With Christmas just around the corner, the timing couldn’t have been better for the Macao International Design Show 2015. The annual fair saw tons of brilliant designers from Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao showing off an array of unique and creative products – many of which would make for perfect presents.
Run over a three-day period, November 6-8, the show area was 6,500 square meters and featured exhibits promoting original brands, independent designer’s works and original handicraft products. Design teams from over 10 countries participated in the show.
We picked out three of our favorite brands and asked them some questions about their concept and products.
Nature Bamboo
Since founding his brand Nature Bamboo in 2006, BBKen (pictured above) has been exploring natural materials and traditional crafts, adopting creative thinking to produce natural furniture fit for modern lifestyles. His work has been brought under the spotlight by its unique designs, which are inspired by nature and respect for traditional handcrafts.
How did the concept for Nature Bamboo come about?
I liked to travel and collect leaves, stones and deadwood, which I processed into home-furnishing objects. Later, my team and I developed the concept of bringing nature home. Based on this, we tried to combine natural materials, traditional craftsmanship and modern design. We want to bring the dying traditional craft of bamboo fashioning back into peoples’ lives.
Where do the materials come from?
We now incorporate mud, wood and cloth, but originally we just used bamboo, which is still an essential part of our products. Different types of bamboo are required to make different objects. Luckily, bamboo grows all over the country.
The major difference in bamboo is bamboo growing by water is soft, whereas the mountain variety is tensile. We use mountain bamboo to make lamp frames, which need to be bent into certain shapes. Water bamboo is processed into extremely thin wickers used to wrap vases, tea sets and wares.
Where do you see Nature Bamboo going in the next few years?
We are going upwards now. We are trying to enrich our product line over the course of 10 years. With stores in both Shenzhen and Guangzhou, we hope to see our products and their designs adapting to modern life, as well as become known and accepted by more customers.
> Contact: 020-8382 7647, bamboo2006@yahoo.cn
Marmiulous Macau
Marmiulous is about dissolving fatigue, supplementing energy and liberating the body. Marmiulous produces ergonomic pillows with pleasant curves and five inner arcs that fit your head, arms and legs. By using highly resilient materials for stuffing that allow close interaction with the body, these specially designed pillows offer full support and guaranteed relaxation.
What is the inspiration behind your concept?
Scientific studies show that hugging discharges negative emotions and pressures. So based on our favorite animal (cats) and applying ergonomics, these cat-shape pillows emerged. At first, we devised different shapes that we put on the market for feedback. So, this is our ultimate product – its shape, thickness and tailoring, is the result of feedback from users of the pillow. Now our product can be found in over 20 stores across China, as well as in Europe and North and South America.
Which one of the pillows is most popular?
Our most popular pillow is the one with a cartoon Kim Jong-un on it, because young people like to make fun of political figures. What’s more, he is popular throughout the world.
Every season, we produce over 20 patterns that are related to either Halloween and Christmas or trendy topics. A lot of our customers use them for pillow fights.
Where would you like to see the brand go in the next two years?
I hope that our pillow will add something to peoples’ lives, that they will find life more interesting with it. This is what our whole design team wishes to accomplish. Our parents want things that last the longest, but nowadays, people want trendy topics. We want to bring these topics to people so that when they have friends to their house, they will have one more thing to chitchat about.
> Contact: kit@jabbermacau.com
Danny Kuo
Born and raised in the Netherlands and now based in Shanghai, Danny Kuo emphasizes the combining of design and modern technology to solve real-life problems, which is the reason why he insists on flexibility and adaptability in his designs. Kuo endeavors to bring about functional and effective products that improve the quality of life.
What are the prime features of your products?
In general, I try to increase the functionality of my products. For example, the staircase-like cabinet is about how to use space efficiently, or to be more exact, to take advantage of limited height. The problem for most elevated cabinets is reachability, so, as you can see, I designed a pullout-stair solution.
How do you think your product concepts ease others’ lives?
The essence of my products is functionality, but it doesn’t mean they are cheap and easy to produce.
I do many commercial projects that are helpful to people’s lives. I am a volunteer in a fabrication lab called Xin Fab in Shanghai. What I do is use that space to produce my own prototypes and, at the same time, help them with their space by giving workshops. I also teach kids and adults how to design an object with software programs and to use machines to make said object. I like to show people they can make things themselves.
Where do you see your brand going in the next two years?
There are two things I would really like to incorporate into my future products. First, I would like them to be more conceptual objects. The concept is the functionality. My products at present are relatively expensive, because they are hand-made and require complex skills. Therefore, the second thing I want is my products to become more relative and accessible to others, to ease their everyday
> Contact: info@dannykuo.com
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