Designer of the Day: Sophie de Vocht

Sophie de Vocht is a young Dutch designer.

She has designed a number of different creations from clocks to furniture to plastic frogs. (I'm crazy for her frog.)

For the Italian furniture company Casamania she designed this lounge chair.

The Loop Chaise Lounge features a metal frame constructed with gigantic woven yarn.


She was inspired by the technique of tufting.

The seat and back are tightly woven, the weave gradually becomes looser spilling out on the floor.

The concept is an object that works as both carpet and furniture.

What triggers your thoughts?

Crochet pot holder from the 70s?

Beautiful 18th-century dress with a fitted bodice that explodes into a skirt?

Or disemboweled intestines?*


do not google
image these words. i anticipated to see woodcuts from the middle ages,
but this horrendous practice apparently still continues in some parts
of the world.

Images from Sophie de Vocht, Casamania and designboom

Designer of the Day: Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (b. 1935)

Porsche, yes as in the car, is the grandson of the founder and the first son of the sports car founder Ferry Porsche. Known to his family as “Butzi” as a kid, FA Porsche never considered himself and artist, but rather a craftsman. He studied engineering before he became head of the design division at the car company. He was involved in creating many of the body designs we know so well: 904 Carrera (1963) and of course, Porsche 911 (1964).

“Design must be functional and functionality must be translated into visual aesthetics, without any reliance on gimmicks that have to be explained,” FA Porsche said.

In 1972 he established the Porsche Design Studio, where he designed numerous products including quite stylish men’s accessories (such as watches, sunglasses, and writing implements), utilitarian wares and household appliances. He designed bathrooms and kitchens and the items that go into these rooms. And, apparently, even furniture::

Love this lounge chair’s restrained line which is technically perfected. It is classical and functional, and evokes a similar feeling of tension as Carlo Mollino's chairs (but not quite… ).

Love, love, love.

This chair, Model: IP 84 S, is in a white lacquered metal and upholstered in white leather. Produced by Interprofil.

(images from Porsche.com and for sale at Room of Art.)

Designer: Johan Carpner

Johan Carpner is a Swedish designer who created a light fixture. And I think I am in love.

The lighting fixture, dubbed Glänta, is available in two different sizes, both as a suspension and ceiling mounted fixture, and in three different colors: black, gray and white.


Made from sheet metal and acrylic he designed for Blond a couple years ago.

I'm starry-eyed for this light and can clearly see the suspended version in black hanging in my white subway tiled kitchen in a herringbone pattern over my breakfast nook with a built-in banquette softened with bright cushions... all of which I don't have.

Carpner received his degree from Konstfack in Stockholm. He has produced textile patterns and carpets inspired by nature for Swedish companies such as H&M, Åhléns and Svenskt Tenn and Kasthall.

This pattern is called Vinterek. And I love it too. It is haunting, yet serene.

Carpner also designs book covers the major Swedish publishing houses. You can clearly see how he carried this creativity over to different applications and materials.

He is most known for is his outdoor trellis called Tin Tree Spaljé which trains plants to grow upwards in a pleasing shape, but also brings beauty to the garden in the Winter when everything is dormant and brown.

This winter seems like a long one.

Amazing how your mood can lift when your eye falls upon great design.


(All images from Johan Carpner’s site and Scandinavian Design.)