Thursday, July 15, 2010

Josef Frank and those damn Swedes



When I cranked up la computadora this morning, I thought, "Huh, that Google logo looks like Josef Frank fabric!"
Well, I guess I know my unaffordable Swedish design history because it was indeed a tribute to the designer.
A while back I designed a little fantasy nursery around one of Josef Frank's best-known textile designs.
I had read that he designed over 200 textile patterns, and a little research led me here.

Oh dang. He designed a heckuvalot more than textiles. Here are some highlights from the website (which handles the licensed reproductions), but you should really grab a cuppa and head over yourself. It's amazing.

Designer's challenge: can you find the things that influenced Peter Dunham, Orla Kiely, Lotta Jansdotter, and even IKEA?

Some furniture highlights (this is where I see Frank's influence on Peter Dunham's interior designs; the fig trees, the wicker, the classic-meets-organic style):








Two new favorite textile designs:





How is it that these bags aren't EVERYWHERE (oh, maybe it's the pricetag)??







The wallet is made from his "Manhattan" print...I would love to carry one:



Stunning lighting, which looks to have influenced Tommi Parzinger pretty heavily:







A number of delicious design books, with lots of potential for cutting and framing:



A full line of vases, planters, and other botanical supplies:



Plates, trays, children's dishes, sculpture:









What's your favorite piece? I dare you not to want it all!

3 comments:

  1. Beautiful !! I have never studied textiles , design, art etc.. but WOW !! I discovered Josef Frank by the google ad , i instantly fell for it , like a perfect candy . Thank you for sharing your photos , and hint on how $$$$$ his work is. Im saving and inspired .

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  2. Summer,

    You read Swedish?

    I clicked on the link, and yes, it is comprehensive. I was having an "organ-borgan-forgan" Swedish chef moment though because I could ALMOST understand some of what it was saying.

    Oh, well. Pretty things are the same in any tongue.

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  3. Sarah, what is that term for words that are the same or similar in two different languages? Cognates? My favorite one from this site: "klicka for att zooma"
    Now every time I'm going to click to enlarge a picture I think "klicka for att zooma!"

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