Midweek Eco chic

Absolutely love the way Ecochic has used reclaimed wood and up-cycled it to give it a new life as an easy chair and foot stool.
Source: One Green Planet

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Behind the Women

A short film about my series of artworks: '9 Women' - As they hang now on my living room wall in the way I had envisioned.

Film is not my forte, but in this short representation you will hear the story behind them plus get an idea of how they look from closeup 

© Alison Day Designs

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Around the World

Here's my take on a fun way to not only raise up a plant in a tall glass vase, but at the same time re-cycle a redundant globe lamp. - Stylish, funky, light and airy solution with none of the potential block-feel that an upturned flower pot would give!

©Alison Day Designs

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Static Seaweed

Now here's a fabulous use for all that plastic floating around in the seas. Re-purpose it into one of these tar-coloured seaweed stools.

Design Squish

Tin Head

Re-cycle, Re-use, Re-invent...tin head by artist, Subodh Gupta
Via Street Retards

Eat Me

When it comes to re-defining our wasteful throw-away culture, in the ongoing battle to save the environment, this bright idea turns us into the re-cycling implements. David Edwards (Harvard University Professor and biomedical engineer), who brought us breathable food in the form of ‘Le Whaf’ has just brought out  the new idea of edible containers. This means that after we have consumed our food and drink, instead of throwing the wrapping it comes in away, we will be able to consume that too!

Apparently, the packaging is made out of something called ‘WikiCells’,  which are natural food membranes held together by electrostatic forces and are said to be thin delicious membranes. For the future, a  ‘WikiCell Machine’ is also on the agenda, so that we can create our own packaging ourselves. 

I like the idea that the choice of what to package and how much, is finally reaching the hands of the consumer, but how much of this delicious stuff would one actually want to consume? Waste reduction aside, I would imagine it could also change the face of packaging design, when it comes to shape, colour and maybe even smell.

Design Taxi

Child's Play

Robert Bradford a trained visual artist (& psychotherapist on the side), experiments with children's forgotten toys and plastic bric-a-brac. He up-cycles them into life-sized people or animals. Each piece can contain up to 3000 pieces.   Via: The Cool Hunter

The Futures Interview

Alison Day. Photo by Carol Govaert

Alison Day Designs is a multi-faceted company. Alison is a graphic designer and creative artist, as well as editor of an expatriate magazine, ‘Connections,’ in The Northern Netherlands.

Her art is her passion, but she also writes articles of interest, illustrate, translate (Dutch – English) and, as a voice actress, her voice can be heard in many a museum, schools language courses and the odd advert.  

She has created an illustration for the ?!X Futures Project, bringing to life David Hawksworth’s Future, one that is “creative, connected, cultured, with less consumption and waste” 

?!X: What’s the Future You Choose?

AD: The future I would choose and the world in which I would like to live, involves the use of the world’s remaining resources in a more thoughtful and ecologically sound manner. One where a life philosophy of “re-cycle, re-use, re-invent” becomes an active voice as opposed to a passive motto. All too often, we take for granted and under estimate the fragility of life on our planet; animal, vegetable or mineral, all is slowly being eroded away towards an inevitable extinction, and we are following hot on their heels. It’s time to look up from our automated worlds, open eyes and hearts, appreciate what is around and make the necessary changes before it is too late.

?!X: What’s a ‘think’ to create this future?

AD: www.earthship.org

The existence of rubbish dumps and polluting land fills, stress the importance of the need to minimize our production of waste. It doesn’t make sense to continually produce packaging/containers etc that ultimately become obsolete after only one use; if you do use it why not recycle it and re-use it in another form?

?!X: What’s an ‘act’ to create the future you choose

AD: People should be encouraged to only purchase products with biodegradable wrapping, or none at all; remove the demand to stop the supply. Instead of plastic, why not treat yourself an original and long lasting shopping bag in cotton with a fun design: Society6

?!X: What’s a ‘vote’ to create the future you choose?

AD: www.ifrc.org

By donating what you no longer need to the Red Cross (or any other charitable organization), you also help this humanitarian organization in aiding people in distress worldwide.

?!X: Future Soundtrack – What song would you take with you into the future? 

AD: Fitz and The Tantrums – ‘Money Grabber’:

?!X: Can you share with us up to 5 weblinks that you find interesting and inspiring?

AD:

twitter.com

schmulb.com

avaaz.org/en

ameliasmagazine.com

arthousecoop.com

Follow Alison on Twitter @AlisonDayDesigns

How can we Create the Future you Choose? Take part here.

Love the Futures Interviews? Help Create Our Collaborative Book - The Futures Project (donate or get involved!) 



Other Links:

1. Video: http://alisondaydesigns.blogspot.nl/2012/01/futures-exhibtion-think-act-vote.html

2. Futures Calender: http://alisondaydesigns.blogspot.nl/2012/02/futures-calendar.html

3. Book launch and press release: http://alisondaydesigns.blogspot.nl/2012/07/the-future-we-choose.html


Alison Day Designs

Bow Berlin

Love this! - Funky jewellery and leather fashion boutique.

Here re-cycled car tyres are used for interior dressing and display.

For the whole article from The Cool Hunter: Bow Berlin

9 Women Gallery

For those of you who didn't manage to see my 9 Women series this year in The Netherlands, here they are 9 Women 

P.S. Don't forget to let me know what you think.

© Alison Day 2011

9 Women Exhibition ~ Extended

The Exhibition of '9 Women' has been extended to 20 August.
If you've still not viewed them yet and find yourself in Groningen in
The Netherlands... details of where the exhibition can be viewed are: here

©AlisonDayDesigns

9 Women Exhibition

Meet Scarlet from the '9 Women' Exhibition, which is still in full swing in Groningen... still not seen it them yet? More details: here

©Alison Day Designs

Lulu

Lulu - 9-Women

Womankind are in themselves chameleons and this series touches on a few of the great variety of different qualities present in womankind:

Beautiful ~ Empathetic ~Adaptable ~ Versatile ~ Crazy ~ Loving ~Diverse ~ Multi-taskers ~ Nurturers ~ Supportive ~Adventurous ~ Funny ~ Creative ~ Role Models ~ Formidable ~ Wild ~ Colourful ~ Stylish, to name but a few qualities.

I refer my works  to as papiermaché-mosaics, made from, yes you guessed it, papiermaché and using re-cycled anything that seems appropriate to illustrate the picture. In the 9-Women series and (now that I think about it), in other works too, there are re-occurring objects used for decoration, for example the shells, flowers and mirror.

View all 9-women HERE

© Alison Day

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