Chris Wolston Explores Materiality + Abstraction in His Newest Exhibition at Casa Perfect

The Future Perfect, a contemporary gallery founded by David Alhadeff, has just unveiled its latest exhibition at Casa Perfect, its Los Angeles outpost in Beverly Hills. Featuring new works by designer and sculptor Chris Wolston, Temperature’s Rising is a fantasy come to life, a compilation of 21 original works that explore materiality and abstraction through chairs, tables, loungers, and other furniture pieces. Wolson continues to expand his unique style of using fiber materials to weave anthropomorphic forms and silhouettes while also experimenting with metallurgy using bronze, brass, and copper metals.

Temperature’s Rising is an amalgamation of different inspirational sources, from the Andes Mountains in Western Colombia to Spanish modernism. The human elements of his pieces gives a sense of familiarity while reframing your perspective of the whimsical possibilities of furniture. Wolston explains:

I’m fascinated by the large-scale, gestural patterns that make up our world. The past year has thrown the beauty and fragility of our lives into sharp relief. Temperature’s Rising dually celebrates the essential elements of our world and encourages you to think differently about the objects you see everyday.

The collection includes Wolston’s first-ever standing mirror, seating woven from ethically sourced 100% Colombian wicker, a rattan sofa that upcycles animal hides, and a one-of-a-kind vessel that combines wicker and metal.

Temperature’s Rising is on view from November 3 through December 2021 at Casa Perfect LA by appointment only.

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The Recently Launched TYP Furniture Brand by Helen Thonet and Florian Lambl

TYP is a recently launched furniture design brand bringing timeless modern classics to the masses. The inaugural collection includes a curated selection of contemporary designs aimed at bringing design history into the future, all made with sustainable, high-quality materials.

Notable designers include Klemens Schillinger – who created an aluminum chair out of the highest grade aluminum – and Jasper Morrison, bringing forth a redesigned tubular steel chair exclusive to TYP named PEL, originally manufactured by Practical Equipment Ltd in the 1930s.

“Our vision and ambition is to bring products to the market that will have substantial relevance,” says Helen Thonet, TYP CEO and co-Founder. “We know the demands set on products for modern interior collections today. More than just adjusting colors and fabrics season after season, we want to create a new standard within the design industry that revolves around great design, competitive pricing and sustainable manufacturing.”

 

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Gift Modern on a Budget – Affordable Holiday Gift Ideas Under $50

Good design doesn’t have to break the bank. So for our latest holiday gift guide, we handpicked the best affordable and design-driven holiday gift ideas that’ll spark joy for everyone on your list, all for under $50. Read on to discover our favorites, and head over to the Design Milk Shop for more holiday gift ideas under $50, here! 

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Native Union Drop Wireless Charger by Native Union

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Native Union Drop Wireless Charger by Native Union

This sleek wireless charger by Native Union ensures no one on your holiday shopping list ever has to wake up to a dead phone (or air pods!) battery. Its weighted aluminum base has a cool, modern touch and features a graphic linear textile on the top to add a stylish flair to home or desktop. It’s even available in a soothing sage green colorway.

$49.99

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Expanded Bento Box by Takenaka Bentobox

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Expanded Bento Box by Takenaka Bentobox

Make lunchtime easy for anyone on your shopping list with the Expanded Bento Box by Takenaka Bentobox. Available in a rainbow of vibrant colorways, this roomy bento box features two food storage compartments and a convenient elastic band to keep your food items snug and secure inside. It even has an airtight seal to prolong your food’s freshness and flavor!

$30

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Salt Pond Tray by Space Ctrl Design

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Salt Pond Tray by Space Ctrl Design

There are endless ways to use the Salt Pond Tray by Space Ctrl Design. Made with small, medium and large compartments – there’s a space for all your essentials, so you can stay organized. The cork construction makes this organization tray unique and brings a natural neutral element to your recipient’s space. Use it for storage on your nightstand or desk, or for organizing supplies for hobbies and projects in progress.

$38

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A5 Memobottle by Memobottle

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A5 Memobottle by Memobottle

The award-winning memobottle is universally loved for its ergonomic shape and modern design that’s perfect for on the go. About the same size as the A5 international paper size, the A5 Memobottle lives happily in your work bag, tote or backpack and helps curb waste from single-use plastics. Staying hydrated has never looked cooler.

$36

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Succulent Swing by Ohio Workshop

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Succulent Swing by Ohio Workshop

It’s impossible not to smile at this adorable Succulent Swing by Ohio Workshop. Sure, succulents may need less maintenance than other houseplants, but they deserve to have fun, too! This unique planter is a holiday gift that’s sure to spark joy for the plant-lover on your list and bring a playful energy to their space. We love this planter as a cheerful touch to a desk or home office, but this swinging planter plays well in any space in your home.

$35

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Oasis 1000 Piece Puzzle by Fits Puzzles

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Oasis 1000 Piece Puzzle by Fits Puzzles

Treat someone on your holiday shopping list to the gift of a (mental) getaway with the dreamy Oasis Puzzle by Fits Puzzles. This soothing artwork by artist Rhi James promises to be as meditative to put together as it is to stare at once you’ve finished. The lush green hues and contrasting jewel tones bring the tropical outdoors in and will introduce beautiful pops of color to your recipient’s space. Find dozens more fun and unique puzzles to choose from here!

$40

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WagWellies by WagWear

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WagWellies by WagWear

Protect your canine pal’s paws and give your dog-loving friend even more reasons to send you snapshots of their pup this holiday season with these WagWellies by WagWear. These rubber “Wellington” boots for pets are designed to keep your dog’s paws dry and safe from scrapes while on walks. And because getting your dog to wear clothes is always a challenge, the WagWellies feature open-vented slits to make slipping them on easy.

$49

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Fruitsuper Sage Bookends – Set of 2 by Post.Script

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Fruitsuper Sage Bookends – Set of 2 by Post.Script

A thoughtful holiday gift for the design-loving book worms in your life, these stylish steel bookends by Post.Script are an easy way to add color and personality to their bookshelf, desk or anywhere they store their books. The sleek, lightweight bookends use contrasting angles to support book stacks of any size and are available in bright yellow and eye-catching coral colorways.

$32

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Glam Copper Alarm Clock by cloudnola

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Glam Copper Alarm Clock by cloudnola

This Copper Clock by cloudnola is a modern update to the traditional alarm clock styles – making it a functional and fashionable piece of modern and metallic decor! The sleek and neutral copper finish will add a dash of glam to your gift recipient’s decor aesthetic, so they can rise early in style!

$32.50

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Grande Tote in Bio-knit by Junes

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Grande Tote in Bio-knit by Junes

The bigger the bag, the more fun you can have! The Grande Tote by Junes is big enough for all of life’s adventures – trips to the beach, yoga practice, overnight stays, the farmer’s market and so much more – making it the perfect holiday gift for anyone on your list. Made from the brand’s innovative and sustainable bio-knit material, this eco-friendly tote helps curb plastic pollution and is 100% machine washable, too.

$46

>>> For more modern holiday gift ideas under $50, visit the Design Milk Shop here! <<<

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Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse Hopes to Turn the Tide Against Plastic Waste

With the majority of press surrounding Microsoft’s recent Surface event focused upon the company’s intriguing more-than-meets-the-eye flagship laptop, the Surface Laptop Studio, alongside other 2-in-1 form factors reflective of the company’s commitment to convertible computing devices it was easy to miss the reveal of a smaller accessory – an eco-design conceived to reuse plastic detritus collected from the ocean and turn it into a point and click peripheral, the Ocean Plastic Mouse.

“The team wondered, why couldn’t we make a resin out of plastic in the ocean and make a dent there?” said Patrick Gaule, senior designer on the Windows & Devices design team. “We started formalizing this idea. What type of resin? What kind of product? We came up with a plan to look into it. We were sure it was going to be very hard. We weren’t sure it was going to work.”

And thus Microsoft set out to conceive a scalable method for converting gathered plastic bottles, bottle caps, packaging and other discarded waste polluting waterways and coastlines, breaking them down into raw polymer resin pellets to form the external shell of their new mouse.

Because ocean plastic tends to already exhibit signs of molecular degradation caused by heat, ultraviolet light, moisture and salt exposure (left long enough to churn in the ocean, these plastics degrade into the minuscule nightmare known as microplastics now found in nearly every water source and ecosystem), the Microsoft team needed to discover new methods ensuring the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) commonly used to make water bottles into a material suitable for a consumer electronic device.

“The resin used is polyester, which is good for water bottle applications but not a common material used for consumer electronics,” said Tony Li, a principal mechanical engineer for Surface devices. “That’s the challenge. All plastics have different behavior. Polyester has higher mold shrinkage, lower heat deflection and the material has higher moisture absorption than other resins more commonly used for hardware enclosures.”

The resulting design isn’t made entirely of recycled plastic, just 20 percent. Microsoft says their original goal was to use half that, 10 percent recycled ocean plastic for their Ocean Plastic Mouse. But in the process of developing the resin, the team was able to eke an additional 10 percent more of the recycled ocean plastic by weight – the equivalent of half of a 16-ounce water bottle. The resulting mouse is covered in speckled plastic reminiscent of vanilla ice cream, complemented by a blue tinted scroll wheel.

But you may be wondering, “Why not 100% recycled plastic?”. The chemical composition of their proprietary recycled PET plastic proved a roadblock toward this ideal goal; a mouse made entirely of recycled resin sourced from water bottles “would not meet mechanical and reliability specifications” according to Microsoft’s engineering team. Instead, a resin blend combining PET and polycarbonate (PC) plastic was found to offer a balance between durability, comfort and aesthetics.

Microsoft notes the Ocean Plastic Mouse represents an early effort to integrate recycled ocean plastic as a rule rather than an exception. “This isn’t the be-all, end-all,” says Patrick Gaule, senior designer on the Windows & Devices design team. “This is one example, and we want to do more of this. What I really look forward to is the kind of dialogue with our customers who buy these. I want to hear why they did it, what was interesting about it to them. Because that’s only going to help us going forward.”

The Ocean Plastic Mouse is available now for $24.99 via Microsoft.com.

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Meet Revol: The Dog Crate That Combines Form + Function

The following post is brought to you by Diggs. Our partners are hand-picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.

Your dog is part of your family and their crate is part of your home. But, let’s face it: traditional wire dog crates can be an eyesore. The team at Diggs set out to reimagine the crate training experience with products that are stylish for pet parents and safer for pets.

While searching for products for his own dog, Diggs’ founder Zel Crampton found that existing crates on the market were clunky, difficult to use and unattractive. To create a better crate, the Diggs team embarked on a design process that incorporated ethnographic research, customer feedback and thorough safety testing. The result is revolutionary: the Revol Dog Crate.

Safety was our top consideration at every point in the design process. Because the pet industry isn’t widely regulated, we utilize standards for toys and juvenile products to design Revol. All of the materials used in our products meet these stringent standards for known toxins and our products are designed to prevent hazardous conditions to pet parents and their pets.

– Greg Walker, Head of Pet Safety at Diggs

Revol is as functional as it is beautiful – a design lover’s dream. A reimagined take on the pet supply staple, Revol features a sleek profile and modern colorways that look great in any space. The attractive exterior complements your existing decor, so you don’t have to sacrifice style for your dog’s safety. Diamond-shaped wire mesh reduces the risk of your pup’s paws or mouth getting stuck, while ergonomic, easy-to-use doors make the crate extremely user-friendly.

This month, Diggs released the Large size of their Revol Dog Crate. With a waitlist of over 35,000 eager pet parents, it was the brand’s most anticipated launch yet. Built for dogs up to 90 lbs, the Large Revol is a popular choice for Doodles, Golden Retrievers, Labradors and other large breeds.

“The Large Revol is the culmination of three years of R&D and feedback from our Pet Parents, which makes it something really special in the world of products,” said Courtney Armstrong, Head of Product Development at Diggs. “We were able to tackle some really significant challenges with this design, all while striving to enhance the forms and features people have come to know and love about our products.”

Revol is a smart choice for dogs of all ages, from puppies to senior pets. The garage-style side door is handy for crate training and makes it more easily accessible for dogs with mobility issues. The included puppy divider allows you to resize the crate’s interior as your pup grows. Apartment dwellers will appreciate the collapsible frame for compact storage, while pet parents on the go can use the wheels for easy transport.

It’s an example of good design solving real problems. Diggs’ growing array of products seeks to help pets and their parents live better, together. The Revol Dog Crate is available in three sizes and three colors, and pairs well with Diggs’ crate accessories, including the Snooz Crate Pad and the first-of-its-kind Groov Training Aid. To learn more about Diggs, visit diggs.pet.

Photography by Bart Fish.

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