| Nest Pretty Things | Tamar Frenkel-Schechner | Garden of Necklaces |
| This spring all I plan on wearing is a white tank top and to spice things up I’ll add colorful necklaces. Any of the nest pretty things necklaces will be perfect with any of my white tank tops. FYI, Tamar has a blog full with colors and joy. You should have a look. www.nestprettythings.com |
| Ravit Mahalal | Ceramic Touch |
| Ravit is a designer who always tries to experiment with new materials. I really like the way she uses ceramic and porcelain dish as a jewelry piece. How about you? You can get in touch with Ravit here: ravitma {at} gmail {dot} com |
| Nitsa Rona | Pine Cone |
| The weather is a bit grayish today here in Israel. I can’t really put my finger on it but this pine cone necklace made sense especially today. www.nitsarona.com |
| Know Hope | Moving Images |
| I’m not that into street art but for some reason Know Hope’s characters melt my heart. You can read an interview with him here and even watch him talk about his art here. If you want to know more you should visit Know Hope’s flickr page and facebook page. You can write to Know Hope at: thisislimbo {at} gmail {dot} com |
| Yonil | Jonathan Lax | Love It! |
| It’s confession time. The first post I ever wanted to write was about Loveat branding and their beverages’ illustration in particular. At that time all I knew was that veecee creative partners was the design studio. Little did I know that Jonathan Lax aka Yonil is the mind behind these stunning illustrations! You can actually identify each ingredient! So, now all I have left to do is to thank Oren Fait, the guy who solved it all ;) You can read his Hebrew friendly post here or just stare at the bigger pictures. FYI, Loveat is my favorite organic coffee break. www.yonil.com |
| One On One Break | K.Brat | No Boundaries |
| I was so exited when Keren wrote me after she stumbled on my Sense Of Fashion page. Her new collection focuses on leisure handmade bags and belts and comes straight from London. On a side note, I have to admit that I’m loving Keren’s brand logo designed by the much talented Gianfranco Azzaroccini. {Photos by Zhanna Malaya} www.kbrat.co.uk |
| I’d love to hear about you, your journey, how it all began. | |
| I am coming from a fine art background, I’ve been painting my entire life, and I think moving on in this path was the only thing that made sense. When I was 22 I started getting into fashion and fabric as a medium, seeking self expression thinking in 3D shapes, and the female form for inspiration. I was in a point in my life that I needed a fresh start, and London was right there… So I took a leap of faith and moved to London, and graduated a BA in Fashion design and technology, at the London College of Fashion. I think moving here and starting all over again has taught me so much and is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. | Keren |
| Can you describe your work process for me? | |
| My work process is usually to find a concept which I’m inspired by and research it, then I do a lot of sketches, experiment with materials, weights and colours. I then do flat pattern cutting and work on creating the right sculpted like-shape. Then I do my first toil and get a full picture of the garment/bag. I think in fashion a part of the process is also to really understand the market and what the buyers will want to purchase, so understanding your core consumer needs is highly important too in building a collection, there is a big difference between designing for your own need and building a collection for the wide market. | Keren |
| Which materials do you work with? | |
| This collection; ‘Boundaries’ 2010 is all about leather bags and belts, so I’m using different kinds of leather such as calfskins, fully grained goatskins, lambskins, heavy shoulder cow-skins and pony hides, with retained hair. All treated, sewn and coated by hand. I use solid brass fastenings and the bags are lined with beautiful Tibetan silks that I hand pick on my yearly visits to India. I am fascinated by leather craftsmanship, and it’s all self-taught, as I studied womenswear and not accessories, so learning is a part of the fun (and it’s extremely humbling too). | Keren |
| What is the most unusual piece you have ever designed? | |
| From this collection, I think the Nico bag stands out, but I am also very passionate about the custom-made prints I designed recently for my next season’s dresses and soft separates. | Keren |
| Who is your ideal costumer? | |
| I always picture my client to be a strong, confident and independent woman who appreciate quality of lines and of materials and want to stand out from the crowd. | Keren |
| What’s next? What is your dream? | |
| The dream is finding utopia, being a better person… That’s the real work we have here and the real responsibility I think we should all share. But when it comes to a career, I want the label to be in more shops and department stores, I want to enter the market in Berlin and Tokyo. I also miss womenswear, I hope next season I could go back to designing womenswear and perhaps show in Fashion week in the up and coming coming seasons… | Keren |
| I’m curious to know where does your inspiration come from? | |
| Anthropology is one of my biggest love affairs, I am mesmerised by the beauty of remote cultures, and I find it enriching and uplifting. I hope I’ll always be able to travel and see beauty in the remotest places. I am inspired by religion, tribal culture with their myth and folklore. Of course, being a practicing Buddhist, the path I chose is always incorporated with my craft. | Keren |
| Can you tell me which designers inspire you? | |
| There are really so many, to name a few: Ann Demeulemeester, Alexander McQueen RIP, Rick Owens, Junya Watanabe and Rei Kawakubo the designers behind Comme des Garcons, and Yohji Yamamoto. | Keren |
| Yael Shtainberg | Hello Kitty |
| So cute… Had to share it with you. Head to Yael’s Etsy shop for more cuteness. BTW, Yael would love to have you as her friend on her facebook page. You can get in touch with Yael here: yaelshtainberg {at} gmail {dot} com |
| Bakery | Gilli Kuchik | Industrial Upholstery |
| Gilli is a member of the design group bakery. The other two members are Ran Amitai and Gil Sheffi. The three are recent graduates of the Industrial Design Department of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. I admit that the first thing that drew me to this chair was the color. I love it when designers experiment and use bold colors! It looks like there is more to come from these three guys! I can’t wait to see their graduation projects… I guess I only have to wait till this July ;) www.gillikuchik.com |
| Couple Of | Wash As You Go |
| I’m loving the idea of designing in two. Shelly and Elon Satat-Kombor are doing it for quite some time now and apparently it works really well for them. I’m really amazed by the way they use color in their summer 2010 collection. This washed used outcome makes me want to buy one of each. {Photos by Amir Yahel} www.coupleof.co.il |
| Tamara | White Flavor |
| Well, I guess this Shavuot holiday made me think about white colors. I have to admit that just lately the color grew on me… Tamara’s white line is my pick for this years white day. www.tamara-design.co.il |
| Noma Bar | So simple yet so good |
| I feel so bad that I found out about Noma Bar’s stunning illustrations just recently. This is a guy that I can say without a doubt that has the magic touch! The fact that he was trained as a typographer back in the day, makes me love him even more :) I loved reading his recent grain edit’s interview and another one from The New Yorker back in 2008. |
| Student Break | The Logo Game |
| As a typography addict, I think that this exercise is genius! How I miss my typography classes… Oded Ezer’s students, at the Visual Communications Design Department of Holon Institute of Technology, got an assignment to translate Latin logos into Hebrew keeping the essence of the original design. What a fun exercise! I’m loving these two logos especially. Which one do you like best? {DesignBreak found This project here}. |
| One On One Break | inSync | Iris Saar Isaacs and Jane Barwick |
| Today, my One On One Break comes from Melbourne, Australia. When graphic design meets contemporary jewelery you get inSync design. A small creative studio specialising in producing distinctive colourful contemporary jewellery, which the Israeli Iris Saar Isaacs shares with an Australian jeweller named Jane Barwick. I’m thrilled that Iris wanted to share with us her world of minimal design and exceptional jewelry. {DesignBreak found In-sync here}. www.insyncdesign.com.au |
| I’d love to hear about you, your journey, how it all began. | |
| I was born in Tel Aviv in 1969 and spent my childhood in Kfar Silver. Throughout my childhood I always loved craft on all its verities and experimented with many materials and methods in different stages, but was never encouraged to take it seriously, I was always told that “art is not a profession, but a hobby which I could never make a living out of” so I never took it seriously, but just as a hidden passion. After meeting my future Australian husband (while in Israel) and migrating to Melbourne, Australia in 1993 I got my first opportunity to follow my passion and study art and design. I guess I was lucky coming to Melbourne specifically, which is considered to be the heart of art and design in Australia, where I got an in-depth and varied exposure to the art and craft scene. This is when I started realising that art is not a profession but a way of life, a way of thinking, and most of all a passion, which I always had but never got a chance to explore. In 1997 I started a very intense, constant and fascinating journey discovering fine art and design. Ever since starting this amazing journey I have developed skills in a diverse array of media. Incorporating these in my work allowed me to create a strong, unique and varied design solutions. I now juggle between my own work, where I freelance designing and making contemporary sculptures made primarily of glass and metal, graphic design, and of course contemporary jewellery, by applying fine-art techniques and graphic design knowledge to produce unique works of art. And to top it all up I also am a full time mum to two young kids, so you could say that my life is full. | Iris |
| How do you define your work? | |
| I keep exploring the aesthetics of three-dimensional volume, both in jewellery and sculpture, through lines, curves, layers and negative spaces. By using a minimalist approach I try to highlight the natural beauty of the materials themselves, and create forms that are classical yet contemporary. The application of line, lucidity and colour is a language I use to express an inner world versus an external reality. | Iris |
| Can you describe your work process for me? | |
| Generally, my work starts from concept or an idea, followed by very rough sketches on paper and than on the computer (using Adobe Illustrator). Once I have the general shape and scale I than start playing with the materials. In most cases I make mock-up models out of paper, clay or cardboard, to get the scale and proportions right before applying it to the actual materials. | Iris |
| I’d love to here about your inSync collaboration. | |
| inSync was born on a whim between two friends who love contemporary jewellery and well-designed objects. Jane and I met in the JMGA (Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Victoria). We became friends and years later inSync was formed, initially to create work to sell at the Melbourne Design Market. At the time we were both inspired by my two year old daughter’s line drawings that were free and whimsical. So we took her roll of paper and crayons, sat on the floor and started sketching ideas… We thought of making brooches based on those drawings and combining industrial processes with hand made techniques. We were tired of making everything fully by hand and we wanted to speed up the process a bit. The result was seven brooch designs in seven colours. They sold really well at the Design Market and the response from both the public and galleries was very encouraging, so we kept going, increasing stockists and adding to the range; bangles, earrings and necklaces. The rest is history… | Iris |
| And who does what? | |
| Both Jane and I are fully involved in the design process, contact with customers, media, retailers etc, and the day to day running of the business. In addition, we also have different roles that utilise our different strengths. I do the website design and upkeep, photography, computerisation of all our designs and get them ready for laser cutting and liasing with industry. Jane writes and edits most of the material we use for publicity and applications. She also does the accounts, invoicing, stock QC and sending orders. | Iris |
| What is the most unusual piece you have ever designed? | |
| hard question! each sculpture I make is unique one-off piece, which I get attached to in one way or another, but I guess the “peek a boo” piece I made a few years ago was interesting. it was a miniature object made of a camera shutter and a silver case, that every time you open the shutter, you see your reflection upside down. | Iris |
| What’s next? What is your dream? | |
| I am living my dreams! I guess I am lucky enough to fulfil my dreams by making artworks that I love and am proud of, and people appreciate and buy, and that my work takes me overseas, exploring other cultures and diverse aesthetics. But if we are talking about a dream… I would love to have an exhibition in Israel one day! | Iris |
| I’m curious, what inspires you? | |
| Everything all around: art, fashion, colours, different cultures and countries, architecture, textiles… you name it! | Iris |
| Who are you favorite designers? | |
| too many to mention, but a few that come to mind are Issey Miyake, Jill sanders, Dries Van Norten, Zaha Hadid and Philip Starck. | Iris |
| What about some web sites and blogs that you visit regularly? | |
| Karin Eriksson, design spotter, six and a half stitches, coloring book blog, David Neale, edelkoort, droog, mocoloco, colour lovers and Ayelet Iontef’s alloverprint to name a few… | Iris |
| Hadass Reisberg | Geometrical Rings |
| Thank god for facebook! Otherwise I wouldn’t have found Hadass’s geometrical and minimalistic jewlery. Hadass told me that she gets excited every time someone thinks that her work is beautiful. I believe it happens quite often… She began her way in the design world as an interior designer. Her desire to create lead her to jewelery studies. Well, I guess it means you have to follow your heart :) {This is a DesignBreak by noritamy} www.hadassr.co.il |
| Liora bess Rosin | All Things Fall By Their Own Weight | Variations On Salt |
| Never before, have I seen such an elegant and beautiful way dealing with clay. “Searching for a moment around the table when an element would move by its own natural behavior and force, I observed the properties of a salt shaker such as receiving, holding and giving, and the salt own reaction to these aspects. While creating an object that will enhance the experience of weight and movement, the form had to be able to receive, hold, protect and give.” In the up coming weeks, you’ll see some more treasures by the very much talented Liora. www.liorabessrosin.com |
