Senior Design Factory

Zurich-based association the Senior Design Factory teams up groups of people, young and old, to take part in creative projects together. The first branch of the project, comprising a studio, workshop and retail space, opened in March, while the second branch is set to include a small restaurant and is scheduled to open this summer.

The project is the brainchild of designers Debora Biffi and Benjamin Moser, who have been developing the concept together since 2008. Designers taking part range in age from mid-twenties to ninety.

Walking sticks by Omhu

The Factory runs regular knit and stitch workshops where participants can exchange and develop skills, using their new knowledge to create items for the Senior Design Factory's shop. Products on offer include recipe cards, knitted tableware and stylish walking sticks designed by Danish brand Omhu.

What I Love --- David Nicholls - Design Editor - Telegraph Magazine

The Telegraph newspaper is one of the UKs largest selling broadsheets and each Saturday readers look forward to browse through the magazine supplement. As the Telegraph Magazine's Design Editor, David writes about the best design for the home. He is always bang on with his choices.To find out more about Reiko visit here.


This is the end of our series "What I Love".  It has been such a treat to have some of the most inspiring editors from the best shelter magazines from across the globe being a guest on SnOOp. This series has gone way beyond the beautiful and pretty. Suzanne, Sam, David C, Michael, Paul, Alice and David N have shared design ideas to provoke us to think, make us aware of tradition and craft and to appreciate quality.

I really hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. As Paddy McGuinness would say... "If you don't likey don't wrtiey"... But if you have loved it then please leave a comment and let us know.

What I Love --- Alice Rawsthorn - Design Critic - International Herald Tribune

I recently rated Alice Rawsthorn as one of 10 Influential Women In Design so it's a real honor to have her contributing to SnOOp and sharing with us what her favourite piece of design is for this spring. I love how she has chosen a book.  To find out where to purchase this wonderful book  "I swear I use no art at all: 10 years, 100 books, 18,788 pages of book design" by Dutch book designer Joost Grootens visit 010 Publishing

Tomorrow is our last day of "What I Love Series" and we finish with David Nicholls, Design Editor, from The Telegraph Magazine.

What I Love --- Paul Lowe - Editor - Sweet Paul

 Sweet Paul Magazine has become an online sensation. Beautiful styling combined with great photography, mixed with scrumptious recipes is why we all flock to this free online magazine. Paul Lowe is proof you can make dreams happen... 

Hermes if you see this post help Paul out with this bag 

Tomorrow on SnOOp is Alice Rawsthorn, design critic of the International Herald Tribune

See Suzanne Imre - Livingetc -  Editor - spring favourite
See Sam Grawe - Dwell - Editor-in-Chief - spring favourite
See David Clark - Vogue Living - Editor - spring favourite

See Michael Boodro - ELLE Decor - Editor-in-Chief - spring favourite

What I Love --- Michael Boodro - Editor in Chief - ELLE Decor

 

 I'm really loving Michael Boodro's editorship on ELLE Decor. He had some big shoes to fill and in my opinion he fits into them perfectly. The magazine and website is looking fantastic. Make sure you visit Bernhardt Interiors

Tomorrow on SnOOp our very much loved Paul Lowe from Sweet Paul magazine will be visiting. 

See Suzanne Imre - Livingetc -  Editor - spring favourite
See Sam Grawe - Dwell - Editor-in-Chief - spring favourite
See David Clark - Vogue Living - Editor - spring favourite

What I Love --- David Clark - Editor- Vogue Living

Visit Michael Hansmeyer to see more

I want to take this opportunity to say from the United Kingdom how proud I am as an Australian of Vogue Living. It doesn't matter where I go in the world everyone I know loves this magazine. Architects, designers and photographers all love to be featured in it.  It's intelligent, aspirational, confident and balances international and local talent perfectly. I rate it as one of the best interior magazines in the world.

I hope you're enjoying this series. This is such a rare and amazing opportunity for us to have a little insight into the creative personalities who produce our favourite interior magazines located in one spot. One of my goals is helping to bridge the gap between interior magazines and design blogs. I have done the legwork in asking the editors to contribute but it's up to you guys to comment and let us know what you think.

Tomorrow Michael Boodro, Editor-in-Chief from ELLE Decor will be here

What I Love --- Sam Grawe - Editor In Chief - Dwell

I'm such a huge fan of Dwell magazine and this issue is fantastic. Make sure you get a copy. Something you may not know about Sam... He has a cat called Eero. Want a little more inspiration from British designer, Jasper Morrison? Then check out what's on his blog and make sure you check out this thought -provoking magazine cover by him. Don't forget to check out Magis.

What a treat SnOOpers! Everyday this week editors from some of the world's most loved shelter magazines are giving us some time to share what they're currently loving. Please let them know here what you think of their product choice and let this be a chance for you to shout out to them some big SnOOp love. 

Tomorrow David Clark, Editor, from Australian Vogue Living will be dropping by.

Did you catch yesterday Suzanne Imre, Editor from Livingetc, the UK's best selling modern interiors magazine's,  choice?  

What I Love --- Series

 Hey SnOOpers... I am really excited about next weeks posts and I think you may be too. Editors from some of our favourite interior magazines will be sharing with us on SnOOp what their favouirte spring designs are.

If you love Australian Vogue Living, ELLE Decor, Dwell, International Herald Tribune, Livingetc, Sweet Paul and The Telegraph Magazine then this is your chance to say hi to the editors of those publications. I promise they will be coming to visit... So shout a BIG SnOOp love to them....  and let them know how we need more support from them.

10 Influential Women In Design - International Women's Day

Happy hundredth birthday to International Women's Day! Here's some of SnOOps favourite women in design. 
This image is of (the wonderful) iconic American architect, planner and teacher Denise Scott Brown in 1966 when
 she was (literally) learning from Las Vegas. SnOOped over at Alice Rawsthorn Facebook page. 

These days Ilse Crawford is best known as the designer behind Soho House in New York and founding head of Department for Man and Well-Being at the world-renowned Design Academy Eindhoven. Before that she was the pioneering magazine editor, at British Elle Decoration. Ilse brings integrity and humanity into design. Her pioneering vision in combining modern living, emotion and beautiful photography to interior magazines is what made me fall in love and discover the work I do now. She is one of my BIGGEST design heros. Her design values in being fascinated by what drives us, brings us together and ultimately makes us feel alive is SnOOp gospel.  AWSOME Ilse is always found wearing heels that even fashionistas envy. 

Spanish-born, Milan-based Patricia Urquiola is one of the most active and exciting designers working today. Trained as an architect she has designed some of the most poetic and practical furniture of the 21st-Century. Her designs for B&B Italia, Foscorini, Flo, Moroso, Cappellini, Kartell and Knoll are just a few super-brands under her belt.  

Ray Eames is the wife of Charles. I don't think one designer on the planet today can say they haven't been influenced by their work?  Charles and Ray designed some of the most important examples of 20th century furniture, they also created ingenious children's toys, puzzles, films, and architecture. SnOOp hopes one day to feature the Eames House.   After reading An Eames Primer , by grandson Eames Demetrios, it was obvious Ray was the rock and strength to the Eames family and studio. 

Alice Rawsthorn is the Design Critic of the International Herald Tribune and a columnist for the New York Times. This is the lady you want writing about you and your designs. From 2001 to 2006, Alice was Director of the Design Museum in London and, before then, an award-winning journalist with the Financial Times, working as a foreign correspondent in Paris and pioneering the FT’s coverage of the creative industries. Alice over the years has been responsible for introducing cutting edge design concepts into mainstream press, including social design, critical design, design for public services and eco-design to mention a few. She sports the best bob in the business. 

The fact is this very cool and super-stylish lady Rossana Orlandi is the woman that can make an up-and-coming designer into a household name. She is owner of Milan design store Spazio Rossana Orlandi - an annual highlight of the Milan fair for editors, buyers and trend-forecasters who find it makes for a somewhat more relaxed viewing environment than the packed halls of the Salone itself. Rossana makes it her mission to discover all that's new and original in the world of design .

 If you have a design brand you want to launch internationally or you're a serious design journalist then Judy Dobias, Managing Director, of Camron PR is a very important lady you need to know. . Judy's clients come from many fields: design, interiors, art, food, fashion, publishing, travel and luxury.  You could say her agency has design in it's bloodstream and retail on the brain. She has a cracking Canadian accent and is always super lovely to chat too.

Interior designer Kelly Wearstler is queen of colour and has an enchanting take on luxury lifestyle. Her sunny, funny remastering of mid-century modernism has redefined West Coast style. She has become one of America's most influential designers and now the fashion world are embracing her. Kelly's more-is-more vibrant style has overlapped into her fashion taste and she is about to launch her own Weastler Ready-To-Wear collection.

Want your product, book or magazine to express the mood, feeling and emotion you think it deserves then you 
need to book photographer Ditte Isager. Her clients include Anthropologie, Gourmet Traveller, Martha Stewart, Gordan Ramsay, Vogue Living and British ELLE Decoration. 

One of the worlds most renowned trend-forecasters Li Edelkoort analyses moods, fashions and feelings and translates them into trends. As an industry consultant, she has a huge impact on what the products of tomorrow will be. Li's magazines, View on Colour, INview and Bloom have been highly influential in the creative industries for nearly two decades. More recently, her work has evolved into the realms of education at the Design Academy Eindhoven where she was Chairwoman from 1999 to 2008, humanitarianism within the Heartwear craft foundation she co-founded in 1993, and curatorial work as she delves into the art and design domain, illuminating museums and exhibits around the world. 

Who would you include on this list? We would love to know 

Neon Love Neutrals

SnOOp's  Editor Amanda Talbot shows off her Nike trainers; Shokki collection by Laurent Corio 

I'm not going to say sorry about how SnOOp is harping on about the only way to make neon's work in the home is to combine the bright pops of colour with sophisticated neutrals. I promise this will mean by the time this fashion fad is over you will not end up with a space that will be "OMG what have I done".  

FOR MORE NEON INSPIRATION CHECK OUT OUR POST ROUGH NEON and Scholten+ Baijings collection for HAY

Child's Play by Yusuke Suzuki

Here at SnOOp we like to challenge and make you rethink how you design a room and challenge a designer to think beyond the country they live in and look at other cultures for inspiration. In the East it's not uncommon for people to prefer to sleep on a thin mattress on the floor that can be rolled away during the day to save on space. 

Imaginative photographer Yusuke Suzuki  has created a page turner of a bed  that looks like an oversized book. At night it is opened up for sleepy heads to sleep in and during the day it is shut closed to create enough space for children to play in their room.

From Tree to Home

wooden cup by Billet; Victorian ash timber and powder-coated spun aluminium light by Coco Flip

Home Traveller by Anne Lorenz

I have THE most ugliest, nasty, not loved dirty clothes hamper sitting out in open view in my bedroom. Every time I throw my loved outfits into the hamper I promise I can almost here them cry out to me "please don't leave us in this scary place". To be honest the reason why I haven't upgraded is I can't find a hamper I like. When I saw Anne Lorenz's Home Traveller bag it was like an eureka moment. I WANT, I WANT, I WANT. "Please buyers of much loved home department stores take this girl on so I can have a Home Traveller in my bedroom."

Ceramic Tiles Don't Always Belong On A Wall

Heritage Boy Tile Lamp by Lee Broom; Simple Mold necklaces by On Za Line. Buy here

Preserving Design

Jaeuk Jung designer of The Amber Chair wanted to explore the preservation of a historical object and capturing a moment in time. Jaeuk has used a classic wooden chair and has sealed it in an amber-like polymer. 

Marta Mattsson work contains preserved resin insects. " Nature is a great source of inspiration but so is Pokemon", says Marta. Carly Waito's oil paintings are inspired by natural objects that are curious and beautiful

Natural lacquers, varnish and glazes explore a new shine that captures a watery ciscosity and semi-translucency with a hard a polished exterior. Eclipse 2 by Nick van Woert; Barite, 2009  ~  oil on masonite by Carly Waito

I have always loved cheap sources of wood being transformed into a glossy, elegant material using transparent or semi-transparent lacquer. Rik Stool by Inon Rettig; Particle collection by Jens Praet's; Occasional table by Bleu Nature

Optical Storage

You can find Bjørn and Imeüble here

All Stitched Up

I had a lovely message in my inbox the other day from young British Illustrator Peter Crawley with a link to his website asking me to have a look. Talk about knowing how to put a smile on my face. Peter has moved way beyond using needle and thread to sort out a hemline for a new outfit.

He discovered his talent after a road trip across America. Not being able to select just one photograph to capture the essence of the trip, it became obvious for Peter it was the journey itself that should somehow be illustrated. Yep he stitched a road map detailing his journey. He soon developed his talent to architectural buildings. For information on how to purchase or commission pieces, get in touch here