Without Ilse Crawford, doyenne of British design, many of us would be literally in the dark when it comes to great lighting.

One of a number of great talents designing for Swedish lighting company Wästberg, we were happy to learn that during the London Design Festival two new models were launched to grow her existing collection for the brand into a veritable family of characters - meaning the award winning design now comes as a floor lamp, a wall lamp, a table version and a desk lamp.

And they're all illuminatingly lovely. In addition to Crawford Wästberg has also collaborated with up and coming Alvaro Catalan de Ocon, Foscarini and Tomas Alonso.

wastberg.com
studioilse.com
foscarini.com
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tomas-alonso.com

Freshwest's products make it hard to keep your hands in your pockets. The apparently rudimentary, seemingly cobbled together aesthetic seems to be achieved thanks to a healthy attitude towards hands-on experimentation, and it's infectious - it makes you want to muck in and make stuff yourself.

A typical Freshwest design is wrapped in playful structures and scaffolds, drawing the shapes of the objects in the space. See the solidly structural yet ethereal symmetry of the golden Scaffold Vase, or the rough sculptural essence of the Brave New World Lamp, apparently put together without any plan. Playfulness is a constant, as seen in the perspective warping mind games of the Pool Table .

Freshwest is Marcus Beck and Simon Macro, and their set up in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, affords them the luxury of perspective in their designs as well as space: every stage of creation, including development, prototyping and fabrication, takes place in their studio and workshop.

And their freshest project? The Tent Pop-Up Café Bar, the meeting point of Tent London at the Old Truman Brewery, conceiving and producing all of its elements. The Pink-Clip-Stick Chandeliercontinues their interests in the structure, a seemingly accidentally woven lamp with dowels and pink pins. The café was completed with the still unrevealed Angle Iron range of tables and chairs, a celebration of row aesthetics, low cost materials and playfulness. More please.

Text by Nuria Gregori

Images courtesy of Freshwest

Pink-Clip-Stick Chandelier

Brave New World Lamp

Scaffold Vase

Pool Table

Reddress is a fascinating performance piece involving live music, innovative design, premium quality fabric and guaranteed audience participation. The latter is paramount to its success - it is this component that elevates a Reddress event from the accepted notions of "multi-media" presentation.

The concept is dynamic, ambitious, and shapes itself to each venue that is large enough to host it. Involving a mammoth 550 metres of red Kvadrat wool, spanning some 20 metres, Reddress incorporates a singer in the centre of a raised platform, accompanying musicians and giant 'pockets' in the folds of the dress for the audience to tuck themselves in to. The dress accommodates up to 238 people. You are no longer observing the performance as a separate entity - as you would a porcelain vase, or oil painting in a museum. Instead, you are directly feeding into the performance as the singer rotates herself around the room.

Redress is brought to the London Design Festival by the Finnish Institute as a precursor to next year's World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 activities. Vocalist, Emma Salokoski, guitarist, Jarmo Saari and the Britten Sinfonia all perform. And Salokoski's powerful renditions of contemporary folk with Saari's ambient textures on the Theremin, an invisible light wave synthesizer, creates an involving ethereal atmosphere. The audience are mesmerised, and the warmth generated by emphatic red lighting and the wool pockets makes for a uniquely intimate event. "It is about the music," says Art Director, Johan Olin. Whilst his wife, and designer, Aamu Song insists that, "the colour leads the way." In fact, it is neither static design, musical performance or fashion exhibition. Instead, a welcome blurring of the boundaries between all disciplines, and one that leaves the audience spellbound.

Reddress starts today and continues until Sunday 25^th September. Specific daytime events are free whilst the evening performances are ticketed. Wear your best socks, it is a strictly shoe-free zone.

Reddress.fi

York Hall. 5 Old Ford Rd. Bethnal Green, London E2 9PJ.