Inga Sempé Talking About Her Work.

Last Wednesday the Stockholm Furniture Fair held an amazing talk. Inga Sempé spoke about her work and I was all ears.

She's not only one of the best designers but very funny too. Between serious things, like her design process and the frustration that a few ideas would never be built, she would make a joke about French mentality and how they complaint about everything (I actually think its true).

With a very nice and clean presentation she spoke about her work and the whole process. New projects, old ones and where her inspiration comes from. A must!

A few tips I could take from what she said:
1st - Know exactly which detail you like in a product and explore it (she likes classical mechanicalm systems)
2nd - Invest every penny in materials and research (she spends every penny to improve her work)
3rd - If you want to get your products manufactured, make sure you're ready to compromise. Your manufacturer might decide to change your design, even if a little bit.
4th - Think of things you personally need (she's working on two great ideas - a trolley which becomes "shelves" because she travels a lot and a stool which becomes a ladder because she never has patience to grab a ladder to climb and change a bulb) 
5th - Do it with love, lots and lots of love. And in case you think it's not enough, add some more. Ah, when you think IT'S enough, add even more because success is hidden within love.

Luceplan Plissé

Luceplan Plissé being tested 

Work In Progress - The Trolley 

The Trolley

Work In Progress - The Stool Versus Ladder 

My favorite lamp

The cabinets which remind me containers. Love it. 

Project Development 

Probably the most famous sofa to Ligne Roset

Sketches on a project she did for Amorim, the leader supplier in cork (Made in Portugal)

Again, the "Cork Project"

And one more time

International Women's Day.

As we celebrate International Women's Day today, what could be better than posting fantastic examples of fantastic women?

For that, I've chosen (some of) my favorite talks by TEDWomen - Reshaping The Future , an event which has happened in December 2010.

Get inspired (whether you're a man or a woman).











These videos are not posted by preference. I've learned and got inspired from all of them the same way.

Talk To Me

Talk to me. This is probably the sentence which best describes myself.

I love to talk and I love to go to Talks. Lots to learn, lots to think and lots to share.

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London organizes the best ones. With a very dynamic approach, they engage history and contemporary subjects really well. Here are a few I attended in 2010.


1 - World Cities - Paris
2 - Made in Britain by Established & Sons with Alice Rawsthorn
3 - World Cities - New York
4 - Creative Leadership with John Maeda
5 - A chat between Christian Boltanski and Hans Ulbrich.

Who do you like to talk to?

Talking Design #2 - “Clients are their own curators”

Talking Design – it was indeed all about design and all the variants that make good design happen in the business world.

Alasdhair Willis is the CEO & Founder of Established & Sons which was launched in April 2005. He has attended art school although his first job was selling advertising for magazines. That led him to publish one of the best ever in the design world: Wallpaper* magazine which we all know, we all bought and we all got inspired by.

Established & Sons is a platform for British designers (or Britain based) which was born when he realized a diversity of talent floating in the market. As he said, their “role is pretty much to represent and support within business”.

There’s a special reason why they stand out so well and successfully though: they celebrate who the designers are, their individuality; and in return designers respond with signature pieces, inspirational design and experimental approach. It is a marriage in a real sense of the word: trust, support, failure, victories; and all based on unity.

I will share this Talk further, but for now I leave one of my favorite pieces commissioned by Established & Sons and my favorite question by Alice Rawsthorn:

"Where does your inspiration come from?"

His answer couldn’t be more confident

“creating something with content”.

Kebab lamp by Committee.

First time I saw their work was back in 2006 @ Design Museum London, - My World exhibition.

In the meantime click here to see the new (online) collection called Estd by Established & Sons which doesn't have the designers name attached (though you have a guess), giving them more freedom to explore and experiment areas the haven't tried before.

A very pertinent talk I’ve attended back in February with John Maeda and Alice Rawsthorn about creative leadership.

Talking Design #1, V&A (London).

Tomorrow I am attending a Talk at the V&A about design. Alasdhair Willis discusses his ideas with Alice Rawsthorn.

“Established & Sons has become a dynamic force in British design by commissioning iconoclastic pieces from designers such as Jasper Morrison, Zaha Hadid, Maarten Baas and the Bouroullec brothers.” - by Alice Rawsthorn, a T columnist and International Herald Tribune design critic.

As an introduction, I went to visit Established & Sons’ LIMITED - the gallery in Mayfair to photograph a few selected pieces form their LIMITED collection on display until the 25 June 2010.

Wrong Woods by Richard Woods & Sebastian Wrong / 2007

Tudor Cabinet by Jaime Hayon / 2009

Tudor Chair by Jaime Hayon / 2009

Surface Table by Terence Woodgate & John Barnard / 2008

Torch Light by Sylvain Willenz / 2008

Drift by Amanda Levete Future Systems / 2006



Convex Mirror by Sebastian Wrong / 2005

Established & Sons LIMITED
2-3 Duke Street
London
SW1Y 6BJ

Reading Is A Very Personal Thing.

Last Tuesday I went to The School of Life in London to attend this course on “How To Read” by Cathy Haynes .

When I first read about the course’s content I thought “maybe I’ll find answers for my endless questions about ‘technicality of reading’ or ‘am I reading as I suppose to?’ or ‘how can I read faster?’ and another one that really bothers me ‘am I getting the message in here?’…

It was a three hour course where we discussed the benefits of reading, dangers of reading and what to read next. We’ve touched social anxiety, which I believe we all suffer from: the ‘classics’ you have to read otherwise you’re tagged “illiterate” and the books we discuss but never read (loved this one); and we did very interesting tasks like “map your own reading history – and you’ll find out you went through different joys and woes, sources of encouragement, obstacles to pleasure and aspirations for future”.

In the end of the day, what I actually learned was that everyone is different; there are no rules on how we should or not do things. If you want to read a story fragment, read; if you want to read the same book every summer, just do it; and if your conclusion is different from your gig friend; let it be – reading is a very personal thing. Let it grow on you. Enjoy the process.

Every time I buy a new book I write location and year followed by my expectations on that book (because we all judge a book by its cover). And when I finish it I write what I got from it – it’s amazing how different my comments are. And more interesting is when you flick through a couple of years later.
Mark books, underline little details that make a difference to you, write comments or thoughts, draw and add lose pages you grab from different medias – make your reading a hobby not a duty.


I’ve given away many things in my life: bags, shoes, jackets, coffee machines, furniture I’ve designed, jewellery but never books. I’ve boxes and boxes in Portugal waiting to be shipped, but I could never give them away. Why is that?

Talks Worth Spreading | 2.

Jacek Utko Designs To Save Newspapers.
In his work, he's proved that good design can help readers reconnect with newspapers. A former architect, Utko took on the job of redesigning several newspapers in former Soviet Bloc nations, starting from basic principles. He worked closely with newspaper executives to figure out the business goals of their papers, and then radically reformatted the product to fit those goals. (And he wasn't afraid to break a few grids in the process.)



Text from TED Ideas Worth Spreading.

Talks Worth Spreading | 1.

Stefan Sagmeister Shares Happy Design.
He is no mere commercial gun for hire. Sure, he's created eye-catching graphics for clients including the Rolling Stones and Lou Reed, but he pours his heart and soul into every piece of work. His design work is at once timeless and of the moment, and his painstaking attention to the smallest details creates work that offers something new every time you look at it.


While a sense of humor invariably surfaces in his designs, Sagmeister is nonetheless very serious about his work; his intimate approach and sincere thoughtfulness elevate his design. A genuine maverick, Sagmeister achieved notoriety in the 1990s as the designer who self-harmed in the name of craft: He created a poster advertising a speaking engagement by carving the salient details onto his torso.

Text from TED Ideas Worth Spreading.

John Maeda @ The V&A Talking About Creative Leadership – Values Based in Art + Design.

Yesterday evening I went to the V&A to hear John Maeda. To be very honest, I didn’t know too much about him. I had read a few things at Dezeen and the internet but nothing in depth. The main reason to make my way there was because the talk’s synopsis was very appellative: “…argues that in addition to science, technology, engineering and math, innovation also requires intuition, design, emotion, and art (IDEA).”

I left the museum pretty happy, I must say. The only thing on my mind was the answer for my endless questions about myself for many many years: “Who am I? Where do I stand in the professional world? Am I a designer? Am I a business woman? Why is my professional life such a saga? Why I am never satisfied with my professional achievements? Why do I always want to do and experiment every career path(within design and business)?” And finally I found my “raison d’être”. But this is to be discussed another time.

Back to his discussion: he questioned how technology took away from us the real 'body' feeling of things and how & why we should bring them back. How we can use art + design to improve business. How art + design is the basis to technology + business. Humanity and technology: where they do relate.

We all know art + design is the key to solve economic problems (I go even further saying it’s the key to solve political problems too). A few companies have had experienced the “art + design technique” – Yahoo, Google, Facebook, advertisement companies, etc but let’s be pragmatic to realize these are already creative businesses. In other words: we know it but it’s been difficult to apply it – the theory is written but everyone has been resistant to put it in to practice.

Now I raise another question mark, if I may.

I believe there’s something else we need to tackle: the yet gap to became a bridge to move forward. We, designers and artists must understand why everyone has been so resistant to put the car on the road. We are almost there, but not quite yet.

As J. Maeda said, this is the right time to do it. Let’s just do it.


PS – this talk and John Maeda have inspired me to write every week a column on my blog about my endless questions about my design + my business. Stay tuned and brainstorm with me on how we can make life even more beautiful through design + art together with business.