Pouring over Alan Fletcher's book, "The Art of Looking Sideways", it's hard to believe that 10 years has passed since its perception-shifting pages launched on our bookshelves. It is as fresh, insightful and witty today as we remember it being then. Chock-full of collected graphic ephemera from all around the world, and spanning over 30 years of looking at the world around him differently, Fletcher's very special tome, which has inspired people the world over, will now open its pages and expose it's own inspiration to us very lucky Londoners:

Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch will be hosting an exhibition entitled Mind Over Matter, bringing together a rare collection of original material, curiosities, notes and scribbles from Fletcher's archives, alongside copies of the book itself, exhibition posters and limited edition prints.

A true icon, Fletcher transcended convention and made us all look twice: from collecting scrawls on napkins to forming legendary design consultancies like Pentagram, and art-directing Phaidon books, to name just a few of his hobbies.



"Mind Over Matter": Alan Fletcher's The Art Of Looking Sideways

Kemistry Gallery: 43 Charlotte Road, London EC2A 3PD

25 August - 1 October

Monday-Saturday 10.00 - 18.00

Henrietta Thompson

Bicycles are brilliant, but best left outside. Until now. New designs from Quarterre mean the hallway now makes a better bikeshed than ever

We are always drawn to new and innovative storage solutions that address the living and breathing piles of just-had-to-haves that grow in our homes, and this is by far one of the most zen we have seen: London design studio, Quarterre, made up of four designers, Clive, Daniele, Jason and Nick, hailing from multi-disciplinary backgrounds, have come up with sleek and sculptural bike stands that will keep your bike (and you) neat and safe in your urban home environment.

During the London Design Festival in September, three of their new designs entitled, Branchline, Shadow and Hood, will be unveiled as part of their Furniture for Bikes range, designed to seamlessly unite cycling and interior design. Made exclusively in the UK with craftsmanship and detailing at the heart of the operation, the pieces are made from steel, leather and bamboo with the utmost attention to aesthetics, functionality and materials. So pop down to the cult East London cyclists' hub, look mum no hands!, and  join us in celebrating the end of tripping over your bike on your way to your morning coffee fix.



Look mum no hands! 49 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HX
18-25 September 2011
7.30am-10.00 pm Monday -Friday,
9.00am-10.00pm Saturday,
9.30am - 10.00pm Sunday

Text by Jacki Lang
Images courtesy of Quarterre

There's something about unfinished drawings, designer's models, and creative doodles and musings that is utterly compelling, which is why we're always first in line at the Prototypes and Experiments exhibitions that have been taking place over the last couple of years at the Aram Gallery in Covent Garden. And happily Casts and Moulds, the latest and sixth installment of the series, is perhaps the best yet.

Opening last week, Casts and Moulds focuses on casting and moulding as a means of manufacture, 14 designers - among them BarberOsgerby, Michelle Oh, and Max Lamb - share the trials, tests and experiments that go into the creation of their work. Product, furniture, jewellery and architecture are all represented with an array of prototypes that represent the different stages of their development.

The models on show expose the attention that goes into even the tiniest design details as well as demonstrating whole cast projects, but it's the shoes, noone will be too surprised to learn, that we homed in on fastest. Both Tracey Neuls and Marloes ten Bhomer's clever leatherwork and free-folded cardboard models give an entirely new insight into what goes on behind the scenes, a new appreciation of their fancy footwork to boot... All in all a show worth stepping out for.


www.aram.co.uk
www.barberosgerby.com
www.michelle-oh.com
www.maxlamb.org
www.tn29.com
http://marloestenbhomer.squarespace.com/


Text: Henrietta Thompson
Images courtesy of Aram Gallery