rado

I know what you'll say... "living in Switzerland is just one great big excuse for writing about watches" and although you're not entirely wrong, there are other things that can set ones pulse racing round these parts, apart from a good watch. I'll write about those another time however.

In the meantime, I will rant on about a few watches that have become increasingly hard to ignore, they are hypnotising in their beauty.  So reminiscent of the 80's but so much better now, in 2010. RADO's r5.5 award winning collection designed by British design God Jasper Morrison marks the company's third phase of a very successful cooperation with the designer. Morrison's approach of giving minimalist design a unique character goes hand in hand with Rado's aesthetic concept.  Rado watches are not for everyone, all that monochrome can get a bit hard to live with, but they are deserving of their iconic status, for their design consistency if nothing else. They've never been my cup of tea, I must admit, but this is different. I want one of these. The watches are unmistakeably Rado but Jasper Morrison's touch has given them a powerful contemporary edge and also a bit of sex appeal which always helps, doesn't it?

Read up on Rado's commendable efforts in promoting young designers here and check out radostar.com, an exciting social networking platform launched at the Salone del Mobile 2009 by the brand; it is conceptualised and produced purely with international design students in mind. How cool.
For all you Rado die-hards there's also an iPhone App... Get it, go on, you know you want to.

cleanse

In an attempt to renew energy levels and cleanse the system of all the toxins contained within copious amounts of Prosecco, Bailey's, Nocino and the odd glass of red wine that were consumed over the festive season (I won't even mention the snickety snacks and all that chocolate), I went browsing through the chemists and health food stores over the last few days and got hideously sidetracked by the vast amount of exquisite little packets and delicate boxes of vintage-looking concoctions that seem to be very popular round here. The Swiss, the Italians and the French do remedies and toiletries like no others and these coloured gems caught my eye immediately. They'd do well in one of those gorgeous shops on Columbia Road and would probably sell for 5 times the amount that they cost here. At first glance you'd be forgiven for thinking they contain soap.

Not sure how useful digestive pastilles will be to me in my quest for purification, but they mean well. And they look gorgeous, especially in my bathroom.

try this

Jeannette Lunde, a Norwegian graphic designer is creator of the Fryd + Design blog as well as Fryd + Shop. How can you not fall madly in love with her colours, creations and photographs? All beautifully presented with such exquisite sense of detail and style.

The above picture is taken from one of her older posts and I do hope she doesn't mind me using it to give you a taste of her lovely work.

a charming man

Today my thoughts drifted as they so often do, to times gone by; I thought of my friend Martin. A style genius - a uniquely talented and generous person with such a refined, natural sense of proportion, colour, cut, time, anything he put his hands on really... I could go on and on. His influence on me was liberating, he gave me a sense of individuality and through his guidance I learnt to trust my own instinct. I was very privileged to have worked for him. An unbelievably accomplished and respected fashion designer based initially in London and subsequently in Brighton, he has now retreated to the picturesque Sussex countryside where he resides to this day with his beloved, beautiful Cocker Spaniel, Susan. Fashion is no longer his game (much to my eternal dissappointment). Instead his time is now taken up with another passion: vintage teddies, lions, tigers, elephants, donkeys and rabbits (Steiff fans will rejoice in his collection)... his website takes you on a sweet journey visiting various windows through which you can admire all these lovely characters (my own personal favourite is Deirdre the Duck, pictured above). A magical world, I urge you to visit it soon.

true to type

Watching the very talented Mr R working yesterday I couldn't resist snatching this piece of gorgeousness from him (please be sure to click on the picture for a proper, enlarged view). Don't worry I have his consent. There's something about a typeface, about a specific way a word is presented on print that is so beautiful, powerful and to the point. No fuss. No frills. No extras. No sound. Just a word - in most cases put very simply in black on white or vice versa. I suppose it all boils back down to design. And I guess it's graphic design really - but I like to think that it actually goes back further than that. Graphics don't really do it for me, but letters baby, yeah! Typesetting and, more importantly Typography. What genius to beautifully arrange letters to create your very own typeface, Herr Max Miedinger. I do love all those wonderful Harpers Bazaar articles with the iconic serif typeface, but have to admit that it's the sans serifs that I'll go for time and time again. They're just beautiful to me. My favourites from the mood board above are without a doubt the 'Acqua di Parma' logo and the 'Eleven Madison Park'. That's how simple I like it. Whilst doing his reasearch work yesterday, Mr R showed me this website which shows some great examples of a stunning typeface used so effectively on a collection of book covers (albeit rejected ones - I can't imagine why). Mmmm books.... don't get me started on those!