05 November 2010

My High 5ves: Best of the Graduation Galleries

I've selected three of this year's graduation projects from Eindhoven Design Academy. Their work not only held my gaze, but it made me enthusiastic, too. There were some other designs that caught my eye, but the work of these three decidedly stood out.

ONE
My first choice is the 'dekenbank' designed by Romboud Maris.


This 'woollen blanket sofa' is but a few woollen blankets draped over a wooden frame. I love this idea for its simplicity and flexibility. I can absolutely see this sofa individualised with my own personal choice of materials. In addition, it solves the problem for those, who can get to discarded materials, but not to any money. This is a social design that restores dignity to poor living. If I was scouting for Ikea designers, this would be my first choice.

TWO
My second choice are lego clothes designed by Borre Akkersdijk.


In this 'kant en klaar collectie' (transl. ready-made collection) Akkersdijk created stuffed fabric blocks that can be sewn together to create comfortable and warm tops, coats, trousers and even dresses. Again, this design provides the user with an opportunity to customize and individualize the final product. A simple idea, yet countless variations are possible.

THREE
My third choice is a 'motion cabinet' designed by Niels Hoebers as a work-set for stop-motion animators.

Hoebers created this work-set during and after he had his internship at an animation film production studio in Poland. In order to see the work-set in stop-motion (!), please press here.
Someone should best tell Yuri Norstein about this.

On a final note, there is one more graduate project that I would like to mention: the strap with clips by Manon van Hoeckel.


This was a graduate project of Sint Lucas College of Applied Design and as such did not appear in the Graduation Galleries (reserved for the Design Academy Eindhoven). A surprisingly simple solution for carrying folders, books, maps and/or magazines.

4 comments:

  1. All these designs are so neat! I think the strap is actually my favorite just because of its simple practicality.
    I'm thinking about applying to Eindhoven Design Academie for next year. Do you know if it is very hard to be accepted to?

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  2. I know that they have open days, so I checked: the next open days at Eindhoven are on 15 December 2010. Are you from the NL? If so (or if you are close) you could attend on the open day, to get a feel and info on the spot. Application requirements and criteria you can find at http://studielink.designacademy.nl/English/ApplicationDAE/bachelors/Newapplication/propedeuse/tabid/1051/Default.aspx
    Good to hear from you, and good luck with application to the school of the cool!

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  3. As for the 'neat' bit: I probably selected the neater ones, there were some less neat, if not scary creepy graduation projects... Like:
    - coffins for still-born babies in various sizes,
    - bed curtains made of artificial hair,
    - reconstructions of people's nightmares,
    - a scrapbook for your funeral,
    etc.

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  4. Thanks! I think I will definitely go visit on the open day to see what it's like. And haha, wow. Those other design ideas sound...well...interesting. :)

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