‘Plastic Extruding Gun’ by James Shaw, photo: Paul Plews

Royal College of Art MA Design Products student James Shaw has created a ‘Plastic Extruding Gun’ – part of series of materials “guns” that also includes Papier Mache and Pewter Squirting – that he has used to make tables.

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‘Kitchen Scales’ by Helena Karelson

Helena Karelson’s clever ‘Kitchen Scales’, consisting of two kitchen measuring jugs, measure not only by volume but also by weight using the age-old water displacement method.

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‘One Good Emperor’ by Ben Alun-Jones

Using 3D scanning and remixing tools, Royal College of Art graduate Ben Alun-Jones has scanned the busts of five Roman emperors from the British Museum in London. The goal, blend the scans to create different mixes of One Good Emperor. “This project questions the notions of value and uniqueness in a world where any object can be scanned, sampled and reproduced, simply by recording the object on video.” says Alun-Jones. “Many of these classical busts were also reproductions and so the idea of the original can often be distorted.”

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‘Well Proven Chair’ by Marjan van Aubel & James Shaw

While looking at ways of incorporating waste wood shavings into design, Royal College of Art graduates Marjan van Aubel and James Shaw noticed a curious chemical reaction when bio-resin was mixed with shavings, it expands into foam. By adding colour dye and varied-sized shavings from different workshop machines, a colourful, lightweight and mouldable material was created as was the beginnings of their ‘Well Proven Chair’.

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Out of the Woods: Adventures of 12 Hardwood Chairs by AHEC and RCA

The American Hardwood Export Council has collaborated with product design students at the Royal College of Art in London to create a stunning exhibition of hardwood chairs at the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the 2012 London Design Festival. The culmination of an eight month project that encompassed wood and chair making workshops, an introduction to Life Cycle Assessment and a rigorous design and making process. (more…)

'1.3' Chair by Kihyun Kim for Zeitraum; photo by Team Schalterhalle

A young Korean designer and last year’s RCA graduate Kihyun Kim has just been awarded the prestigious Designs of the Year Award 2012 in the furniture category for his ’1.3′ Chair. The design, which is most probably world’s lightest wooden chair, was realised as Kim’s MA Design Product graduate project and the chair has now been put into production by a German manufacturer Zeitraum. Originally made of balsa wood and weighting a feathery (less than Gio Ponti’s 1957 ‘Superleggera’) 1.28 kg, the ’1.3′ Chair is now available in oak, ash and American walnut. It was presented earlier last week at Zeitraum’s stand in hall 7 and at the RCA Paradise show at Milan’s Ventura Lambrate. (more…)

RCA Christmas Card 2011 by Kellenberger–White, photo courtesy of RCA

As the world’s leading postgraduate art and design school, it comes as no surprise that each year, London’s Royal College of Art takes the opportunity to showcase the talent of its ever-expanding

alumni through the medium of a custom-designed Christmas card. This year, RCA has commissioned

its MA Communication Art & Design (2009) alumni; Zurich-born Eva Kellenberger and Bristol-born

Sebastian White who upon completion of their studies have established the London-based graphic design consultancy Kellenberger-White. (more…)

Where is Nemo? The biomorphic 'Rings' stool by Claire-anne O'Brien, reminiscent of the great star coral

Claire-anne O’Brien, the young Irish-born London-based designer and last year’s RCA graduate (MA Textiles) has expanded her collection of meticulously-detailed knitted furniture, which, for the second consecutive year, was on show at Designersblock during the London Design Festival. This time, O’Brien drew her inspiration from the beauty and structural complexity of aquatic life, with some of the new designs, such as the above-pictured ‘Rings’ or ‘Cnoic’ bearing a striking resemblance to the intricate structure of a coral. (more…)