World’s largest meeting place for Scandinavian design – Stockholm Design Week and Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair – took place last week between February 7th and 11th. Even though I’ve never (yet!) had the pleasure of attending this event in person, I’ve always kept a reasonably close eye on the goings-on in the fine city of Stockholm, and Scandinavian design scene in general. Couple this with the fact that I’ve been teased and tantalised by countless press releases about some of the products released at the fair this year, I decided to share with you a little round up of some of the things which caught my eye. Awww, aren’t I nice? I know, I know – it’s ok, stop saying it… I’m totally blushing now.

It is interesting to note that vibrant colours and colour blocking seen in Milan last year are still very relevant in the world of furniture and product design, and we can expect to see this trend continue filtering through the mainstream for quite some time. Super duper I say, as delicious colours are “a few of my favourite things”. So without further ado, I present you with the following little gems…

Did you ever have a moment where you saw something so awesome that you immediately proceeded to hyperventilate and had to quickly look for a paper-bag to breathe into and calm yourself down? No…? Yeah, me neither. I’m waaaay too cool for that… *Fidgets nervously* Oh ok, except maybe when I saw this.

At the recent Dries van Noten menswear fashion show at the Grand Palais in Paris, five painters were busily working on a 30m long mural while a bunch of well-dressed models strutted they’re stuff on the catwalk. The painters ignored the models walking behind them and continued working on their canvas wall, carefully recreating the work of typographer Job Wouters (aka Letman) and Dutch artist Gijs Frieling…

He Made She Made is a brand new concept art and design gallery that is opening it’s doors for the first time tonight! They will be showcasing some of Australia’s best young and emerging design talent, with their first showcase including Henry Wilson, Alex Fitzpatrick, Christel Hadiwibawa, Jennifer Edmunds and Ben Edwards – just to name a few. The gallery is run by four designers, who secured the space through the City of Sydney’s Oxford Street revitalisation project. Their aim is to showcase and promote the work of Australian creatives who are otherwise under-represented. Hurrah!

These guys are a self funded gallery and they would love to have your support by attending their opening night tonight and getting to know some local designers and artists. Who knows, you might even find that perfect piece for your next project…

Yayoi Kusama is a contemporary Japanese artist who puts dots all over her world. Her obsessive compulsive nuttiness is close to my heart and Kusama’s is definitely one of my all time favourite artists. Since December 2011, Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) has been showing her work in a ‘Yayoi Kusama: Look Now, See Forever‘ exhibition. Part of this event is a seriously cooltown interactive installation for children called The Obliteration Room – a series of rooms were painted completely in white where every room surface, piece of furniture and decoration was treated as a giant white canvas. Over the course of two weeks, kids were given thousands of colour dot stickers and were encouraged to make their creative contribution towards transforming the white space into one exploding with vibrant colours…

01 | Zona Tortona – Moroso, Neoreal Wonder, Foscarini, E15, Dedon, Design Junction, Moooi, Tom Dixon | MILAN 2011. 02 | Salone del Mobile | MILAN 2011. 03 | Baccarat Highlights | MILAN 2011. 04 | Bisazza, InterfaceFLOR, Established & Sons, Cassina, Cappellini, Poltrona Frau | MILAN 2011. 05 | Talking Textiles: An Initiative Curated by Lidewij Edelkoort | MILAN 2011. 06 | ‘This Way’ by Design Academy Eindhoven | MILAN 2011. 07 | Brera Highlights – Moroso, Missoni, Boffi, Nodus, Hermès, Fritz Hansen, Paola Lenti, Agape, Seletti | MILAN 2011. 08 | Spazio Rossana Orlandi | MILAN 2011. 09 | Rotor: Ex Limbo Installation at Fondazione Prada | MILAN 2011…