Seize the Dei

Recently spotted on Design Milk is this new credenza/bookcase from Israeli-born designer Ilan Dei. His new Namibia Line, “where the desert meet the sea” (sic), was launched just this week as part of his Art.Nature.Technology (A.N.T.) concept. The wooden table and detail featured above demonstrate Dei’s talent for combining mid-century Modernism with Japanese-trained woodworking. The rich wood – the line features walnut, mahogany and even zebra wood – provides color, texture and luxury while the details of dripping water, rippling waves or sand dunes in the woodwork make it so much smarter. I love (love) clever combinations of texture and material. It’s so hard to find in mid-range, commercial furniture. So you can imagine how low my jaw dropped when I saw Dei’s new line – by which I mean his furniture, not the typo in the tagline.

Overall, his aesthetic seems to perfectly balance colorful and tasteful, playful and elegant and retro and contemporary in products ranging from lighting and furniture to wall decals and interior design. In 2000, Dei received the Outstanding Merit Award from the National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers (NASFM) for his design and construction of Oliver Peoples boutique retail store in Soho, New York. More recently, Dei was a finalist in the ASFD 2005 Pinnacle Awards for the Windows of Style bedroom collection, exclusively designed for Creative Elegance.

Dei’s studio is based in Venice Beach, California but I’m hoping he’ll consider creating some pieces for the Israeli furniture market – to improve the state of things around here. And if not, maybe he’d consider doing just my home.