The Mid-Century Modernist

Flickr Pic of the Week: Danish Modern Slat Table

M. Freeland of Los Angeles submitted this shot of her living room to our group years ago, but I just ran across it again and feel compelled to publish it here. This piece is such a graceful combination of the Danish classic coffee table and slat table. Anyone seen another like it?

Modern Handmade Deckchairs from Gallant and Jones

Gallant & Jones of Vancouver make their beautifully simple deck chairs from black walnut and 100% acrylic fabric for years of use at the beach, park, or concert. Two models, one with pillow and removable fabric.

Flickr Pic of the Week: Broyhill Desk & Dresser

This blog rarely delves into the 1970s, but Flickr group member Jessica.Nicole’s yellow Broyhill desk and dresser against an equally bold green wall was striking enough to cross us into that decade. A quartet of Planetron and Weltron 8-track players complete the journey.

I can find very little on the web about this line of plastic Broyhill furniture. The company is known primarily for its wooden case goods and is a Dullsville, USA manufacturer these days.

Unhappy Hipsters Blog Pokes Fun at Dwell Photography

“Ever the realist, he built his table for one.” — Unhappy Hipsters

A new blog has arisen, and it’s brilliant. Yes, you can love every interior and still chuckle at every caption. Author, reveal yourself! Perhaps it’s a Dwell editor letting off steam. Perhaps it’s the photographer himself. Either way — speaking for modern design freaks — I condone taking ourselves less seriously.

Flickr Pic of the Week: Saarinen Chairs at Rose Hall

“Rose Hall now/then”, recently submitted to our photo group by uwgb admissions

G. Coles-Christensen Launches Desi: Hand Woven, Socially Responsible, Modern Rugs Online

Desi is a new brand of contemporary carpets that are quite at home in mid-century modern interiors. Pictured: Tent Rocks.

I haven’t really written about rugs and flooring on the blog because, frankly, I hadn’t found anything worthy of living under an Eames chair or Juhl coffee table. Unless you’re going the eclectic route, oriental rugs are generally out of order for modern design. And rugs with contemporary styling are often made by machines, using bleached and synthetic fabrics. They are mass-produced and they look that way.

West Elm Yellow

I’m lukewarm about West Elm. Their hollow, veneered case goods are at IKEA’s level but their prices are not. Still, I do have a few of West Elm pieces and I’m happy with them. And they are one of the few catalog companies producing original and affordable design that stays true to a minimal modern aesthetic. I also think they create some tasteful, if slightly sterile, rooms for their product photography.

The latest West Elm catalog just arrived and it introduces a new color to their spare palette: yellow. Even their logo has changed to reflect it.

Perhaps the brand’s designers got wind of last year’s Pantone Color of the Year. Maybe Pantone truly is on top of current design trends, but I think their Color of the Year scheme is generally a case of the tail wagging the dog. Whatever the case, I like this flavor of yellow Pantone calls Mimosa, and not just because it’s long been central to the FontShop brand (my day job).

West Elm’s yellow is very close to Mimosa and I think they use it well, brightening up their otherwise pale and earthy scheme. More from their new catalog below.

Oiva Tableware by Maija Louekari for Marimekko

Marimekko is about to celebrate its 60th birthday and it feels as young as it did when it took modern textile design by storm in the ’60s. The Legendary Finnish brand continues to produce new and original design, yet everything still feels very Marimekko. Perhaps it’s because they are able to court designers who fit so well into their graphic mold.

Maija Louekari is a fine example. After winning a Marimekko-sponsored design competition in 2003, she’s designed several prints and textiles for the brand. Her latest work is emblazoned on a new line of tableware called In Good Company: Oiva.

Treston Oy Palaset Storage System by Ristomatti Ratia

Lookmodern has four cubes of Palaset storage from the 1960s in excellent condition. These sturdy cubbies are a simple way to add color to the office or kid’s bedroom. And you know they are tougher than today’s IKEA fare if they’ve survived over 40 years of use. Tough to find a good set of wide, shallow drawers too.

The man behind the boxes is the Finnish Ristomatti Ratia. He’s the son of Armi Ratia, the founder of Marimekko and is still designing today. Read more about the Palaset series at Design of the Century.

Flickr Pic of the Week: Vintage Bavarian Sign

Prof. Michael Stoll writes:

This signage from the ’60s I got from eBay a few years ago. It’s 2.60m wide and 0.5m tall. “Medicus” is the name of an orthopedic shoemaker. The signage had been on a building in Nürnberg/Bavaria.

Like so much of mid-century modernism, this upright roman/script style of lettering has become quite en vogue these days. It’s lettering, of course, designed specifically for the the logo/sign, not from a typeface, but there are a few fonts which have a similar flavor. I made some lists at FontShop recently to lasso this and related genres: upright script fonts. See also monolinear scripts. via Laureola