Lighting by Goats

Custom lighting can be a simple sconce on the wall or a massive, incredible, eye-catching piece of art. The guys at Yellow Goat Designs seem to focus on the latter. This family-owned Australian business offers custom, one-of-a-kind fixtures for any kind of project. They work with architects and designers to design a piece that will compliment the space in which it is to live. They use different types of materials to create different effects and feels. Scroll through their portfolio because it is hard to describe everything they can do.
They also create architectural screens and a bit of furniture. All that is lacking is an explanation of the name. Is Australia know for their yellow goat breeds?

Conferences Galore

Being in New Orleans, I am all too aware of the AIA Conference going on right now. Along with speakers and CEU's and tours, there is, of course, a products expo. There are hundreds of companies showing products and I'm sure plenty of them are very cool. But a lot of those booths are also going to tend toward the technical side of building. Don't get me wrong, I like flashing membranes as much as the next guy but it's just not really POW worthy.
So we're going to go to another "new" city on another coast for another product expo.
ICFF - International Contemporary Furniture Fair -  is taking place this weekend in New York City. As the name suggests there will be furniture makers and manufacturers from all over the world represented. But the fair will also show finishes and accessories as well. If you go to the website, there is a fun way to explore the different exhibitors. At the bottom of the home page there are four "Exhibitor Profile" links. Pick one. Pictures of products (most times) will show up along with a small description, a link to a website and a link to a contact. Then when you scroll down to the bottom of that page, you have four more profiles to choose from. You can get lost in it for a while so watch out. You can follow those links to the actual websites and look at other projects those exhibitors are working on as well.
You might find Jordi Mila and their smooth carved wood benches.

Or these tiles with embedded LEDs by Hyomi Kim (sorry, sight is in Japanese)

Andarina Designs and their glass rod light fixtures

Or these super fun partitions from Razortooth Design (check out all their stuff!)

Beautiful, Quirky Wallpaper

A name like Tactile Wonderland kind of says it all. Thinking about makes you think of a beautiful fairytale that you want to touch and feel. Rebecca Otero and Ninette van Kamp have created that feel with their environmentally friendly wallpaper line. Both women's envious design backgrounds brought them together when studying for their MA in Design Textile Futures. They started creating what they considered beautiful things as side projects together before creating this business.

The covering is created with either a fabric on a recycled paper backing or an non-woven, FSC certified pulp. The images are hand silk screened then the paper has the option of being laser cut. All these hand done steps create a depth to the wallpaper and the addition of laser cutting can add an actual third dimension. Being hand made also allows for imperfections that just add to the charm.