Heading down to Trafalgar square to see Jaime Hayóns’ chess set installation, I found myself disappointed, I’d been too wrapped up preparing for the main weekend of the show, that the installation had packed away. Game over. There went my plan to rein-act the longest professional chess game in history, saved me 269 moves and 20 hours and 15 minutes.
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We extensively surveyed at 100% design asking the all important question, what percentage of 100% design, is design? 20 people later, and a lot of musings, the results are in. It seems that only 62.0505% is design, with answers ranging from 0.01% to infinity.

The stupid question raised another, ever pondered, question: well depends what you mean by design? We have no answer, but here are some of the thoughts of people we spoke to:

55% “Design / 45% nonsense

5% They just nick things that have been done before, from different eras, and call it new

70% - “ There was a brochure in the toilet, they’ve produced as many variations as possible, as many colour ways, a lot of it is just covering all the bases”

Sometimes its very art, sometimes its very design, sometimes its very commercial, where is the border?

The main similarity between Masako Sato and her work is the fact that they both just make you want to smile. The Tokyo based designer is at Designer’s Block this year with her beautifully simple “mushroom hook” and “whipped cream accessory”.

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I am surrounded by an army of black paper ants, which appear to be picking away pieces of Manami Hayasaki’s intricate cutout scenes. Amongst fairytale trees sprouting sinister hands as roots, wary-looking animals, dragonflies and feisty stag beeles, the ants scatter across the gallery walls carrying off their loot.

Project B (2009)

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Listening in to Twitter is fun. The stress is obviously starting to show for William Knight the deputy director of the London Design Festival, as he makes an out of character stab at journalist Barbara Chandler.

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Luke Jerram’s biomedical glass pieces are objects of beauty despite their unsavoury subject matter. Based on microscopic images of killer viruses, he worked with skilled glass blowers and Bristol University virologists, to create a series of translucent interpretations of these commonly feared diseases.

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I grew up in an area of Brooklyn, New York, called Fort Greene, a beautiful neighbourhood but flanked by some of the worst social housing in the city.

In America we refer to social housing as the ‘projects’, and they are places to be avoided: a collection of multi-story brick apartment blocks with small, grilled windows and concrete surroundings, devoid of emotion. Although the aesthetic might change slightly, I’ve found that when it comes to social housing, this environment tends to be the norm in most of the major cities around the world.
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Amidst pricy bits of so-called “design art” (Stuart Haygarth chandelier, £12,000 to £18,000; Tom Price Meltdown chair, £4,000 to £6,000), Sir Paul Smith collected the London Design Medal at Phillips de Pury auction house in Victoria on Wednesday evening. Sir John Sorrell called him a “design hero” so we got two for the price of one.

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For the benefit of readers still unaware of SAD DAD, he is a reclusive artist who rarely gives interviews. However, today is your lucky day as I was fortunate enough to meet up with SAD DAD himself for this exclusive Working Title interview, which was unfortunately cut short due to reasons which will be made clear later.

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‘The Hospital’ in Covent Garden is a private members club and creative arts venue, who are currently showcasing the work of their Creatives in Residence; the program supports creatives across film, music, fashion, theatre, graphic design, visual and performance arts. As part of the residency, stylist and fashion designer Nova Dando presented her latest showcase ‘The Rainbow Collection’ at the Hospital, in a concept video, and in performances worn by Mercury Prize nominee La Roux and New York dance collective The House of Danger Kat.

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