In the past few years we’ve mentioned the Dutch design super-humans at Droog Design a number of times and we’re absolutely delighted to have their name roll off the tip of our tongue yet again. This time around these heroes of in-home artistry who specialize in creating products based on innovative concepts that change perspective and connect with the individual, have teamed up with our friends at 2modern to make their latest line of quality wares available at the design blog’s online shop. The collection features everything from a parasol to a variety of lamps and even a doorbell that utilizes wine glasses to create a musical welcome. If you’re looking for something unique, beautiful and functional…we recommend looking no further than these Droog goodies.

Tags: Design, Furniture, lighting, shopping

With a few free hours on my last rain filled afternoon in Amsterdam I made it over to Droog@Home, the design gallery, shop and offices of what some are calling the Dutch design super-humans. Having seen dozens of pictures of their designs in the past, it was really a treat to see such a wide range of their innovative design in one room. They’ve been going since ‘93, and currently the collection features 300 designs by nearly 200 designers. The studio showed off everything from lighting and furniture to random accessories– designs are witty and idiosyncratic, while still remaining incredibly functional. Describing all the products I saw would be impossible– but let me just say that the Milk Bottle Lights and Joris Laarman’s beautiful ceramic radiator were much better than I would have imagined in person. If you’re a designer or a design fan– this shop is a must see stop while in Amsterdam.

Tags: Amsterdam, Design, shopping, Travel

Front, the team of Sofia Lagerkvist, Charlotte von der Lancken, Anna Lindgren, and Katja Savstrom, is a design agency out of Stockholm, that, as the name suggests, is at the head of the design game. Pushing out concepts and prototypes with a tactile feel using innovative and perhaps strange techniques, the four designers are easily compared to quirky Dutch design firm Droog Design. In fact the two firms recently met up to create a few new pieces of furniture. Front works on that thin border between functional design and conceptual art. Their collection Animals is an intriguing example of when animals are utilized in creating art and include Rat Wallpaper (shown here) has holes in it, created by hungry rats, that allow the previous papers to show through. Front has recently produced designs for various companies like Materia and MOOOI. Make sure to check out their very impressive portfolio.

Tags: Art, conceptual, Design, europe, stockholm

Designer Michael Leung is definitely doing some interesting work. He’s currently working for Droog Design in the Netherlands, but seems to have plenty of his own product designs from Leung Studio in the works. What attracted me most were the designs that integrated wood or stone pieces with technology. The Mass Storage Stone (left) is a pocket sized portable hard drive which is set inside a stone made of synthetic resin, textured and even cold to the touch. The Hardwood USB (middle and right) is a necklace with a USB flash drive made of various hardwoods and leather. Leung’s design tag-line is “sincere product design.”

Tags: Accessories, Design, USB