on, the cups are waiting!

I just have to share with you these peculiar next-generation teapots. At WebUrbanist you can find a collection of 19 exceptional teapots that clearly shows the future design direction. More examples and details here. They all come from Britain you think? I found out my favourite, below, can be bought at The Teapottery, and oooh, they surely have a full range of odd tea-design! Anyhow, the Toaster Teapot seem highly multifunctional. Design must be functional, right?

I just wanted to share a couple of photos from this excellent marketing campaign for the upcoming Sydney International Food Festival. They have arranged plates with local delicacies to make it look like the flag where the food originates from. Above you can see the national flag of Japan made out of Sushi, and Switzerlands flag made out of swiss ham and cheese. Creative? Yes. Trendey? Absolutely.

If you want to see more flags made out of food, check out ibelieveinadv.com

In 2008 Muungano designed a very special library bus, and in 2009 some awsome skull lollipops, now one really looks forward to their next design steps! Here’s a look into my Muungano favourites so far.
One Muungano project I particulary like is the library bus from 2008. When it was time for the old (boring) library bus in the northern town of Kiruna to retire, Muungano got the chance to design a new one. The old bus had functioned mostly as a distributor of books from the library out to the people is this geographically spread and sparsley populated area of Sweden. The function of the new bus is the same, but also to supply a larger service – the bus includes a library, a small cinema, computer games, a music listening couch, internet station and personal service. Because of the lack of sunlight during most of the year in the north the bus is designed to be “like a lantern” when dark, to attract people and light up the surroundings. It sure does, doesn’t it? :)

The bus, with graphics made by Fredrik Forsberg, won the prize ´Library bus of the year´ given by the Swedish librarian society. It was also nominated for a prize in the graphic design contest KOLLA and for an Golden Egg, the prestigious Swedish advertising award. The underlying ideas of the design was to awaken and highlight the incredible power contained in books, where only your imagination sets limits. By mixing their own illustrations with graphic elements inspired by people’s favourite books – a fantasy world was created that invites the viewer to their own subjective interpretations. The primary objective was to create an inviting and playful atmosphere for library visitors, and encourage and inspire reading. The design in close-up:

An interesting 2009 piece of design by Muungano is the Sweetshop 3D. Originally a sugar experiment for Urban matters and Sweetshop at LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) Muungano continued later back home by combining a technique of so called rapid prototyping with small-scale mass-production. They made a 3D-model of a human skull in the computer and the data was then sent to a 3D-printer that made moulds of the skull in silicon. These were then used for making a collection of lollipops with a top of a sugar-skull.

The lollipops have been shown at the gallery Monde Radieux in Stockholm and shown and sold at the gallery Millard Sheet in Los Angeles. Now to the crucial (and nagging) question: What is Muungano up to next?!

This is the jury’s reasoning: “All of a sudden, those gathered round the table have good reason to burst into song. Raise a glass to Sweden’s musical traditions!” I.e. design with a jolly mission!