Junk(tion)

These creations are a far cry from junk, personally I think they are pretty innovative pieces of furniture. It's the kind of quirky thing that you would like in your house as a focal point and it's practical for once. The project is all about taking objects that have been classed as junk by anyone and everyone and reinventing them either by adding other things to them or taking bits away and teaming them with others. Using the vision that 'we already have to much in the world' brings a new perspective to every piece of furniture that we class as junk rubbish or trash. We already know one persons rubbish is another persons treasure. You can look at the general idea and see how it has developed over the years from car boots to eBay to Gumtree to antique and vintage shops popping up everywhere. Below are some of my favourites I selected from the site, simple ideas that could be re-created in your own home. I particularly like the table football hangers and the bike stool. That bike stool would be fabulous in a little cafe/bar, at home next to your telephone table or a novel piece for a bike store - fantastic.

Coffee?

No prizes for who this coffee company is having a dig at...

Rob Ryan (not Brydon)

Rob Ryan's style of work could be called child's play by some; others will see it for the creative art it is. I have always been fascinated by this style of work. The intricate shapes formed and wonder how many hours it would take to cut out the leaves on the tree. It's slightly different now, as you can use laser cutters and screen printing to help get the accuracy and volume produce prints for resale. One of the exciting things about this method is that you are always discovering something the more you look at the pieces - bit like those magic eye posters although I could never see anything in those. Most of the work consists of birds, trees and houses - a sweeping generalisation indeed but common features nonetheless with a hint of chintz, modern chintz. It is also amazing how the work is created from one piece of paper, all words and images entwined, linking with each other in new ways that before may never have happened if another method had been used. Ryan has done a mixture of work styles, some of it deep and profound, others mere thoughts that may have occurred during a walk or maybe while eating breakfast. Clients include the likes of Vogue, The Independent and Fenchurch among others.

The Fenchurch pieces I particularly like. Firstly, you wouldn't naturally associate this style of work with the Fenchurch brand but I like how the logo has been used in two totally different ways, one being the new 'building' in the big city and second is subtly Fenchurch's own pearly gates. An intriguing method both in creative style and the final outputs, a crowded space but nothing is cluttered.

Scent Marketing

This is not an area that I have really given much thought to before but it is subtly around us all. Scent marketing might not be everywhere as we know it but smell is a huge sense for all of us, usually because of memory association. For example smelling perfume can make you think of that special someone or freshly cut grass means Hay Fever... I mean Spring. One particular night I remember cleaning with Dettol which I had obviously not used for some time and I was taken back to our 'dolls house' (student digs) in Leeds in an instance. Scent can help set the scene without the scene being there. This all came about while watching a snippet of the One Show and they were saying about spraying bikini's with sun tan lotion for that holiday feeling, barbecue tones spritzed on summer invitations to get you in the mood for those hot dogs and toasting of marshmallows... Hence why girls spray perfume on the love letters they write, embodying themselves and transporting someone to that place.

Peace Love & Storage

Having a bit of a lazy Saturday morning before the weekends antics all kick off and while watching a bit of Gok on E4 this advert was shown -



I thought it was going to be a promotion for Mock the Week or a comedy battle of the sexes but in fact it was Ikea. I found this quite funny because as they were delivering the puns I was looking at all the furniture thinking most of it was from Swedeland. A clever little advert that gets you looking at the furniture while enjoying the content, one of the best bits is that both sides of the argument ring true, minus the one about her drawers.