This project is already from the last year, but who knows that celebrated contemporary heavyweight in installation art, Olafur Eliasson, has designed series of skadeboards decks?

Eliasson was approached by French company Mekanism, which specializes on the production of highly limited skateboards. Company, founded by Fred Maechler is based in Paris and every year produces about two special projects with artists. In last years Mekanism created decks with John Maeda, Peter Zimmermann, Katharina Grosse, Albert Oehlen and many others.

Their 2009 project with Olafur Eliasson called Your mercury ocean is revolutionary for the company. Because artist decided to rework the surface of the skateboard into the three-dimensional pattern for the first time. Before it artists painted on the decks only. Skateboards were milled to create a wave like shape and coated by silver mirror surface. The artwork was created in 90 + 10 + 10 pieces edition.

Original cosmetic brand Aesop from Melbourne, Australia introduced new collection of special gift kits. Inspired by Aesop showrooms around the world, they have created seven gift packages, each dedicated to address of its store.

Aesop is known not for only the high-quality line of cosmetics, but also for its incommutable approach to presentation and design. And the stores of Aesop represent this approach very well. Mainly designed by interior practice March Studio, stores are often part a shop and part a gallery.

These nice designed gift kits with vintage maps on it are inspired by the genius loci of the seven most important stores of Aesop. For example in Paris, Zürich, London, Hong Kong and Melbourne. The kits are named after the address of each store and comes with an edited A-Z guide of cultural haunts located around the store`s neighbourhood.

On one of our pictures featuring in our Pecha Kucha presentation will be one older backpack by Japanese label Master-Piece. This one is the outcome of the newest collaboration between Master-Piece and British company Harris Tweed. The Brend backpack is the 100% wool product with the leather details.

Vintage look and tradition of Harris Tweed from Scotland is combined with the modern production know-how of Japanese company in this design.

More about the bag specialist Master-Piece at Pecha Kucha and after that on our blog.

This map will be the opening picture of our presentation at The Pecha Kucha night at 24th November in The Aero cinema in Prague, Czech republic.

For this occasion we have prepared a special curatorial selection of things which are very important for our work and life. The map shows OKOLO world tour around our favorite products, architecture and persons. Every stop presents our interests in the various angles of views. All stops together create complete circle of sequences and relationships between the individual things, which are presented as the simple illustrations by OKOLO. More from our special presentation after the Pecha Kucha.

See you there!

With this kayak you can take the Sealup rain coat from our previous story and enjoy a long time fishing experience. Designed and manufactured by Heritage company, this modern boat is the ultimate fishing kayak. The FeatherLite 12 is a one of the kayaks, which Heritage produces now. Company based in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA represents the marriage of modern technology and sophisticated materials with timeless proven traditional design elements.

Here is a text about this kayak from Heritage.

Do you want to catch even BIGGER FISH? The FeatherLite 12 Angler is a "stretched" version of the FeatherLite Angler with extra hull speed so it will take you less effort to get to those secret offshore fishing spots. It offers better load capacity for larger fishermen, or those carrying extra gear. The boat also features the new DVCTM (drains, vents, cushions) Seating System for maximum comfort while relaxing during a full day on the water. The perfect fishing platform for anglers of all sizes. It has a large, open non-confining cockpit, two rod holders, paddle tether for quick casting, adjustable foot braces, two end carry handles, bow storage webbing, built-in flotation, a stern hatch and cargo chamber, along with a molded skeg.

There is the another contemporary lightning design. This time by Andreas Engesvik, former partner of Norway Says studio from Oslo, Norway. Called Shelf lamp, the light is made out of pine base and lacquered metal shade. Very simple design with very nice aesthetic and function.

Our favorite French designer Ioanna Vautrin has created two new lightning designs. In their appearance the 1950s inspiration meets the contemporary lyrical approach of French design and experiences in Bouroullec`s atelier in past years. This mix of inspirations gave rise to original design style based on poetic and organic which is for Vautrin very significant in all her work. In past it was glass and porcelain design, now it is lamp design.

The first one is the small table lamp called Binic for Italian company Foscarini. Very nice familiar looking lightning object is made out of aluminum base and polycarbonate projector. Available is in six different colours.

The second project is the whole collection of Floor lamps which Vautrin has designed for Parisian Tools Gallery. Each model of Moaïs series consists of ten sheets of polycarbonate and ten “combs” in painted or anodized aluminum, and a black aluminum base shaped like a truncated cone. Some screens are printed with abstract motives.

The original reinterpretation of the ordinary product and connection of the incompatible presents the newest project by German designer Nathalie Stämpfli who finished Design Academy Eindhoven this year. Her Soap Flakes is a re-design of the classic bathroom cleaning devices with liquid soap inside. Instead of it, Nathalie used the solid block of soap which you can scrape for the small soap flakes. It is more practical and pleasant than use of classic liquid soap. The work is a nice example how conceptual design thinking can be apply to the very useful everyday object.

Until 21st May 2011 in Zuidersee museum you can visit the originally composed exhibition entitled EMMY+GIJS+ALDO, which presents for the first time conceptual works of Emmy van Leersum, Gijs Bakker and Aldo Bakker together. Wife and husband Emmy and Gijs meet in the exposition their own son Aldo. All the creators are considered to be as the important representatives of the specific dutch design style for the last 30 years.

On this occasion we remember one older design by Gijs Bakker, founder of the Droog movement and one of the most important European design creators of our time. Everybody knows his typical minimalist spectacles that he wears all the time. Bakker has designed this spectacles in 1972 as a prototype for Polaroid. It is interesting that very puristic form of the design has became iconic on the head of
its creator only.

EMMY+GIJS+ALDO, 31st October 2010 - 21st May 2010, Zuidersee Museum, Enkhuizen, The Netherlands

Again we are writing about one of the ECAL graduates. Their pure virtuoso and lyrical style we like very much a we think that work by ECAL students are one of the best in the youngest design worldwide. Their style is really our taste.

This time we would like to introduce furniture collection called Le cours des choses by Charlotte Talbot who exhibited it in Milan furniture fair 2009 for the first time. The collection includes shelf system, floor lamp, table, umbrella stand and coat stand. All the products are very well made out of pure and thin wood pieces. But without heavy concrete base, which supports each piece, they wouldn`t function. So, the main idea behind the work is the relationship between two different materials and two different forms that together create a functional object.