Blanco
Booth: 1336
blancoamerica.com

Modenus UK loves a good tap. Everyone else loves a good faucet. And Blanco knows to make a great faucet as well as some rather excellent kitchen sinks. The example above is Levos and we love its confident, strong design.  We love Blanco so much that we are going to be joining  them, at their booth, for Fauxmosas and Tuffletinis – hey it’s early in the day -  on Sunday May 15 at 1pm. The first 20 people to join us will get a Starbucks Gift Card and everyone can enter to win $1000 worth of products. See you there?

There is a theory that the sort of clock you use impacts on how you understand time and, therefore, how you live your life. Lovers of analogue clocks with hands rotating around a face understand that time is like a journey with places behind you and in front with a fleeting, ever changing now which can never really be grasped. These are the people who run the appointments system in my local health centre. Digital clock aficionados only know the now. For them time clicks by in a series of  clicks and jerks, its all hit and miss. The time is 14:29, not ‘around about’ half two. They are, without wanting to be overly blunt, dull.  But what of people who fall for Qlock Two, on show by German firm Biegert and Funk Product? They can enjoy the time spelled out, articulated in ever changing words which fade and glow. And they can choose different colours and, most impressively, different languages, English, of course, Russian and Arabic should that be your preference or need. For reasons I can’t understand, never mind explain, I rather fancy knowing the time in Swedish. Grab a minute and call by.

Back in 1889 John Bernhardt started to make furniture out of the native white oak in North Carolina. In 2011 Bernhardt are known for the quality of their work throughout the USA and in over 51 countries. And it is to the credit of a company with such a long and illustrious history that they pioneer innovation sponsoring the annual ICFF Studio, the scholarship program created as a platform for young designers to showcase their existing prototypes to manufacturers, retailers, and the media. We’re showing their Bardot Sofa, designed by Jaimie Hayon. Whatever they bring to the ICFF will, we suspect, have clean lines, cool elegance and be beautifully made.

I forgive Myface the impenetrable and, I suspect, largely meaningless text on their website and catalogs because they are yet another one of those companies who have flown in  from Portugal and who are designing and making furniture which demands attention. The Myface classics range, represented above is probably best described as traditional with a twist, or maybe just twisted traditional. They are also specialists and , indeed, evangelists, for foam coating, a technique they will no doubt be showing off at the ICFF.

That’s your lot for today except for a short quiz. What’s the highly obscure connection between the first and last entries in this preview? Tell me the answer at ICFF and I’ll buy you lots of drinks. Another preview tomorrow!