Premier’s Design Award
Winner Premier’s Design Award 2008. Award Program recognises the very best of Victorian Design practice and rewards designers that “produce exemplary approaches and outcomes”.
Category Self-initiated Hand Made Object
Year 2008
Design Paul the Bookscreen
Judge’s comments “Paul the Bookscreen stands out for its design simplicity and elegance. As a hand made object it embodies a fascination with craftsmanship and construction while providing a wide range of functional applications. The symbolism of thrift or reuse that it evokes sits comfortably alongside its bold and adaptive use of colour. This is a visually arresting, well-considered project with a thoughtful approach to making.”
Exhibition Melbourne Museum July 2008
blueprint range
date February 2009
description an Australian designed and produced, limited edition range of wall plates created in collaboration between Cindy-Lee Davis of Lightly and Samantha Parsons of Studio Sam.
The design builds the Betty Blue range. A narrative is created through the application of circular motifs. An additional layer is applied to some plates through a process of watercutting or sandblasting.
The plates can be purchased individually, allowing Collectors to make up their own ‘personal’ sets. Alternatively the plates can be purchased in limited edition sets of 3.
size 8 inch.
materials china plates with silver rim.
designs Blossom Blue, Billy Blue or Beatrice Blue.
price and stockists All enquiries and orders to Lightly.
photos Lightly.
west footscray residence
Client Private
Category Interior design and landscape design
Location West Footscray, Victoria, Australia
Date of commencement February 2008
Date of completion July 2008
Photographer Peter Bennetts
Design Made Trade 2008
Date 17-20 July 2008
Location Royal Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne, Australia
Products exhibited Elliot the Bookscreen, Siena the Bookblock Table, Betty the Blue Range
Photographers Peter Bennetts (top) and Mat Moore (bottom images)
Learn more about Design Made Trade
Green and Gorgeous
Publication The Age Newspaper, Metro Life and Times, p. 13
Date 16 July 2008
Article Green and Gorgeous, by Liz Cincotta
Product Elliot the Bookscreen and Siena the Bookblock tables
Photography Eddie Jim
betty blue range
Date July 2008
Description Betty is a set of crockery assembled from a mix of mis-matched, ‘as good as new’ plates. The concept was not purely about giving the plates a make-over. The intention was to go a step further and address possible reasons the plates were discarded in the first place; in particular the issue of good quality plates becoming orphaned. Betty gives these plates a new family.
Although each plates is an original composition (no two plates are the same) and each comes from a different walk of life, they are now related to one another through the application of blue and white circular motifs. The artwork is based on several of the found plates, which themselves form part of the new set.
Betty is available in sets of 4 of multiples of 4 (eg 16, 48).
Photos Peter Bennetts (top), design files (bottom)
Stockists limited edition run. sold out.
dust jacket gift cards
Date 2008
Range Booksmith
Description hand-made blank giftcards using original dust jackets from hard back books (taken from the books used to make bookscreens). Various themes, styles, topics, and colours.
Sizes as each card is different, sizes vary slightly. C5 envelope
Photographer Samantha Parsons
Stockists
Victoria Safari Living (Melbourne), Heide MOMA (Melbourne)
Queensland Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Store
NSW Koskela (Sydney), Mark Tuckey (Sydney), Grandiflora (Sydney)
family of sam
Family of Sam is the brand name for the diverse range of products designed by Samantha Parsons.
Siena the Book Block table
Date 2007
Description “I am obsessed with books – every part of them! After making a bookscreen I am left with a lot of pages, many of them are quite beautiful in themselves. Not wanting to waste any paper I started bending the left over ‘bookblocks’ to create bookends. The resulting forms were very sturdy. As a natural progression I started to play with the pages from larger books”. Siena the Bookblock Table was born. They work as an individual table or in clusters. They can be used with or without a tray / plate / book sitting on top (whatever you have at home).
Sizes various
Photographer Peter Bennetts (top) and Matt Moore (bottom)
Stockists
Victoria Safari Living (Melbourne), Antipodes Bookshop Gallery (Sorrento),
Queensland Artisan (Brisbane), Museum of Brisbane (Brisbane),
NSW Koskela (Sydney), Mark Tuckey (Sydney), Little Book Tree (Bangalow, NSW)
bookscreen
Date initial mock-up 2005. Several screens made since. Each screen is given a Christian name. This screen is “Ruby the Bookscreen” made 2008.
Description Bookscreen is a flexible screen constructed from pre-loved, hardback books. Each one is hand made, individual, an exploration into colour composition and builds on the qualities of the original books.
The collected books, which have outlived their intended function and have been discarded in good working order, are dissembled. The covers are then arranged according to the colour and reassembled utilising traditional book binding techniques. The integrated book spines provide pliable hinges for the concertina screen and enable it to have greater movement than many screens. The back of each screen is also treated in a unique manner.
Bookscreen would be an ideal privacy screen for reading, as a feature in corporate foyers, or for delineating space and providing a haven in the open plan house. The screens pure colours, simplicity, and existing patina would add an element of personality to any interior.
Awards SMH Young Designer of the Year 2005
Sizes Although each of these pieces are unique, a typical size is 48 books: 8 books high and 6 books wide. Lower screens 1 to 3 books high are also made to provide table/desk top privacy. Bookscreens can also be custom made to a specific size or colour composition.
Colours The bold colours of the covers provide an integral part of Bookscreen. Hard back books can be found in a range of colours and tones. The different coloured books can be arranged in a variety of ways, for example a gradation of a range of colours, a variation of a single colour, or a composition of colours.
Photos Peter Bennetts
Stockists please contact designer for nearest stockist.
Price Available on application. Price depends on: size (eg height, length and number of books), colours selected and the level of customisation required.
