Can it be that absolutely everything that comes out of Scandinavia is aesthestically pleasing and highly functional? Even the people seem better designed. Scandinavian products are enjoying an extended moment and – excitingly – there are now lots of outlets beyond the well established Ikea and Skandium. The glasses above are £39.99 from Skandivis, a fantastic site full of lovely things for those who 'want to live the Scandinavian way'.
It would be no exaggeration to say that graphic designer Margaret Calvert has saved hundreds of lives on Britain's roads. Born in South Africa in 1936, she worked with Jock Kinneir on the design of Britain's road and motorway signage system from 1957 to 1967. Above is the picture she recently contributed to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2010, adapting one of her road signs by replacing a man at
If you are looking for a hotel room in central London during 2012 perhaps you could consider a boat perched on the Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof. Bookings can be made from 8 September 2011 for the first half of 2012. The temporary installation, A Room for London was commissioned by Living Architecture and Artangel, in association with South Bank Centre. Designed by David Kohn Architects and artist Fiona Banner, the
We are delighted to announce that friend of Avocado Sweet, Jill Ireland's new venture Life is Good opens for business tomorrow, 27 August. It is a bright little gem of a shop selling a gorgeous selection of homewares, clothes and art and it enjoys an enviable location right in the heart of the boutique and cafe scene of Edinburgh's Morningside. We wish Jill the very best of luck although, with
After five years of collection and curation This is Design opened on 24 August 2011. The Design Museum is displaying highlights of its collection including the road signs designed by Margaret Calvert and Jock Kinneir in 1965, the K6 telephone kiosk 1951, a quaint and very chunky-looking Apple Mac form 1997, a Moulton bike, circa 1960 and the vacuum cleaner designed by James Dyson. The exhibition which examines the
In London you are never more than seven feet away from a rat. In Scotland it seems you are never more than seven feet away from one of Mary Queen of Scots' prisons. Although it probably wasn't much of a consolation at the time one of her prisons had beautiful views of Loch Leven; the destination for our latest day trip. This is the largest of Scotland's lowland lochs
Not sure whether to describe the Long Beach Free Store as a new idea or an old one but when it opened for business on 14 August it certainly attracted an eager crowd of customers. The concept behind the Californian, volunteer-run project is that customers can simply take what they need from the store, which stocks clothing, household goods, books, games and media. They can donate items in exchange, as
The Museum of Broken Relationships is in London from 15 August until 4 September 2011 at the Tristan Bates Theatre and other venues around Covent Garden. Remnants of heartbreak are exhibited alongside captions explaining their significance. Try resisting the urge to identify the item you might submit for curation even if you are happy…ish. It could be viewed as part of the relentless drive to find a positive in negative
Using just a razor blade and a needle, and without the aid of a magnifying glass, Brazilian born carpenter Dalton Ghetti exquisitely sculpts the graphite tips of pencils. The work is painstaking: he took over two years to complete the alpahabet pictured above. But for Ghetti this is part of the charm. In a world where people want everything 'fast, fast, fast' he hopes his miniature works may encourage them
We fell for these sweet little birds, with their washing machine copper wire legs and reclaimed textile bodies, last week at The Pittenweem Arts Festival. At only £10 each, they were flying out of the shop on tiny felt wings. Jill Kitson is the artist and maker behind the Fife based label Clootielugs. A graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, these days Jill loves