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March to April 2009
Hello All,
And welcome to the Spring edition of student support online.
Spring is all about creation and so is design. It is a time for renewal, looking to the future with a positive attitude, remembering the smells, the colours and just how bright everything can look.
As we know colour cannot be truly appreciated without light and the styles introduced at this time of the year tend to be brighter in colour than other times of the year; whether it is our realisation of the beauty of things or our newfound appreciation of the light we missed out on throughout the winter, certainly this can be true for most Europeans.
For example here is a taster of colours available on the catwalk; as designers we must look to all areas of design for inspiration and guidance.
Above: Spring/Summer Collection 2009
Also take a look at this image from nature itself this time of year, is it a coincidence that the colours are reiterated in spring/summer fashion collections?
Above: Spring Colours from Nature
Renewal and New Life
With renewal in mind let us take the idea of new life and elaborate; refer to the current trends section for design concepts for children’s and infants bedrooms. There are some lovely ideas here and even in this we can identify the use of bright colours as well as the idea of reusing old furniture and giving it a new lease of life.
Above:
Revitalise Old Furniture
Spring Cleaning with Feng Shui
Take a look in our Ask the Experts section to read about how to spring clean your kitchen using Feng Shui techniques, some interesting ideas!
Investigating Styles
In our last update we discussed the idea of becoming universally aware and keeping our eyes and ears open to new ideas. As part of this New Year’s resolution let us take a look at particular design styles from around the world and gain inspiration from them. We will begin with taking a look at “Tokyo Style”. The following images are excerpts from a book called “Tokyo Styles”; the details of which can be seen in our recommended reading section.
Above:
Tokyo Day
Above:
Tokyo Night
Above:
Tokyo Form
Above: Tokyo Lights
Above:
Tokyo Concrete and Nature
Tokyo Storage
Above:
Tokyo Compact Study
Above:
Tokyo Compact Apartment
Above:
Tokyo Natural Materials
Above: Tokyo Muted Pallette
Above: Tokyo Graphics
Above: Tokyo Fun
Try to think about the social and economic climates that may have contributed to the creation of this unique style, could it have been an understanding and respect for their history, a love for nature and their landscapes, a repercussion of the hard work ethic the Japanese consume i.e. a need for balance and harmony? Get thinking and see what you can come up with.
In the next update we will investigate another style.
I hope you enjoy the current updates and wish you all the best with your studies,
Kind regards,
Siobhán
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