June 11, 2011 by Designsquish

Avoska, translated as “just in case” is a Russian net bag.  Avoska collapses to fit inside your fist and expands to hold 12 grapefruits. It is easy to wash and boxes edges do not rip it’s threads. Best of all, it prevents plastic bags from gathering in your kitchen corner or the world’s landfills.  With the popularization of plastic bags after the 90’s (after the fall of Soviet Union) avoska bags gradually went into disuse in Russia.

Above: Russia 1959. People carrying avoska bags. Photo: Carl Mydans.

Contemporary Russian folklore:  Once upon a time in Russia there lived a simple little net bag - Avoska. Everyone loved her.  People took her with them everywhere - to the store, farmers market and even birthdays. But then….plastic bags came and people forgot about Avoska.  To see what happens next watch this really adorable 3 minute film on Youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/avoska

Above: Boy hugging avoska bag from short “Avoska” film (See above)

Read blog dedicated to Avoski:  http://avoski.livejournal.com/

June 07, 2011 by Designsquish

Illustration by Maayan Pearl and Emily Keegin.

Read article in Bloomberg Businessweek

May 30, 2011 by Designsquish

Space saving invisible bookshelves.  Minimal and simple! Book on the bottom acts as support for every other book on top. 

May 21, 2011 by Designsquish

-http://treehugger.com

May 13, 2011 by Designsquish

Palm reed (buri) is the matured leaf of the palm. It is a great material for hats, bags, slippers, window blinds, mats, brooms and baskets. 

Carefully handcrafted baskets made of palm reed, leather, and metal designed by Brooklyn-based designer from Philippines,  Stanley Ruiz.

-http://stanleyruiz.com

May 12, 2011 by Designsquish

Jar lamp by UpCycle.  This lamp is made from re-using Avoca glass jar. A hole is drilled in the cap and a lamp fitting is offered through.

May 11, 2011 by Designsquish

Bike chain wall clock by Andreas Dober.

May 07, 2011 by Designsquish

Book shelves made of plumbing pipes:

http://www.the-brick-house.com/2009/09/shelving-unit.html

May 02, 2011 by Designsquish

April 17, 2011 by Designsquish

DIY Panton Chair by Peter Jakubik incites users to make their own original fake famous chair designed by Verner Panton. All what you need is a picture of Panton chair, found log, DIY tools and passion for designer classics.

April 12, 2011 by Designsquish

Great blog from Vancouver, BC - http://www.old-chum.com/

by Designsquish

Wild Tigers Will be Extinct in 2022. Poster found on http://fourleafcloverblog.com

March 27, 2011 by Designsquish

Autumn Workshop is a design and fabrication studio started by Brooklyn based designer Daniel Goers. The workshop designs products and furniture inspired by natural and found materials, often integrating plant and animal habitats.  Autumn workshop lamps are now on display until May 11 at Saffron* flower shop(31 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, NY)

-http://www.autumn-workshop.com

*Saffron is a boutique flower, vintage and handcrafted goods shop in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. They regularly present work by local artists amongst an exciting assortment of exotic plants and handmade items.

March 20, 2011 by Designsquish

Beautiful tree globe poster created by Judy Kaufmann.

March 09, 2011 by Designsquish

“The project deals with giving new life to damaged, out-of-use furniture. over the past year, I practiced furniture-healing through design. The cultural and personal history of each piece of damaged furniture served as a starting point for the treatment, which attempted to preserve each one of their stories. the intention was to explore with joy, the multiple personalities, and the defects that exist in old products, and to create a human and hybrid aesthetic language[...] I started exploring a visual language that deals with imperfections, and giving objects human-like gestures.” - Noam Tabenkin

Read more about noam Tabenkin’s furniture on Visual Syntex

February 22, 2011 by Designsquish

February 19, 2011 by Designsquish

Gamper Martino has been collecting discarded old/broken chairs from London streets over a period of two years and then spending 100 days reconfiguring the design of each in an attempt to transform its character and function.

February 05, 2011 by Designsquish

Stump stools by the Cumulus Project.
(The wood for these three stools was harvested from a fallen maple tree)

“Log Stools” by Kevin Heisner.

P.S (It is better than bad it is good!)

January 15, 2011 by Designsquish

A chest of drawers made from old suitcases.

by Designsquish

January 04, 2011 by Designsquish

“Vladimir” or “Pallet Mirror” by Karl Zahn is made using two partially destroyed shipping pallets. “The scars on the lumber tell a story of its travels. While the form is reminiscent of old victorian french mirrors, its origin is far from gold leaf” -Karl Zahn

December 19, 2010 by Designsquish

The CitiCar was a small electric vehicle, first produced in United States in 1974 by a company Sebring-Vanguard partly in response to the mid-1970s fuel crisis. The CitiCar was a tiny golf cart sized car that could go at a top speed of about 39 mile per hour.  At about 4,300 C-Car variants produced, it still holds the record for most road-legal electric cars made in automobile history.

December 17, 2010 by Designsquish

Parquet Table by Bouf. Easy shipping and assembly. Good design but also great do-it-yourself idea…...

December 15, 2010 by Designsquish

Antonello Fuse coat hangers made from old recycled chair backs.

December 06, 2010 by Designsquish

Sandcomb seat from reused cotton by DKSD, Dutch interior and product design studio. A lightweight, yet windproof seat when filled with sand. Part of ‘portable’ furniture series. - http://www.wraf.nl

Beautiful exterior cladding panel design by DKSD inspired by…herring!
Below is a new exterior cladding panel designed to protect buildings from rainwater and also retain it. This slightly bowl-shaped panel harvests rainwater and funnels it to tanks for internal storage. The water is then used for the building’s heating, cooling and sanitary installations.  The scale-like surface and pearly colours give the panels their nickname ‘Hollandse Nieuwe’, referring to Dutch fresh herring and two brand new Dutch designers!

November 30, 2010 by Designsquish

Above: Ben Edwards and Juliet Moore

Made from discarded wood from various sources. Sanded and finished with linseed oil, putty and wax.

-http://edwardsmoore.com/

November 11, 2010 by Designsquish

Handmade snowballs made from rubber and seeds by Everyday Design.

Above: Artist David Hammons selling real(100% snow)
snowballs on the streets of New York.

October 18, 2010 by Designsquish

‘Whatever’ flower pots are a terracotta pots by brooklyn designer Jason Miller. The pots are made out of clay but are inspired by plastic bottles, metal cans or coffee cups people often use when they do not have a regular flower pot at hand.

http://www.millerstudio.us/

October 14, 2010 by Designsquish

Pillows from recycled old wool sweaters, jackets or shirts. (Image from Katy Elliott)

Sofa cover from reused jeans fabric. (Image from Design Milk)

September 19, 2010 by Designsquish