Tag: Collectable Design

Two months in one! August and September were exciting and, as always, busy months at Wolf PR. We welcomed two new employees Lauren Glazer and Drew Zeiba. We also added another great client, Action Method whose colorful notebooks are perfect for organizing ideas and inspiring productivity.

–

Claste – Editor at Large

In August, Katy B. Olsen interviewed one of Claste’s founding partners, Quinlan Osborne, for a feature in Editor at Large. In the interview Quinlan described Montreal’s small design community where everyone knows one another. Over several years Quinlan and the other two founding partners, Martin Poitras and Philip Hazan, collaborated on projects and traveled together to international design fairs before founding Claste. The trio continued to collaborate in their home city, “when we decided to start looking for manufacturers it was obvious to us that all the talent we needed was right here in our own backyard it just needed a little convincing that what we were asking them to do was really just a variation of what they had always done for us, plus they already understood our obsession with details and perfection from years of working together,” described Quinlin. After only six months since their launch in May, Quinlin looks forward to expanding their collection and continuing to build relationships in the design community

o 

Robert Hessler at Still House – New York Spaces

Known as one of the most thoughtfully curated boutiques on the Lower East Side, Still House features the work of early and mid-career designers and artists. Robert Helsser’s understated yet warm ceramic vessels fit perfectly into Still House’s mix of minimal and organic work. In September New York Spaces featured Hessler’s ceramics in “Flawless Perfection.” Describing Hessler’s work editor Nicole Haddad writes, “[his] hand-thrown, one-of-a-kind porcelain vessels are the result of 22 years of trial and error, exploration of shape and color, chemistry, and improvisation.” Even after 22 years Hessler is still delighted and often surprised with final results, explaining “there are always elements you can’t entirely control, the beauty lies in the imperfections and in the joy and excitement of discovery.”

0

Claste – Interior Design Homes

“Two architects and a sales exec walk into a studio…” is the opening sentence in “A Delicate Balance,” a full-page article in the September issue of Interior Design Homes, which presented the work of Claste. But don’t let the first sentence or the apparent simplicity of Claste’s work fool you; Interior Design Homes’ editor describes how the first collection, Tension, was conceived “as a give-and-take between fragility and stability” and “constructed from a deliberately narrow range of materials.” The article includes Claste’s classic photos of their work resting on a snow-covered field or perched on a frozen lake…did we mention they are Canadian?

o

ZigZagZurich – Interior Design Homes

In the spirit of the end of summer, which we always hate to see go, Interior Design homes featured the collaboration between ZigZagZurich and Sunny Todd Prints. Aptly titled wildest dreams, the article included colorful top-down photos of unmade beds that look like they were plucked straight out of a chic but fun beach house, each bed adorned with a different striped or polka-a-dot pattern. And, yes, we have imagined the beautiful pillow fights.

o

Action Method – Fast Company Design

With almost ten years in the business Action Method notebooks have stood the test of time, particularly with artists and designers. Each page of the Action Method notebook is graphically divided into four categories: action steps, focus points, back burner, and general notations. In “A New Notebook for the Multi-Tasking Generation” Fast Co Design introduced the Reduced Action Book, “a monochromatic, branding-free take on the original, colorful notebook” launched by Ghostly. Ghostly founder Sam Valenti IV describes the creation of the updated notebook, “we wanted to see how far the design could be reduced while maintaining what is exceptional about the product: the materials and their intention.” How very Dieter Rams of them!

At Wolf PR, we are always excited to see May come, the anticipation of pop-up installations, launch parties, closing parties, lacquered disco parties, sound bath parties… and the Javits center filled with exciting design work from around the world. However, now that design “week” has slyly taken over the whole month, with exhaustion we welcomed the first of June. Wolf PR hit the ground running in May adding a great new client; Montreal based Claste, whose inaugural collection Tension debuted at ICFF against the backdrop of a white fur wall.

–

Claste in Wallpaper*

Post ICFF 2017, Wallpaper* published a distinctly home-focused review of design week recounting the residential, intimate, and interior nature of much of the work. In contrast to this largely comfy and nostalgic vibe, Julie Baumgardner highlighted Claste’s lounge chairs How Fragile This Love, writing: “Newcomer from Montreal, Claste debuted at ICFF a seriously sexy line of ‘pure material’ chairs in glass and pink onyx that gave a ‘slight sense of unease’, tells studio co-founder Philip Hazan.” We were thrilled by the great reception of Claste’s minimal and architectural collection, which was also featured in ICFF reviews by Sight Unseen, Apartment Therapy, and Homedit.

–

Kikkerland in Entrepreneur Magazine

Always testing the edge of what’s new, quirky home-goods design giant Kikkerland has sponsored a student design challenge since 2009. The June 2017 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine featured a full-page article on Kikkerland’s 2016 challenge. The article title fits last year’s outcome, where the results were just as much of a challenge for Kikkerland founder Jan van der Lande as the design call was for participating Rhode Island School of Design students – “Cast a Wider Net for Great Ideas…But Don’t be Afraid to Embrace the Bland Ones.” The winning project, a highly functional cord organizer, selected by partner retailer the Container Store didn’t embody the offbeat sense of humor Kikkerland is know for. But as Entrepreneur editor, Stephanie Schomer noted, Cable Loft’s huge retail success gave van der Lande pause; bland ideas can be great ideas too.

–

Gabriel Scott in Design Milk

Design team Gabriel Scott’s major inspirations – architecture and jewelry design – were artfully merged in their two new collections Myraid  and Briolette, unveiled at Salone in Milan. In May Design Milk published an image rich piece that featured close up photographs highlighting the gem-like facets and connections reminiscent of jewelry settings embodied in Gabriel Scott’s two newest collections.

–