Colon Bracket Design: 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Stay up with the latest trends in homewares

Check out the site for the International Homewares Association to stay up with the latest trends in homewares - with the main aim being to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. If the latest is black then we do white!

http://www.housewares.org/

Monday, November 29, 2010

Portfolio book manufacturer: Create your own coffee book

Check out this place for making our promotional book to give to prospective clients and manufacturers:

http://www.blurb.com/

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Homewares manufacturers looking for designs and ideas

http://www.lifetimebrands.com

http://www.jokari.com/inventors.html

http://www.aroma-housewares.com/

http://www.faultlessinventors.com/

http://www.oxo.com/

http://www.worldkitchen.com/

2011 Kitchen Tools Design Competition Invitation

Imagine: 1.8 million years ago our human ancestors first made tools, applying design thinking to solve daily frustrations. Those solutions helped them to survive and prosper, making food more accessible and―of huge significance―more tasty.

But improvement was slow. It took 2,500 years after it was invented in China before the fork showed up in the Middle East (ca. 600 AD) as a better way to hold food in place than a knife. And then, ah-ha! Fast forward 1000 years and the West starts to adopt it. A mere 150 years later, thousands of varieties are designed for specialized use.

But do breakthroughs really have to take that long?

As we have come to learn over the eons, the design of a great tool goes beyond function and aesthetics. A well-designed tool helps us be more productive, more accomplished, and more satisfied. That is true especially in preparing food, whose process and outcome sustain us. Food gives us nutrients; the tools we prepare it with can make the process easy or dangerous, fun, fast, smooth or crisp.

Whether your food means pasta in Pisa, salad in Seattle, or life on the go in Shanghai, Mumbai or Dubai, your world is changing. Cultures and economies are making new demands. We don’t often have 5 hours to make dinner, but we want food well prepared, with the right proportions, flavors, texture, and nutrients. And, by the way, we’re tired of nicks, broken nails, and cleaning up spills.

Can you rise to this design challenge and push past the old standards with new kitchen tool solutions that meet our evolving lifestyles, demographics, cultural expectations and economics? Can you conceive of new tools and techniques, cross-pollinating from other cultures, or perfecting our tried-and-true tools, improving the cook’s experience while prepping, cooking or serving?

Then I sincerely hope you will accept my invitation to enter our third international design competition, Kitchen Tools.

Your canvas is kitchen tools for the full spectrum of preparing, cooking, and serving food, but not the actual devices that cook or serve food. Please visit for the Official Rules, content details and entry forms to meet our January 7, 2011, deadline. I also think you will value the design investigations presented by the honorees from our first (2009 TEA-OFF!) and the second (2010 Redefining Dining!) international competitions.

We will celebrate the winners in March 2011 at the International Home & Housewares Show®, where we hope to show the housewares industry the value of design innovation and bestow three awards, including $6,000 USD, in addition to travel, accommodations, and $250 for travel expenses for each winner to attend the International Home & Housewares Show®.

Each year the competition entries have grown in number and national representation. I look forward to seeing how you apply design innovation to bring the world a better way to measure, mix, stir, whip, mash, crack, flip, and season.
Here’s to great tools and great food!

http://www.whatsbubbling.net/default.asp

Lamp Lighting Solutions 2011 Prizes

Light is a fundamental element of life and a key aspect of any architectural project. Prizes will be awarded to projects that have successfully met the architectural lighting needs of an interior or exterior space, having created a positive synergy between architecture, interior design, landscaping and lighting. The Lamp Lighting Solutions Awards value the creativity, innovation and sustainability of lighting projects, regardless of the manufacturer or the brand of lights used in the project.

Categories

1. ARCHITECTURAL EXTERIOR LIGHTING: lighting projects for exterior illumination such as: facades, sport facilities, monuments, canopies, etc.
2. INTERIOR LIGHTING: lighting projects for interior illumination such as: shops, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls, single buildings, offices, etc.
3. URBAN AND LANDSCAPE LIGHTING: lighting projects for urban illumination such as: squares, roundabouts, avenues, streets, parks, bridges, etc.
4. STUDENTS PROPOSALS: this year's theme is "Nomads"; lighting projects for mobility areas such as: airports, harbors, metro, bus and tram stations, taxi stands, bicycle stops, etc. Only idea-based projects will be accepted.

*Keep in mind that the projects must incorporate innovation and sustainability elements in all categories.
*Entertainment lighting and light design projects will not be accepted.

Selection of Finalists and Awarding of Prizes

The jury will determine 4 finalists in each category and 4 winners:

Architectural Exterior Lighting Award: 10.000 €
Interior Lighting Award: 10.000 €
Urban and Landscape Lighting Award: 10.000€
Students Proposals Award: 3.000 €

The jury's verdict will be announced at a special evening event in Barcelona during the month of June 2011. The award cannot be declared void or granted "ex aequo". The LIGHTING CONCEPTS '11 book will include the finalists' projects. The finalists must hand in all the necessary graphic material required for the book. The author of the photographs must be indicated.

http://www.lamp.es/en/prizes/objectives

The Edge furniture design competition

Emerging designers give green light
The Edge – furniture design competition at AIFF 2011

Clover leaves, Thai tradition, Gaudi and Australia’s gold fields are among the inspirations for exhibitors in The Edge when it returns to the Australian International Furniture Fair in 2011. Held from 2-4 February, the leading design competition will celebrate its eighth year unearthing emerging furniture designers at Sydney’s Exhibition Centre.

Featuring 46 promising designers from around Australia and beyond, the competition will showcase 56 products in Student, Commercial, Concept and Green categories.

Lighting has emerged as a strong focus, with a diverse range of lamps, pendants and standing lights entered. From the sculptural Twist Light by Ashlyn Miso Park and the woven Wheft056 Pendant by James Hargraves to the feminine Laced Light by Peter Oag, designs promise to be imaginative.

Other highlights include a contemporary clock that appears to float, stools modelled on teeth and robots, and an outdoor chair made of ‘bum warming’ pebbles. Recycled cardboard and reclaimed timber continue to stand out as popular sustainable materials.

The Student Award continues to thrive as the leading category in The Edge, boasting an impressive 32 out of 56 competition entries from the University of Western Sydney, Curtin University, Lidcombe TAFE, the University of Technology, University of New South Wales, Deakin University, the Central Institute of TAFE (WA) and RMIT. A vast majority of entries will also compete for the Green Award, making The Edge 2011 the most eco-friendly yet.

The Edge offers four Awards for Excellence in Design that will be presented on the opening day of the Fair and include:
·         Best new prototypes designed by a tertiary Student
·         Best new prototypes/Concept designed by a professional designer
·         Best new Commercial release designed by a professional designer
·         Green Award for the best new sustainable product.

Winners of The Edge Concept Award and The Edge Student Award receive cash prizes. The winner of The Edge Green Award and the winner of The Edge Commercial Award will each receive a stand package at the 2012 Fair.

What: The Edge 2011, at THE AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE FAIR 2011

Where: Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour

The Edge – Awards Presentation: Wednesday 2 February 11.30am

The Edge displayed daily:

Wednesday          2 February            10am – 5pm
Thursday              3 February            10am – 5pm
Friday                   4 February           10am – 4pm

Event organiser:                Australian Exhibitions and Conferences Pty Ltd

Exhibitor Info.:                   AEC, tel 03 9654 7773 or furniture@aec.net.au
www.aiff.net.au