HELEN PHAN

HÉLEN PHAN, born in 1989 is a Child Culture Designer and a  Product Designer based in Malmö, Sweden.

She is a young-at-heart designer totally infatuated with child culture and play. She designs experiences for and WITH children, working with products / interiors / spaces / graphics / concepts / service / workshops. She also does lectures on children's participation.

Find here following some of her projects:

AL'S HOUSE
A playhouse with tiny aluminium figures designed to be made in the technique aluminium-profiling. Inspired by children’s drawings of houses.
The concept is a neutral playhouse with belonging figures, free from class, gender and ethnicity. The colours and shapes of the figures represent the similarities and dissimilarities of people.

PAUSE 
It suits one single child in need of an own private space as well as for two or more children’s need for social play in privacy. The concept also considers kindergarten as a context by having felt as material, a material that is sound absorbing at the same time as it enhances the feeling of a private space.
By being foldable PAUSE can easily be knocked down to be stored and save space. It could also be hung up on a wall and turned into a playful sound absorber.

KIWI BIRD BOX
How can a toy unite children with autism and other children in play?
Play makes the tool of Kiwi Bird box to give children with autism the opportunity to develop in social interaction with other children. Because, children are in fact the best pedagogues a child with autism can have. It is a  mutual peep box for two children to play, interact and communicate with each other. With the help of magical magnetism that the kiwi birds possess, children can show, tell and guide each other in a playful way when watching and affecting the world inside Kiwi Bird Box.

BIG FINKI  
Play is about telling a story and finding bodily joy.
Big Fink and Little Fink are designed to be children's roommates, the kind of friendly play objects that have souls. Responding to children through physical interaction, the finks encourage children to express themselves bodily and narratively in cuddly play.Their bodies are made of textile and foam, and deep inside them lies the secret to their wobbliness: a small bag of rice that keep the them down-to-earth.

BLOB SLEDDING
Your friend through cold and snowy days!

GRÖNKULLA
A play furniture, designed to encourage children to express themselves physically in play with big bodily movements. Children are constantly discovering life with all their senses and their whole body. A physically active child is a play signal, that invites other children to join.

ORANGE
REST, SIT, PLAY, PRETEND, ROCK, GROW, ORANGE. ORANGE is designed to be an enclosed and protecting pupa for children with the possibility to open up for play and imagination. It's a product to grow up with, having the qualities of cradle, chair, resting place, swing, hut, toy, you name it.

Mirim Seo: Sew Spectactular, Adorable Animals

Di Mirim Seo e dei suoi incantevoli progetti vi avevamo già parlato qui. Originaria dalla Corea del Sud, Mirim Seo è una graphic designer, illustratore e artista.
Mirim si ispira da sempre alla sostenibilità, alla natura, agli animali, al vintage, ai giocattoli e all'arte del ricamo.
Il suo progetto SEW è finalmente sabrcato sul mercato! Si chiama Sew Spectacular: Adorable Animals by Chronicle Books.
Si tratta di un gioco che insegna le tecniche del cucito attraverso il completamento di schemi che ritraggono  una serie di animali ed composto da 12 Animal cards, 6 schemi di cucito, 1 ago, 1 punteruolo and libretto di istruzioni. 
Noi lo aspettavamo da tanto! 
Lo trovate qui e qui. 
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We wrote about Mirim Seo and her stunning projects in the past (find it here. Originally from South Korea, Mirim Seo is a graphic designer, illustrator and artist and she is always inspired by sustainability, nature, animals, vintage, toys and embroidery.
We are proud to share her recent project, Sew Spectacular Adorable Animals by Chronicle books, with you. The original project was posted on our blog, and now it is officially into the market!!
This is a game to learn hand-sewing techniques by completing the patterns on some paper animals. It comes with 12 Animal cards, 6 Embroidery Skeins, 1 Blunt Needle, 1 Pushpin and Booklet with directios.
We really love it!
You can find it  here and here.

CUCUMA, ALPHABET PROJECT AND TANGRAM PROJECT BY Elena Bergamini

CUCUMA:

CUCUMA è un sogno nel cassetto, l'adrenalina di un buon caffè di prima mattina ma anche la professionalità e la passione raggruppate in quindici anni di lavoro.

CUCUMA rappresenta Elena Bergamini, è un insieme di progetti di design d'arredo, di creazioni di PaperCut e di esperimenti con la macchina da cucire e tutte le idee progettuali che Elena sa trasformare in oggetti sognanti che possono regalare un attimo di leggerezza alla quotidianità.
PRESENTAZIONE progetto ALPHABET:

C’è la carta da disegno, la carta carbone, la carta da pacco. La carta da lucido, da gioco, la carta che canta. 
Ci sono le carte geografiche e le cartoline giramondo. Poi ci sono lettere di cartone che portano il mondo in una stanza.
Un alfabeto intero per raccontare e riempire lo spazio a modo tuo.
Caratteri mobili per comporre la storia che vuoi, diventando tavolini, comodini, soluzioni per allestimenti…
Lo spazio abitato come una pagina bianca: le lettere rimandano all’iniziale di un nome… a un messaggio cifrato… a un suono che scalda il cuore…
Complementi d’arredo essenziali, “parlanti” e progettati con passione, di cui si riempirà l’aria.
Tutte le lettere di Alphabet sono di cartone, assemblato come un puzzle.
Di colore avana o bianco, ma anche personalizzabili (è infatti possibile stampare direttamente sul cartone).
Riciclabili, sono leggere, lavabili e molto resistenti.

PRESENTAZIONE progetto TANGRAM:
Per chi non lo conoscesse, il TANGRAM, è un antico gioco cinese, costituito da sette tavolette di forma differente, inizialmente disposte a formare un quadrato. Lo scopo del puzzle è quello di formare una figura utilizzando tutti i pezzi senza sovrapposizioni. Il mio TANGRAM cresce di dimensione diventando più "fisico", permettendoci di giocare usando le braccia, sul tavolo o sdraiati per terra scervellandoci con gli amici per creare forme nuove.
TANGRAM è realizzato completamente in cartone, misura 60x60 cm ed è accompagnato da una pratica custodia con manici in corda che ci permettono di trasportarlo agilmente come una borsa.

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CUCUMA:

Cucuma is a dream, an earlymorning adrenaline rush after a coffee, but it is also professionalism and commitment gained after fifteen years of work.
Cucuma represents  Elena Bergamini, and there you can find her furniture projects, her Papercut works, her Sewing and Craft Projects and all the design ideas that Elena has been able to turn into dreamy objects able to give a breath of fresh air to your every day life.

ALPHABET PROJECT:

There is drawing paper, carbon paper, wrapping paper.

There are maps and globetrotter postcards. Then there are letters made of cardboard that bring the world in a room.

A whole alphabet that will enable you to tell and fill the space in your own way.
With these movable letters you can tell the story you want as they can turn into coffee tables, side tables, solutions for exhibitions and so on.
The living space can be seen as a blank page: the letters can refer to the initial of a name or to an encrypted message or even to a sound that warms the heart ...
Essential pieces of furniture, able to "talk" and designed with passion, which will fill the air.
All letters of the Alphabet are made of cardboard, assembled like a jigsaw puzzle.
They come in brown or white colour, but they can be customized (it is possible to print directly on the cardboard).
They are recyclable; they are lightweight, washable and very durable.

TANGRAM PROJECT:

For those not familiar,  The TANGRAM is a traditional Chinese puzzle made of a square divided into seven pieces (one parallelogram, one square and five triangles) that can be arranged to match particular designs.  The aim of the puzzle is to form a figure using all the pieces without overlaps. My TANGRAM grows in size and becomes more "physical", allowing you to play using your arms, on a table or lying on the ground with friends racking your brains for creating new forms.
TANGRAM is entirely made of cardboard, it measures 60x60 cm and comes with a carrying bag with rope handles that allow us to easily carry it like a bag.

YOU CAN FIND ALPHABETH BY MARTINO DESIGN IN BOLOGNA, ITALY

Hello Yellow!

1/Fondue Stool by Satsuki Ohata
2/chair by Studio Pepe Heykoop
3/ Daisuke Kitagawa | DESIGN FOR INDUSTRY, doll
4/Paper Stool by Collective Paper aesthetics
5/Sabrina Fossi Design
6/Apron yellow deer by DESK design for Kids
7/colors lines and dots by Antonio Ladrillo
8/Letto Quadro by Nidi Battistella
9/Wallpaper Reposicionable Yellow Waves by Bobo Choses available at Chipsum
10/gratin potatoes and chickpeas by Kosenrufu Mama

PAESAGGINI

Ci soni piaciuti moltissimo i PAESAGGINI del designer italiano Antonio Gramegna che abbiamo visto al Salone Satellite di Milano.
Sette piatti in ceramica diametro 28 cm che mirano ad avvicinare i bambini ad una corretta alimentazione attraverso il divertimento. Le sagome disegnate sui piatti sono il primo passo verso una composizione creativa che attiverà l’immaginazione del bambino. Il piccolo giocherà con i cibi e imparerà ad osservarne con più attenzione le forme i colori e le combinazioni nutrizionalmente corrette.
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We like PAESAGGINI by Italian designer Antonio Gramegna.

The collection is made of 7 dishes (diam. 28cm)

The little landscapes aim to introduce children to proper nutrition through entertainment. The shapes drawn on dishes are the first step to a creative composition that will trigger the immagination of the child. The small composing of landscapes with food will teach to observe more closely the shapes and colors combinations nutritionally correct.