Categories / Art and Photography, Design and Interiors

Vitra Design Museum collection poster

Vitra_poster
Fancy a handy guide to the best of mid-century design that doubles up as a classy piece of artwork? You need the Vitra Design Museum collection poster.

Vitra, as you probably know, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of classic furniture design and this poster is the German company’s extensive collection. Its incredibly detailed too, with 224 images packed onto the poster, each complete with title and basic details. Just about everything you need to know about classic 20th century design.

Sized at 840 x 1190mm, it’s available to buy online from the Vitra Shop, priced at 21.42 Euros, which is around £15.

Find out more at the Vitra Design Shop

Categories / Music

Zombies play 40th anniversary Odessey & Oracle shows

Zombies
If someone asked you to name a psychedelic classic, chances are you would name Sgt Pepper’s…, Pet Sounds or Love’s Forever Changes. But you probably wouldn’t instantly think of The Zombies’ Odessey & Oracle. Shame really, as it’s as good – if not better – than those previously-mentioned albums.

It’s now 40 years old and to celebrate, the original members are playing three shows in London. The first half of the show will feature Zombies hits (like She’s Not There) for example, with the second half a run-through of the original Odessey & Oracle album, including the stunning Beechwood Park and the classic Time Of The Season.

The shows are at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire from March 7th – 9th 2008. Tickets are on sale now. If you can’t wait, you can always go and buy the album.

Tickets from the Ticket Web website

More on the Odessey & Oracle album

Via Electric Roulette

Categories / Gadgets and Tech

Coming soon: Portable Sega Megadrive

Sega_handheld

Feeling nostalgic for the Sega Megadrive? Well, you can soon get one to carry around with you. As long as you’re in Brazil that is.

TecToy – a company local to that particular country – has done a deal with Sega to produce a portable Sega Megadrive, which should be on sale from December 5th. For a price that’s equivalent to £50, you can pick up the machine above pre-loaded with 20 Sega classics, including the likes of Ecco, Sonic & Knuckles, Alex Kidd and Golden Axe.

But there are downsides. For one, there’s no way of adding more games, so you’re stuck with the 20. And it is powered by 3x AAA batteries – which are unlikely to last long, so budget for that too. If that’s no drawback, these are likely to flood into the UK as imports in early 2008.

Find out more at the TecToy website

Categories / Design and Interiors, Homeware

Art Deco Side Table Light

Urban_mojo_retro_desk_lamp_307 I’m not sure if this lamp is based on the work of a particular designer but it is simply called the Art Deco Side Table Light.

This name describes its style perfectly as it incorporates several key art deco features. Zigzags were much used in art deco design, as was chrome which was a brand new material at the time. The overall product has a style and glamour that epitomises the Art Deco movement.

It costs £199 and is available immediately from Mojo Interiors.

Categories / Design and Interiors

“A Century of Chairs” Online Exhibition

59_6Whilst nothing can beat the experience of visiting an exhibition in person, it isn’t always possible for a variety of reasons, namely time, money or location, but online exhibitions are overcoming those obstacles, bringing displays to wider audiences. A good example is the Design Museum’s current online exhibition ‘A Century of Chairs’.

Not only would you have had be in London and pay an admission fee to see the real-life exhibition, you would have had to have done this in 2004 when the exhibition took place. But for those of you who missed out, there is now the chance to see it online. As its name suggests, the exhibition follows the trends in design and manufacture of chairs from the late 1800s to the start of the 21st Century. There are clear photographs of the best known chairs from each decade along with informative text.

To visit the exhibition, go to the Design Museum website.   Its free, you can go anytime you want and you want have to face crowds of tourists either!

Categories / Books, Design and Interiors

Knitted Icons – knit your own Audrey Hepburn

Knitted_icons
Knitting is back and it’s cool – especially when you are making Knitted Icons.

Knitted Icons is a book of patterns for making – you guessed it – icons past and present, including everyone from Madonna and Jackie O to Chairman Mao and Che Guevara. Each doll is 10 inches tall and apparently, easy enough for the beginner to attempt.

And if you don’t want to risk your cash, here’s a bonus – you can download the pattern for the Audrey Hepburn doll absolutely free by following the link below. And if you want the book, you can order it from Urban Outfitters for $15.95 (around £8).

Download the Audrey Hepburn doll pattern

Find out more about the book at the Urban Outfitters website