Wishing for Wedgewood

As the title of this post implies, I am indeed wishing for Wedgewood dinnerware. I have already posted about my fetish for well designed cutlery and now I am telling of my longing for designer dinnerware. I think it is a sign of aging that these are the things I desire most.

But how can you not want Wedgewood? It oozes classic style and sophistication, there is a reason it has been some of the most desirable dinnerware for over 250 years. I am especially enamored with the Jasper Conran for Wedgewood collection.

For the full Wedgewood dinnerware collection look here.

A Lovely Vue

Today I did something I've been dying to do for months, visit Vue de Monde's cafe offspring, Cafe Vue.
Cafe Vue is located right next door to the Vue de Monde restaurant and it's older brother Bistro Vue at Normanby Chambers 430 Little Collins Street (between Queen & William Streets).
There are also Cafe Vues at 401 St Kilda Road (near the corner of Toorak Road) and 7 Templestowe Road, Bulleen.
The three Vue's are owned by chef, Shannon Bennett, as seen on Masterchef. Shannon Bennett is one of Australia's most highly regarded chefs, he even spoke about his ground breaking and inspiring creations at the 2009 AGIdeas design conference.

Vue de Monde is about creating a dining experience you cannot achieve at home, it is a total sensory experience. Vue de Monde's interior is simple, yet elegant and makes a lovely background for the extravagant and beautiful art works Bennett serves on a plate.
Whilst Vue de Monde is a little out of my reach (at $150 per person), Cafe Vue is a little slice on the Vue experience.

The setting was trendy and cosy and the menu was familiar cafe items with a Vue twist, e.g. tissue thin potato chips as a side.
I recommend you get in early as by 1.30 when me and my friend arrived half the menu was sold out. Breakfast is available til 12 and I am certainly going back for the poached pear with yohgurt, dates and walnuts.
I had a classic chicken, lettuce and mayonnaise sandwich which was delicious. We then had earl grey (the Simon Johnson tea is worth the trip, the tea bags are over locked!) and amazing raspberry macarons. There are few things I love more than macarons.

Most of the menu items at Cafe view are under $15, including their famous lunch boxes, so it is a great way to taste the Vue experience at a smidgen of the price.

Check out Cafe Vue, Bistro Vue and Vue de Monde here.

Magic Water

The new Billi B-5000 is amazing. It's a tap that gives you instant boiling or chilled water. And other than being super convenient, it's super well designed. It actually looks like a tap (a nice tap) and not some kind of retro space station. It's got the smallest footprint of any boiled/chilled tap available. It also saves you power and money, there is a handy little calculator on the Billi website which shows you exactly how much you're saving.
Because life's too short to wait for the kettle to boil.

Context

Krista Berga's text art works are some of my favourite pieces of art. She selectively blacks out parts of book's pages to create new phrases and sentences.
I think these works show how things can so easily be taken out of context, especially words, and how new meaning can be given to things when the whole story is not told. I love the naivety with which the words are blacked out and the ambiguity of the new sentences.

Some of my favourite pieces..

Maximum Minimalism

Kanye West's New York loft adds about a million points to his cool factor (Personally, I am a big Kanye fan and I think the fact his house is unbelievably cool just makes me like him even more). The loft was designed by Claudio Silverstrin Architects, and that means the entire loft, the architecture, interior, lighting, one off furnishings and fixtures were all designed by Claudio Silverstrin Architects.
The loft has no 'rooms' as such. The 200 square meter home is one continuous space, loosely divided with large solid objects. It features two gigantic stone structures, one, the kitchen/bar unit, the other an enormous bath/basin unit. All finishes are in warm, neutral tones which make the home more welcoming. The main finishes used are French limestone and Pear wood.
I think this home is so incredibly elegant and beautiful, kudos to Kanye for his excellent taste.

Fingerskate

Hermes, pure marketing genius. Everything they do is brilliant, from their branding (packaging, business cards etc.) to their store design and windows, and of course, their advertising.

Here is a viral campaign they did recently. The idea is great but the production is even better, everything flows so smoothly and the product as a background item whilst the 'fingerskater' get's all the attention is something many fashion companies would not be game to do, and so wonderful.

Winning Windows

The Black Pearl House in Rotterdam South was designed by Studio Rolf.fr and Zecc Architects.
The over 100 year old house was totally gutted and redesigned internally, whilst the facade was painted entirely black and new box windows were inserted.
The new windows placed randomly on the facade, overlapping the blacked out existing windows create an amazing illusion of missing puzzle pieces, as though holes have been cut into your view.
So clever.

Switch

Rafael Morgan Industrial Design has created rotative light switch designs that graphically represent energy waste using common positive/negative symbols.
I think these are super clever in that they encourage you to actually think about the power you're using each time you flip the switch, and are still a great, aesthetically pleasing design.



Rafael Morgan has heaps of other great products and ideas on his website, from lighting to furniture and other fun objects.

Lovers

Check out my other blog, This is For Lovers, which is filled with the work I have done in art and in the last 2 years of RMIT Visual Merchandising.
I finish next week!!

NEN

An interesting topic I've been reading about. It is very evident in the last few weeks of study.

Negative Equality Nostalgia (or NEN), also known as "Same boat syndrome" is the positive feeling one gets when knowing a peer is in the same level of trouble they are.

As an example, suppose someone does not do their homework; however, a friend also does not do theirs. This helps to make the person in question feel better about not doing their work. This only seems to occur if the second person is relatively well known to the first. It is speculated that a sense of comradery not otherwise seen is established through the 'hard time'.

However, the sense of NEN is often exploited by those in competition with one another. It is a way of feeling advantaged over another person. For example, if someone does do their homework, but tells the other person he/she hasn't, the first person may feel that the other will not do their homework, and therefore feel superior to the other.

(Sourced from Wikipedia)

Happy All Hallows Eve

Fantastic Halloween photos from Terry Richardson's Diary. Terry Richardson is a legitimate genius.

Mary-Kate Olsen being effortlessly cool, yet not quite as cool as her twin.


Matthew Gray Gubler being fairly adorable.


Marc Jacobs being a fabulous lady.

Here Comes The Bride

Images from a lovely jazz themed wedding featured on Martha Stewart Weddings. Photos are from the wedding of Johnathan and Taylor who married in Dallas Texas. I like the relaxed and fun vibe of the wedding, the lights in the trees are beautiful and the bride's signature sneakers hung over the chairs, as gifts to the bride's maids, are a sweet touch.
The bride's gown is by J. Mendel, just a little different from the norm being a greyish white as opposed to ivory. Her second gown (shown in the last photo, in the taxi) is by Alexander McQueen. The article states that the bride wears her Azzedine Alaia wedding shoes twice a month which I think is fantastic.