No clever title just read.....

So i finally figured out why people say that melbourne shopping is better than sydney shopping.. because melbourne is the opposite to sydney.

Today i wandered around the CBD and just followed my feet... thankfully i didn't end up anywhere too strange i actually saw all the things that i wanted to see ^^

Following a tip from a the lady at the bead store i even ended up going to a nice exhibition [i'm not going to name it as i would have to email people and let them know and la la la la... cant be bothered.] It was amazing....

I was suprised actually there was quite a few lolita stores in melbourne and cute asian fashion everywhere even a harajuku crepe store [ I know someone who would love that].

I want to upload pics but blogger is being odd... so yeah. sorry guys.

Mini cardboard lounge

Went out with my friends on Australia day, and besides from thinking that it would be a cool day [which it wasn't], that i shouldn't wear green or yellow cos no one would be [everyone else was], and that i shouldn't buy a flag [ i probably should have], something caught my eye.

It was this little folded up package made of cardboard with printing on it. A little bigger than an A3 sheet with a handle i was intrigued, so whilst trying to avoid getting my eyes poked out by Australian flags, i hunted it down. I thought at first that it was a cardboard stool, but i wasn't sure since there didn't seem to be much cardboard. So hunting one down i got one [it was free!] and unfolded it.


It was a mini Cardboard lounge for making sitting on the floor more comfortable!

I probably should have taken a picture of it folded but kind of forgot.


This is what it looks like unfolded, it is so cool! that triangle bit allows you to lean back and relax and listen to whatever concert you choose to serenade your ears too. and that flat bit on the ground keeps your bum clean and lightly more comfy than if you had been sitting on the ground [cardboard is more comfortable to sit on than asphalt!]

This would have to be one of the first commercially produced piece of cardboard furniture that I've seen en mass, while i know a lot of cardboard furniture has been created, i have not seen it freely distributed to public. This is a very good move by vivacity, it is event related, handy, can be reused and recycled and is totally different to the other usual freebies that companies give.

Just like brand recognition wise, i saw that they had a whole garage full of folded up lounges like this, and they were everywhere. Here is a picture of them in use, just think this but rows and rows of seeing these red triangles everywhere.

Did i mention that they are light, easy to fold and really really comfy to sit on? Nothing was wasted as even the hole for the handle, was cut so that the part that was cut out folded over to become the lock so that the lounge stayed neatly folded when you carried it around. Admittedly they did use glue [which thinking back to our cardboard stool that we had to make] did take a bit of shine away but i suppose it means that it can be lighter and reusable, as long as the clue does not prevent recycling there is totally no objections.

So absolute kudos to vivacity for their awesome design, i can see the design being used for open air cinema's and all out doors sitting down on the floor and listening events.

Great to see cardboard furniture making it into the public scene.

Take that! No Photo No video! I still got pretty pictures!

So admittedly my pretty pictures are of name cards cos i wasn't allowed to take any pictures, have no clue why, i was just going to show the world, which to my knowledge for a graduating student was a good thing.

So anyway this grad exhibition [not going to mention the uni cos they might get grumpy leaking too much information, like taking photos xx]

Any ways, some pretty interesting stuff, i liked how they made the exhibition for all the design stuff that they did.

I LOVED the fashion stuff. Oh my i am so in love with a jacket by Charlotte Hicks, amazing and breathtaking, i was considering breaking the rules just so that i could have a picture of that beautiful jacket. Oh how to describe, the pattern would be the most complicated thing in the world! It is structured and yet feminine, using draping on the bell sleeves to add sophistication to the otherwise simple jacket. I hope she becomes a famous fashion designer so that one day when I'm a famous [insert product here] designer I'll be able to buy her clothes!!

On a side note some of the name cards are so awesome, Riko Chan's has this nice glossy part that says fashion designer. Her fashion stuff is equally cool, very cute, pretty jap loli type things, almost costume like very sweet.

So yeah, to sum all my rantings up, the grad exhibition was pretty good, some things obviously better than others. I preferred the fashion exhibition to the product one, not sure if that is more related to the fact that I'm female or that it was more exciting.

The Bond.... not james [ah... i'm lame]

So today i took a walk down to king street wharf and walked to the Bond, to look at the UNSW 4th year IDES grad show. There were some pretty cool concepts, some awesome [some not so]models, Some cool ideas [notice the word ideas] and things that i wished that i could actually buy.

Took some photoes thought i would share it will everyone. This is for the people who wanted to go but couldn't....

I really liked this, Tablet book type thing, i really want one, heh bing a girl and all, only issues that i have is with the model is that you can see the glue.. which is a shame... the rest of it looks cool tho, i think the screen works, there was a cable leading out of it.
The model was super sweet, apparently this type of idea has been around for quite some time [and some people that i went with said that it was inefficient] not sure about that, but i can see why you would use the sun, i think its quite cool.
This model was very nice, i really would love to know how they made the bottom part... like so pro. The rest of the model was awesome too.

Interesting, i like the model, i don't think that water is quite that blue though.

Don't be deceived by its simple looking exterior, this bike gear, is super cool, i just haven't figured out how it works.

This is a sleek model, the inclusion of the person is much needed to identify scale, i must say tho that for such a futuristic sleek and stylish unit the top leaf pattern doesn't quite fit. If it had been just frosted abstract leaves it would have made more sense just in keeping with the whole feel of the piece.

Office cubicle, interesting nice model [look at the detail on the chairs!] but i wouldn't like the keyboard to be integrated into the table as has been done here, there would be no ergonomic feedback and drive me nuts.

This was cool, but the model the poster and the scooter should have been kept together overall. pulling them apart made it a little distracting/ disjointed. Love how it is 1:1 scale.


Umbrella + water tank = this thingy. [oh I'm so technical xx]

Overall the exhibition was of a high standard, i thought it was a bit weird that the people who didn't do a major project was just bunched in the middle. That kind of split up the major projects which i think should be together in one continuous flow.

The posters were all typical UNSW in style [ i think we are starting to try and create a brand UNSW IDES]. There were a lot of water related projects for some reason, not sure why... a few minor details i would have liked to be nicer since it is the prestigious bond building, but meh whatever. It was worth a looksie. Don't expect that you'd spend a long time though, there aren't as many as i thought there would be.

Annoying [insert angry/ annoyed face here]

I went to Tap gallery to have a look at the final year Canberra projects but it was already gone, they had left a day early.

XX

I wanted to take pictures and get all excited... but no... i just got sore legs instead.

Anyways, it was a little disappointing, but yeah, I'll see the next one.. our uni's exhibition.

Anyone want to come?

Design walkabout

I went to two exhibitions yesterday since they were both quite close to each other. The first that i went to was Object gallery to see Bombay Sapphire design awards. A very small space, but a very nice gallery all of the 10 finalists displayed was very impressive. I liked the exhibition much more than power house. Took some pics a few turned out nice.

The second gallery that i went too was TAP off oxford street to see SRD Change 08. Change 08 is an exhibition of final year graduate design projects that uphold the values of Society of Responsible Design. Change08 is about making designers aware of the responsibility that we have in creating a product, whatever it may be, from the manufacture to the end of life all these things need to be thought of in terms of its physical and social impact. The exhibitions where different and varied from industrial design, to landscape and textiles.

Both were very good but both quite small, perhaps that is just the way that most exhibitions are i think I'm just used to seeing exhibitions in museums, which means that there are a few small ones all joined together.

Blood and Boom... not as exciting as it sounds.

Went to the power house yesterday hoping to comeback home enlightened and inspired, but unfortunately it was not the case. I was sorely disappointed with the whole thing.

Along with the design exhibitions [and looking at Rina's lamp], i was particularly interested in Design boom mart as well as the young blood market, hoping to glean new and interesting ideas. As an avid follower of markets i can't say that these were any different. Design boom mart was slightly better than Young blood, as the ideas were more fresh and different... and less overpriced [but still overpriced non the less].

The ideas in Young blood weren't particularly interesting or inspiring... i saw a few clothes that were quite innovative and cool [not the Shirts with a stiletto printed on them... they were -no comment-] but all had scary pricing. A lot of jewellery, not much else. There was one thing that stuck particularly in my mind from design boom was a poly prop bowl and light folded origami style in the form of a lotus, very beautiful. There was also a jewelry stand with laser cut pendants, while it was overpriced i couldn't help but marvel at how fine the cutting was. Oh what i would do for a laser cutter. I suggest to anyone thinking that young blood market is going to be an inspiring event, design boom mart is better for fresh ideas, but just to let you know... design boom is small... so don't expect more than 1/2 an hours worth of entertainment.