2Modern Design Talk - Modern Furniture & Design Blog

NORMANN Copenhagen

Souk al Bahar (the new souk open at The Palace Hotel in Downtown Burj, Dubai, where we live) has opened some great little places since it's grand opening a few months ago - shopping, cafes, restaurants, furniture...and as in most of the souks in the city, some great one-of-a-kind boutiques. We are lucky enough to have 50 degrees (check out Kitsch22 for more on their brands, links, etc.) - a kitschy, groovy hipster boutique selling things for your home, music, journals and all things cool - lighting (think Tord Boontje), music (think Ennio Morricone remixes) and all things NORMANN Copenhagen.
Founded in 1999, this is what their catalog has to say about them:
"...honored with numerous international design awards, the brand continues to challenge convention, and reinvent the everyday to make even the ordinary extraordinary through great design."
From silicone vases and pen/toothbrush holders to brushed steel and rubber money clips and card holders, NORMANN Copenhagen I am certain can provide you something to use, showcase or just admire...
Some of my faves are below, as well as a list of upcoming fairs you are invited to, to see a presentation of their collection:

ICFF
New York - 17th to the 20th of May 2008 - stand # 904
www.icff.com

Pulse
London - 1st to the 3th of June 2008 - stand # M1
www.pulse-london.com

Decorate Life
Frankfurt- 4th to the 8th of July 2008 - stand Nordic Design, hal 4.1

Smart Little Music Player

Believe or not, but this little gadget is a Digital Music Player.  Designed by Yong-Seong Kim, it is a portable music player that will spin CDs and support USB flash drives to play MP3s.  What this tells us is that things can be as basic as this little palm sized remote, a nice evolutionary design from the boxy electronics of the 90s.   If it doesn't already, my prediction is that next generation of this product will play Blueray DVDs, burn CDs and/or be a full MP3 player.

via SmashingMagazine

Phonofone Ipod Speaker

This is a great blast from the past item, put to use in a very contemporary way and style.  All ceramic, this phonofone resembles ones from the Gatsby era, but plays music from your IPod instead.  For now, this is only a concept piece but it is made for pre-order and will ship in April.  I'm certain it will be hitting the market soon after.

material: ceramic
dimensions: 11" x 9.5" x 20"

price: $450 at UnicaHome

   

Are You Listening?

Take your tunes into the shower, rock out at the kitchen sink, or chill out at the beach with these TearDrop iPod Water Resistant Speakers.  Battery operated, these little cuties can be used for iPods or other MP3 Players.

How Modern Met Marvelous...

Well, they have actually been together for some time, and this proves it! The secret is out, Modern and Marvelous made magic and I would like to introduce you to "perfection".

Design and manufactured by Edelweiss Industrial Design in Austria, this Bosendorfer Edge, modern piano is so beautiful to look at and perfect for the modern musician who, like myself has never been able to commit to purchasing my own music maker for fear of how it would look with my modern decor.

My prayers have been answered and the music must go on!

High Tech Meets High Fashion

Phillips and Swarovski have teamed up to add some glamour to technology. Active Crystals, a collection of headphones and USB memory keys, "infuse peak performance with eye-catching highlights". The collection offers four pairs of headphones (Space, Icon, Mirage and Amazone) and four USB memory keys. The USB memory keys, Heart Ware and Heart Beat can be worn as fashionable pendants and the Lock In and Lock Out memory keys can attach easily to a key chain. Active Crystals will be available in August 2007.

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.....

Living and Listening Outside the Box

Lifepod.net is a hip little site I have just come across, after purchasing one of their flasks at Urban Outfitters. But that's not what they're known for, it's they're hip accessories for iPods, namely speaker handbags, wallets, and backpacks.
Their Groove Master line is the newest edition, and growing fast; at the bottom of each page, it tells you how many requests on a page or item.
Every bag is plug and play for any iPod, satellite radio, mp3 player, Sony PSP, or cd player; since the speakers plug in via the headphone jack. Their Chill Out line is a stereo cooler bag; enjoy your music and cold beverages!

Among their non iPod stuff, they have PSP gear, laptop sleeves, and keychains. Lifepod is ultra hip, being on the cutting edge of technology accessories, with a retro chic not found in too many places. I give them 2 thumbs up and will be a patron of their site soon enough!

Cast This

Podcasting has become more and more popular over the last year. It seems like everyone has their own podcast now, on everything from knitting to news in Germany. Where blogs once ruled as the bench mark for the "In" crowd, now sits podcasts; your nobody unless you've got a podcast!

So with that being said, let's take a vote: 2Modern Design Talk Podcast, would you subscribe? We'll probably do it anyway, but just out of curiousity :P

I Heart iPhone

Get ready to pee your pants in sheer delight all you tech and fashion fans, because the iPhone is here!! The highly speculated, highly rumored, highly anticipated, highly fantasized mobile phone from Apple was finally announced at the 2007 Mac World conference eariler this week, and already has Mac and gadget fans drooling for it. Though it won't be available for another six monthes, make plans to cancel your current phone plan now and sign up with Cingular.

As most have been speculating, the iPhone is not only the fasted, sleekest phone and iPod combination, it's also a great PDA/Blackberry; with a widescreen and crystal clear graphics, possibly beating out Blackberry and its competitors out today (my theory anyway). The iPhone of course has Wi-Fi internet and mapping system, with a built in OS and Apple's own browser Safari, giving you internet like you never thought possible on a cell phone before. This ultra-smart phone also senses when you turn the phone around; ie, you can view content in the traditional perpendictular way, with a tall and narrow screen, OR turn the phone sideways and the screen adjusts your content around for you to view on a short and wide screen! The iPhone comes compatible with Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate, and Cingular's EDGE data network for high-speed internet access and data transfers.

My personal favorite is the corporation of Mac Widgets on the phone; small individual applications that give you information like weather, stock quotes, news, and much more all in real time. Widgets were made famous by Apple on its Dashboard which was introduced on Mac OSX; and are now being imitated by Google Desktop with Gadgets, and also upcoming Windows Vista with Gadgets as well. You can find and download new widgets to your phone to meet your needs, and of course, check your email and search with Google or Yahoo, both of which are built in. Just like the iPod video, you can download music and video content to listen and watch in crystal clear resolution; with a battery life of up to 5 hours for talk/video/internet, and up to 16 for audio playback. The iPhone will be available in 2 different size storage capacities: 4GB and 8GB, both will have a 2.0 megapixel camera built in.