Publication designed by Graeme Smith and Beatrice Chew.

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It’s realistic— and not even remotely cynical—to say that the general view put across by the design and mainstream media, on a future shaped by design, is limited. It’s often more about colour prediction or leading the way with the next thing in European lampshade irony, than fixing the problems of the planet. Western Europe, particularly Italy, France, Germany and the UK get strong coverage, as does North America.

The upcoming program, Unlimited: Designing for the Asia Pacific, provides hope for a refreshing about-face. Food futures, smart cities, transport systems, new technologies for solving complex problems, health and education will be some of the things covered in talks, exhibitions and workshops in Brisbane, 4–10 October. And it’s regional.

Website design and art direction: Graeme Smith, Beatrice Chew. Content management and editing: Heidi Dokulil, Peter Salhani. Web development and interactive design: Portable. Identity design: R-Co. Client: Queensland government. Other people are credited on the Unlimited website.

Please keep an eye on the Unlimited site to see the program as it develops. You can also subscribe to receive updates.
unlimitedap.com

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Hill Street Precinct will host 5 events responding to the Sydney Design theme, ‘Tell us a story’. Collectively, it’s called, ‘On my Patch’.
Saturday 31 July–Sunday 15 August
For times please visit
hillstreetprecinct.com/patch

2 Hill Street

Ground level:
Euroluce
Sarah King & Emma Elizabeth Coffey.
Installation based on the 1974 French film ‘Celine and Julie go Boating’ which informs 2 new furniture pieces—’Wing-back’ and ‘Mobile Luce’.

Level 4:
Samorn Sanixay, Eastern Weft.
‘Anithya’. A workshop installation showing how flowers, seeds, berries and plants collected locally and in season are used to dye handwoven textiles using traditional South East Asian techniques.

Level 4:
Knitty, Gritty & Loopy.
Hands-on workshops in which everyday waste is transformed into by-products of love that tell a story of where things come from and where they will go.

8 Hill Street

Ground level:
Workshopped.
Launch of ‘Usable Design’ exhibition featuring furniture and objects by designers who have exhibited over the past 10 years with Workshopped.

Level 1:
The Sewing Room.
A series of fashion and sewing workshops: tambour beading, fashion design and colour theory, fashion illustration, embroidery and beading techniques, pleating, chic t-shirt manipulations.

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by Beatrice Chew

Some shots from a tour of the Underbelly Public Lab where emerging artists talked about their upcoming works for the Underbelly Arts Festival this coming Saturday 17 July. The festival is in Chippendale, Sydney. More details soon.
underbellyarts.com.au/2010

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The new site for the Sydney precinct where we work will be up by Tuesday 11 May.

Both the Hill Street Precinct and the Tokyo Bike sites reflect some of our current explorations and likes: little videos of small places in cities, bikes, a kind of elegant disorder…and dots…

Conceptual approach: Heidi Dokulil, Graeme Smith. Editing and writing: Heidi Dokulil, Graeme Smith. Web design: Lee Wong, Graeme Smith. Creative direction: Graeme Smith.

Please visit
hillstreetprecinct.com

Tokyo Bike launched in Marys Place, Surry Hills, on Saturday 8 May.

Besides showing a range of beautiful, pared-back bikes and some smart (and kooky) accessories, the web site will run a series of feature stories throughout the year. The first is Yanaka Story—a story in still photography and video by the Japanese photographer Kento Mori.

Conceptual approach: Heidi Dokulil and Graeme Smith. Editing, writing, photo direction: Heidi Dokulil. Web design: Lee Wong, Graeme Smith. Identity design, creative direction, Graeme Smith. Principal photography and filming: Kento Mori. Shop design: Richard Peters, Heidi Dokulil. Badges: Beatrice Chew.

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Bike riding in Japan is part of life, it’s about enjoying the ride, exploring the city, and the freedom that goes with that.

Tokyo Bike is a small and independent bicycle company which launched in the old Tokyo suburb of Yanaka eight years ago.

More about slow, than fast, Tokyo Bikes were designed for a city where destination is only part of the story, and losing yourself in the small back lanes and expansive parks and gardens is a way of escaping the crazy pace of Tokyo.

Tokyo Bikes are light in weight (between 9 and 11 kilos), easy to carry up to your apartment, and light on graphics and logo, with new colours released each season.

Tokyo Bike opens its first shop in Australia in May 2010.

Writer/photographer: Heidi Dokulil. Designers: Graeme Smith, Lee Wong.
A holding page giving access to more information will be up after Friday 19 March.

In 2004, with very little money, Samorn Sanixay and Kaisy Sophabmixay built a boarding house for disadvantaged weavers just outside of Vientiane, Laos, and purchased old looms from a rundown factory. They called the workshop Eastern Weft.

Textiles are created entirely by hand. They are hand spun, hand dyed with locally sourced colours and then hand woven on traditional floor looms. Eastern Weft works in harmony with nature, using materials available in season. All this results in a textile maker with a very small carbon footprint.

Minorities Kids is a label by Eastern Weft, designed by Samorn Sanixay and often inspired by the works of Lao ethnic groups. Skirts and dresses are made from fabric off-cuts and remnants or from traditional textiles—mostly produced by hill tribe minorities. Hence the name.

Eastern Weft promotes individual creativity and decision-making in the workplace and is a member of the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand.

A large new range of women’s and men’s scarves will be launched soon in Australia.

Photography: Stella and Astrid for Minorities Kids. Photographer: wclee. Art director: Graeme Smith. Designer/stylist: Samorn Sanixay.

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On the small screen of my camera I saw five more people, each looking—on small screens—at this gorgeous installation for all of the senses, called  Eating + Design, by Marije Vogelzang, Axis Gallery, Tokyo.

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