the real couple: atelier van gog

(I guess lena and jens gonna laugh about the titel)

I’ve been in amsterdam for 2 days and was invited to a dinner at an agency where friends of mine are working – lena steinborn is my ex-roomate (I’ve lived with some people) and jens erfurth is her boyfriend. he is actually the one who introduced me to lena. both studied graphic design at the academy maastricht. lena was a fulltime student and jens was there for a exchange semester. they did their internships in amsterdam and after graduating in 2007 they both moved to the capital of the netherlands. now they even are colleagues at the atelier van gog, which calls itself a creative platform. so isn’t that a real couple?

the-real-couple
real

lena-steinborn
lena steinborn

jens-erfurth
jens erfurth

wouter-studio-van-gog
lena and jens with wouter overhaus, founder of atelier van gog en designer of the kitsch kitchen corporate identity

de-van-gog-buren
jens and wouter as a playing card

lena-steinborn-desk
lena’s desk

atelier-van-gog-inside
inside the studio

studio-van-gog-out
outside the studio – at the veemarkt, an industrial area in amsterdam

reasonable sarcasm: usefull or senseless

one of my favourite audio books is ‘generation golf’ from florian illies, a german journalist and author. ‘generation golf‘ is about life in the 80ies.(unfortunatly there is no english edition) florian is describing things exactly how I remember them while growing up. one thing I remeber is that he says that people who use to have leonardo glass (awful!) in the 80ies are buying alessi (no comment) in the 90ies. so what do people now? ikea glasswear? anyways, I found this illustration in the titanic magazine, a german satire mag. it declares everything. life is full of irony.

alessi-titanic-magazine
‘it’s from alessi’

another threesome goes separate ways: the story

I am living in a flat close to the city centre of maastricht. (some people allege that I just live here for 3 months p. a. – how come? at least I am a domestic person) within 3 years I moved 3 times but I spend the last 2 years in this apartment. jasper mueller was the first guy I lived with and then nika rams took his place. but during the last years I’ve spend my main time with miriam hartwig and anna pors. miriam graduated in fashion in 2007 and anna is studying video at my academy. miriam already moved out (last friday) and will be in new york for a month. she wants to visit some friends and say hello to her beloved city. anna will be in south africa for a half year. she is doing her internship at egg films. my plans are to be in london for the next 2 months and to do my internship at dezeen, online magazine for design & architecture. these pictures were the last one we took together. on a field, on a couch. very spontanious. but good.

11.

21.

31.

4.

5.

tamboerijnstraat
coolest street in town

excerpts of a youth movement: the t-shirt

I have been at the highfield festival last weekend. weather wasn’t bad and people were flaunting their tshirts. most of them from bands, festivals or concerts. maybe to make converstation easier. I give you an example: ‘hey, I also saw madonna live in 1989 – great. let’s get wasted!’

festival-shirt
the official festival shirt – cheap, easy to clean and comfortable

sonic-youth
my favourite – ‘take a sip of sonic youth‘ – I want!

the-classic
the indifferent – no public statement and not interested in a conversation

fotos-the-band
good one – I even like the fotos sometimes.

first helvetified and then objectified – and you can watch it

there are so many people who romanticize the helvetica. a typeface that affected the life of millions. most, in typeface interested folks, know the helvetica documentary by gary hustwit. now he decided to make a movie about industrial design (I would also mention product design). about the people behind the products you use. to name just a few examples: ronan and erwan bouroullec from paris, jonathan Ive from apple, marc newson from london and hella jongerius from rotterdam. the title is objectified. things are seldom that unambiguous. the movie is currently in production and will have its world premiere in early 2009.

objected-logo-film
objectified logo by build

lockheed-lounge
marc newson – lockheed lounge

office_pets_jongerius
hella jongerius – office pets

vitra_bouroullec
ronan and erwan bouroullec – rocks

iphone-jonathan-ive
jonathan ive – iphone