“INDEX is the graduate show of unique work from a group of individuals each pursuing their own design trajectory, offering insight into contemporary concerns and ideas generated through a range of projects related to the practice of Interior Design. The final year of the program is a self-directed investigation and INDEX is an opportunity to celebrate the hard work produced by the graduating class over the year. It is an event that attracts wide support and attention from the local design community.”

 This is what we donated:

 “…In the very late 1800s along came a process that could produce elaborate designs on chair parts for a cost of next to nothing. It even had a lot of people thinking it was hand carved. The process? The steel die stamp. A design with sharp edges was etched into a metal plate. That plate was mounted on a roller and under great pressure was passed over a waiting chair crest rail that had been precut to shape and steam-bent to match the curve on the roller. The result was a perfect impression of the etching that was literally pressed into the wood, giving the effect of a three-dimensional carving. Thus began the great era of the “press back” chair in American furniture”. Fred Taylor – Worth Point 

The process of pressing or debossing timber with pattern is an old technique now being revisited as an exciting opportunity to add some texture and style to an otherwise simple chair.

The really exciting part of the project is that, this method can now be applied to smaller custom batches of chairs thanks to the readily available access to CNC milling and laser etching.

Pressing wood is just begging to be given a new and contemporary image, an image that is far removed from traditional graphic design and instead adopting a contemporary asymmetric, geometric and colourful aesthetic.

The potential for this practice is not limited to, but maybe best suited to café chairs with business logos/graphics and or limited edition runs of current trending prints and patterns.

Made in Melbourne, Australia by Noddy Boffin

 Curious Tales

Tobias Bolton

Noddy Boffin

Noddy Boffin

Curious Tales

Josh Carmody

Solution: Organise a gathering. Scout Hall Table, 3 meters x 750mm x 750mm.

Hipster Essentials

I’ve shot a little still life called Hipster Essentials and I’m reviewing/highlighting the products that feature in the shoot. Some are made and designed locally, some are classic designs and some are popular items from the big players.

Noddy Boffin Plywood Milk Crates:

I’ll start of with my favorite! These plywood milk crates are laser cut from marine ply leaving very clean and accurately cut shapes in the ply. This is great design, materials and techniques coming together to produce a quality product. I love that you can assemble and disassemble the milk crates easily and quickly without using any tools. The 4 sides and base all slot into each other. So you can pack them away flat when they are not needed. Just like the plastic milk crates you have “borrowed” over years, these have 101 uses. You are only limited to your imagination. They could be stacked up in columns and rows to make a bookcase; you could use one as a stepladder, use them for storage… Even stack a couple in your living room and use them as a designer feature.

Link: http://www.noddyboffin.com/portfolio/plywood-milk-crates/

WeWood Watches

Watches made out of wood! These are fantastically cool watches that look completely unique; they will be a conversation starter for sure! On the WeWood website you’ll find plenty of different styles and designs to tickle your fancy… Get one for each of your different outfits! The best thing about this company is they will plant a tree for every WeWood watch bought!

Link: http://www.we-wood.com.au

Fuji x100 

This awesome little camera has become a very popular carry-around camera for professional photographers since it was released in February 2011. The idea was simple: make a light and compact camera with a retro design, give it manual controls for the aperture and shutter speed, then add a killer lens with a huge (for the size of this camera) APS-C sized sensor. I’ve been very impressed with the quality of this camera. Its size and weight means that I can carry it around with me. I can have a professional quality camera with me so long as I remember to put it in my bag before I leave the house. The quality is good enough for me to use it for a couple of personal projects I’ve been working on. Unfortunately the camera interface and autofocus do let the camera down. The autofocus can be slow and inaccurate in low light. The x100s has recently been released and most of these issues have been addressed in the new model.

Link: http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/x/finepix_x100/

JLP Melbourne Gil Gil Bore Bag:

I stumbled across the JLP (Just Leather Products) stall when I was making a shortcut to the fruit and veg section at the Queen Victoria Markets. JLP has a large range of locally made quality leather products. Being a sucker for a nice leather man-bag, I made the impulsive buy. Upon inspection, the first thing you will notice is the quality of the materials and how well they have been put together. Initially I was looking for a replacement for my 10-year-old (and falling apart) Ted Baker man-bag but I got excited and ended up with a larger bag. I might have to head back there when my next invoice comes though and get the Tocantins bag, which is closer in size to my original Ted Baker. Good enough for your wallet, keys, phone, lip balm, headphones and your x100 camera!

Link: http://justleather.com.au

Uppercut Featherweight hair wax

I got a tin of this from my local barber. It’s great stuff! Here’s the description I pinched from the Uppercut website: “Don’t be fooled by the name, just because this wax is light doesn’t mean it can’t pack a punch. Featherweight has plenty of tack and dry finish for a natural looking hold. Great for messy quiffs and textured styles. Another great feature with this product is that it’s water soluble which means you get a great dry look without any build up or residue. Without a doubt the great all rounder.” I like it for all those reason but especially because it’s water-soluble. It feels good in and washes out easily.

Link: http://www.uppercutdeluxe.com.au

Pavoni 2a espresso machine

This little machine belongs to one of the guys at my studio. It looks great but I can’t tell you how well it performs as it does not belong to me. I did offer to buy this one but they are worth a bit more then I expected. Second hand they go for about $350 to $400 and you can get them band spanking for about $800. Maybe I could borrow this one and have a play. Till then I’ll keep using my Hario pour-over, which I like very much.

Link: http://www.lapavoni.it

Roselli 16t track cog:

This is the only cog that can withstand the awesome power of my legs!

42t front cog from Cycle Underground in Sydney

I’m told these are the same cogs as Fyxomatosis ones without the branding. You can get them from Pony Bikes.

Links: http://www.ponybikes.com/blog/

Izumi Chain and drivetrain from Pony Bikes

As it says on the box: for easy running. These chains are smooth, heavy and strong. I got my whole new drive train and a new back wheel (Velocity Deep V rim, Gran Comp hub and Vittoria Randonneur tyre) from Pony Bikes. I can tell you there is noting like having a new solid drive train. It’s super-smooth, tight and responsive! And when you are running fixed without brakes, it’s all about that feeling you get back from the bike. You are connected to the bike and if you are connected to poor quality components then you will feel that though your whole body. Man I freaking love my new fix-gear setup!

Links: http://www.izumichain.co.jp/en/ http://www.ponybikes.com/blog/

Apple MacBook Pro 15 inch with Retina Display. 2.4 Ghz i7 with 8 gig of RAM

This is my photography workhorse! It’s nice and light so I can throw it in my bag and jump on the bike to do editing work at my studio (Of course I plug it into an Eizo monitor when I get there). The retina display is nice and crisp but some applications are not supported yet. All the Apple applications are super-sharp but my old version of Word is fuzzy because it is not made for a monitor with such a high resolution. Another slight issue is the glossy finish on the monitor, which is not ideal for photography. This is no huge drama as I do my serious editing on a proper graphics monitor in the studio.

Apple has decided that Thunderbolt is the future so they ditched the Firewire port. This was a problem for the first couple of months owning the laptop because I could not shoot tethered with the Phase One back… Then they released a Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adaptor. Problem solved. Then I wanted to connect to the internet to do some trouble shooting… No network port. Then I realised I can buy a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adaptor. So all is good… So long as I remember to take those little adaptors with me to my jobs!   And guess what? No CD drive either. And I don’t think you can upgrade it either. I think the idea is buy it, use it for a couple years then buy another one.

What else is good about this computer? Well it’s super fast and performs very well for the $2500 I paid for it. It’s light, it’s quiet, it’s good! I love that the only moving part in this computer is the cooling fan! Who needs a CD/DVD drive. CD/DVDs are old technology and it’s cheap enough to buy a couple of USB thumb drives. When I first got it I did try to fit a software DVD into the side of the computer… Luckily most software can be downloaded from the internet. At least you get the most current version. Startup time is lightening fast because of the solid state drive.

I can see why many other professional photographers have opted to get one of the older model MacBook Pros and spec them out but this little beast will suit me well for the next couple of years… I hope!

Link: http://store.apple.com/au/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro

View the original article here – Michael Gordon Hill’s Blog.

‘The cup project’ is a youth, not-for-profit, initiative publishing young emerging Australian artist profiles + works on takeaway coffee cups.

The project’s co-ordinator, Amy Craig, says: the project will promote awareness and recognition of young artists, and their amazing work, within the Melbourne community …. seeing the fantastic work of young artists – its wonderful and inspiring. Melbourne coffee culture is going to love the artworks too!


See more here – The Cup Project  and Australian Business Art Foundation.

Thanks to an innovative partnership, Melbourne coffee lovers have been introduced to the vibrant work of emerging artists all over the city. ‘the cup project’ profiles the work of young artists on takeaway coffee cups alongside the artist’s name, a brief biography and website details.

‘the cup project’ not only brings the wider coffee drinking community into contact with young artists, it creates new opportunities. Poets, illustrators, painters, photographers, sculptors, animators and comic-strip artists have all been represented, with many having been approached by coffee drinkers for exhibitions and other work.

Melbourne is a city known for both its art and its coffee. ‘the cup project’ has brought them together through its partnership with Detpak, a member of the Detmold Group of companies and a manufacturer of packaging products.

Detpak supported the printing of 36 young artists’ work on 100,000 takeaway coffee cups. Since June 2010 both partners have been working to achieve the shared objective of profiling and recognising the achievements of young Australian artists. More than 95% of these artists are aged 30 years and under and many have had only minimal publication and profiling opportunities until now.

As well as providing exposure for young Australian artists, Detpak has been able to fulfill its commitment to invest in local communities – in this case within the city of Melbourne’s buzzing café scene. Detpak has also been able to showcase its high quality print capabilities to potential customers and has demonstrated its commitment to innovation and creativity.

 See more here – The Cup Project  and Australian Business Art Foundation.

In a recent Noddy Boffin photo shoot, I was fortunate to have the acrobatic services of Joshua Phillips to stand in, or more appropriately handstand in, as model for a new series of bench seats.

Not only is Josh a circus performer who has completed a diploma of circus arts in New Zealand and trained at the National Institute of Circus Arts, he is also an enthusiastic and talented product designer and maker, operating out of his studio in Melbourne. Josh studied at the Australian National University School of Art in the Furniture / Wood Department, in which a preference and specialization in timber manufacturing was acquired.

See pictures below of Josh’s most recent projects.

Set of red balancing chairs, a recent restoration commission.

Hand stand bench, which has been developed to disassemble for touring purposes.

For more information about Josh Phillips past and present performing projects please follow the following the links:

CIRCUS FIREMEN

PANTS DOWN CIRCUS 

Sabbatical or a sabbatical (from Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos, from Hebrew shabbat, i.e., Sabbath, literally a “ceasing”) is a rest from work, or a hiatus…. The concept of sabbatical has a source in shmita, described several places in the Bible (Leviticus 25, for example, where there is a commandment to desist from working the fields in the seventh year). In the strict sense, therefore, sabbatical lasts a year. WIKIPEDIA

I am quite fortunate to have parents who live and work on a farm in central NSW. Second to this, I am happy that the farm in which they own is in a mobile reception dead spot. In addition, the old family PC is not only a dinosaur but also has internet that operates as fast as a sloth on a Sunday.

I relish the two or three times a year in which I venture north to visit my parents; to catch up, be well fed and get nostalgic for my childhood. While on the farm it does not evade my conscious mind how wonderful it is to be theoretically un-contactable, with only access to the internet, that in contrast is not really worth the wait.

Lacking these modern resources, which are quite common and could well be taken for granted in the modern city, I am subsequently subject to a true break from work and the mindless reach for my phone in which to entertain myself.

I came up with the concept for the sabbatical cabinet in hope to share this feeling that could be described as that of past era in which Facebook, internet, mobile phones, Twitter etc. were not yet as common as they are now. While the cabinet does not provide you with days or weeks without your devices, it does allow for an hour or two in which your attention can be focused on the moment that is right now and the surroundings that are your literal surroundings.

BRIEF:

‘You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat’: Bright Ideas, Simply Put

Jaws (1975). Great movie and source of one of the all-time, top-five, classic movie quote from Roy Sceider. The understated emotion and puritan word choice are perfect as Scheider’s character calls on six small words to sum up the gravest of challenges facing the film’s three heroes.

In 2012 the Melbourne Fringe Furniture Exhibition focuses on the simple expression of challenging concepts. It will showcase the clarity of vision, economical practice and exemplary understatement which characterises great furniture design. The exhibition is all about the beauty of simplicity and the poetry of constraint.

With a cool head and a steady hand, this year’s Melbourne Fringe Furniture designers will use their artistic wit and creative cadence to sum up the challenges we face which only good design can solve.

FRINGE FURNITURE

Fringe Furniture 2012 – supported by RMIT
The Abbotsford Convent, 26 September – 13 October (Wed – Sun, 11am – 5pm)

SABBATICAL CABINET:

In response to a modern lifestyle in which we are constantly connected to the Internet, social media and all other forms of digital communication, Mathew Little and Elliot Gorham developed the ‘Sabbatical Cabinet’ in hope to address the modern predicament of technology addiction. Whether that is constantly tweeting, checking your Facebook for updates or your email 30 times a day, there are many people who find it hard to go fifteen or more minutes without using their mobile phone for something.

“the feeling of getting a good text message or email on your phone is a little like the “hit” of ecstasy that a gambler gets when they hit. It’s the good feeling that causes some people to keep going – no matter how often they lose or how much spam they get and time they waste – until they get that good feeling again”. David Greenfield (Internet-related behaviors expert and a psychologist)

Very simply the ‘Sabbatical Cabinet’ is a small lockable cabinet in which to put your mobile phone, laptop, mouse, keyboard, tablet etc for a set period of time. The cabinet then acts as a secure separation from those objects by disallowing any access to those objects until the timer runs out. The uncompromising nature of the cabinet offers an uncompromising break from your devices, forcing upon you the time to catch up with family or a friend, read a book or just give yourself a break and relax. The cabinet can be set to a selective duration and can not be opened for that duration, In the event of an extreme emergency a mallet is provided to smash your way into the cabinet.

As 90%+ of the world’s population own mobile phones, the problem of balancing a healthy lifestyle is large and getting larger with every new gadget and gizmo. Our solution is as simple as locking it away.

MATERIALS:

Rock Maple: It is now recognised that while some carbon is released when a tree is harvested, carbon remains stored in the timber used in buildings and wood products.

Laminam: Laminam is a unique 3mm ceramic material with a weight of less than 8 kg per sqm made using the latest Italian ceramic technology. Suitable for both interior and exterior application. Laminam is a totally natural product. It does not release any substances into the environment and can be easily milled and recycled in other manufacturing processes.

Clockwork lock: The clockwork lock has been cobbled together use a restored clock mechanism and fabricated parts made from brass, steel and aluminum all materials are easily recycled. Through this means we are able to give a new life to a once discarded mechanical object.

]]> http://www.noddyboffin.com/sabbatical-cabinet/feed/ 0 http://www.noddyboffin.com/elliot-son-designer-collaboration/ http://www.noddyboffin.com/elliot-son-designer-collaboration/#respond Tue, 17 Jul 2012 20:30:47 +0000 http://www.noddyboffin.com/?p=1084 Read The Rest →]]> Elliot & Son @ Design : Made : Trade……

Elliot & Son is the formation of two young designers, both alike in name, both alike in dignity….

Elliot Gorham and Elliot Bastianon share more than just a name. They share a common ideal regarding what they consider important in the creation of a piece of furniture; but most of all an enthusiasm and drive to produce unique and innovative designs.

Together they have shared many experiences as friends, colleagues and employees. None more significant and memorable than the duration and completion of a BVA, majoring in Furniture/Wood Design at the Australian National University where both Gorham and Bastianon received First Class Honours.

Their work is guided by everything from material exploration to quirky stories of everyday life. This unique way of approaching furniture has resulted in a body of work that balances somewhere between the world of art and design. Their philosophy is to incorporate new materials and processes into their work, with the guidance of traditional hand skills that have been so integral in shaping the standard of furniture design. It is this threading together of traditional and non-traditional that makes their work so interesting to experience.

The ‘Elliot & Son’ brand exists as a means for both Gorham and Bastianon to contribute as equals in what is hoped to be a future of collaborative opportunities. Simply put, ‘Elliot & Son’ is a pseudonym that acts as a means for the development of projects and of sharing resources that is kept separate from each parties’ individual business.

VISIT NODDY BOFFIN        –        VISIT NEGATIVE SPACE DESIGN

come visit us and check out our wares at the Royal Exhibition Building – 9 Nicholson St, Carlton VIC Australia

21st & 22nd July