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Posts Tagged ‘Designs’

Resource Furniture: Convertible Designs for Small Spaces

04 Jan

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Space Saving Convertible Furniture Main

When living in a small space, every inch counts – so multifunctional furniture that can adapt and change is a top priority. A coffee table needs to be more than a coffee table, possibly rising to offer work space when sitting on the couch or to become a dining surface. A bed platform could fold flat against the wall, or even turn into a desk. Resource Furniture offers streamlined solutions that maximize space in a variety of ways, so your furniture can be tailored to your individual lifestyle.

Space Saving Transforming Tables

What might look like an ordinary table is actually hiding a few surprises. If you only need a dining table or work desk for an hour or two out of the day, why have a separate one that just takes up valuable space?

Space Saving Transforming Bed 1

Space Saving Transforming Bed 2

An ideal solution for combination office/guest rooms, transforming beds hide away against the wall when not in use, while the desk surface slides up out of the way at night.

Space Saving Transforming Bunk Beds

Large, flat cabinets open to reveal not one, but two sleep surfaces. Resource Furniture’s convertible hideaway bunk beds include built-in storage and desks.

Space Saving Transforming Chair Bookcase

Space Saving Transforming Chair Stepladder

No room for a reading nook? A comfy chair for lounging and taking in a good book doubles as a bookcase. Another chair turns over to become a stepladder.

Space Saving All in One Office 1

Space Saving All in One Office 2

All-in-one furniture systems that barely take up any floor room when closed can hide all sorts of functions in the smallest possible space. This home office is just 13 3/4 inches deep, but includes shelving that can accommodate a printer and a PC tower, as well as a large desk surface, built-in lighting and storage space.

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Transformable, Convertible & Collapsible Urban Furniture

The transformable, convertible and collapsible designs below are impressively practical.
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90 Unusually Awesome Urban Furniture Designs

If you want something comfortable and conventional you might want to look elsewhere. If you are looking for bold and creative furniture designs you are in the right place.
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Rad Wrappings: 15 Modern, Quirky & Fun Gift Wrap Designs

03 Dec

[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

Gift wrap can be just as important as the gift itself, enhancing the sense of anticipation and reflecting the personality and tastes of the giver. If you’re unsatisfied with the standard Santas, snowflakes and christmas trees found on the holiday gift wrap supplies at your local big box store, check out these 15 modern options. Some are even free templates for cool gift wrap designs, tags and 3D geometric gift boxes that you can download and print in minutes.

Free Printable Pac Wrap

(images via: minieco)

While this is technically ‘Halloween’ wrap, why not use it for other occasions, too? Minieco offers free printable gift wrap designs in ‘Pacman Ghost’ and ‘It’s Raining Again’, simple black-and-white graphic patterns that would definitely stand out under the tree.

Mustache Gift Wrap

(images via: ruff house art)

Mustaches may be hip among the set who like things just because it’s ‘ironic’ to do so, but this wrapping paper printed with a variety of facial hair styles is fun for anyone.

DIY Paper Diamond Gift Boxes

(images via: minieco)

Why buy (and wrap) a boring cardboard gift box when you could simply fold a cool 3D diamond shape out of the paper of your choice? Minieco has a template to make it yourself, and it’s perfect for small items like jewelry.

Crossword Puzzle Wrapping Paper

(images via: the dieline)

No matter the occasion, this wrapping paper fits – just find and outline the appropriate sentiment, whether it’s Merry Christmas, Happy Easter, Congratulations, Recover Soon or just ‘You Are the Best.’ Universal crossword puzzle paper comes with a key so you can find and circle the greeting you desire.

DIY Paper Ornaments/Gift Boxes

(images via: minieco)

These geometric shapes, including tetrahedrons and cubes, are meant to be used as ornaments – but they could double as gift boxes. Get the templates at MiniEco.

Free Printable Anchor Gift Wrap

(images via: heyook)

Anchor-printed wrapping paper and gift tags are a lot more fun than garish store-bought Santas, though perhaps not as festive. Get these free printable templates at HeyLook.

Pawling Ikat Wrapping Paper

(images via: mint design)

This ikat-print wrapping paper by Pawling is so simple, yet so beautiful.

Fun and Festive Wrap by Hemlock Printers

(images via:  hemlock.com)

If you prefer festive seasonal designs, Hemlock Printers’ set of double-sided holiday wrapping paper is a playful modern option.

Metallic Pens on Kraft Paper

(images via: papercrave)

Plain old brown kraft paper looks a lot more interesting when you add some basic designs with a silver sharpie. It’s easy and cheap, and the result is clean and modern.

Gift ‘Purses’ by Treeo Design

(image via: paper crave)

Treeo uses FSC-certified paper to create their gift wrap and gift boxes, which means that no trees were harmed unnecessarily during the process of creating their products. These gift boxes, shaped like purses, are an interesting twist on the conventional rectangular or square design.

Zebrawood Veneer

(images via: corinna wraps)

If you have any type of wood veneer laying around, take a cue from Corinna Wraps and use it to cut out shapes and paste them to your wrapped gifts in custom designs of your choice.

Modern and Monochromatic by Loop

(image via: loop)

Meticulously hand-drawn designs adorn the boutique wrapping paper by Loop, which is printed on FSC-certified and recycled paper using soy ink.

Simple and Rustic at Design Sponge

(image via: design sponge)

Sometimes the simplest, most rustic wrapping job is the most elegant. Design Sponge demonstrates how to pretty up some brown kraft paper with branches, pine cones, raffia and a paper tag.

Arrows and Trees from Urban Bird and Co

(image via: urban bird and co)

Two designs available from Urban Bird and Co, in black-and-white arrows and tree shapes, illustrate how easy it is to transform kraft paper with stamps. Buy it pre-made on Etsy, or make your own using stamps procured from craft stores.

Easy Gift Wrap Kits on Etsy

(images via: OnceUponSupplies)

Too busy to think about creative gift wrapping, but not crazy about the options at your local big box stores? A number of Etsy sellers, like Once Upon Supplies, offer ‘gift wrap kits’ containing ribbon, twin, tags, stickers and other decorative accents in matching color-coordinated sets.

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Righteous Wrappings: 33 Incredible Packaging Designs

Judging a product by its package is how we shop, and designing packaging is hard work. These creative packaging concepts are all bold enough to grab attention.
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30 Brilliant Vinyl Car Wrap Designs

The custom vinyl car wraps industry is relatively new and rapidly growing. It relies on wildly creative precision graphic design teams and skilled installers.
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Fantastic Floor Coverings: 13 Unusual Rug Designs

26 Nov

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Rugs are more than just a soft, sound-dampening covering for bare floors. They’re a chance to make a design statement and, in the words of The Dude, “really tie the room together.” These 13 modern rug designs eschew the same old traditional Oriental designs in favor of topographic maps, puzzle pieces, crystals, cut-outs and the shapes of internal organs.

Wooden Carpet by Elisa Stroyzk

(images via: elisastroyzk.de)

While the hard surface of wood isn’t exactly a typical material for carpeting, Elisa Stroyzk’s design retains a warmth and coziness with laser-cut geometric pieces that are bonded to a textile backing. “The project “wooden textiles” intends to look at the material wood in a new way. Geometric wooden pieces compose a flexible surface which can perform in different three-dimensional shapes. The material ranges between hard and soft, parquet and carpet, blurring relationships between furniture and textiles.”

Cell Rug by Lama

(images via: lamaconcept)

In contrast, this rug by Lama is so soft and squishable you’ll want to examine it up close. Made up of foam channels stitched together, the rug even features built-in LED lights.

DIA Cutout Rugs

(images via: iqmatics)

Laser-cut rugs with complex patterns by Magdalena Lubinska and Michal Kopaniszyn add padding and interesting patterns to the floor, looking a bit like giant modernized doilies.

Redeploy Rug by Rebekah Rauser

(images via: rauser design)

Temptingly tactile, the Redeploy Rug by Rebekah Rauser is constructed out of wool blankets, which are stitched together and stuffed with a wool blend.

Bandage Rug by Richard Garza Marcos

(images via: rgarzamarcos.com)

Cover wounds and imperfections in your floor with the Bandage Rug by Richard Garza Marcos.

Flat Surgery by Mathieu Lehanneur

(images via: mathieu lehanneur)

Delicate internal organs are not only put where we can see them, but where we can step on them, too, in this collection of rugs by Mathieu Lehanneur. The designer says, “The human body in radical mode – ‘Flat surgery’ plays with our vital organs to compose motifs and messages. These are rugs to map out habitat: digestive system in the dining room, brain in the office, genitalia in the bedroom…”

Clouds by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

(images via: bouroullec.com)

This strange modular textile can be used as a blanket, a wall covering, a rug or a room divider. ““The point of Clouds is that we do not have to replace all of the things that are already in our homes. Clouds is an extra and new element that provides the opportunity for personalised design where individuals are the architect, designer and workman. The ingenious click system, combined with a couple of simple screws and strings makes it possible to create anything from a wall to a specific figure and expression to fit one’s taste. Clouds enables all imaginable uses, as it can be hung on walls or from the ceiling, placed on the floor or add colourful liveliness to railings and stairs. In other words, Clouds represents a new typology, or a new interpretation of the use of textiles.”

Dark Side of the Moon Rug by Martin Mostböck for Vorwerk

(images via: martin-mostboeck.com)

Inspired by humanity’s fascination with the moon throughout the ages, ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ is a rug perforated with laser-cut circles resembling craters.

Playing with Tradition Rug by Richard Hutton

(images via: object rotterdam)

If you spun a circular traditional rug really fast, it would probably blur until it looked like the Playing with Tradition Rug by Richard Hutton. Says Hutton, “The idea behind the carpet was to build a bridge between the old and the new, east meets west. From this starting point I looked at various ways to give a reinterpretation.”

Raining Lights Crystal-Embedded Rug

(images via: sahrai.com)

20,000 of the finest Swarovski Elements crystals add shimmer and sparkle to a dark silk rug made by SAHRAI and displayed at the Salone del Mobile in Milan. The crystals are concentrated on one side to give the appearance of falling rain.

Landcarpet by Florian Pucher

(images via: behance)

This unique rug by Florian Pucher is a map of Hong Kong as seen from above. It even has a raised topographical design that enables you to feel the geographical variations of the region with the bottom of your feet.

Rug with Scale by Kwon Sunman

(images via: yanko design)

This rug won’t let you avoid the number on the scale – it has one built in, displaying your present, past and goal weights.

A Persian Puzzle by Katrin Sonnleitner

(images via: yanko design)

Put a rug together in the exact colors, patterns, shapes and sizes that you want with completely customizable puzzle rugs by Katrin Sonnleitner. The rug is made from cut pieces of recycled, natural and synthetic rubber.

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445 Fantastic Furniture, Furnishing & Fixture Designs

The art of furniture making has expanded dramatically with advent of ever-new technologies and the extension of mass-production to furnishings and fixtures.
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21 Radical Rugs and Must-See Mat Designs

rugs and mat designs are enjoying the same creative comeback as any other item of furniture. Which of these 21 examples would floor you?
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Brewed Fresh: 10 Hot Coffee-Centric Designs & Prototypes

20 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

A hot black cuppa bean-infused water was only the beginning, but beyond Espressos, Americanos, Cappuccinos, Latte art and creative coffee mugs lies a world of stimulating design ideas for the caffeine-dedicated aficionado. Some are a bit green yet and perhaps worth roasting a while longer, but others are already rich with promise.

Not enough space on your kitchen counter? No worries: Song Ah Lee is developing a wall-mounted coffee maker for one (custom cup included) that blends into the background but remains handy for refills.

No time to wait around while your morning roasts warms up? Consider brewing coffee right on your commute, instead, with Handspresso, sold as the world’s first car-worthy espresso machine – just stick to using it at stop signs and lights, please.

All of these are well and good for getting your caffeinated brew going in the morning, but what happens when the heat starts to dissipate? An obvious but elegant solution when you cannot refresh is to rewarm, with something like this mobile reheating stick by Hyewon Lee.

Now you have made your coffee, kept it hot, and are at the office … where suddenly you cannot find your workday mug. Clearly you forgot to pick up the Lock Mug with a hole specially keyed so that only you can use it!

State fairs are known for putting just about anything on a stick, but coffee sounds a bit far-fetched … at first. Heo Jeong Im took up the challenge, though, and combined instant coffee packets with stir spoons to invent what he has dubbed the Cappuccino Coffee Stick. As you stir to mix your brew, the mass of coffee crystals dissolves, leaving only your stirrer behind.

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11 More Creative Coffee and Tea Mug Designs

To give you some more options this collection of coffee and tea mugs features designs that are unique and practical at the same time.
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15 Creative Coffee Tables & Coffee Table Designs

As a focus for family, friends, football and fun, the coffee table can’t be beat… but it CAN be OFFbeat, as these 15 creative coffee table designs show so well.
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Hand-Crafted Design: 20 Creative Beer Cans & Label Designs

12 Nov

[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]


The hand-crafted revolution in beer has led to a backlash against the bland and mass-produced – both in the brews, and in the packaging. These 20 examples of creative beer cans, labels and cartons are cleverly tailored to the brand and the individual brew, and together, they’d make store shelves look like art galleries.

Ale Satan by Ethan Bennett

(images via: behance)

The devil is definitely in the details of this amazing design by Ethan Bennet, cleverly named ‘Ale Satan.’ The cardboard packaging features devil horns on the sides, and reads ’666 Pack’ across the handle. The bottle caps are printed with pentagrams.

Porter de Glace by Mathieu Lacombe

(images via: oh beautiful beer)

Rough hand-drawn typography characterizes this prototype packaging for the Ice Porter by Quebec’s Brasseurs du Monde, by Mathieu Lacombe.

Carrots Beer by Pereira & O’Dell

(images via: pereiraodell.com)

“The objective was to create a buzz around this high-end fashion boutique (CARROTS) and specifically around their men’s line, driving new male customers into the store. We created a limited edition, designer beer made from carrots. We brewed the beer, handcrafted the bottle wraps, and applied the labels. The 22oz. burlap-wrapped bottles were hand-delivered as gifts to specifically targeted men and the 12oz. beers were served at CARROTS-sponsored events and in-store to enhance men’s shopping experiences. Among the hundreds that received the bottle as a gift and the ones that tried it in the store, many people actually placed orders for beer to take home, turning a unique promotional item into a sexy and successful new product. Not to mention creating a buzz around the store.”

Seven of Diamonds by Christina Berglund

(images via: christina berglund)

“Seven of Diamonds Brewery is based on the beer card tradition. As the tradition goes, when a player wins the last trick of the hand with this card, his opponent must buy him a beer. Four varieties correspond with the four card suits—hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades.”

Arrogant Bastard by Thahn Nguyen

(images via: cargo collective)

California State University student Thanh Nguyen redesigned the packaging for Arrogant Bastard Beer. “This was one of the first projects for my packaging class this semester: we had to repackage a food or drink product. We could either completely rebrand the product or stick with their existing logo. I chose to give the Arrogant Bastard beers a facelift using their existing logo. ”

Firewater Brew by Brian Biles

(images via: oh beautiful beer)

In this student project by Brian Biles, Firewater Beer gets a redesign that’s equal parts modern and nostalgic, with wood textures and rope detail that pay tribute to the brand’s hand-crafted reputation.

Ippon Matsu by Kota Kobayashi

(images via: oh beautiful beer)

The designer says, “In the city of Rikuzentakata, a single pine tree stands as a testament to survival after the tsunami of 2011. This beer’s name means “One Pine Tree” and its design is a symbol of charity and hope for Japan’s brighter future. A scroll-like, handwritten label seals the top with its story written on the inside. The label is a solitary pine made of three triangles facing up, symbolizing the wish for progress in the reconstruction efforts.”

Velkopopovicky Kozel by Yurko Gutsulyak

(images via: gstudio)

“”The project is aimed at emphasizing the values of the famous Czech brand and enlarging the number of its fans.
The design of the limited edition reflects the ancient traditions as well as the mastership of the Czech brewers. Every can is a part of the Old Czechia. Beside the collectors’ design, the Velkopopovicky Kozel beer offers gifts to everyone who will unravel the special message that is encoded on the can.”

Brew Dog Paradox

(images via: johanna basford)

Paradox, a limited edition beer by Brew Dog, gets silk-screen printed labels in luxe gold lacquer on black.

Santa Sabina by Alacran Creative

(images via:  behance)

Alacran Creative’s label for Imperial Mezcal Ale by Mexican brewery Santa Sabina, a bitter ale with a pinch of Mezcal added in the last week of fermentation, features an illustration of the Guadalajara countryside. The bottle is also wrapped in brown printed paper.

Upslope Brewing Foreign Style Stout Cans

(images via: anthem branding)

Anthem Branding says of the Upslope Foreign-Style Stout cans, “Ever since its premiere as Upslope Brewing’s First Anniversary beer, the Foreign Style Stout has been a fan favorite. The Foreign Style Stout is brewed with Pilsner malt, along with roasted barley, several specialty malts. We developed a unique can design to draw attention to the company’s first Limited Release variety. The all-black can is accentuated with a silver print.”

No-Li Bottles by Riley Cran

(images via: riley cran)

Designer Riley Cran created this crisp, illustrated branding for No-Li, a brewing company in the Pacific Northwest.

21st Amendment Fireside Chat by TBD

(images via: tbd advertising)

“Like FDR’s Depression-era radio addresses, which were like a kick in the butt and a hug at the same time, our Fireside Chat is a subtle twist on the traditional seasonal brew. We begin with a rich, dark, English-style ale and then we improvise with spices until we know we have a beer worth sharing with the nation. Fireside Chat is our early winter seasonal brew available from October through December in six pack cans and on draft. Brewed like a classic, warming Strong Ale but with a subtle blend of hand-selected spices for just the right festive flair.”

Les Angles et Demons by Plastikkcomau

(images via: plastikkcomau)

This concept packaging for a made-up beer brand has an ‘Angels and Demons’ theme.

Cerveceria Hacienda by Andrew Rose

(images via: behance)

Andrew Rose created labels for Mexico’s Cerveceria Hacienda brewing company that honor the country’s history and culture, including Catrina Red Ale, Hidalgo Stout and Jaguar Pale Ale.

Freak Show Brews by Sarah Bina

(images via: behance)

“Freak Show is a brand of beer that uses circus characters to help describe different types of beer. The labels are designed in a wood-type poster style, characteristic of old circus posters.”

White Rabbit Dark Ale by brainCELLS

(images via: braincells)

“White Rabbit Brewing in the Yarra Valley, VIC, Australia opened its doors in mid-2009 with its flagship beer being the WR Dark Ale. The illustration features a playful white bunny rabbit jumping amongst the leafy landscape. The rabbit appears in a different position on each stubby label so that no two beer labels are the same.”

La Perle by Chrystel Jung

(images via: behance)

Parisian designer Chrystel Jung created these labels for a home-made beer.

Thorsteinn by Thorleifur Gunnar Gíslason, Hlynur Ingólfsson, Geir Ólafsson

(images via: the dieline)

This concept is a collaboration between three graphic design students at Iceland Academy of the Arts. “This beer brand concept was born on a sunday night at school were we were supposed to make a brand for a micro-brewery. The name is traditional Icelandic name that could be loosely translated into “thirsty one”.

Miller Boom Box

(images via: the dieline)

Would you expect packaging blog The Dieline’s top beer packaging design of the year to be created by one of the big brewers? Companies like Miller don’t generally compete well with smaller craft brewers when it comes to originality and aesthetics, but Miller definitely hit a high note with its boom box six-pack case.

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More Than Packaging: The History of Beer Cans

Beer has come a long way since breweries started experimenting with can packaging nearly 100 years ago. Over the years, collectors have enjoyed many styles.
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61 Exceptionally Creative Wine Label Designs

Wine labels that capture our attention are the most creative ones that feature beautiful artwork, sleek and elegant designs or the clever use of humor.
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Home Mathematics: 12 Fractal Furniture & Architecture Designs

29 Oct

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Geometry lies at the core of every design process, and as computer-aided design becomes more common, the patterns that can be found in architecture, furniture and home decor grow increasingly complex. The use of fractal geometry, in which a geometric pattern is repeated at smaller and smaller scales to produce irregular shapes and surfaces, is among the most visually interesting. Here are 12 fractal (and fractal-inspired) designs, from tables to the canopy over a train station.

Fractal Table by Platform Wertel Oberfell

(images via: platform-net.com)

Mimicking fractal growth patterns found in nature, the Fractal Table by Platform Wertel Oberfell features legs that resemble tree trunks that divide over and over again until they’re dense enough to form a patterned surface.

Homune Table by Michael Young

(images via: design boom)

36 individual hand-blown glass fractals – six forms repeating six times – come together in this amber-colored geometric table by Michael Young. Says the designer, “over the years we have experimented with fractal structures creating endless constructions, not art but design experimentation,  studies into the unknown and transpired this research into the new lasvit glass table. we discovered that by blowing glass into only one metal tool and cutting it at different lengths, we could make logical and functional structures, the first thing being this special edition table.”

Ornamented Columns by Michael Hansmeyer

(images via:  design boom)

These columns are so complex, at first they don’t seem as if they could possibly be real. Michael Hansmeyer first designed his ‘ornamented columns’ using algorithms and subdivision processes that result in incredibly varied topographies. The designs were then created in three dimensions using 1mm grey board sheets that were individually cut using a mill or laser, then stacked together on poles that run through the core.

>Cellscreen by Korban/Flaubert

(images via: korbanflaubert)

Made of anodized aluminum, this room screen by Korban/Flaubert takes its inspiration from the fractal shapes of honeycomb.

Diffusion Vessels by David Sutton

(images via: dezeen)

These unusual vessels were created by digitally fabricating the fractal growth patterns of natural phenomena like lightning and snowflakes through a process called ‘Diffusion Limited Aggregation’.

Embedded Project by HHD_FUN<

(images via: hddfun)

Architecture firm HHD_FUN created a pavilion in Beijing that features a pattern based upon a triangular fractal pattern. The faces of the pavilion were designed using a recursion algorithm, sub-dividing or ‘cracking’ each triangle into smaller and smaller triangles. At each ‘cracking’, new triangles are raised from the surface to create a three-dimensional pattern.

Absent Nature by Arik Levy

(images via: dezeen)

More than a thousand light tubes make up ‘Fractal Cloud’, a light installation by Arik Levy. “In the shadow of the Fractal Cloud light an enormous hexagonal ring of powerful light has been created from over one thousand light tubes woven onto another to become a single light-emitting textile projecting two small ricochets, one in colour and one in warmer white light.”

Fractal LED by Arik Levy

(images via: dezeen)

Arik Levy also completed this ‘Fractal LED’, another in his fractal LED light series.

Lisbon Oriente Station by Santiago Calatrava

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Lisbon’s Oriente Station by Santiago Calatrava is a dazzling example of mathematically inspired architecture. Calatrava is known for designs that are often rooted in natural patterns and forms, particularly sea life and birds.

Helios House

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Its design may not technically be fractal, but the Helios House gas station in Los Angeles definitely has the look of a mathematical pattern to it, with its faceted stainless steel facade.

Fractal LiveBook

(image via: design boom)

This unusual design is a notebook computer that can be broken into smaller pieces, each of which is a reduced-scale copy of the whole. Says designer Pedro Calle, “Fractal LIVEBOOK is everything you need, it can be split into pieces each of which can work individually as laptops, pads, music players and tweak them with apps and widgets. It also can work together as a console with different touch-screens with programs, menus, tools, palettes, brushes and audio samplers, separating physically the workspace. Find all the fun on customizing your LIVEBOOK’s fractals, share them with your friends and enjoy making the digital realm a more analogous experience.”

Hive Mind Office Table


(images via: omcdesign)

Offering more privacy and adaptability, and certainly better looks, the ‘Hive Mind’ office desk system is an alternative to conventional cubicles that can create fractal working spaces in various configurations.

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Flat-Pack Furniture: 3 Modern Designs from Noon Studio

Three designs from Noon Studio prove that simple is beautiful including a flat-pack cantilevered table, an oak and steel stool and an A-shaped leaning lamp.
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Art of Design: Amazing Artistic Furniture Designs

These 15 incredibly creative furniture designs are as much fine art and entertainment as they are functional seating, tables, beds and storage.
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Architecture Gets Graphic: 13 Ornamental Building Designs

22 Oct

[ By Steph in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

Modern architecture is not exactly known for being ornamental, but some architecture firms are beginning to pick away at the close association of modernism and minimalism. Led by Herzog & De Meuron, many practices have begun pulling bold, graphic and sometimes typographic elements into their building designs. Here are 13 examples of ornamental modern architecture.

Elbe Philharmonic Hall by Herzog & De Meuron

(images via: design boom)

Architecture firm Herzog & De Meuron is one of the main forces bringing some ornamentation back into modern architecture, and the Elbe Philarmonic Hall is a prime example. This concert hall, hotel and apartment complex in Hamburg, Germany looks like a wave shooting up out of the river, blending with its surroundings yet at the same time, standing out as a dramatic glassy pinnacle in the landscape. The building is currently under construction and expected to be completed soon.

John Lewis Department Store and Cineplex, UK

(images via: archinect)

A shimmering geometric silver facade meets glass printed with a beautiful abstracted vine print at the John Lewis Department Store and Cineplex by Foreign Office Architects. The glass allows light to stream into the store section of the building, while the monolithic back end keeps the theaters dark. The design on the glass pays tribute to Leicester’s textile heritage as well as that of the department store.

Lycee Louis Bleriot Extension, France

(images via: archdaily)

What could be an extraordinarily harsh, brutalist concrete rectangle is livened up considerably by a perforation of small diamond-shaped windows. The Lycee Louis Bleriot Extension by Christphe Gulizzi is a gymnasium that had to fit into a very limiting plot.

Scottish Parliament Building by Miralles Tagliabue EMBT, UK

(images via: galinksy)

Divisive and eclectic, the Scottish Parliament Building certainly doesn’t shy away from complexity. Designed by EMBT (Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue), the building cost an astonishing $ 750 million to construct and is ‘metaphorical’ in design. Explains Miralles, “The Parliament sits in the land. We have the feeling that the building should be land, built out of land. To carve in the land the form of gathering people together… Scotland is a land… The land itself will be a material, a physical building material…”

Tate Modern Expansion by Herzog & De Meuron, UK

(images via: dezeen)

Herzog & De Meuron’s extension to the Tate Modern art museum in London will add a new wing, as well as converting underground tanks previously used to store oil for a former power station into new gallery space. The main volume of the extension resembles a conventional rectangular building shape that has been twisted and skewed.

Art’otel Hoxton by Squire and Partners, UK

(images via: archiscene)

Squire and Partners designed the flagship hotel of Art’otel in London as a gold column covered in a perforated facade full of abstract patterns and rounded cut-outs that make the whole structure shimmer at night.

Forum by Herzog & De Meuron, Spain

(images via: arcspace)

Jutting above a public square like the bow of a massive ship, ‘Forum’ is an elevated triangular structure in Barcelona that invites the public into its reflective silver underbelly. Though the building looks darka nd intimidating approach, it holds a series of courtyards open to the sky that bring in light.

Bella Sky Hotel by 3XN Architects, Denmark

(images via: design boom)

In both its shape and in the complimentary pattern of windows on its exterior, the Bella Sky Hotel by 3XN Architects looks almost typographic. Newly open in Copenhagen, the hotel consists of two asymmetrical towers and looks entirely different depending on your vantage point.

40 Bond by Herzog & De Meuron, NYC

(images via: archdaily)

The standout feature on Herzog & De Meuron’s 40 Bond luxury residence in New York City is unquestionably this graffiti-inspired gate. A one-bedroom apartment in this building reportedly costs $ 18,000 a month.

C42 Citroen Flagship Showroom by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, France

(images via: openbuildings)

Diamond-shaped glass in soft shades of pastel pink that compliment the golden light streaming out of the interior characterize the new Citroën showroom on Champs Elysées in Paris. Once inside, that pink turns to red. Say the architects, “We originally conceived the use of red, the brand’s signature colour, in the glass panels but we decided it would be too bright from the outside. There were some concerns about the building not harmonising with its neighbours on the Champs Elysées, so we’ve created a filter that on first sight, masks the red colour from the exterior. This totally original filter, which is cleverly constructed inside the finished glass, also minimises the heat of the sun passing through, and will also create a diaphanous pearly white atmosphere inside the building.”

Sint Lucas Art Academy by Fashion Architecture Taste, Netherlands

(images via: dezeen)

A 1960s building was given a dramatic makeover with a decorative facade inspired by both Dutch gables and the Doge’s palace in Venice, Italy. Architecture firm ‘Fashion Architecture Taste’ gave the Sint Lucas Art Academy an entirely new visual identity.

McCormick Tribune Campus Center by OMA, U.S.

(images via: arcspace)

Working around a pre-existing elevated railway, OMA/Rem Koolhaas created a sound-isolating stainless steel tube that would form the basis of the McCormick Tribune Campus Center expansion at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The campus was originally designed by Mies Van der Rohe, whose portrait is emblazoned large on exterior and interior walls.

Midrash by Isay Weinfeld, Brazil

(images via: openbuildings)

Designed to house the Jewish Congregation of Brazil, the Midrash Building by Isay Weinfeld in Rio de Janeiro has a fiberglass mesh facade made up of Hebrew words.

Placebo Pharmacy by Klab Architects, Greece

(images via: archdaily)

The shape and decorative elements of Placebo Pharmacy by KLab is about as far from Walgreens as you can get. In this case, the perforated mesh facade on the exterior is covered in braille.

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Gone to Seed: 9 Green Plant-Sprouting Product Designs

17 Oct

[ By Delana in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

Once a product’s primary function has been served, most of us choose to either throw away or recycle whatever is left. An increasing number of products, though, are meant to be reincarnated as beautiful, growing plants. When their first lives are over, these products can be placed into the ground to be reborn.

(images via: Democratech)

A group of MIT design students wondered what would happen if, instead of throwing away their pencil stubs, they could do something constructive with them. Thus the Sprout pencil was born – a pencil that can be used just like any other, but when it becomes too little to use it can be planted in a bit of soil. A small capsule on the end contains a seed that will sprout and grow, providing enjoyment far beyond the initial usefulness of the pencil itself.

(images via: Yanko Design)

The To Be Nature chopstick is a similar concept that contains a seed in a starch capsule at one end. When your meal is over, you can plant the chopstick in soil and water it to activate the seed. The new plant will use the stick as a support as it grows up tall and strong. As intriguing as the concept is, however, it seems like an odd design oversight to place the seed capsule on the end of the chopstick that comes into contact with food.

(images via: Lifebox)

A revolution in packaging, the Life Box turns a serious environmental offender – the cardboard box – into a positive for the environment. After it has carried its cargo to its destination, the box can be torn up and soaked to activate the many seeds embedded in the cardboard. Each Life Box contains enough tree seeds to grow an entire forest ecosystem, with all of the species contained in the boxes approved as non-invasive in the United States.

(images via: Jamie Wieck)

Nearly everyone gives out business cards, so it makes sense to make them memorable and relevant to your line of work. Designer Jamie Wieck came up with this brilliant idea for a sprouting business card. The card is actually an envelope containing alfalfa or watercress seeds. When moistened per the instructions it develops into a lush miniature garden that, as an added humorous touch, doubles as a head of green hair for the face printed on the front of the card.

(images via: BLDGBLOG)

Landscape architects Tur & Partner certainly got plenty of business by handing out these miniature landscape business cards. At first the image on the front looks like simple plans for an outdoor garden, but once you introduce water and sunlight the seeds embedded in the card’s paper begin to sprout, creating a surreal little garden right on the card’s surface.

(images via: Struck)

Advertising creative firm Struck took a slightly different tactic with their business card for lawn company Lush; this business card is actually a tiny envelope containing a handful of grass seeds. There is no need to destroy the business card to grow the grass, which is probably best for long-term exposure. The recipient is encouraged to spread the seeds and then contact the lawn care company in order to care for the brand new ground cover plants.

(images via: RecycledIdeas)

Etsy seller RecycledIdeas has come up with something new and brilliant in the arena of wedding favors: plantable skeleton keys that blossom into beautiful, colorful wildflowers. The keys act as novel decorations and weights for table markers during the reception. After the wedding is over, the seed-impregnated keys go home with guests and into the soil – with some sun and some water, the joy of the wedding day can go on long after the reception is over in the form of cheerful blooms.

(images via: Yanko Design)

Designer Joon Kim thinks that it’s really a shame to throw away disposable cups after the coffee that came in them is all gone. The Y in Cup concept would give the cup a new purpose once your latte has been drained. The bottom of the cup contains a small seed packet along with growing instructions. When you fill the cup with soil and plant the seeds inside, the cup becomes a desktop flower pot. The design would be much more effective if the cup were biodegradable so that it could be simply placed into the soil outside once the plant gets big enough, but as this is only a concept at this point and not an actual product, there is still time for improvements to the idea.

(images via: Bloomin)

Bloomin was a pioneer in the seed paper market, being the first company to introduce a commercial printable, biodegradable, seed-impregnated paper that will actually grow plants when placed into soil and cared for. Their product line includes everything from greeting cards and journals to calendars, coasters, wine glass tags and gift wrap – all with tiny seeds embedded in the paper, just waiting to grow into herbs, vegetables or flowers.

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