David Louis Product Design

Well I did say we would begin to focus more on hand made sterling silver items. This week we have added the Sterling Silver Chip Fork Key Ring to the Gifts of Distinction range.

We have had many debates here at Gifts of Distinction: David-Louis as to what category to add this Jewellery Quarter made item to and have come up with an innovative category for our Gifts of Distinction site – here it is ‘Sterling Silver Key rings’ yes its not exciting but the Chip Fork is a key ring so making it really useful and much more portable than the fork you need to keep in your wallet.

The Silver chip fork is both a gadget and an excellent gift for any one who goes out and about, it adds pizzazz to any take away or night out.

The Sterling silver Chip forks features are, Hand made in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, Hallmarked at Birmingham’s Assay Office, Supplied in an elegant gift box and available on the Gifts of Distinctions web site for  20.00 plus VAT.

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B4AM – Birmingham At 4AM – Jewellery Quarter

Originally uploaded by karenstrunks

Here is a Jewellery Quarter photo project by Karen Strunks, her project is entitled B4AM and I recommend you have a look at the rest of the images, totaly fantastic.

http://tinyurl.com/9c54hp

Please do get involved – it takes around 5 seconds.

These blog entries are getting shorter…… got a mention today on 4Talent magazine web site.

Have just delivered 20 of the coolest glowing awards known to man. The presentation is on next week and I will be able to upload a few piccies so you can see them in action – I can’t wait.

Update – here is the image of the flask as take at the event.

I have completed a bespoke corporate hip flask commission for fashion designer Todd Lynn to produce his bespoke, limited edition hip flask on behalf of and to promote  Chivas Regal and the Chivas Studio, this fine whiskey has been relaunched world wide over the last few months and the three day event in London was what I consider to be totally fabulous, I will upload some images of the event and the hip flask itself over the next week or so. Alexander McQueen also designed an exclusive bottle top for the Chivas Regal bottle which were a limited edition and handmade. I was delighted to see the Hip Flask being exhibited along side the bottle in very contemporary style and being viewed as works of art as opposed to total consumer products. Of course I need to thank Todd and all his team for entertaining me at the do and hope we can do it again. I also would say the cocktails we had using the Chivas Regal were delicious.. more please

How can I start this post? I’m always saying there is loads going on but its true!!! But I will keep it simple if I can..

Well, the FROST project is now confirmed and the 18 Design Space creatives will be exhibiting in St Paul’s Gallery, St Paul’s Square from the 2nd to the 6th of December and moving to ‘The David-Louis project’ at Artfull Expression on Warstone Lane, from the 8th to the 14th of December.

So in this world of virtual information and communication this is an exhibition you actually have to visit by using you two feet in order to see the wares and designs of these new makers. To compliment this exhibition at the Warstone Lane venue there are already over 150 makers work on show, so you cannot but be bowled over by the choice and style of all the makers. Just to say as well, the David-Louis Project and Artfull Expression are open all year round so you can visit us any time of the year.

Also, I have completed a commission by fashion designer Todd Lynn to produce his bespoke, limited edition hip flask on behalf of Chivas Regal and the Chivas Studio, this fine whiskey has been relaunched world wide over the last few months and the three day event in London was what I consider to be totally fabulous, I will upload some images of the event and the hip flask itself over the next week or so. Alexander McQueen also designed an exclusive bottle top for the Chivas Regal bottle which were a limited edition and handmade. I was delighted to see the Hip Flask being exhibited along side the bottle in very contemporary style and being viewed as works of art as opposed to total consumer products. Of course I need to thank Todd and all his team for entertaining me at the do and hope we can do it again. I also would say the cocktails we had using the Chivas Regal were delicious.. more please

I had to run off at the end of the night, like Cinderella, to catch my train back to Birmingham as early the next morning I had a new product design meeting with our external support group the, JIIC, it looks like we will be working together on two new product concepts, one is the coolest tax disc holder in the land and t’other is Top Top secret until it launch in March ’09 I would say. All the new designs will contain what I consider to be my philosophy, function and beauty blended seamlessly together. So keep an eye, join my mailing list if you like and I will mail you the preview and launch details.

Byeee,

David-Louis

Wahoo – I did say I wouldn’t mention it again if I didn’t get anywhere so you can probably imagine my delight at being able to say the Magnetic Beer Cube Bottle Opener by David-Louis has been short-listed for the releaseonedotzero competition. You can see a video of it in action here.

On Tuesday 4th November 2008 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, (ICA), London the short listed items will be projected on the gallery walls along with the ultimate winners to a broad range of national and international museums – culture organisations plus journalists from prominent titles and journals. So fingers crossed and I await to hear the jury’s final decision.

On another note work has begun on our new extension to the retail outlet here in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, The David-Louis Project at Artfull Expression, a crew of 6 volunteers from Design Space (Thanks to Fiona Mawlam, Sarah Kelly of Saloukee, See Sun Yung and Claire Pardoe for all there help) came to help me on Saturday last and we managed to empty the new space of years of accumulated nonsense – we filled many a skip – the goal is to open an exhibition space so we can attract touring exhibitions and local designer makers etc.

The proposed opening our first exhibition is approx. 12th December 08 – entitled FROST. I hope this project works out and it does seem we have the support of the local designer maker community along with support from within our building here so we are on course….

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I was delighted to see a website that I much admire, Springwise – Springwise and its network of 8,000 spotters scan the globe for smart new business ideas, delivering instant inspiration to entrepreneurial minds from San Francisco to Singapore. , refer to a competition entry I made a week or two ago on the Releasedonedotzero web site.

The competition itself is quite exciting and is using what is now being referred to as crowd sourcing and can be summarised as using your clients to supply designs and product for brands they aspire too. Although I don’t think that is exactly what is happening as I and the other entrants do seem to be career or budding career product designers it is some way to the truth as it is open to concepts as well as products.

Although it does reinforce what I would consider to be the an ultimate truth, creative people buy cretive products from creative people, I find that creative individuals  can be the first port of call for launching a niche product and then brought toward the mainstream as the product begins its life cycle, of niche, wider audience, less expensive and ultimately entering the mainstream culture where it can become ubiquitous.

The winning products in the releasedonedotzero competition will be sold at design museums around the world alongside the affiliated web site and be paid a royalty over the years which is quite a nice prize – so keep an eye here and if I never mention it again – I didn’t win…. hee hee.

Some other nice thing going on too, went to the bloggers meet yesterday and met some new faces, debated some finer points of Blogging and nicely submerged myself in a cross culture which sits between, pub, blog, innovative business practice and of course some banter so it’s well worth going.

A discussion I did have with Nick Booth was based around establishing a creative Blogging community within the Jewellery Quarter and also the use of word press to build web sites which would be really useful to emerging artists and creatives so I will be championing this approach over the coming months to all and sundry - lets see what happens. I was hoping to meet Chris Unitt of Created in Birmingham there but didn’t get a chance, I will look harder next time.

I would hope eventually makers, retailers, School of Jewellery students, design space members, Centerpiece exhibitors, Brilliantly Birmingham and other businesses would blog about their approach to business, their products and create a scene online that will filter to the real world and back again. 

Finally, to begin that type of activity I am pleased to say I have been handed the keys (at least the spare set) of the blog for the new upcoming, much lauded Jewellery Quarter website which will be launched late November – just in time for Christmas, I suspect I will be promoting makers, events, heritage and little known niches of the Jewellery Quarter on the blog with a view to raising curiosity levels and dragging all and sundry to the Jewellery Quarter, from near, far and wide just to see… just to see….

As Roots Manuva said ‘we are up to everything and into everything’ at the moment, The shop in the jewellery quarter in expanding now and we have take on a budding designer maker ‘ Clare Victoria Pardoe’ is now managing the retail out let which is called.. You guessed it ‘ The David Louis project AT Artful Expression’.

I am hoping the new appointment will create a new profile for the shop and attract both customers and new designer makers as suppliers. The shop is in the Jewellery Quarter at 23 Warstone Lane, B18 6JQ – drop in any time and I’ll give you the scoop on each maker we stock and the history of the local area – just ask for David-Louis

The corporate side of the business, Gifts of Distinction is growing and we have introduce new Computer Aided Design skill base with the taking on of an intern, Shah ALi, a local student on his gap year – this is really exciting and attracting high profile clients which due to discretion and professional practice I am unable to mention specifically….

I see on my way to work today they are filming the advert for the new Jewellery Quarter (Web site not launched yet!!! – but is definitely on the way) TV campaign for the run up to Christmas, so keep an eye on your TV and don’t forget to mention the advert WHEN you visit the Jewellery Quarter on the run up to Christmas….. You will visit the Jewellery Quarter won’t you… yes you will

I will finish off now just saying that I am commissioning the production of another video at the moment featuring our new Spaghetti Measuring Device have a look the product- its too cool for cats.

Ooops – the reason I called this post 2.0ing and more is we are attempting to link Delicious, our facebook account, our blog and twitter (Twitter ID ‘DavidLouisDsign’) together – so you can Link, FB, blog and tweet us any time (in theory).

David-Louis.