graphic design, art, typography and architecture

During a brief respite in a busy day, I unlocked the shackles that tie me to my Mac and made myself a coffee. I could ogle that espresso machine all day long: beautiful proportions, great colour (my favourite), nice detailing, uncluttered design and oh so easy to use; and, to boot, it makes great coffee.

And that got me thinking about the design within my own environment, the objects, gadgets et al that I see just about every day. The objects you feel comfortable with, those things which, no matter how often you see them, give you a little tingle. And if they can do it for discs, then why not a Desert Island Design. Marooned on desert island, with otherwise only a palm tree in sight, you have the opportunity to take with you three of your most cherished pieces of design. Considering the hypothetical and rather implausible scenario, I think it’s quite within the rules to submit anything, however impractical.

So here are mine:
From left to right, 1/ poster by Hayes Anderson; 2/ Francis Francis Espresso Machine; 3/ Grid Systems by Joseph Muller-Brockmann.

I thought too, that this experiment, might reveal something about my readers. How much can we tell about the “chooser” from the chosen?

So, go on, share your objects of desire. If you wish to submit a picture, or video, then mail to support{@}redsil.com or provide a link to it on Flickr/Youtube, or wherever.

Reader-submitted Desert Island Designs (”DiDs”):
Sharon:

From left to right:
1. A wooden sculpture from a carver in Cuba. I love the curves and different shadows it casts, depending upon the light. It is also smooth and cool to the touch.
2. Canadian First Nations painter Daphne Odjig’s print “And some watched the sunset”. Odjig, now in her 90’s and still painting, mixes traditional aboriginal styles and images with cubist and surreal influences. I love the colour and composition.
3. A teapot, made by a Saltspring Island, British Columbia potter Meg Buckley. It reminds me of a robin’s egg, and it keeps tea hot for ages!

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Mirko Humbert:

From left to right:
1. The CSS reference book. I know how geeky it may sound to bring a css book in a place where I get no computer, but I read this one every week, discovering new little tricks every time.
2. My EOS 300. Even if there is nothing to capture, it’ll do it nicely
3. My favorite Shigeki Tomura’s etching. If you want to see more of his work, check out this link.

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Tara:
Taylor Big Baby guitar.

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yuuco:

1: I like cute packages. An envelope for string from Germany. Boxes for ink bottle from England . A Japanese match case.

2: A violin. I love the shape of violin. The curve is very beautiful. Shape of instruments is sophisticated.

3: This is one of my favorite magazines. They talk about slow life, food and so on. (Japanese only.)

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Jo from Jo’s Web

1: “The Art of Looking Sideways” by Alan Fletcher. This my most favourite design book, it’s full of creative scraps and it would definitely keep my mind entertained. I can’t get enough of it now so on a desert island it would be great. I could also use it as a rather stiff pillow as it’s quite chunky!2: Well it goes without saying, I’m not going anywhere without my Apple Mac. Actually this one is a bit of a fantasy as I would take with me an Apple Powerbook not my G4. It’d be a bit too big for my suitcase, but hey I’d take my friends! He doesn’t use it much anyway and it needs a better home as long as I didn’t get too much sand in it!

3: For those of you who know me, my third choice would have to be cheese and crackers. I’m a cheese addict and I am sure I would go completely mad on my desert island without them, and if we are talking design what’s better designed than the humble cracker! - lol!