Vitsœ - The Power of Good Design | FREE Copy

Vitsœ currently offers three products designed by Dieter Rams: the 606 Universal Shelving System, the 620 Chair Programme and the 621 Table.

To celebrate the design principles coined by Dieter Rams, Vitsœ have published a pocket-sized compendium detailing these very principles – the ethos that underlies each and every step of the company.

Vitsœ and GOODS WE LIKE have teamed up with the aim to spread this design ethos as far as possible, making the publication accessible to everyone.

Note: the send-out of the free copies has now ended. If you wish to request a copy, please get in touch directly with Vitsœ.

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Founded in 1959 with the aim to allow more people to live better with less that lasts longer, renowned furniture company Vitsœ has consistently stood up to a world that appears to value only things that are new. For this reason, the London-based brand set out with the mission to make long-living furniture; always seeking to be better rather than newer. 

Live better with less that lasts longer.

The beauty about Vitsœ is that the company designs, makes and evolves furniture that lasts for generations. Based on this principle, Niels Vitsœ and Otto Zapf decided to establish a company to realise the furniture designs of Dieter Rams – known for his unobtrusive approach and belief in “less but better”. As one of the foremost industrial designers of the 20th century, the former Braun designer has not only shaped the Functionalist school of industrial design, but his design principles have been – and still are – an inspiration to a whole generation of designers.

Becoming increasingly concerned by the state of the world around him, Rams asked himself probably one of the most important questions in his career: is my design good design? As good design can’t be expressed in finite terms, he set about expressing the ten most important principles for what he considered was good design. This chain of thought resulted in what is known as The Ten Principles for Good Design.

INSTRMNT - a Minimalist Steel Watch

Introducing Glasgow-based design studio Instrmnt. Founded by Pete Sunderland and Ross Baynham, the focus of the young multi-disciplinary team lies in creating considered, user-led products for every-day use.

We took a closer look at the studio’s debut product range – Instrmnt 01, a minimalist steel watch that takes inspiration from the industrial design of the mid 20th century. With a strong interest in the functional, utilitarian products and tools produced during that time period, you will find design cues ranging from the simple, readable dials and analog ammeters and voltmeters to the revolutionary minimalism of Dieter Rams.

We thought, we're designers, we love watches, why don't we make the watch that we want to wear? Why don’t we make the watch that is perfect for us?


The layout of Instrmnt 01 has quickly become an iconic part of the brand. And one of the beauties when receiving the watch lies in that it ships unassembled with tools provided for you to assemble the watch yourself. Another key principle lies in the use of high quality materials alongside trusted, proven technology. Instrmnt 01 comes in four different colourways (01-A, 01-B, 01-C, 01-D) and features a Swiss Quartz Ronda 585 3H movement, a calf leather strap crafted by one of the last remaining leather strap manufacturers located in the Bavarian Forest, and recyclable packaging manufactured in the UK.

The watch comes 'exploded' so you get pins, the casing, strap parts and a tool, which are nicely laid out. It's like an instrument that you put together.

Since its launch in 2014 further products have followed, including a 2-speed city bike built in collaboration with Freddie Grubb and an initial foray into furniture design with the creation of a multi-purpose day bed which was designed in collaboration with Edinburgh-based craftsman and furniture maker Namon Gaston.

Ultimately, what you will be wearing around your wrist is a beautiful watch that has been designed with consideration and precision – a watch that pairs high quality components with simple, utilitarian design. “We want to know the time and the date. That’s it.”

STACK - Inkjet Printer by Mugi Yamamoto

Stack – a truly innovative inkjet printer designed by product designer and ECAL alumnus Mugi Yamamoto. The printer is reduced down to the central function of a device of this sort – the actual printing. With traditional printers, the largest component is the paper compartment. Stack does without it altogether. 

The printer is placed directly on the stack of paper that is to be printed. During printing, the individual sheets are pulled in from below and ejected again at the top of the device. Stack thus works its way, so to speak, through the pile of paper until the paper runs out. As a result of this approach, the printer has a highly compact, simple and appealing design. 

Essential conditions for the creation of the device were a careful choice of components and the development of a special infeed mechanism. Stack is designed to meet the needs of people who work in a mobile manner or in a confined space, and have problems with the bulky form of ordinary printers.

Stack has been awarded with the Design Prize Switzerland 2016 in the category 'Rado Star Prize Switzerland for Young Talents'.

ICC MAGAZINE – Vol. 03/10

Itineraires d’une Cuisine Contemporaine – in short ICC Magazine – is an artistic, biannual French-English publication that explores contemporary cuisine; capturing the portraits of ten different men and women in ten different places who make the world of cooking a moving and beautiful adventure. ICC seeks out emotion, nuance and rarity by recounting the stories of these inspiring people, whether they are chefs, producers or artisans.

The third issue of the bilingual magazine deep-dives into the worlds of Philip Rachinger (Austria), Xavier Pensec (France), Koji Kamiyo (Japan), René Redzepi (Denmark), Lee Tiernan (England), Nicolas Darnauguilhem (Switzerland), Yoji Tokuyoshi (Italy), Clément Petitjean (Belgium), Jen Agg (Canada) and Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec (France). Conceived and edited by Fulgurances as a contemplative journal, the magazine also features a neat restaurant notebook that brings to light ten of their favourite restaurants in Antwerp. ICC No. 03/10, 112 pages, 10 portraits, 1 city guide.

SIMON FREUND – A Young Conceptual Artist, Munich

Simon Freund is not only a close friend of ours, but he’s first and foremost an inspiring conceptual artist. A provocative thinker with a weakness for considered design, Simon lives and breathes somewhere along the lines planner by day and creative by night. He earns his daily bread at renowned furniture company Vitsœ who’s long-living products are rooted in the design philosophy of infamous product designer Dieter Rams - one of the few companies he truly values and respects. And ‘by night’, he conceptualises and creates…

Born in Königstein im Taunus – a dreamy little town in Germany – Simon’s work primarily focuses on the interplay between design and functionality, the concept of value and contemporary consumerism.  

Before Simon decided to pave the way for a more artistic expression of his work, he was running the premium lifestyle brand SIMON&ME (later Simon Freund) that he had founded back in 2010. As an autodidact, he has been working on numerous projects spanning from opening his own Berlin-based concept store – LOCAL – to web design, branding and several published works of art.
 

“I don’t really think I’m an artist, it’s just the best description for what I’m currently pursuing.”

One of the projects Simon is currently working on is fittingly titled all i possess – an ongoing online art installation that draws upon the notions of transparency, consumption and relentless materialism. All of the objects displayed on the site belong to the artist and have either been purchased by him or gifted to him at any given point in time. Documented with meticulous accuracy, all i possess not only reflects on the concept of ownership but rightly raises the question: how much is enough? Simon is currently living and working in Munich.

 
simonfreund.com 

buylessbutbetter.com 

allipossess.com 

kuuunst.com 

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The composition of images below is a personal selection of Simon's Favourite Works of Art, Favourite Products and the things that inspire him.

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Cedes Milano
Chrome Toothpaste/Tube Squeezer on Black Base – via The Line

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Magali Reus – Parking (Retainer)
Fibreglass, polyester resin, pigments, painted steel rod, silicone rubber, PVC, cotton
2014

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Crista Seya – collection #05

Hartwig Klappert – Waldinseln & Waldfahnen

Alicja Kwade
EADEM MUTATA RESURGO 3, 2013
door
216 x 50 x 30 cm
unique

A shot of Simon´s wardrobe at his home in Munich.

Kim De Ruysscher – crumbled paper 

BRANCUSI BARRETTE by Sophie Buhai 

Kiyoshi Mino
“Common Chimpanzee” (Pan Troglodytes)
via Chamber NYC

Metal Handstamp

Claire Rothstein – Margaux Brooke for P Magazin

Nicole Werners – Infrastruktur, 2015

Ian McIntyre – A Ton Of Clay

Hannes Caspar

muller van severen – cuttingboards, 2011

Linck Keramik – V5 by Margrit Linck

Gino Sarfatti – Mod. 548, 1951

Vitsoe 620 photographed by Rich Stapelton for Cereal Magazine

DOCUMENT – repetition and difference #03 

‘repetition and difference’ Thers is a difference between those that are repeated, creating a different repetition. 

Vitsoe 621

Robert Mapplethorpe – 23. Calla Lily, 1987 ( black and white )

‘His vast, provocative, and powerful body of work has established him as one of the most important artists of the twentieth century.’

VOLUME - Artisan Donkey Milk Soaps

Situated on the heights of Ampuis, amidst the quiet hills of the regional park of Pilat and the wine heritage Côte Rôtie, Volume France produces artisan soaps from donkey milk. The soaps are handmade and produced in limited numbers, with batches often being of no more than twenty soaps. Based on the idea of natural cohabitation and committed to combining quality raw materials and local expertise, Volume France was founded by Laetitia Crevier.

VOLUME is simply the pleasure to use soaps made from the milk produces by the donkeys that I raise at Ampuis.

The team. Laetitia and her donkeys – an unexpected biodiversity and cohabitation between Bourbonnais and Sardinian donkeys – raised and milked by hand at Asinerie des Hauteurs. But what is it that makes donkey milk so precious? Enhanced by its biochemical composition, donkey milk is first and foremost used in the medical, nutritional and dermatological areas. And it’s composition of essential, anti-inflammatory acids (Omega 6,3), antiseptic enzymes (Lysozyme) as well as antioxidant vitamins and minerals (Retinol) make it indispensable for the human health.

The soaps are made using cold saponification, an environmentally friendly craft process that not only allows Laetitia to formulate an individual and harmonious blend, but also to preserve the quality of the ingredients. Once removed from the molds – one by one – the fifteen to twenty soaps per batch are stamped and numbered.

The story of Volume France is one of passion, dedication and meticulous attention to craft and honest produce.

ANYONEGIRL - Vol. 01 'Waist'

Auckland-based journal anyonegirl is among our most recent editorial finds. Created by writer and trained contemporary dancer Yasmine Ganley, issue one – fittingly titled WAIST – considers the ideas surrounding the female mid-section, both inside and out, exploring sex, movement, digestion and a woman’s gut instinct. WAIST is anyonegirl’s first print project. 

INTUITION ability to understand something instinctively without the need for conscious reasoning

An innate, typically fixed, pattern of behaviour in animals in response to certain stimuli INSTNCT

IMPULSE a sudden strong and unreflective urge or desire to act

 
WAIST includes written and visual commissioned works by Nastassia Brückin, Kayten Schmidt, Gina Esposito, Caroline Denervaud, Francesca Hopkins and many more. You’ll also find a beautiful selection of photo essays such as the Art of Undressing on pages 28 to 35. The collaboration between Nastassia Brückin and Kayten Schmidt explores the female body, composition and a return to the nude or partially nude figure in a compellingly metaphoric, visual as well as conceptual way. Printed in Auckland, New Zealand.

NORMAL – Japanese Minimalist Watches

In 2006, American designer Ross McBride founded the Japanese watch brand Normal Timepieces as a space to express his personal thoughts on design. Experiencing both US and Japanese culture throughout his childhood and adulthood respectively, Ross has been greatly influenced by pioneering mid-century American design as well as the Japanese sense of minimalism and craftsmanship – elements that become evident in the brand’s approach to design.

“That which is normal can be assumed as self-evident, or open to an exhaustive debate. In truth, there are as many points of view as there are people. Where we find consensus, we find community.”

In our opinion, it’s not only the brand’s approach to considered functional and minimalist design; but it’s first and foremost the sensibility and subtlety that one can find in its timepieces.
Since the launch of its first range – which consisted of the models ‘Extra Normal’, ‘Time Zone’ and ‘Time = Money’ - Normal Timepieces has expanded its selection of timepieces to now include the Fuji Range, the Extra Normal Range as well as the Digital Grande Range.

CERCLE MAGAZINE – Vol. 04 ‘Costumes’

Cercle Magazine is a thematic, annual publication devoted to art, design, illustration, science and photography expressed through the lens of one main topic. The magazine was conceived by eponymous, Strasbourg-based graphic design studio Cercle Studio, which was founded in 2013 by Marlène Astrié, Marie Secher and Maxime Pintadu. The three designers are not only responsible for the publication’s art direction, production and creation, but as a creative studio they work across various media, ranging from magazines, visual identity and art direction to books, illustration and exhibition design.

In an age of information overload, Cercle Magazine’s mission seems to be twofold: while it complements to the understanding of a specific topic by taking the time to deep dive into it, the magazine also acts as an antidote to the ephemerality of information, caused by social media’s instantaneous exchange of information. Cercle Magazine therefore aims to capture a topic within a medium that allows information to be treasured.

Cercle Magazine N˚4 looks more closely at the concept of Costumes. And naturally, it’s about going into the subject’s detail, exploring costume from different angles and viewpoints. Unquestionably, dress is a topic with multiple facets; it can be about anonymity, uniformity, rite, celebration and individuality - costumes “impose a contradiction: we show, yet hide,” say the editors. Beautifully layouted on 140 pages, issue four is an exploratory ride into the world’s of artists, fashion creators, designers and historians whose work is linked to the world of costumes. Read about famous costume designer Camille Assaf, renaissance-inspired portraits by Christina Tagliavini, theatre-centric creature costumes by designer Nick Cave and many more.