Design & style

Practical art: genius chair design from Japan

How clever – and yet how simple – is this?  Japanese design studio Yoy have come up with a wood, aluminium and elastic canvas chair which can be stowed neatly on the wall as a work or art and then sat on comfortably when taken down and leant against a solid structure. It comes in two chair styles and a sofa. The young designers behind the concept, spatial designer Naoki

Lovely Pigeon shop popping up in Anstruther

Scottish design studio, Lovely Pigeon, has opened its doors for a three week shop project in the sunny seaside village of Anstruther, Fife. The shop will also host daily workshops: Kirsty Thomas of Lovely Pigeon says the workshops will include, ‘fashion makeovers, illustrated jewellery, Minecrafting and t-shirt monsters’.  ‘I am really excited to be featuring music from Fence Records and products from the likes of Nikki McWilliams, Hilary Grant and Laura

Fresco Towels: a fresh design twist for an everyday product

Family run Californian company Fresco Towels have come up with such an original and ingenious idea for the humble bath towel. They have accurately recreated in soft, velvety Turkish cotton ethnic patterns and colourways resulting in products that resemble vintage traditional textiles such as Moroccan kilm rugs, Aztec and Native American blankets and Venetian tapestries. As well as towels, they sell cushions and bags with prices starting at £46 for

Competition Time! Chance to win MunrOverground Maps

Avocado Sweet and map creator, Peter Burgess are delighted to offer three lucky winners a free A1 MunroOverground map, worth £12.99 each including postage and packing. Just follow us @avocadosweet on Twitter and tweet us, mentioning ‘munro’ in the tweet. Competition closes at midnight on Friday 31 May. Names will be drawn out of a hat. The MunrOverground is an ‘enlightening and eccentric’ take on the 283 Munros, as well

Scotland's own version of cabin porn: The Bothy Project

Scotland is getting its own version of cabin porn with The Bothy Project. Primarily designed to give artists residency space in remote spaces around Scotland, the first bothy to be completed is now open to paying guests for part of the year.  It may feel remote but it is only four miles from Aviemore and is located near Inshriach House in the Cairngorms national park. Walter Micklethwait, who manages the accomodation side,

Knit Your Own Scotland: Competition Time!

If you wake up tomorrow and decide to knit your country avoid the landmarks. Take it from two women who have tried. For them the Forth Rail Bridge proved to be a span too far but the Scotch pie, Tunnocks teacakes and Andy Murray turned out beautifully. Two costume designers, Jackie Holt and Ruth Bailey have published Knit Your Own Scotland with patterns for some of the best Scottish icons,

Beautiful handmade Hancock coats from Cumbernauld

Famous until now as the location for Bill Forsyth’s Gregory’s Girl, Cumbernauld is now the site for a luxury global brand. These beautiful coats, which are sold in Tokyo, Seoul and New York, are handmade in Cumbernauld. Two former Mackintosh employees, Daniel Dunko and Gary Bott, set up the company Hancock, naming it after Englishman Thomas Hancock. Although his name is little-known he worked with Charles Mackintosh to patent the

All the resolution you will ever need…New Year 2013

New year’s resolutions, with their need for self improvement – let’s resolve to do away with them. Just how dreadful are we that we must we be corrected, honed, disciplined? And is self disapproval the right frame of mind in which to embark on a brand new year?  How about reflecting instead on the little victories and minor accomplishments of the past year? We survived didn’t we? We must be