Designist Dream

Well Hanukkah’s finally here and the Gift Guide is officially reaching its final day of amazing Israeli design gift ideas. As a reminder for the non-Hanukkah-observing readers, these gifts will also make someone happy this Christmas! Here’s to wishing you and your families a wonderful holiday season. And now for the last time in 2007, clockwise from top left:

Now, I’m not telling you to become June Cleaver, but wouldn’t it be nice for your man to have his own chair to welcome him at the end of the day? A place for him to kick off his shoes, put on his slippers, and fold out the day’s paper? Ok so in today’s world, it’s more like rip off his Pumas and open his laptop to catch up on his blogs, but you get the picture. Legendary Israeli designer and architect Ron Arad’s Ripple Chair offers a contemporary and beautiful alternative to the Archie Bunker chaise of yore. Made of a pliable polypropylene that melts open as the sitter reclines, it seems to clean and inviting. Like a pure sitting experience awaits. Of course this is also suitable to purchase for a woman, but when I saw this I just blurted out, “Man, this is a beautiful chair” and so into the men’s category it went. It would also look great in my man’s office and since we share it, everyone wins. Hooray for unisex Modernist design! Available here through the MoMA, NY shop.

What first struck me about this amazing leather notebook holder from Israeli fashion accessory designer Nivi Concept was how much I wanted one. Although the design is quite abstract, the golden leaf pattern jumps right off the black leather background, making it more textural, natural and personal. It seems somehow like the perfect gift for Everywoman. It’s sophisticated for business women - even the corporate ones. Creative for poets - even the most bohemian ones. Nature-inspired for the hippie set - but it is leather so it depends how vegan they are. Trendy in gold, black and leather for the fashionistas. And handmade for the artsy crew. Oh, and also the perfect gift for the girl who has everything, cause something like this isn’t available everywhere. But it is available here.

Decorating the nursery - or redecorating your child’s room - is one of the most fun things a parent can do for a kid, I think. Mostly because up until a certain age, the parent can just live out any and all room decorating fantasies he or she ever wanted without the kid having any opinion or say in the matter. So enrich your child’s exposure to non-commercial art and characters with this original handmade print by Israeli artist Shirae on etsy. I love the retro simplicity of her characters - young girls and boys enjoying their toys. Featured above is one scene from a set of three prints: one girl playing with a hoola hoop, one girl playing with a marionette and one boy playing with a toy car. Sweet and simple, from their clothes to their toys, with no background to distract your eye from the purity and joy of the central scene. The bordering elliptical frame almost serves as a peephole into another world. One where Dora the Explorer and Teletubbies have yet to make their (terribly pervasive) mark. Available here on etsy.

Way back when I first started this blog, I had just become a mother which didn’t exactly bode well for my free time, I wrote about an exhibition of new Israeli designers at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in NY. Nineteen contemporary Israeli designers working with all sorts of media and techniques were on display for the first time in a major US museum. Each presented his or her approach to the subject of useful things - they questioned what we use, what is considered useful and how does how we use things determine how things should look. Wait, is that even a question? Point is, many of the items - from Assaf Warshavsky’s inside-out radio to Chanan de Lange’s anything-but-straight book shelves - are not only humorous but challenging and exciting. So leave this exhibition catalogue front and center on your coffee table and make your guests wait for you to return with the latkes and coffee. Impress them with your art and design savvy and show them a bit about what they may be missing in the world of contemporary Israeli design. Available here through the Cooper-Hewitt Museum shop.