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“X” Marks The Spot! #31
By Le Vin Chin
A game of two halves this edition of “X” Marks The Spot! First, a scattershot of stuff from around the wide world of design. Second, a few more upcoming design events of interest …
Think you have a good life? As reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, Careercast.com has published a listing of “Best and Worst Jobs” for 2010 using criteria such as environment, income, outlook, stress and physical demands. Looking down the list we find Industrial Designers at #35 and Architects at #86, above Protestant Ministers and Surgeons, but below Dental Hygienists and Astronomers …
Those in search of trend research may already know TrendsSpotting.com as a research consultancy with unique insight into consumer behavior in the digital age. Their Blog is equally well known as a resource for fascinating and well-researched trend papers, especially their free-of-charge Syndicated Trend Reports.
The London Design Museum announced the shortlisted candidates for the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2010 in January. Among the designs lauded were a few we’ve previously featured in xymara.com before, including the Brandhorst Museum in Munich, Palindrome furniture by Peter Marigold, an exhibition on the graphic design of our ur-parent company, Geigy, at the Museum für Gestaltung (Museum of Design) in Zürich, the Real Time installation by Maarten Baas, The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard and the revolutionary Folding Plug by Min-Kyu Choi, which we will be featuring in an upcoming article! An exhibition on the nominees just started at the Design Museum yesterday and will go on until June 6. The winner will be announced on March 16.
EDIT: Read our article on Min-Kyu Choi's folding plugs and the story of how they were developed using BASF technology!
EDIT: Read our article on the overall winner and the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2010 Exhibition at the London Design Museum
The world’s largest computer expo, CeBIT, is coming up soon, from March 2 to 6, at the Hanover Messe in Germany. As one of the many fairs that was hit by the economic downturn last year, the CeBIT organizers are optimistic of good attendance this year. President of CeBIT Reinhold Umminger commented: “Anyone who wants to achieve new growth has to come to CeBIT.” With its 2010 theme “Connected Worlds”, CeBIT has expanded its content to attract new target groups. Music is one of the new additions with “CeBIT sounds!” as well as the new “BITKOM Broadband World” event, which will be showing the latest developments. Another new element is the opportunity for companies to use the CeBIT platform for their own corporate events. As a result, visitors will be able to take part in the “SAP World Tour” as well as visiting the company’s traditional stand in Hall 4. In today’s world, information and communications technology represent the key to driving the upturn in virtually every user industry. A good reason to go.
The only contemporary design and luxury-end decoration event in Eurasia is coming round for the third time with the I-deco fair in Istanbul from March 3 to 7 at CNR Expo. With its combination of exhibition, seminars and events, I-deco draws an impressive number of professional visitors from the Middle East, Turkish republics, North Africa and Eastern Europe. The I-DEAS hall features international designers with a worldwide reputation who exhibit leading-edge contemporary design furniture. The seminars are designed to inspire and broaden horizons while the design camp gives young talent the opportunity to set trends in decoration and design.
The Blickfang year always begins with Stuttgart and its creative light in the winter landscape. From March 12 to 14 in the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, Germany, visitors can enjoy an overview of what is new and interesting on the young German design scene. Approximately half of the exhibitors are showing for the first time with the other half made up of designers who have already carved a niche for themselves. As usual, the exhibits go right across the board showcasing furniture, fashion and jewelry. The event serves not only as an excellent forum for exchange and networking for designers and potential buyers, but also for the general public and design enthusiasts to get a flavor of what’s new and coming. Over the years, Blickfang has spread beyond the boundaries of the exhibition hall and has a number of events as a run-up to the event as well as various events that run concurrently as part of the show. The pre-show events, known as Blickfang spots, take place in selected locations that include the Stuttgart Art Museum and the Design Center Stuttgart. There is also a range of lectures from design opinion leaders such as Professor Rudolf Schricker – President of the Union of German Interior Designers/Architects – and Tobias Walliser from the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture.