We seem to have featured a glut of Mondrian-inspired homeware and fashion of late – probably because there’s so much of it around. Including these Mondrian tumblers.
Available from MoMA, they’re based (as ever) on the Dutch artist’s geometric paintings of the 1930s, offering up some bold glassware in red, blue and yellow.
Sized around 4 x 3 inches you can pick one up for $7.95, which is around £4.
Find out more at the MoMA website
We heard rumours of this some weeks ago, but now Microsoft has officially launched the limited edition Joy Division Zune media player.
It’s been designed by Factory Records designer Peter Saville, based on the Joy Division Unknown Pleasures sleeve and pre-loaded with the recent Joy Division documentary. Other things to note are 80GB of storage and a limited edition of just 500.
If you want one, the launch date is June 17th and the price is $399 (around £200).
Regular readers will know that Swifty recently re-designed the Modculture site, but is perhaps better known for the likes of the Talkin’ Loud, Blue Note and Mo Wax labels as well as the Straight No Chaser magazine (amongst many other projects and designs). He’s an artist too – producing his very own Swifty-style pop art.
And if you want to invest in his art, you can pick it up at this weekend’s Art Car Boot Sale in London, where you’ll find etchings likes the Green Shield above, as well as the silkscreen prints like the Organic Swifties Tomato Soup can amongst many other works. Look out for the Scrawl Collective Camp.
The Art Car Boot Fair is a great place to pick up work from new and established artists in a ‘car boot’ environment, with loads of family entertainment, food, a farmers market, plenty of surprises and all the haggling you would expect. It takes place on Sunday 8th June from midday to 6pm at 146 Brick Lane, London E1. Admission is £3.
Not the most exciting piece of furniture you’ll ever see, but the Colonial Table is probably one of the more useful.
Designed by Hans Bellmann in the late 40s (and produced originally in the 1950s), it’s been reissued today by Vitra, offering a circular table for just about any use. And with an adjustable height and collapsible design, that should cover most things.
Available with a solid beech base with maple veneer or cherrywood top and in two sizes, you can pick the table up from £380.
Afro Coffee doesn’t just offer tea and coffee in stylish packaging, it also creates some very eye-catching retro design.
Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Afro Coffee has developed from a themed coffee house to a design-conscious retailer, with designs based on ‘a Pan African view of contemporary urban Africa’ – highlighting how cool this culture is. And the side effect is some very cool merchandise, including t-shirts, bags, mugs and even a wine carrier that doubles up as a cool retro radio (above).
The items have been limited to the local network so far, but an online shop is due to launch in the next couple of months (with worldwide shipping), as well as a new store in Austria. See the website for more details or check out an interview with the people behind the company at the PingMag website.
A 1960s classic is back in 2008 – Quasar inflatable furniture, courtesy of Branex.
First available in 1969, the Quasar range (designed by Quasar Khanh) was seen as a reaction to traditional solid structures – becoming a big favourite amongst the hippy generation. But its more than a political statement – Quasar furniture is easily transportable, solid (small strips are added to the structure for support and shape) and made of triple strength PVC. And of course, there’s those space age looks.
The models offered by Branex are the a Chesterfield sofa, a Satellite armchair and a Pouf stool. All are available in a choice of white or orange and, you’ll be pleased to know, with a repair kit, with prices starting at around £75.
