Holland

For The Birds.

Now that I have a yard again, and I can enjoy things like song birds on my back porch I’ve become interested in birdhouses and feeders. Like before when I owned the Modular 4 house on Lloyd, I have begun searching for something that doesn’t look like the standard stuff you see at Home Depot or Lowes. Unfortunately most feeders and houses look like the same stuff that has been around for decades. Fortunately though, Dutch designer Vincent Bos has created a new birdhouse has a wonderful modern look to it.

The collection is an environmentally conscious series constructed of oak, porcelain, and powder coated steel. They are hand made and designed specifically for outdoor use. “Wall Elements” was designed with durability and versatility in mind. It is a modular system that can be assembled to work in any garden space. The mount for each house can be attached to a wall, fence post or any vertical surface.

I love the clean look, the playful nature and the use of environmentally friendly materials. I will say this, they aren’t cheap. The average price is about $250.00 dollars. If you want a Wall Elements Birdhouse you can pick one up – here. I love the look but I think I am going to continue to search for something just as stylish and more on budget.

Waarmakers Ninebyfour.

Most fluorescent style light fixtures are for lack of a better term, ugly. This partly due to the need for ballast, the power supply, and the heat the lamps give off. Waarmakers however has created Ninebyfour a tube lamp using LED’s. Because they don’t generate heat, or have a large power supply this minimal lamp is quite beautiful, and one made from uncharacteristic materials.

The lamps are designed and built with reclaimed wood that comes from salvaged trees cut down in and around the Amsterdam area. Each lamp comes with a location marker stamped in the cork portion of the fixture. If you enter the coordinates in Google Maps, the origin of your lamps source tree shows up.

The Art of Craft. “Glas” and “Manliness”.

This morning while going through my weekly reading list of newsletters, emails, and RSS feeds, two links were brought to my attention. One dealt with craftsmanship, the other with glass production in Holland in the 1950’s. While both were in the same newsletter, they were not directly connected. They are however.

The short film on glass production is a perfect example of the craftsmanship that goes into creating any form of film, design, art, or object. The film itself is beautifully shot and edited. The subject matter shows the phenomenal craftsmanship that goes into making a beautiful piece of hand blown glass. The article is a history of the term “Craftsman”, and why craft is so important in the work you create.

“Make every product better than it has ever been done before. Make the parts you cannot see as well as the parts you can see. Use only the best materials for even the most everyday items. Give the same attention to the smallest details as you do to the largest. Design every item you make to last for ever.”

I won’t give away the film, but the first half is a direct set up for the second, and the finish. Watching the glass blowers work their magic, accompanied by fitting music and a beautiful job of editing make it hard to look away.

Disney XD “Chain Reaction” Indents.

PostPanic has produced a series of indents for DisneyXD Netherlands promoting the summer theme of “Chain Reactions”. Directed by Erwin van den IJssel the short spots feature Rube Goldberg machine interactions crafted entirely out of objects kids could find at home. His goal was to capture the childhood joy of building things that would make your parents scratch their heads with a complete lack of understanding.

The main characters of each piece are cuts outs of the kids themselves with snapshot photos pasted on each of the cardboard figures. Because the indents are for Dutch TV, Disney XD specified that they have a very specific “Dutch” feel to them. To insure that look was achieved Erwin van den IJssel and PostPanic dressed the sets with recognizable Dutch materials and products, using various food packaging and products to create each scene.

Each indent is story driven, and captures the playful joy of childhood and summer fun.

CREDITS

Project: Disney XD Idents

Client: The Walt Disney Company Benelux,
On-Air Manager: Nancy Theunissen, The Walt Disney Company Benelux
Promo Producer: Elmar Scharff , The Walt Disney Company Benelux

Production Company: PostPanic
Executive Producers: Ania Markham, Jules Tervoort, PostPanic
Director: Erwin van den IJssel, PostPanic
DOP: Hessel Waalewijn
Producer: Liene Berina, PostPanic
Senior Producer: Annejes van Liempd, PostPanic
Art Direction: Roger Denton; Design, Nicole Nieuwenhuis, Jelier&Schaaf
Music and Sound Design: Jochen Mader, Audionerve
Post-Production: PostPanic
Editor: Ine van den Elsen, PostPanic
2D Artists: Doma Harkai, Donat Ertsey, PostPanic
Production Assistant: Alba Sueiro, PostPanic