I am super duper excited to tell you about an upcoming launch for a very special not-for-profit publication called COOKBOOK north/south. And let me be make it very clear that this is no ordinary cookbook. Hell NO!

Initiated and facilitated by the clever designers at Wolfgang, Shlomo & Max, COOKBOOK north/south brings together a super creative and eclectic array of Melbourne’s chefs, artists and writers. This gorgeous book was letterpress printed by hand (oh man, you had me at ‘letterpress printed’) with a strictly limited edition of only 500 copies…

I am always so inspired by simple ideas, clever out-of-the-box thinking, conceptual interpretations and poetic responses to the brief. This is precisely why I was so glad to receive these images from Ben Edwards of Edwards Moore, Melbourne based design studio who’s work you may recall from my post earlier this year.

Edwards Moore have created a landscape of woodchips for Melbourne Fringe Furniture Exhibition recently held at Substation Gallery in Newport, Melbourne. Responding to the Fringe theme ‘The City has a Face and the Country has a Soul’, EM’s giant terrain ran the entire length of the gallery space, forming a dynamic unifying platform on which the furniture was exhibited…

Man oh man. Before we begin I’ve gotta tell ya that this interview’s been in the works for a seriously long time. But just like a tender and delicious slow cooked meal that takes forever to prepare, it has been well worth the wait. Truly.

Byron George is not an easy man to track down. I remember trying to find his contact details for ages – but I had no luck locating a website or any other information. Incidentally, this was around the same time that Ryan Russell and I were in contact about his interview (which you can read right here – it’s a good one, promise). As it turned out, Ryan revealed in his interview that he and Byron were partners, and that they were planning on bringing their respective practices under the umbrella of Russell & George. What…? Jackpot! I love a bit of a crazy blogging coincidence as you all know…

Saturday in Design is an annual trade event for design industry professionals which alternates between Sydney and Melbourne each year. This year it was Melbourne’s turn and I found myself with a perfect excuse to visit one of my favourite cities in the world and mix work with pleasure. Awesome.

I had every intention to visit as many of the 60 odd participating exhibitors and showrooms, but I found myself extremely distracted by the social aspect of the event – I was constantly bumping into colleagues, friends and suppliers from all over the place, many of whom I hadn’t seen in ages. This caused me move at a glacial pace and as a result I’m bringing you a somewhat dodgy and half-assed coverage of Saturday in Design and whatever little stuff I managed to see…

I’m sure many of you would be aware of the super cool United Nude shoes, no? (Excuse me? Shoes!? Did someone say “shoes”? Yes, I’m listening!!) Ummm… Sorry, I got distracted there for a second. Where was I…? Oh, yes.

United Nude was founded by architect Rem D Koolhaas (son of superstar architect Rem Koolhaas of OMA fame) and seventh generation shoemaker Galahad Clark. The brand launched in 2003 with the ‘Möbius’ shoe. Since then, United Nude has launched countless other products and has gone to established itself as an iconic brand at the intersection between design and fashion. The United Nude brand is currently sold in over 40 countries worldwide, with flagships in Amsterdam, Shanghai and New York…