Digital Damien is Picture Perfect

The argument typically goes like this. "It's a bunch of coloured spots on a canvas, I could do that!". "Yes, but you didn't". Argument over. A brief history of the art critique of the world's richest living artist, Damien Hirst then. His work is brilliant because it is simple, [usually] original, and provocative.

I was most pleased therefore when it struck me, in an equally simple and brilliant moment of inspiration, that Hirst's pickled shark, or rather, 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living' is perfectly suited to feature as digital art spanning three monitors in the study.

Unlike a digital print, mounted on canvas, or even aluminium, the TFT's emit a vivid light that renders the life aquatic just as it would on exhibition in the Saatchi Gallery. At night, the cool illumination is spectacular, so much so, that I'm considering upscaling the concept using much larger LCD televisions...

Blue Bentleys & Herringbone Bolsters

I have fond memories of being carted off to jumble sales at the Great Barn in Ruislip as a child. Rummaging through crates of bric-à-brac, like a young Indiana Jones to chance upon a... well, I haven't the foggiest what I ever chanced upon, as nothing in my collection hails from the 700 year old cow-shed. But the seed, or rather feed, was sewn nonetheless.

Enjoyable as sifting through curios at the Place du Jeu de Balle today may be, the experience is, like those early childhood adventures, largely folly and seldom fruitful. Unlike the Spring Clean event held to support charity Kids Company...

Read More »

Bottega Ikea Leather Weave

I know I give Ikea a hard time when it comes to their disposable art decorations, but every now and again the purveyor of plywood picture frames comes up trumps. These woven stoage boxes, with elegant loop handle and silver stud punch way above their £10 price tag.

A nod to the signature intrecciato woven leather of Itallian couture house Bottega Veneta, the Bladis box could sit quite happily alongside Veneta's £200 pencil holders, £300 tissue boxes and £400 picture frames [or Montecristo 'A' cigars]. Ideal for storing the neatly stacked piles of cash you've just saved.

The Design Diet

If you're not on a diet of Indonesian berries harvested under a full moon by civet cats, then you're probably subjecting your black Hyundaicard to eyewatering personal training fees this new year. Ever the pragmatist, Design Trawler offers up a diet that is sure to get your mind and body in shape.

For just over a thousand coins [no, not penny variety] this WaterRower in black American Walnut from the Conran Shop is all you need... well, apart from the optional laptop stand, said laptop and some Porsche Design apparel. With it's smooth-as-silk operation, circular water drum and satisfying 'splash' with every stroke; when the design is right, working out becomes a delight not a chore.

Whoever said you can't check Bloomberg or take that important video conference whilst pretending to be on the Thames in your navy blues?

Lexon Flow - An Audio Carriage

The boys at Lexon continue to impress with their well turned out portable tuners. Brother to the previously featured Mini Dolemen, and still giving Uncle Bose a run for it's money in the design department, Lexon's Flow radio is brilliantly designed by Philip Wong. With it's glassy casing and clean, uncluttered narrative, the Flow would look superb on a mantle a'la carriage for the New Year.

Mr Loewy's Office Express

Google's ubiquitous home page 'doodles' have many incarnations; but one that stopped me in my tracks (literally) was this month's homage to the a father of industrial design, Raymond Loewy. The search giant's moniker has been morphed in to an achingly attractive streamline-moderne locomotive reminiscent of Mr Loewy's Pennsylvania Railroad S1.

From transport [the iconic blue and white livery of Air Force One] to tableware [Le Creuset's Coquelle casserole dishes], Loewy's influence was impressive and still making it's mark. This handsome office tidy from Troika spotted in Moscow's Tsvetnow Central Market being case in point.

That Trawler in the Window

London isn't known for its high-rise residential living. If you're not in the Shard's £50m penthouse, or perched high up in the Barbican's brutalist towers you're unlikely to have a Manhattan view. But for said tower-happy capitals, built-in daybeds like the one pictured here at the W Taipei are a sure win.

Snuggling up to a pane of glass on the 30th floor with a copy of Monocle magazine and the changing lights of the city on your shoulder is quite something. The oriental style window platform comes closest to beating a classic Eames lounger and a fireplace for ultimate comfort in consuming design tomes.

Havana Inspired Home Fragrance

I'll always remember the time I was at an 'open day' at London's Jermyn Street. From shirts to cigars, local stores were showcasing the best of London's fine handmade crafts. In the Davidoff shop on the corner of St. James, a father and his two young children were leaning over a Cuban craftsman rolling tobacco leaves in to perfect torpedoes. All three gazed over the man, with the father pointing to the perfectly cut cigars in formation; "look how they're all exactly the same size" - the delightful young daughter perfectly quipping "Daddy, this shop smells like you when you come back from London!"

Priceless. And if ever you wish to accentuate your home with the fragrance of Havana's finest, Boticario de Havana Fragrancia de Casa by Archipelago is the scent to go for. While not exactly the scent of 'Daddy ex London', think coffee, jojoba and tobacco flower with extracts of orange, sugar cane & pineapple.

The Private Members Club Lamp

I first saw the Taccia lamp, perched on the riveted aluminium bar at the subterranean City-boy hangout and private members club, Eight Moorgate in London. Since then, the bar and the lamp have become firm favourites with both, again, influencing what good looks like on Design Trawler.

Designed by the Castiglioni brothers for Flos in 1962, the Taccia marries an extruded black aluminium 'gear' shaped body with hand blown 'searchlight' powder-coated difuser. Unless it's nickel-plated and zapon-varnished [like the base of the Taccia] any other table lamp is not worth discussing.

Bedside Explorer - Design Trawler

You can tell a lot about a person based on who what they sleep with. As humans, we tend to snooze close to the things we love most. How many people go to bed with a Blackberry? Point proven. Wall-safes are typically behind headboard paintings, and we all know where James Bond keeps his Walther PPK at night.

On Design Trawler's bedside table trunk, the trend is no different. A chrome hotel bell; passport [current] in a silver frame and 2,000 year old Han Dynasty warrior head to ward off evil spirits. It all points to exploration, collection, and dreams ladened with frequent flier miles. Jules Verne would be proud.

Design as Metaphor - Under the Sea

I've mentioned the concept of design as metaphor before - when one object, in the right setting as another, takes on the qualities of the second object. Useful for turning sideboards in to metaphorical grand pianos and such.

Recently, I returned home to find the monitors on my desk glowing with the underwater hues of the aurora screen saver. Clearly it's not an aquarium, but in a setting where a Bond-villain shark tank wouldn't look out of place, the displays create a cool, and somewhat foreboding ambiance.

Tabletop Fun for the Red Trousered

I've long maintained male-orientated design involves more than a beer fridge, 42 inch television and foosball table. While there are many [#1 #2 #3] a designer shish-kebab tabletop soccer game on the market [yes, I do realise that my flippant referral to football as soccer, and then likening it to a foodstuff suitable only for drunken students, is likely to result in the declaration of some kind of Yorkie Bar war] - the proper way to hurtle ping pong balls across a pint sized pitch, is to put down the pint, and pick up a flute. Expect this brilliant Veuve Clicquot folly at a red-trousered sporting event near you soon!

A Little Bit of Linley

A little design guilt here, as I'm an eternal fan of the Viscount David Linley's store on the Pimlico Road. Marquetry watch boxes, cigar humidors, photos frames and gifts are the epitome of contemporary British craftsmanship - The Union Flag trinket box was recently featured alongside Philippe Stark's gold AK-47 lamp and tweed Anta cushions in a montage of James Bond Skyfall inspired design.

Only the trinket box pictured hails from Peter Jones and not David Linley. Priced at £50, the short stroll to Sloane Square saves you £1,200 on the Linley price, and while it's hand made in India not the Cotswolds, that 96% saving is enough to pick up an AK-47 lamp to complete the Skyfall inspired interior.