2Modern Design Talk - Modern Furniture & Design Blog

From the Past, to the Future, and to the Past Again.

I was asked what I would like to write about, what kind of things interest me. The first thing that jumped to mind was Ridley Scott’s 1982 movie, Blade Runner. It is a perfect image of the mixture of future and past design, described sometimes as a retrofitted future. Its dark vision of the future year 2019, expertly stays linked to the past. 

From the poetic first-person narration, the moral ambivalent hero, to the femme fatale, it has all the earmarks of a classic Film Noir. But those elements also brilliantly shared the screen with life-like human replicants, sky-driven cars, and the threat of acid rain. 

From the 1940s look of Sean Young’s Rachael, to Harrison Ford’s mood and speaking manner as Deckard, to J. F. Sebastian toys, that strangely evoked toys that were already collectibles by the time of the movie’s creation. 

 

Last month, Japanese fashion designer Junko Shimada presented her fall/winter 2008/2009 collection, which was greatly influenced by the movie. While thoroughly modern in gold and silver fabrics, it still evoked 1950’s fashions with the ratted bouffant hair, the strong shoulders, and peplum jackets. It also seems that designers Christian Lacroix, Yves Saint Laurent, Monique Lhuillier, and Balenciaga were influenced by Blade Runner for their fall ready-to-wear collections.

       

I still have not seen the 25^th Anniversary Director’s Cut; therefore, to me this movie is perfect as it is. I think this movie is a great example for the future of design. Truly great design does not go out of style. It just needs to be seen in a new light and appreciated anew.

Once is not enough...

This little ad for Banc de Sang ( by minnim ) is pretty damn original and to the point ! 

Check out the ad here.

Thanks YTD

--sdotg--

Dwell.com Interview

Dwell Magazine has launched a new talkshow:
The Apartment Dinner Series

2Modern interviews Michael Cannell, the editor of Dwell.com about the series. How did the idea come to life? How were the guests chosen? Were there food fights? What is next for the series?

Click HERE to listen to the interview.

Enjoy!

Fashion's New Playground

Miuccia Prada has designed costumes for the futuristic Japanese animated movie, 'Appleseed: Ex Machina'. It is a sequel to 2004's 'Appleseed' which became famous for its use of the new technique called "3D Live Animation". (For a example of "3D live Animation" click here) The famous fashion designer agreed to the project because she was inspired by the first movie. WWD reported that the movie seems to have been a source of inspiration for her Fall 2006 "Metroploitan Armour" collection and Elle.com, believes it is more closely related to her Fall 2007 collection. As stated by the designer at a press conference in Tokyo, "Watching the previous 'Appleseed,' I thought that the expression of contrast in man and machine, violence and love was wonderful."

The movie will be released in October 2007, first in Japan and then 80 other countries (including the US) will follow.

Cooler Than Fiction.

Q:What's better than Will Ferrel, innovative animation, perfect typography and an amazing concept for a website ?

A:All of the above bundled together in one amazing package !

Earlier this year I watched a great little film called "Stranger Than Fiction," and besides being giddy about seeing Will Ferrel on the big screen, I was totally blown away by the opening sequence where the main character is introduced.

The animation, imagery and the narration was executed brilliantly. Needless to say, when the movie was released on DVD last week I had to run out and buy it.

Here is the opening sequence...

Afterwards, as part of normal design geek tradition, I had to check out the layout and animation of the promotional website to see if it was consistent with the kick-ass opening sequence. Sure enough, it was and they cleverly incorporated exclusive cursor narration, video and an interactive download menu complete with wallpapers and themed buddy icons.

If this site were a person then I would shake their hand... and possibly ask for their autograph.

Posting screenshots of the site is unfair so please go have a play for yourselves !  Click the "Enter the Site" link on the top right-hand corner of this page.

--sdotg--

Sounds Good

Speakers and audio systems are usually not the aesthetic choice to accent any room, but that is quickly changing. New speakers that either hide themselves altogether, usually with some minor construction work, or speakers that look like a work of art can now be found easily, like these Martin Logan Vista's. We recently purchased these, with the help of Tweeters' close-out discounts (CA stores only). Not only do these speakers look hip all by themselves, they sing! The metal screen uses electro-static waves to vibrate sound up and down the entire length of the screen; even though it appears that only the first foot is actual speaker, the 57 inches of screen act as one giant speaker.



Combine two of those Vista's with a Martin Logan Cinema i center speaker, and you'll never need to go to the movie theater again (unless it's for a midnight showing of Spiderman 3, like tonight!). Again with the help of Tweeter closing their doors, we grabbed this baby and mounted it above the TV. The Vistas sound incredible by themselves, but with the center, its amazing! But my favorite part still has to be the seemless integration of these huge speakers into our home, they don't look like an ugly footprint on an otherwise good looking living room. They make the living room complete, they are just good looking speakers, even if they didn't make a sound. And they are usually the first things in our home to get complemented on by any visitors, my paintings being a close second!

Here is a picture of our set up now, of course wires still need to be hidden...somehow.....

The End of Cinematics

It's my dad's birthday this weekend so I thought that I would take him to dinner and an event at my Alma Mater, UC Davis which is half way in between his home and mine (GO Aggies!). Quite a funky event to bring my dad, but we ended up having a great time. Wright Hall was a couple buildings down from Walker Hall (the Design Department) where I practically lived for 4 years of college. So great to walk the campus again - So many memory flash backs.

The End of Cinematics is hard to explain: part musical, part music video, part visual effects. It was true MULI-media. A large movie sized screen showed taped and real time video that became transparent constantly throughout the production where live performance was happening behind the screen. Behind them were catwalks and 6 large video screens flashed separate movies. The whole performance, you didn't know where to look - real life eye candy. The production will do a world tour until 2008. It is a "must see" if it comes to your city.