Material Archive

Naoto Fukasawa: Designing Accessories with Paper

If you read this blog with any regularity, you already know that I love it when objects are designed with unexpected materials. I'm particularly fascinated with the idea of clothing or accessories made with paper. The items above were created by famed IDEO industrial design master Naoto Fukasawa – who is known for his collaborations with Muji, B&B Italia, Driade, Magis, Artemide, Danese and Boffi.

Here he has created a line of items called Siwa in collaboration with Onao, which are made with traditional Japanese washi-paper that can withstand moisture and over time becomes softer and takes on the patina of leather without the heat or weight. "Soft Naoron", as it's called, is a type of paper developed from wood and polyolefin fibres, which is derived from recycled polyester fibres, plastic bottles and repurposed textiles.

I recently bought the handbag at the top from Mjölk. Loooooooove it.

A visit to Mjölk

 

Yesterday, after wrapping a TV shoot in the Junction, I luckily came across Mjölk – a store I've been keen to see since it opened. I arrived just as it closed for the day but the manager Lauren was kind enough to let me sneak in and take a quick look around and snag a great bag by Naoto Fuksawa.

With a laser precision curation style, Mjölk carries lovely furniture and craft products from Scandinavia and Japan. In their own words, owners, John Baker & Julie Daoust talk about their vision for the store:

"We specialize in Scandinavia because the north enthralls us. Soft, quiet snowy forests and streets in the winter. Glittery, blinding sunlight on colourful buildings during the summer. Fika (coffee break) at the Konditori, with a kaffe and Napoleon pastry in hand. Trolling the Helsinki open-air markets for treasures. Aalto building tours. S.O.S. (Smör Ost och Sill = butter, cheese and herring). Swedish style. Grass roofs. Hot dog streetside snacks. And of course, the Arctic. These are a few of our favourite things."

 

 

 

  

Vintage Postage

 

 

All found here.

Is it sadly predictable that...

 

...a designer would choose to draw stationary? Well, maybe, but these notecards are my favourite – from Jean Rouget Paris.

The Beauty of Envelopes

 

Again by Andrew Bush.

Xavier Barrade

Love his visualization of statistical data as installation art. See more from Xavier Barrade here.

Letterheady: vintage stationery from famous peeps

1979

1923



1955


See more here. Via SM

Celebrate the Everyday: Banter Banners

I love the idea of more permanent decorations like these that just celebrate life. You can also buy them locally at Chasse Gardée on Queen West.

Valentine Series from Pigeon Post

Aren't they charming? See more here.

Cards by Threefold Collective

These are greeting cards but would also be a great idea as tickets or coupons for a food related event. Buy them here.

O-Check Graphics Notebooks

Love these notebooks from O-Check Graphics from Auto . via Design Sponge

Paper Art by Matthew Sporzynski

Isn't this stuff fun? Matthew Sporzynski is a paper artist that has done work for the likes of Bazaar and Real Simple. Spotted at Design Crush.

Back to School

Although I may not be going back to school personally, the arrival of September always gets me excited about the prospect of new pencils and notebooks! I have assembled some of my favourite items:

From the top left: Retro Exercise Books from Kiosk, Hermès Ulysse leather notebook, Kate Spade pencil case in silver, Muji liquid gel pens, Cooper-Hewitt heart stamp pen, Kate Spade pencil case in poppy and finally – a deluxe box set of pencil crayons – a collaboration between Caran D'Ache and Lanvin.

"I'm busy with this burrito"

Click to see larger. From Fomato.com

The most lovely notecards ever

I always stock up on these whenever I go to New York. For whatever reason, they are impossible to find here. La Merceria has them sometimes but usually only in grey or navy – which is so Canadian and a total bore. If you're sending someone a handwritten note – a juicy hue is so much more fun. That's one of reasons Les Papier de Jean Rouget are so scrummy – they come in a rainbow array of beautiful colours.

Archie Grand Notebooks

 

 

Vintage Condé Nast Covers

I have 3 out of the 17 items on the list – can you guess which ones? Hmmm....

By Milan-based designer Andreas Markdalen.  You can buy your own here.

Erhard

I just got my cards delivered by UPS! Check your mailboxes for a little Erhard history soon...

A bit more about the card line:
In 2002 Vigo Cards purchased the copyrights to textile designer Walter Erhard’s card lines. Walter Erhard produced this range of Christmas cards under the name of 'IMP Press' from the late 1950's through to the end of the 1960's. He's won many awards and is recognised in many contemporary design manuals. Walter is considered to be one of the most progressive designers of the day.