Bluestone Floor

Another design I found on Demakersvan, The Bluestone Floor is stone that has been cut away so that when the pieces are put together it creates seams that become the decorative part. Seams can look terrible on a floor and this way transform the seams into the artwork. I would love to see custom signature floors by people like Zaha Hadid or Jaime Hayon. They would be great!

Random Inspiration

Top of the morning to everyone! It looks like it is set to be another beautiful Durban day, with lots of sun and warmth. I was looking through the blogs who have linked Spray Glue on their sites and I came across Random Inspiration. This blog is fresh and brand spanking new all the way from Minneapolis, ok I must admit I don't really know where that is in the States but I am looking it up as I type. As I said, a great blog to see and it might be worth adding it to your morning tea. Have a gander at these Lace Fences by Demakersvan I found on her site. It would be a great project to bring this into Inner City resedential areas.

Heather Moore

While I was at the Design Indaba I put a little effort in and spent friday afternoon with Heather Moore from Skinny laMinx. It was so great to get to see a fellow South African blogger and meet a friendly face. What an inspirational lady! I loved her studio as well as all the cool little places we saw in Cape Town. So a big THANK YOU needs to be sent Heathers way for giving me the mini tour!

Urban Outfitters

I got fitted by the Urban Outfitters and a little help from a friend...ooo I just ripped off another theme song...remember the Wonder Years? What ever happened to Fred Savage? Anyway, Check my cool items from Urban Outfitters! Great Scott!...Did it again,...I blame it on Oscar Fever.

Sustainable Deisgn for Living

The idea for Branch, based in San Francisco, was that instead of making people stop shopping for goods that were harmful to the environment, Branch would provide the consumer with products that didn't make you feel guilty about buyong them. Products that are appealing but also manufactured in a way that they are good clean products. These are a few of my favourite Branch things. Ok so I stole that line from The Sound of Music, so sue me...wait, scratch that, please dpn't sue me?

ITI

The International Trend Institute is where I work and Heather Moore found this little article on us that I thought was a little amusing. We have evolved a lot since then but it is still interesting. It is weird hearing about yourself or company from someone else. Give it a read if you are interested.

Back Home!

What a whirlwind of a trip! The last 2 weeks have been exceptional and inspiring to say the least. I am so happy to be back in Durban. Cape Town was awesome and I suggest it to any traveller to take at least 2 weeks there. Johannesburg was also good, a little to big for this small town boy but good none the less. Here are some of the speakers that I saw at the Indaba, Alex Steffen, Alistair King, Andrew Stevens, Barbara Hulanicki, Brian Eno, Cameron Sinclair, Daljit Singh, David Blyth, Prof. David Watkins, Front Design(AWESOME!), Georgianna Stout, Haldane Martin, Heath Nash, Hella Jongerius, Jaime Hayon, Jasper Morrison, Javier Mariscal, Jenny Ehlers, Jo Noero, Jurgen Bey, Keith Helfet, Li Edelkoort, Lindy Roy, Maira Koutsoudakis, Martin Lambie-Nairn, Massimo & Lella Vignelli, Milton Glaser, Nathan Reddy, Prof. Neil Gershenfeld, Paul Davis, Roger L. Martin, Ruudt Peters, Simon Waterfall, Tobias Frere-Jones, Tony Davidson, Wally Olins and Zapiro. Ok so it was a few more than I said but it was a great inspirational experience. And it is back to posting everyday!

Paul Davis

I also attended the Paul Davis talk at the Indaba. He is this cynical character that really loathes human behaviour and does great little drawings that are randomly created on little pieces of scrap paper. I would love to get some pictures framed in tiny frames and put them in my living room.

Jaime Hayon

Ok, could someone be more amazing and incredibly intelligent? Jaime Hayon is truly an amazing artist and has so far been the star of the show for me. He was super humble about his work and could not be a nicer guy. I had the pleasure of meeting him and I was in complete awe over his "don't take design so seriously attitude" and "who really gives a shit what I do, I don't even know what my concepts are sometimes."

Design Indaba 2007

I am in Cape Town now and will bne attending the Design Indaba for the next 3 days. I am really excited for this opportunity to view all these great speakers and will try and post something on them. I really am missing my daily posts and can't wait to get back into it when I am back in the office...whenever that will be. The Cape Town people have been great so far and I can't wait to see more of the Mother City.

On to Cape Town!

Well, I am back in Durban and totally exhausted from running between places and presenting. I think I could used to it...maybe. It is just hard travelling and rushing in places you have never been to. I went to the Constitutional Court and was amazed, engrossed and saddened by what I saw about our past in this country. The Womans Political Prison was horrific and it together with the Court is a must see in Johannesburg. The people there taking care of me were super super sweet and they made me feel right at home. Here is a polaroid of the Constitutional Court I took on a beautiful Johannesburg day. Oh and the other is a quote on one of the walls there from Nelson Mandela. It is my favourite quote of all time...Off to Cape Town on Monday and Tuesday and then maybe the Design Indaba...We will see...

Happy Valentines Day!

Im feeling pretty lonely right now in this hotel but I thought I should send a big Valentines to all the ladies who read my blog. Stay as special as you are! If you don't get spoiled, spoil yourself!

Haagen Dazs!

Just a little update from my roadtrip. I discovered Haagen Dazs ice cream in Johannesburg today. It is flippin out of this world! FANTASTICAL STUFF at 19 Rand a scoop! I loved it. Please excuse the tired expression as I have been rushing around all day trying to keep sane. I am having blog withdrawal I think. So tired...zzzZZZZ...I am dreaming of Haagen Dazs. Durban small town boy signing off from big scary noisy fast town.

Come fly with me, lets fly lets fly away!

Ok, so after my ill body is feeling better the powers that be have decided to send me to the four corners of South Africa to present and brief design students from a number of different design schools. I am leaving tomorrow and will be returning this weekend after seeing Li Edelkoort in Johannesburg, which I am super excited about! I will be trying to get some posts up while in the hotels but please accept my deepest apology if I miss a few deadlines along the way...adieu adieu!

Random Rug

Ok, have a gander at these great rugs from Nani Marquina. I absolutely love them! Besides the random models that are plonked on each rug, they are fantastic!

Vika Mitrichenka

Vika is a designer from Belarus who, after being inspired by her grandmothers fine dinners service, has created and blended fragments from many different services into a mish mash new service. Many of the new pieces have been stuck incorrectly creating new and exciting stories out of the new pieces. These pieces are amazing and I get the feeling that the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland might have had some of these on his table.

Man down!

Ok, so I have been man down for a little and will continue posting in the next few days. I am super sorry but I have been flat on my back itching to start posting again. Will see you all soon.

If you get bored you can check out all the great sites in my Top Drawer to your right. Have a great weekend!

Unica Home

The Unica Home website is a "look and don't touch" kinda site as the products are so ridiculously expensive that you have to be so careful what you click on. As always the chairs stole the show for me but I liked a few of the beds as well. Who am I kidding, the whole site is jam packed with amazing furniture for you to dream of...sigh.

I got tagged...again!

What is the world coming to when people just go round tagging each other at will. We really need to look at our lives and decide if what we are doing is right and true to ourselves for the greater good...how dramatic of me! I have to give 5 reasons why I blog? Here goes...

1) Hi everyone, my name is Gary and Im addicted to blogging. "Hi Gary"

2) I love connecting with people from across the globe and reading their blogs and comments they leave.

3) No one else would listen to my ramblings.

4) They stopped screening Robotech when I was 12 and ever since then I have been bored out of my skull and desire more and more to hold my attention span, which is about 10 seconds.

5) I have ADHD and need attention. haha!

There you go.

Sofar Sonear

Sofar/Sonear is an italian company focused purely on high end fabrics and fabric design. The collections include Digital Silk fabrics which are constructed using traditional techniques of loom weaving, Pasha Carpets made from pure Tibetan wool and an array of versatile furniture using steel and wood.

Katy Moran

Viewed from a distance Katy Morans paintings have a very Victorian quality to them. You almost expect, on closer inspection, to see romantic settings in tranquil surroundings but instead you see her strong use of brush strokes and thick acrylic. Often paintings will take her between 15 and 30 minutes to complete but this can be a lengthy process as she does 6 or 7 in a series until she is satisfied with the results. I love her work as it has a blurred grey area between the Victorian and her very expressive style. Bringing 2 worlds into one and letting the viewer create their own perceptions about the painted scene.

This one above is by far my favourite.

Poke loves you

It seems that Fashion Week has consumed many a blogger and i thought I would jump on the band wagon and do a little post of my own on fashion. This label is not on the catwalks or a major label seen in Vogue. Poke Loves You is a label created by Renae Harris. The range titled I Heart The Butcher is about love and obsession according to Renae. Cute shorts, blouses and dresses make up the rock-inspired collection.

Street Stalker

The Cool Hunter has launched a new section to their site, it's called the Street Stalker and it documents what people are wearing on the worlds streets. I am a huge Face Hunter fan so I am sure this venture is going to be massive.

Petticoat

I have found a great fashion boutique online and guess what! It's South African and it rocks. Petticoat is a boutique owned by Suzannah Garland and it has been a huge success in the couple years since it started. One of the most popular products Petticoat offers are the bespoke Petticoat Pumps that come in a wide variety of fabrics and prints to choose from. I nice simple site to use which is worth a look.

Urban Outfitters

Cool products from Urban Outfitters. You gotta love em all. Now, which one do I want.....hmmmm.

Marie Taillefer

I think these are some of the most beautiful photographs I have ever seen. Photographer Marie Taillefer took these amazing pictures and you can see more here, as well as other inspiring photographers.

Ugly Home

I wasn't into these light boxes at first, but as I thought them through I wouldn't actually mind one in my bathroom. Obviously with a selected image, you could create an original ambience to suit the mood of your palette. From Ugly Home.

Scene from my life

A massive Durban shout out to Jon Setzen from Scene from my Life for the great poster I received yesterday with a great hand written thank you from his side. Don't you just love when you get a personla message addressed to you and not one of those automated reponses? Anyway, the poster is great so I thought I would post my photos from each day if you were too lazy and didn't go check the site out. Shame on you.