Watch The Exclusive Premiere Of The Memphis Milano Inspired Music Video for the Soft Ethnic Track "Prints"

The video for Soft Ethnic's "Prints," which exclusively debuts on Autre, relies on a simple set and a variety of characters played by Liam Benzvi to visually represent the construction and variation found throughout the song. Influenced by Ettore Sottsass and the Memphis group, the set pieces were designed and colored to add a playful backdrop and lightness to the scene. This, along with the relative sparseness and consistency of the editing creates a strong visual language that lends itself well to Liam Benzvi's melodic musings. Music video co-directed by Alex Rapine and Jarod Taber. Set design by Marki Becker. Click here to read an interview with Liam Benzvi. 

A Thing of Beauty Is A Joy Forever: A Fascinating New Monograph Explores the Life and Work of Underrated British Designer James Irvine

A fascinating new monograph, published by Phaidon, explores the life and work of design legend James Irvine (1958–2013). Indeed, you may not know Irvine by name, but his designs have had a profound influence in the world of both home furnishing as well as technology – he has also had a profound impact on other designers. On top of a beautiful offering of unpublished sketches and images from Irvine’s archives, this new comprehensive tome also includes texts and narratives by contemporary designers who were friends and that worked closely with the iconoclastic designer. For instance, Jasper Morrison tells the story of going to school with Irvine at the Royal Academy of Art and learning of his move to Milan to work for Olivetti – there is also a story about Irvine falling out of a window naked in Barcelona. Another designer, Naoto Fukasawa talks about meeting one of Irvine’s chairs before actually meeting the man – and based on the lines of the chair having a prescient notion of the designer’s friendliness as a person. There is also a great dialogue between Marc Newson, who recently signed on as a design consultant for Apple, and design critic Francesca Picchi on Irvine’s contributions to Olivetti and Toshiba – namely a computer device that looks like an iPad, well before its invention.  From his early work with Ettore Sottsass’ “Associati” to his more mature works for Japanese home and office goods retailer Muji, like a USB powered desk fan or a simple aluminum pen case, this monograph may be the corner piece that helps complete  the jigsaw puzzle of contemporary commercial design. The book is available to purchase here. Follow Autre on Instagram for updates: @autremagazine

Ettore Sottsass: A Master of Postmodern Italian Design →

View fullsize

There is a good chance that you have been hearing a lot about Ettore Sottsass – the revolutionary, incendiary and boundlessly creative postmodern Italian designer and architect. If you are in the design world, you may say that the Sottsass renaissance is already starting to recede – from the flood of interest that came after his death in 2007. For others, you may be curious: who is Ettore Sottsass and why is everyone talking about him? If you don’t know his name, you may be seeing a lot of his designs: on social media, a peculiar lamp on someone’s desk, or an alien-like bookshelf in a friend’s home. What is there to know about Sottsass? The most important thing to know is that he was a complete anomaly – a planet on its own bizarre axis. His limitless exuberance was a breath of fresh air compared to the stodgy, boring design of the 1970s and 80s, and his referential palate extended to American Jazz, beat poetry, and 1940s Indian architecture. Indeed, Sottsass got his start revolutionizing mundane, everyday utilitarian objects and machinery, from typewriters to corkscrews. However, it was his founding of the Memphis Group and his subsequent furniture designs that earned his praise and vitriol. Love him or hate him, Sottsass’s designs will be forever iconic of his singular vision of reinterpretation and creative anarchy. Click here to read more.