The best of 2011: The top three product design Seeds of the year

By Hannah Robinson 28 : 12 : 2011 Milan : Trade Union : Rachel Griffin

Eindhoven, Milan, London – Three of my favourite product design Seeds of 2011 explored items from the most fascinating shows from 2011, including hand-woven plastic containers, biotechnological skin and a furniture collection featuring a sphere of dirty oil.

A stand-out at Dutch Design Week was Rachel Griffin’s Trade Union, a collection of hand-made vessels made using old weaving techniques, but with a new naturally biodegradable plastic material. Griffin described the collection, which explored the conflict between craft and industry, as ‘a marriage of industrial chemistry and traditional knowledge that allows for a more flexible system of production and design’.

In a warehouse during Salone del Mobile in Milan an exhibition called Textile Futures by students of Central Saint Martins College in London posed many questions relevant to the future of product design. The work examined innovative future materials, including biotechnological skin by Natsai Chieza, in an exploration of the meeting of science, biology and design.

Studio Toogood’s furniture collection Delicate Interference: Assemblage 3 was a favourite from London Design Festival. The collection encapsulated signature pieces from the studio, but also featured exciting new designs made with a range of raw industrial materials such as resin, rubber and dirty oil.

I expect to see more thought-provoking, challenging and innovative examples pushing the boundaries of product design in 2012.