Design Archieven - Aurora Concepts

jun 17

by Donata van der Rassel in Accessories, Art, Design, Exhibitions, Great shops to visit, Lifestyle, Must shops 0 comments tags: amsterdam, design, dutch design, exhibitions, kunst, mode, restaurant, the duchess, w hotel, xBank

New hotspot :: xBank Amsterdam

Ik ben nu officieel met zwangerschapsverlof. Ons kindje is 3 juli uitgerekend, maar goed, dat zegt niets natuurlijk (de vorige was twee weken te laat). Tegenwoordig vul ik mijn dagen met babykleertjes sorteren, kasten organiseren, boeken lezen, Netflix kijken en Snapchatten (pas ontdekt!). Ook maak ik to-do-lijstjes voor als ik weer aan de slag ga. Ik heb veel plannen en leuke ideeën voor AURORA. Ik probeer me voor te stellen hoe het zal zijn, een tweede erbij. Soms voel ik me schuldig tegenover kind nummer een, dingen zullen voor hem flink veranderen. En soms maak ik me zorgen over hoe het allemaal moet met nummer twee. Je weet wel, van die gedachten: is mijn leven nu voorgoed voorbij en staat het nu voor altijd in dienst van de kids? Ga ik mijn lichaam ooit nog onder deze dikke buik terug vinden? Ben ik wel een goede moeder? Zullen ze zich goed ontwikkelen en gelukkig zijn? Zal mijn huis ooit nog echt opgeruimd zijn? (ik mis dat gevoel van een echt opgeruimd huis!) Dat soort gedachten. Het helpt mij nu enorm om me te concentreren op kleine stapjes vooruit (baby steps zeggen ze in het Amerikaans). Niet teveel bezig zijn met […]

apr 13

by Donata van der Rassel in Art, Design, Designer spotlight 0 comments tags: current table, design, energies unseen, jolan van der wiel, marjan van aubel, moonlight, project, salone de mobile 2014, salone del mobile, stimuleringsfonds, well proven chair

Designer Marjan van Aubel

Het is weer beurzentijd! In Londen vindt op dit moment de Londen Bookfair plaats en in Milaan is de belangrijkste interieurbeurs gaande: Salon del Mobile. Professionals in het boekenvak ontmoeten elkaar in Londen en in Milaan is elke designer, interieurontwerper en designliefhebber te vinden. Het lijkt me erg leuk om ook een keer naar Milaan te gaan, ik ga zeker kijken of ik volgend jaar kan gaan. Voor mij is het iedere keer een afweging naar welke beurs ik zal gaan. Het moet nuttig zijn, net uitkomen en ik moet er echt geïnspireerd raken en nieuwe dingen zien. Zo ga ik liever naar Frankfurt dan naar Londen, omdat het najaar in boekenland net iets belangrijker is dan het voorjaar (heeft met de feestdagen te maken). En na het bezoeken van M&O afgelopen september wil ik bijvoorbeeld ook nog graag naar Heimtextil. We zullen zien! Ik vind niets leuker dan over beurzen struinen, inspiratie opdoen, de laatste trends en ontwikkelingen zien en gelijkgestemden ontmoeten. In Milaan presenteren veel designers hun werk waaronder ook bijvoorbeeld Marjan van Aubel. Dit jaar zal zij te zien met het project ENERGIES UNSEEN dat zij samen met Jólan van der Wiel ontwikkelde. Ontwerpers Jólan van der Wiel […]

okt 06

by Donata van der Rassel in Conscious life, Design, Events, Festival 0 comments tags: christine boland, david shah, design, fashion, film, food, mette te velde, strawberry earth fair, sustainable, trendacademy, trendwatchers

Fall Frenzy

What everyone experiences in January, shortly after New Year, the frenzy of turning a new leaf, I experience in September. For me this is THE time for new plans and new ideas and this last month has been booming with new things to the max. I started Trendacademy of course (love it!). And on top of that it’s just a busy time (not just in the book biz I’ve discovered) all around with fairs and meet-ups and exciting stuff. Tomorrow I’m attending this big lecture by trendwatchers David Shah and Christine Boland and coming weekend I’m going to the Strawberry Earth Fair. I’ve always had great respect for Mette te Velde who came up with the Strawberry Earth platform. I think she’s a green pioneer and I’m very much looking forward to the very first SEFair. It promises to bring the best in sustainable fashion, food, design and film. I can hardly wait!

mei 25

by Donata van der Rassel in Accessories, Ceramics, Design, Lifestyle, Must shops, Papergoods 0 comments tags: amsterdam, design, friday next, nina, paper stories

Shops to visit: Friday Next {Amsterdam}

A while back I visited Friday Next in Amsterdam together with Nina from Paper Stories. What a lovely shop! You can drink coffee there and have something to eat as well. We ate lunch there and would have stayed the whole day if possible! The store is packed with design furniture, accessories and lifestyle things. Everything is carefully selected. I wanted to buy the whole lot! (they also have a webshop)

feb 20

Meet the Tweet revisited

When I went to Meet the Tweet last Sunday (thanks again Nina, Rivka and Ria) it was actually one of our conversation topics: why post something about something when others have posted about that something. Is there anything you can add? I thought about that conversation while I postponed writing about MTT. You see, I was a little bit shy. Because how could I add something when so many attending had written so many good posts already? But then I remembered our conclusion: you always have something to bring to the table when it’s in your tone of voice or when it’s drenched in your particular ‘style’. And I remembered what I thought was the great positive about that Sunday: it was meeting so many talented and passionate Dutch ladies. I really was blown away by how amazing some of their products were. I have this awe for anyone with the creative gene, maybe because I lack it. So here are some examples of the talent of some of my (new) favorite creative ladies. In the little booklet Nina made all the attendees have written some quotes and blogtips. If you would like to get your hands on a copy, […]

okt 25

by Donata van der Rassel in Art, Books, Design, Fashion, Photography, Textiles 0 comments tags: art, blossom, books, design, eefje de coninck, fashion, hermine van dijck, home decor, textile designer, textiles

Photography: Blossom by Hermine van Dijck

A while ago I came across the journal de jours blog of Hermine van Dijck. She is a textile designer living in Antwerp and I was intrigued by her name because Hermine is actually the name of my mother and van Dijck sounds like the name of a painter, come to think of it: isn’t it the name of a painter? So I began following her blog. I love her love for the simple things, her style is clean and arty. Blossom actually is a limited edition book with photo’s by Eefje de Coninck (another beautiful name) and with textiles by Hermine. It immediately struck a chord so I was very happy that Hermine gave her blog readers the possibility to buy a copy of the book. I do love it, It is tender and dreamy and the photo’s seem to tell a story. Those are the best photo’s. You can also purchase the book on Eefje’s site by the way.

aug 23

by Donata van der Rassel in Art, Design, Illustration 0 comments tags: design, paper art, spirograph, studio, zim and zou

Zim & Zou

Don’t you just love the creative ones? The ones who have the vision to see things differently and who dare to experiment? Zim and Zou is a graphic design studio based in France. They propose a contemporary approach to design, using different techniques such as paper sculpture, illustration etc. They are a duo, Lucie and Thibault (how cool is that name!). Their designs are pure art and have a fairytale quality to them. Don’t you just love their spirograph snowflakes and paper clouds? If I would do anything else (workwise), I would like to be a designer. I sometimes think I maybe made a mistake by going to university. Maybe I should have gone to art school or a design academy. It seems to me such a great gift to be a creator. In my current job I feel more like a facilitator, which is also fine and dandy, but it has its limits. When I read about Zim and Zou, those French heroes, my creative heart stops a beat.