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Trendspotting in Amsterdam

Gidsy is a great online platform which allows you to book local activities organised by local people in their hometown. From a cooking class in Berlin to a walking tour with a local guide in San Franscisco.

Yesterday I organised a ‘trendspotting in Amsterdam’ activity through Gidsy. Trend research is so much more than hypes and gadgets. It’s about the art of looking sideways. There are techniques to become a better observer and thus a better trend spotter and I really like sharing this with the world!

During this tour I shared some theory on trend research and the participants practised some observation techniques. In the meanwhile we also visited innovative spots, like the Culinaire Werkplaats and UltradelaRue.

I got some great feedback from the participants which allows me to finetune some features of the tour (e.g. making it a walking tour, practising more techniques).

So, if you’re ever visiting Amsterdam: sign up for a Gidsy trendspotting tour (also available on request). :)

Toy Stories

Love this photo series of Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti of kids all of over the world showing their favourite toys. Gabriele traveled from Alaska to Botswana and from the Philippines to Lebanon to visit these kids and their Lego castles, fluffy animals and plastic machine guns.

It’s actually quite interesting what Gabriele found out while shooting: “The richest children were more possessive. At the beginning, they wouldn’t want me to touch their toys.”

And it seems that toys have protective powers for childeren all over the world too. A six-year-old boy in Texas and a four-year-old girl in Malawi both told the photographer that their plastic dinosaurs would protect them from the dangers they believed waited for them at night like kidnappers or poisonous animals.

But these toys also tell stories about the parents: “Doing this, I learned more about the parents than I did about the kids. Ultimately, the toys on display reveal the hopes and ambitions of the people who bought them in the first place.”

Want more? You can check out loads more of these toy stories over here. Enjoy!

WinterSalon / 2013

Because of Amsterdam Fashion Week there were all kinds of events related to Dutch ‘polder’ couture. WinterSalon/2013 being one of them.

WinterSalon shows fashion, designers and artists at surprising locations in Amsterdam. And surprising it was! I just had two hours to spare so I could only visit two Salon locations, but it was really worthwile. It takes you to unknown, beautiful 17th century canal houses and the combination with contemporary fashion really works out very well.

At Museum het Grachtenhuis I saw a beautiful dress by Mattijs, according to the British Vogue he is one of the most promising young designers. Also present in this stately residence was another upcoming talent, Borre Akkersdijk. He made an Istanbul inspired matress, illustrating the Turkish social life which often takes place close to the floor.

At Museum Geelvinck Hinlopen I was mainly overwhelmed by the large garden and pond area that you’d never expect to find at the back of these canal houses. And also the huge library room. Want!

You’ve just got one day (17th feb.)  to explore WinterSalon/2013. Enjoy!

CES 2013

Every year in January hordes of people drive through the American desert to check out CES 2013 in Las Vegas: THE Consumer Electronics Show. This time there were a lot of innovations focusing on flexibility and tactility.

Samsung YOUM: Check out this vid of the keynote by Samsung at CES showing their flexible prototypes that can turn a phone into a tablet.

Willow Glass: These flexible screens are not necessarily made of plastic, because glass is now flexible too. Corning is the producer and you can check out the bendability of their glass here. (2 years ago they made a vid about a Day made of Glass, still find it amazing!)

Tactus: At Tactus Technology they believe that feeling is the future. So they made buttons that physically pop up from the screen. Why settle for flat? Check it out here.

Sony Xperia Z: Sony wants you to use your phone while showering, because they made a waterproof one. It just has to dry for 4 hours before you can listen to any music again….

Besides all these flexibele innovations, there were also more and more products in the ‘quantified self’ category: tracking your health and lifestyle by using devices. Here are two examples:

HAPIfork: The folks at HAPIlabs want to prevent us from eating too fast and stimulate us to better digest our food. The HAPIfork is an electronic fork that helps you monitor and track your eating habits. It also alerts you with the help of indicator lights when you are eating too fast. Check out the promo here.

Fitbit Flex: This wristband tracks your everyday activity, like walking, eating and sleeping. You can set your own personal goals and the lights on the wristband show your scores. So you’re reminded of your (under)achievement all day long….

Ashkan Honarvar

While browsing through Glamcult (a free independent style paper - get it, now!) I froze because of a collage by Ashkan Honarvar. Immediately checked out his portfolio on his site. Immersed in all kinds of collages I tumbled into another world. Wow!

Some of his work is almost fairytale like, at least at first sight. When zooming in, you discover all kinds of other layers and meanings. Some of his work makes me want to look away, especially ‘Faces’ (bottom right picture) which shows injured faces, filled with candy. Fascinating and at the same time repulsive.

TOUR D’AMSTERDAM #2

So many (old & new) spots in Amsterdam to visit. Where to start? Just go! Jump on your bike and check out these westside treasures :

331WEST: A former butcher store turned into a coffeebar/gallery/store which opens during the weekends. You can eat breakfast here until 16.00 hours for a reasonable price, which is rare in Amsterdam. They sell second hand clothing & tableware, haute confiture by Miss Marmelade, Mr Jones tea and much more nick nacks.

The Wine Spot: Huh, a specialised wine store in the west side? Yessss, and it’s even so specialised it sells only South European wines. They’ve assorted the wines in price categories, so you can walk directly to the shelf of your budget. The wines all have handwritten cards on it (beat that Appie & Gallie!) explaining the taste and food to match it with. The owner is friendly and a great help in picking your wine. The Wine Spot also organises wine tastings, which are posted on their Facebook page. Salud/Sante!

Tommy’z Toko: This hairsalon is something quite different. For one, the interior changes every couple of months. The hair stylists are very down to earth and skilled. They don’t force any products on you and give you good advice on how to style your hairdo with your bare hands. When I had my hair dyed they offered to dye my brows in the same color. Like!

TOUR D’AMSTERDAM #1

So many (new) spots in Amsterdam to visit. Where to start? Just go! Jump on your bike and check out:

DROOG HOTEL: Droog is a famous Dutch design collective. They’ve been trying to open a full-on hotel above their office/store in downtown Amsterdam. But the neighbours put a stop to that plan. Creative as they are, Droog now rents out 1 room and uses the remaining space for stores-in-store. The premises now houses a fashion store, cosmetics area and lunch spot, all overlooking the nice inner court yard.

ULTRA DE LA RUE: For a couple of years the municipality of Amsterdam is trying to transform the red light district into a creative hotspot. That’s how creative entrepeneurs Afaina and Egberth could get their hands on a location next to De Oude Kerk. Ultra De La Rue is a creative space / exhibition area / store / coffee bar / publishing house and more…

RARE BIRD: The Marnixstraat is mainly known for some shady coffeeshops. The aptly named Rare Bird store is by all means a rather rare addition to this street. It’s selling all kinds of lovely vintage and new accessories, from tableware to brooches. The owner worked as a designer for the kids’ clothing line of Tommy Hilfiger and wanted more freedom to express her own style. She opened the store in October and a webshop is in the making.

2013 AND BEYOND

We Dutchies are a trend savvy bunch. It seems Holland has very fertile ground for breeding trend researchers. Probably almost half of the world’s trendwatchers have Dutch roots. From Li Edelkoort to Michael Tchong, from Reinier Evers to Adjiedj Bakas. Not to mention all the lesser gurus (like me) who work at agencies and daily create trendreports for brands.

That’s why The Netherlands have a national trendwatching platform, magazine and award for best trendwatcher of the year. All organised by Second Sight. Yesterday I visited Second Sight’s trend event where a selection of these award winning trend folks were present. These stood out:

Barbara Putman Cramer showed that by not being present at an event you can still leave a mark. In her case, a video. In just 5 minutes she gives you an all inclusive view on a day in the life of a twenty-something. Watch it here.

Tom Palmaerts elaborated on youth trend Dreamotion which is all about nicer, better and slower. Youngsters have a need for speed but also a craving for a moment of zen, silence and slow motion in this fuelled up world. Love is…turning your cell phone off. Tom showed us the impact of Dreamotion by finishing with 1 minute of silence. Nice!

Steven van der Kruit is a ‘Creative Director & Visionary’ at Firmenich Perfumery and explains their very interesting process of trend research. “You have to look for the change, not the trend. Look for fun and action, but als for danger and pain. We follow creatives all over the world and call them ‘the change mafia’. They’ll tell us what the United States Of Youth will look like.” Steven travels the globe to shoot pictures for Firmenich and collects and analyses these through picture tagging. This way he can find patterns in e.g. colors (for Pantone) and also in mentality shifts. Highly fascinating. I wish I had acces to his photo gallery!

The event was held at Zuidpark which has an urban farming roof of 3000 m2. Spotted some ‘boerenkool’ growing on it. Yum!

The Unicorn Union

Spreading rainbows and glitter, that’s the mission of The Unicorn Union. Or is there something more to be discovered behind the bright pink sewn objects by Alexia Mellor?

Visiting Kunstvlaai in Amsterdam, which was interesting and huge, I dropped by the art space of Alexia. It looked like a playful gathering of sewing machines, loads of pink cloth and unicorns. Alexia explained that unicorns are said to have healing powers. A touch of the unicorn and all your wounds will heal. Combining this with the - not so happy - and - not so bright pink - future we’re living in now, Alexia decided to help everyone to overcome their fears through some unicorn magic.

In arty language it’s described as: a participatory project creating playful interventions and temporary communities designed to make the world a better place. The Unicorn Union investigates how we interact with, define and cope with our 21^st century world. Just so you know. :)

How does it work? You’re invited to create your own personal playful safety device to protect you from life’s fears. Whether you have a fear of a broken heart, fear of height or a fear of economic collapse, The Unicorn Union can help you!

Just jot down your fear on a label and use the sewing machine to make your device or tweet your fear via @theunicornunion and let Alexia make one for you.

Cool! I wonder if she made me one to overcome my biggest fear….

MEDIATED MATTER

Read a fascinating article in Wired magazine about Neri Oxman. My jaw dropped when looking at the beautiful shapes and forms of her designs.

Neri is a designer (at M.I.T.) who explores how digital design and fabrication technologies mediate between matter and the environment. She’s seeking ways to radically transform the design and construction of objects, buildings and systems. Nature and mythes are her inspiration. 3D-printers are her tool.

Check out this vid about her recent exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris aptly named: Mythologies of the not yet.

I wonder what a collab between her and 3D printing fashion designer Iris van Herpen would look like….

DESIGN ACADEMY EINDHOVEN - GRADUATION SHOW

During every annual Dutch Design Week you can visit the graduation show of the famed DAE (Design Academy Eindhoven). This academy has spawned some well known Dutch designers like Maarten Baas, Hella Jongerius, Piet Hein Eek and Marcel Wanders. One thing I’ve learned from visiting is to never go on a Sunday ever again, because it was super crowded. Things I could see peeking between some arms and legs of this crowd are:

> Transitions / Mikael Boulay: Just as we can become handicapped, we can also become un-handicapped. Mikael designed beautiful cutlery that helps train disabled to eat and cut their own meal. Check out the vid of the design process.

> Flowery Funeral / Hedwig Hulshof: Adresses a theme most people don’t want to think about: losing a loved one. She feels the coffin and the ritual surrounding saying goodbye can be more personal and loving. On the biodegradable coffin people can leave small flower-like messages. Designed to achieve real closure.

> Novel Hospital Toys / Hikaru Imamura: Examinations and operations are a cause of anxiety and fear for childeren. These feelings can be relieved by informing them of what to expect via hospital toys that show the child what will happen in a simple and re-assuring way.

> Playing Food / Tomm Velthuis: What might seem as an innocent Old McDonald farm for childeren to play with, gets a bit brutal when zooming in on the hundreds of pigs with tagged ears, manure bags and acid rain clouds. Hiya hiya hoo.

> Urban Nesting / Chaim Becker: Feeling stressed in your urban environment? Take a moment to be ‘alone’ in a comfortable and enjoyable setting. Create an urban nest. Check the vid to see how it works. 

> Trend Food Forecast / Anouk van Ranst: The only student who creates a trend book ofcourse catches my attention. Anouk made a highly visual, intuitive food trend report reminding of Li Edelkoort’s style.

> Airline Food Printer / Tim Notermans: Airplane food can be more horrifying than turbulence. Tim provides the solution to this problem. Create a meal suited to every taste and diet with an on-board 3D-printer. Bon appetit!

DUTCH DESIGN WEEK 2012

The annually held Dutch Design Fair in Eindhoven is getting bigger and bolder every year. You really need more than 1 day to check out the spread out locations. I felt a bit hurried having only a sunday afternoon to spare. First stop was:

STRIJP-S (former Philips industrial area)

> Gravity Stool: combining gravity, plastic and magnets results in fascinating, fairytale shapes. Check out this video to see the process live.

> Wearable Senses: interesting projects like ‘social skin’ by students of industrial design - TU/e. Check out an overview on their website.

> Stripped: strip the bark from a tree and it becomes a lamp, simple and beautiful idea by Floris Wubben.

> Lamps that seem to float like creatures from the sea by Paula Arntzen.

Next up: NANO SUPERMARKET

Always worth a visit is the Nano Supermarket that opens up it’s truckdoors to show the impact of nanotech on (possible) everyday products, like:

- Nico Bear: a teddy bear that indicates if your child has been exposed to nicotine.

- Hello Boy/Girl: gender choice condoms

- Nano Paint: interactive wallpaint that you can control with a choice button

Because there’s so much to see at the Dutch Design Week you’d better buy their trendbook and get updated in a sec. Check out a preview here.

THE ‘CULINAIRE WERKPLAATS’

Finally found the time to visit the ‘Culinaire Werkplaats’ in Amsterdam. I’ve read about it on dozens of blogs and it featured in lots of magazines. This culinairy workplace is a food design studio which you can also visit on fridays and saturdays to try out the experimental menu. As they put it themselves: “you are invited to shake up your culinary lifestyle”.

The owners, Eric and Marjolein, give you a personal insight into their conceptual and design journey at your table. They always work with a theme. This time it was ‘Postcards from Shanghai’, because a journey to China and Korea inspired their foodbuds. You can flip through their personal Shanghai themed photobook, while eating your appetizer. They don’t use meat or fish, it’s veggies only and a fixed menu. I ate dishes called Shanghai Laundry and The man in his PJ’s, names that don’t ring any flavour bell, but that’s part of the experience.

The ‘werkplaats’ has a very informal atmosphere: you have to bring your own dishes to the sink, pour your own glass of wine and keep track of how many you’ve downed yourselves. It’s definitely worth a repeat visit because the theme changes every couple of weeks.

This is a place to bring your really open minded foody friends, don’t take your gluten allergic sister or meat craving boyfriend. ;)

UNSEEN

Amsterdam’s got a new international photo fair: UNSEEN. Over 50 galleries presented work from young and known photographers. Since it was just a 5 minute cycle ride away from home, I decided to take a look.

These are my eye-catchers:

Chi Peng: a whole story in one visual that also let’s you feel the hyper development of China.

Jiang Zhi: never knew burning flowers could look so cool.

Myoung Ho Lee: how a tree can become a the superstar.

Susanna Majuri: poetic engulfed images.

Elspeth Diederix: lovely still lifes.

Elza Jo: just check this video and you’ll understand.

PARIS

Everyday in Paris revolves around eating and drinking. For a Dutchie with a functional food approach this is kind of akward. But I got used to it in no time. So where to go for some Paris indulgence? Here are my favs:

SHOPPING

The area called SoPi (South Pigalle) in the ninth arrondissement has a string of small gourmet shops and resto’s along the Rue de Martyrs, like:

La chambre au confitures: try the lavender jam…

PPProvence: never seen that many variations in olive oil.

Terra Corsa: all hams, jams, quiches and beers are from the French isle of Corsica.

Rose Bakery: great bread, quiches, salads, cakes and fruit juices.

Concept stores:

Colette: most famous conceptstore in Paris offering books, gadgets and fashion but a bit of an uptight feel.

Merci: also a multistore for design gadgets, fashion, householdware but with a more friendly and homely feel than Colette.

EATING:

Le camion qui fume: Paris’ first L.A.-style food truck that bakes gourmet burgers. Their daily changing location can be found on Twitter or their website. Get there on time and prepare to wait in a long line.

Derriere: funky, eclectic styled restaurant that serves French food. Their neighbour Andy Whaloo is nice cocktail bar.

Le Chardenoux des Pres: the brasserie of Michelin starred French chef Cyril Lignac. I had the cabillaud with green peas. It was heavenly food, I’m still dreaming about these petits pois.

CLUBBING

Wanderlust: for all you hipsters out there, this is the new hotspot. Gaze at French youngsters going crazy when hearing any song with ‘New York’ in it. Tres bizarre!