IDS Blog

Material Inspires Winning Window

It's been a couple of weeks since the show and believe it or not, the IDS team is already busy working on IDS 2010! We would like to thank everyone who attended the show, and say a special thank you to those who shared their photos on Flickr or our Facebook Fan Page, tweeted about what they saw, or participated in our various contests...

One of our favourite IDS 09 contests was our 2nd annual Window Contest, where we challenged retailers to create a window display based on the theme of our show. Since INSPIRATION was this year's theme participating stores designed their windows to creatively convey an inspirational design. We were pleasantly surprised to see how these stores rose to the task at hand and also how many of you took the time to vote online!

Be Inspired

What is the source of your inspiration? The crux of your creativity? The bane of your existence? Is it art? architecture? nature? travel? After your IDS 09 visit, it will be officially confirmed that it really can be absolutely anything...

Join us for Pecha Kucha this Friday at 5pm. Japanese for chit chat, it is an exciting fast paced presentation featuring 8 diverse speakers. Each speaker will show a slideshow of 20 images with each slide shown for only 20 seconds. Building on the theme of "Inspired By", they will present images, objects and concepts that stimulate their creativity. Décor Editor, leading industry trend consultant and reporter, Arren Williams will moderate the panel featuring: Matt Carr, Director of Design, UMBRA; Interior Designer Theresa Casey, Casey Design Planning; architect Margaret Graham, Superkul; Graphic Designer Bob Hambly of Hambly & Woolley; Furniture/Industrial Designer Patty Johnson; Linda Milrod, the Senior Project Manager of the AGO Transformation, artist Clint Roenisch, and motion graphics designer Stefan Woronko of Crush Inc...

Design Tauks

Montauk is slick. Montauk is cool. Montauk is one of the most comfortable sofas you've ever sat... or slept on...and is a Canadian success story. The Canadian upholstery manufacturer has showrooms right across Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver) as well as two in the US - Chicago and New York. They have over 35 models as well as custom design services. Showrooms are large, spacious, and fresh...but there's even more...

Since 2006, Montauk has been a carbon neutral company. Accounting for everything including manufacturing, distribution, sales as well as staff travel habits and even the greenhouse gas emissions of their suppliers, Montauk currently offsets 1600 tons of greenhouse gases per year. Only natural components are used to make their sofas, and two of their stores are powered by windpower. With a reclamation program in place, rebates toward new product are provided for returned sofas; and "sofas are designed either to be recycled back into the earth or recycled into another product." ...at IDS, they will launch a brand new sofa that combines both contemporary and traditional elements...get a peek on the IDS 09 video...

Get Set To Cocoon

The word du jour in interior design these days seems to be “cocooning” or as Karen von Hahn wrote in the weekend edition of the Globe & Mail, a few weeks ago; Cocooning 2.0.

So what exactly does this all mean?

It means making your home a more comfortable place to be in, a place to reflect and retreat in these uncertain times. It’s reworking that awkward all-but-no purpose room, repainting your entire space or retrofitting your home to be more environmentally friendly. We understand that working at one’s home to make it feel right takes time, ingenuity, compromise (if you’re living with others) and the most important ingredient of all, inspiration.

This year, the IDS team (with the feedback based from our attendees last year) has worked hard to come up with a series of seminars that will help inspire you to get these projects started. So, learn how to “Live Big In A Small Space” with the advice of prominent Interior Designer Tim Mather or Get on Trend with trend forecasting seminars on colour, kitchens and even technology.

You can register for any of our seminars by clicking here. Each seminar comes with free entrance to the show on the same day.

Anchor Away

Earlier this month, Canadian House & Home magazine held their annual trends breakfast. Lynda Reeves' (publisher and founder) reminded us that cocooning was born during the last recession (along with cultural phenomena like the VCR and microwave popcorn). And while this time around, it may be called ANCHORING, it's all about taking shelter... implying a trend toward making one's shelter cozy and comfortable with items that are of great quality and stand for goodness ... "it's the death of the Consumer and the birth of the Citizen", she announced...

5 X 5: 5 Designers. 5 Inspired Spaces

The Concept Spaces special feature is one of the many attractions at the IDS that make our event unique. For those of you unfamiliar with this exhibit, we invite four designers each year to participate and each are asked to create a living space inspired by a theme decided upon by both the IDS team and the four design teams.

This year, we are switching things up....IDS 09 is excited to present 5X5: 5 Designers. 5 Inspired Spaces. After the success of IDS 08, one word appeared frequently in our feedback survey results from both our professional and consumer attendees… the word “inspiration.” Simply put, people came to the show to be inspired. For the IDS 09 Concept Space feature exhibit we have asked this year's diverse, talented group of designers to create spaces based on that premise.

We think you will be quite surprised and inspired by their distinct visions. Over the next few weeks and months, we will be posting behind the scenes photographs of their photo shoot and also be posting profile interviews of these designers. You can keep track of these interviews and behind the scene photos by subscribing to our blog, flickr or becoming a fan on our Facebook page.

Next For The Nest

As thermostats are cranked up and we bunker down for the winter (especially in this hemisphere), we look inward. Economic indicators say that the next 12 months will be uncertain. What is certain however is that more time will be spent at home with family and friends... all the more reason to invest in the nest.

Design UNlimited Continues For A Second Year

At IDS 08 we launched Design UNlimited - a program in which we use design to benefit a cause. For the inaugural year, we invited several internationally renowned designers (including Tom Dixon, Marcel Wanders, Arne Quinze, Campagna Brothers, among others) who have been keynote speakers over the last 10 years to design a limited edition poster. 100% of the poster sales was donated to Doctors Without Borders/Medecins sans Frontieres.

Science And Illusion Meet

“At the outer edges of science and illusion....anything is possible...” the invitation looked like something out of a 19th century poster for a magic show. Coming from Blanco, the German company renown for kitchen sinks and mixer taps, one could not help but be intrigued.

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, there was an oversized teapot clad in shimmering silver mosaic tile, a 12 foot tall globe blanketed in sparking rainbow-colour Swarovski crystal, a table shaped like an 18th century industrial factory spewing out billowing dark clouds…while this may sound like Lewis Carroll or the Brothers Grimm, these tales belong to storytellers of a different kind…

Work Style

In Canada, especially in Toronto, something funny happens overnight from August 31st to September 1st. From one day to the next, we are wearing closed-toe shoes, lamenting the end of summer and feeling the stress of back to school and work…thankfully, there are products out there that make the transition to work and school less painful…

Designer Profile: Tom Dixon

Lost in our archives was the designer profile that we did of IDS 08 speaker, Tom Dixon. What has the ever prolific designer been up to since the show? He's been appointed as the creative directive of 100% Design in London for the second year in a row, sitting on the editorial board of a new bimonthly fashion digest magazine called Distill and is launching a new furniture collection in collaboration with George Smith this month, among others.

Here are his answers to our questions:

What are the 5 things you can't live without?
food water laughter space sleep

How did you get into design?
by accident, by luck, and by good fortune

Who or what inspires you?
architecture , art , engineering , travel ,

What do you consider good design?
the improvement of things

What "trends" are you loving or hating right now?
I'm trying to avoid them as much as possible, but the slow food movement in italy is interesting...as is yellow in fashion and new rave in british music.

Objets D'Art

While the massification of design persists with products like designer soap dispensers and garbage cans, we also continue to see the growth of design exclusivity. Treated like art, limited edition design is coveted and collected. An increasing number of designers, artists, gallerists and manufacturers continue to produce design that deserves to be treated like great works of art (from New York’s Moss Gallery to London’s Meta Gallery representing works by international designers like Studio Job, Tord Boontje or Marc Newson)...

Earth Inc. Gets Dirty

On Canada Day weekend, Earth Inc. (IDS alumni) launched their new series on HGTV called “Dirty Business.” This series follow the trials and tribulations of landscape designers James Dale, Joel Loblaw, Kennedy McRae and Lorne Hancock as they wrangle with weeds and clients’ expectations.

The First Of Summer Design Events

The promise of summer has resulted in a bevy of events these past few weeks. Teeple Architects, (IDS 08 Collaborations participant) held their first book launch at Pachter Residence, a modern masterpiece on a very unassuming street in Chinatown, housing the residence and art gallery of celebrated Canadian artist, Charles Pachter. Near:Far is a retrospective of Teeple’s built work from 1999-2005.