I’m Renske Solkesz (1982, The Hague), product designer. Since early childhood I’ve always been making (mostly textile oriented) things: from dresses for my teddy bear to small woven tapestries. After a short intermezzo at the Rotterdam Dance Academy I decided to study industrial design in Delft, at the University of Technology. I graduated in 2008 and started freelancing exactly one year ago. I’m still searching my niche, my own unique place. Part of that searching process is to find a way to incorporate those two earlier fascinations, textile and movement, in my design work. I think my affinity with textile and fashion could add something special to product design. I also think that objects, the form our environment has, literally shape our movements, gestures and even our behavior. By carefully choosing the form and feel of my products, I hope to influence people’s mood and bring poetry to their lives.

One of the projects I started this year that I’m really proud of is called ‘The Dress I Made’. It’s a blog. And a challenge: I only wear clothes of my own design and making. It all started because I think something’s profoundly wrong in fashion industry. When you realise how long it takes for cotton to grow, to refine it and make it into cloth, which then is cut and sewn into a T-shirt, paying only 10 or 20 dollars can’t be right. When I thought about this I wanted to do something fun and positive, which became ‘The Dress I Made’. It’s my personal playground and an ongoing experiment with style, construction, cut and texture of clothing. It’s also the place where I explore how to tell a story visually.

My goal is to become a good designer, a better one than I am now. I would love to have a small atelier and the freedom to work both on individual projects and commissioned work. I want to make products that are close to people, that they choose as part of their identity. To me fashion and product design have a lot in common: both can be a means for expression and a shield at the same time.

My inspiration comes from a whole universe of people, things and experiences. Bruno Ninaber, Samira Boon, Isamu Noguchi, Jasper Morrison, Sheila Hicks to name a few. One of the most important things a designer has to do, I think, is observe carefully. Observe nature, because a lot of elegant solutions to design problems are already there. Observe people to see how they interact with each other and their environment. I like to soak up ideas from all kinds of places and experiences, from going to the theatre to a good surf session at sunrise.

thedressimade.com

My name is Wolfgang Bittner. I was born N 47 48.308, E 13 2.284 at 5:32 a.m. in November 1981. Since then, I have moved around quite a lot, living in different places such as Salzburg, Linz, Rotterdam and Vienna. Currently I am living in Den Haag.

When I was still very young, one of my favorite hobbies was to paint and draw. I am not sure if I was really good at it, but my family and my environment told me so, and supported me as good as they could. Just after finishing the Gymnasium and after one year of civil service, which is still obligatory in Austria as the alternative to the army, I signed up at the Kunstuniversitaet Linz and joined the class for Experimentelle Visuelle Gestaltung. I also studied Interactive Media Design at the WdKA in Rotterdam (half year student exchange), Theatre, Film- and Media Science as well as Media Informatics in Vienna, before I permanently moved to Holland to finish off my studies with a Master at the ArtScience Interfaculty in Den Haag.

At the moment I am working on a freelance basis as a new media designer and founded my own company pixelbypixel and also do my own art projects as an autonomous media artist.

My artistic life always had two sides. I am an artist, and exhibit my work at galleries and festivals. But I also enjoy applying my skills and collaborating with others, doing websites, interactive programming, graphic design and time based work such as video projections. I don’t share this romantic self-conception with artists who like to always breed their ideas in a lonely room [although I sometimes do this, too]. I like to work together with people, and get very enthusiastic about interesting projects and ideas.

I just can’t stop doing things. Maybe Sigmund Freud would call it something like escapism, but after a few days of lying at the beach or hiking in the mountains, I am getting terribly ‘nervous’. I like to make connections between the things I see. In a way, everything has a meaning, even if it is only symbolic, and once this way of thinking has started in your head, it is impossible to switch it off. My goals are to be able to continue what I am doing at the moment, that is, being creative. Work together with nice people, express my ideas and share them with others.

I try to be very open for the things happening in my environment or in society in general. Art allows me to integrate a wide range of events from completely different fields in my work. I am especially interested in the relation between human beings and the tools that they create. I can get very excited by thinking about how people lived in different ages when visiting ruins or looking at old etchings or maps, for example. Maybe out of the same fascination, I get a lot of inspiration from thinking about how the things, especially technological things, influence our lives nowadays, and our perception of the world around us. I have a quite ambiguous attitude towards technology. On the one hand side technology offers us all these possibilities and makes a lot possible. On the other hand it happens very often that we just use technical tools, and these tools become a filter through which we look at reality, and forget about to think about the real world instead. It is this field of tension that inspires me. My idea about this is to think about different ways of working with technology creatively, and make something surprising and beautiful with it.

I think each artwork or artistic product is created in a process. Having a good idea is great, but the result you have in mind initially very often changes while working on its manifestation. Conceptual art tried to end with this by stating that there is no need for actually making the physical work, the idea is the art. I don’t agree with this. I appreciate conceptual works a lot, but sometimes sticking to a too tight corset can also narrow down and lead to quite dry and hermetic results. The process of making leads to surprising and new aspects of the initial idea. The artistic process is to find a form for an idea, and the idea grows and changes in this process. Nevertheless, I think works which are based on some kind of concept are very often much more interesting than others which are just a personal expression. Just making things that look good is not making art. Art is communicating an idea. I try to find a balance between concept and aesthetics in my work.

My name is Jelle Houben, born and raised in Maastricht, in a ‘worldly’, arty and progressive family. I wanted to become an architect since I was five years old. Playing around/growing up in the inviting, hilly and monumental landscape of the city of Maastricht has definitely shaped my perception for architectural aspects such as history, sense of place, spatiality, mass, patina, (public) space and play. Besides that I have always enjoyed playing football and music (percussion and piano) a lot.

Villa & Guesthouse, Loosdrecht

Since I was young I know myself as being quite studious, assertive and independent. Furthermore I would label myself as creative and progressive; social and sensitive; sportsmanlike and musical; broadminded and generalist.

Bas van Mierlo and myself established ‘Houben & Van Mierlo Architecten’ in 2002. Working as an owner/architect in this small firm means always being occupied by a large amount of variable activities. The dedication we put into our company and project must gradually lead to a growing portfolio of poetic and complex assignments, and thus towards becoming very skilled, mature and recognized architects.

Conversion of former Factory, Amsterdam

Already in 1993 Bas and I shared the ambition of ever starting a firm of our own. Since 1999 we both have been taking on small assignments individually. The request for rebuilding and refurnishing a big mansion in Amsterdam was the decisive motive for starting op a professional office in 2002. A classical tale …

My goals are: to innovate, learn and educate. To (help) develop and implement innovative/progressive concepts for housing, working, education, residential healthcare, retail and leisure, based on our craftsmanship and our wonder and respect towards all kinds of users, consumers and the environment; resulting in appealing and friendly facilities with a distinctive social relevance.

Conversion of former Convent, Amsterdam

People are definitely most inspiring; I find great pleasure in meeting close friends and relatives and meeting young, charismatic and visionary colleagues and professionals. Naturally, I also find inspiration in the work of various architects and authors on related subjects, such as Peter Zumthor, Sejima and Nishizawa, Williams and Tsien, Mies van der Rohe, Rem Koolhaas, Ai Wei Wei, Kenneth Frampton, Jane Jacobs, Richard Sennett and others. But also in (jazz-)music, literature and fine arts. And of course, ‘Eindhoven’ in general is a very specific source of inspiration.

‘Houben & Van Mierlo Architecten’ has a specific experience in design and project-management of exclusive private villas and renovation/conversion of large buildings and ensembles for various professional clients. In passing any borders between public and private space, inside and outside, between architecture and interior design.

We have an anti-dogmatic approach towards our assignments, and try to work from the specific context. Our work is sometimes referred to as a ‘critical contextualism’.

Villa, Zandoerle

We aim to deliver excellent tailor made design and project-management in architecture and interior design. Participating in strategic partnerships, we try to actively contribute to the development and implementation of innovative/progressive concepts for complex assignments in housing, working, education, residential healthcare, retail and leisure; resulting in appealing and friendly facilities with a distinctive social relevance.

Can you tell us who you are?

Hi, I’m Stan de Natris but my work can also be found under my pseudonym ‘Kolorhand’. At the moment I’m a graphic design student and Ict & Media Design (IMD) graduate. I grew up in the Eindhoven area, it is this city (Eindhoven) where I followed my bachelor courses at the Fontys university of applied sciences, where I got my bachelor title in Ict. Currently I live in Arnhem were I’m a student at the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts at the graphic design department. Since my heart lies in the field of design, I really want to develop myself as a designer, learn more, see more and especially enjoy my craft.

What exactly do you do? How did you start out?

I started a study Ict & Media Design which contained both design and interactive influences. It made me doubt as to what suits me best or attracts me most. It didn’t take me long to realize that design was my calling. This was really an enlightening moment for me. So I started to develop myself more in that direction, by reading a lot and being open for more knowledge. It was some sort of quest, when I look back. Eventually I wrote my bachelor thesis about Etropolis and the multidisciplinary creative industries in the city of Eindhoven and surroundings. this was during my internship at Edhv. Since then, graphic design in Arnhem is my everyday activity, and it is going really well.

What motivates you?

Graphic design started out as a hobby, so for me I can start the day and end it with my favorite activity. I really don’t want to miss it, although photography, architecture and interaction design do interest me too. So for me motivation is a natural thing, I just get excited by breathing design. Talking about my goals reminds me of a recent symposium at Paradiso Amsterdam. It stated “I don’t know where I’m going but I want to be there”, with subtitle “the expanding field of graphic design”. I think this typifies my attitude towards future goals, they’re not determined yet, but I want to explore them. Graphic design isn’t a very clear profession now a days, the developments are evolving at a high speeds, so you need to keep up with them.

Who or what inspires you?

This changes constantly but recently I found a few steady things which pop-up all the time, like the architectural photographs of Julius Shulman, the works of Werkplaats Typografie students, Swiss graphic design from approximately 1920 till 1965 and things you see on the street for example patterns and grids. But also books and magazines have a great influence on me, I consider them really valuable. For example magazines like Frame, Dot Dot Dot, Graphic, Domus, Typografische Monatsblätter and Oase. And books like Uncorporate Identity from Metahaven, books about interactive media by Casey Reas and old second-hand books from the thrift. Above all as I stated before, I’m staying up to date with the news by reading “de Volkskrant”, a very good Dutch newspaper. I think inspiration isn’t a formula, it’s more personal, it depends on the way you look at things.

Can you tell us more about your ideas in relation to your creative processes?

Process, the term already indicates what is happening, it’s a time path. I think a creative process should be well documented and easy to follow by outsiders, although it is a personal thing. Th is is important because you need to transfer your own thoughts and ideas to other people. You got to transfer your enthusiasm to them. I consider the process in a project as even important as the final outcome. Conditional Design stated this in their Manifesto as “the process is the product”. So the creative process is an organized transformation from initial ideas to the end product and this product should be born during the process, it grows. I reckon multiple pathways, visions and researches as the right way to fulfill a creative process and eventually the mission statement.

http://kolorhand.com

Folie Fatale is a design for a folly, an object of architecture as a free work of art, that does not serve a pragmatic goal.
Since ‘anything goes’ in folly design, what are the rules to apply? After some philosophical moments I found a few:

1. A folly is not about anything, so it is about Nothing.
If emptiness is to be in the center, and yet people should be able to enter this space, it is best to perform a strategy of visual centrifugation. Anybody that occupies the center will notice that the perfectly mirroring interior splashed their image all around them on the ‘wall’. They have been centrifuged and forced onto/into the surroundings.

2. A folly does not have any content, so it is surface and pure form.
No ‘walls’ with massive bodiness built for gravity, but a very thin, frivolous skin that is pure form, purely superficial. And again: reflection transforms anything real into merely appearances. The skinny mirror is probably the most empty thing available, as it has no body, no face, only projections.

3. A folly does not serve a goal, so it is a luxury (and yet there is this saying that nothing is more needed than the unnecessary).
The folly is literally based on luxury, its basement is entirely made out of bronze, in H-profile, usually a symbol of industrial effeciency.

4. A folly serves (aha!) pleasure, but emptiness, meaninglesness and the condition of luxury/redundancy, have a sacral and mystical side as well.
The folly offers a larger-than-life marble bath annex crypte. If I have done my work well, it is impossible to tell if you are bading in a seductive monument for luxurious pleasure, or laying in a crypte in an atmosphere filled with a black massive emptiness. A folly should bring both experiences to light at the same time to qualify as a Folie Fatale.

Design: Hajo Schilperoort
Photography: Mick Visser
Folie Fatale was nominated for the Archiprix
More on: http://schilperoort.wordpress.com

In February 2007 Fair Deal Records, an independent label from Eindhoven, released a 12” record named Hip Hop Icon. The result of the teamwork between Kid Sundance, a producer from Eindhoven, and Busy Bee, a Hip Hop Icon himself!

New York-based Busy Bee started rappin’ in 1977 and was the world’s first solo rapper. It’s a long way form the South Bronx to Strijp in Eindhoven. So how happened this recording with Kid Sundance?

Busy Bee was a special guest on an old school hip hop exhibition in Eindhoven. Kid Sundance was hired in as his DJ. There was a click, and after a hot show an invitation to visit the kid’s studio was inevitable. So next day, a catchy beat and the golden voice of Busy Bee where bumping from the speakers. Later on, some classic synths were added by Rones.

The 12” contains an instrumental and accapella version of Hip Hop Icon on the back and is still available. The track has captured the live feel from late 70s hip hop parties with a studio recording sound of the early eighties in a late 2006 setting. Confusing? Just listen to the tracks!

The youth has the future. They offer a different view to the world. A fresh view. Kids explore, they do not hesitate to take risks.

With this thought in mind, Koen Hogewoning, Luuk Paulussen and myself created a book. In 2005 we entered the 3rd year of the course Graphic Design at the University of Lincoln . In the last 2 months of this year we accepted the task to make a yearbook; a book with work from all the students.

The foreword explains our concept:
“As Newborn members of the design community we are entering the world with fresh eyes; questioning what we see, know and learn; always ready to create unique, confident and engaging responses.

This book demonstrates our willingness to play with problems, explore ideas, take risks and develop creative solutions.”

The book is divided in 5 stages; characteristics every Newborn student has. Every stage has a template in which we show the students work, their contact details and their chosen field of study; Graphic Design or Interactive and Screen Based graphics. Graphic Design students have the CMYK blocks on their template, Screen Based students have a browser window.

For every stage-template we used a different technique; techniques used by children. Every technique was first produced in an analogue way. For example: for the stage “exploration” we made the whole alphabet out of clay. Lower case, and upper case! We digitalised every character to compose the contact details.

Here are some additional pages. A picture page; all the students with a cut-out of their work. No page numbers, no names, so the viewer has to search for the right cut-out to know your name and contact details. This way the reader will look through the book more than once. A page with all the tools we used for the analogue techniques. The following 2 pages are empty, challenging the viewer to be Newborn also. If help is needed, all the Newborn students are willing to help you. We also made an assessment schedule. The reader can assess the students work.

At the end of the yearbook a word from the 3 designers. An ironic presentation of ourselves; the whole book we are preaching about youth, fresh thinking, etc. But in the end we present ourselves as 3 dusty designers.

The youth has the future. They offer a different view to the world. A fresh view. Keep exploring. Keep questioning. Keep playing. Stay fresh.

By: Bram Giesen
http://www.eclipse011.nl/

Visualcomplexity.com is a unified resource space about visualizations of complex networks. Here you can find many different visualization methods. A series of disciplines like Art, Music and Social Networks are represented here.

This website can inspire and motivate you while you’re doing research on this field. But it can be motivating for anyone who is interested in the different methods to visualise complex information. All the projects on Visual Complexity provide innovation in terms of visual depiction techniques or show conceptual uniqueness and originality in the choice of a subject.

VisualComplexity.com was launched in October 2005 by Manuel Lima, an interaction designer, information architect and design researcher. With something like 460 visualisations, there is already enough inspiration on this website. But his goal is to keep adding new projects to a still undetermined limit. So keep an eye on it!

In 2001 Etropolis released a 12” record named Etropolis 002. The record contains four songs of the artists Golden Brown, Omski and Daily Soda.

The music is a blend from triphop, jazz to Brazilian-beats, and it sounds day-dreaming and groovy. It seems to be perfect for the approaching summer. Etropolis 002 is available with 3 different covers, designed by Phet, Nanda or Erosie. So if you still don’t have this tasty record, you may be thinking: where can I get one?

The album is only available in a limited print, and has been spread around the whole world. Now, about 6 years later, the 12” is still up-to-date. There are a couple of shops where the record is still available. Three online shops:

http://www.nuloop.com (with sound samples)
http://www.discogs.com

Boudewijn Bollmann is a photographer. Some of you might know his photozine Twisted Streets. For those who don’t, and for those who would like to know more about it, we had a short talk with him.

About one year ago Boudewijn started photographing, without ever having touched a camera, or being educated in it. What he liked best was taking pictures of the city by night, because he thought the darkness made images look better. At first he made pictures of buildings and architecture, but during his walks through the streets of Eindhoven he met lots of people. People that lived in these streets.

By and by he got to know those people, and after a while he started photographing them in stead of buildings and the street.

As long as he made pictures, he made the photozine Twisted Streets. His photo’s collected in a magazine. For free. He makes them himself, one thousand copies, about every three months. However it took him six months to make the last edition. He doesn’t work with a deadline, making the magazine is a hobby.

The beauty of Boudewijn’s pictures is what is behind them. Every picture has a story and a history. They are not just pictures.

The sixth edition is out now. This time he cooperated with some writers. Something he wants to do more in future. Next edition for example Hans Aarsman, a famous Dutch photoreviewer, will write something for Twisted Streets.

Check out his website to see some of his work and find out where to get the magazine.