Latest entries

Just One Word: Silicone

There’s a great future in silicone…  and not too many people know it. Sure, we’ve all seen the rise in silicone cookware products (and of course fake boobs) but muffin pans and ladles are just the beginning. Silicone is an incredibly versatile, premium material, that is replacing traditional plastics in many areas of the home...

The Kontextür Tissue Box Cover, “Iconic, Not Ironic”

It’s easy to write off ugly design as quaint and humorous, it’s much harder to actually take a stand and thoughtfully improve upon a product. That’s exactly what kontextür has done with the often overlooked and under-designed tissue box cover. Designed for kontextür by Josh Owen, this is not your grandma’s tissue box cover. Made...

Kontextür Questions: Hlynur Atlason

Originally from Iceland, now based in New York City, Hlynur Atlason surprises and delights people with more than just his name. He’s created two previous designs for kontextür, the Viktor toothbrush holder, and Clyde, a combination soap dish/scrub brush. Additionally, his design portfolio includes electronics packaging, and identity graphics. This week we got a chance...

Fuck Pulchronomics. I’ve got a 156 I.Q.

As if we all need one more thing to obsess over when we look in to the mirror each morning. “Beauty Bias.” “Sexual Capital.” “Bimbo Effect.” I’d rather expend this mental energy contemplating my Starbucks order, not how the symmetry of my face effects my pay scale. Burn your self-help books. Make your own rules....

Kontextür Questions: Josh Owen

Earlier this week we were proud to unveiled a new design in the Kontextür catalog; the silicone tissue box cover by Josh Owen. His designs are known around the world, and he’s been kind enough to answer a few questions for us, not only about new product, but also about his approach in general. Here’s...

Deer Season is Over

It seems that the fad of deer and antler kitsch is finally over. And we couldn’t be happier. It’s taken a little while, but the last of the do-it-yourself cardboard buck mounts are finally disappearing from boutique and shop windows. It’s not the kitschy quality we hate, but rather the obvious lack of thought and...

Introducing the Kontextür Tissue Box Cover, By Josh Owen

  Stop settling for the ‘least ugly’ tissue box cover.  The Kontextür tissue box cover is an understated antidote to the intrusion of garish to god-awful tissue boxes into your bath and home. Designed by world-renown designer Josh Owen,  this product redirects the tissue box from its typical role, hidden away from view, and celebrates its...

Inspiration: Bridget Riley

Not only one of the most influential artists in the op art movement in 1960s Britain, Bridget Riley was also a designer at the ad agency J. Walter Thompson. Her works in pattern, tessellation, and color are still as fresh today as they were 50 years ago. Best known for her stark black and white prints,...

Seeking Inspiration in Greece

We love to travel. Who doesn’t? It’s a great opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and try something different. Last week we were bouncing around the Mediterranean. It’s really beautiful on the Aegean sea and and you can’t help but feel a strange connection to the past on these seas. Sensing the travels of those...

That’s One Big Ducky

  There isn’t much that’s more playful or innocuous in the bath as a rubber ducky. But when that rubber ducky is 36 feet tall it’s hard not to take notice and let an obscenity or two slip. Thanks to artist Florentijn Hofman many us may soon know that feeling. His giant duckies have been...