That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up…*

Well, it was all worth it – the pain, the sorrow, the adulation, the inspiration, the dehydration - the London Design Festival didn’t disappoint at all! Over the course of a few action packed days I managed to drag myself around the majority of the main shows and design trails and even managed to attend a few of the key parties where, as I predicted, a serious amount of champagne and pretty little calorific canapés were consumed! This week it’s back to reality with a dirty great big sobering bang… actually, if I’m being honest, a bit of normality and routine this week is good – I can get back to focusing on all projects I have on the go at the moment… and I can also stop feeling guilty about outsourcing my puppy to other people for the best part of an entire week (whilst hubby was enjoying himself on his ‘business trip’ to NY).

Reflecting on the week, one of the things I realised that I absolutely love about the design festival is that it genuinely offers ‘up and coming’ product designers the opportunity to showcase their wares on a relatively big stage (i.e. London)… Three of my favourite finds from the festival were all from new designers who haven’t yet made it big, but I am absolutely certain are on the road to huge success. It’s also worth bearing in mind at this point in the blog that a number of my closest friends are either pregnant or have just had a visit from the stork (like the tooth fairy, but certain to cost you more in the long term) – as consequence, I seem to have become preoccupied by children… not a bad thing, as I discovered a number of absolutely adorable pieces of craftsmanship and design…

1) My ultimate, super, absolute favourite is this chair that doubles as both a traditional rocking chair and a horse rocker – I just think that it is totally adorable, but also quite contemporary…

(Image from Westergaard Design)

2) Continuing on the theme of horses and horsiness (if that is in fact a word), I would like to move on to the subject of cows… I was also drawn to this high chair for toddlers - it allows little ones to get up and down from the table using the set of stairs which are built into the seat (perhaps even on occasion without adult supervision, as there are very artistically designed Health and Safety compliant handrails, or horns as we like to call them in ‘cow speak’). This design immediately provides children with a greater degree of independence at the dinner table (or ‘freedom’ as Mel Gibson would have put it in Braveheart, which also features Scottish cows) - pure genius or, in fact, pure disaster depending on the parent and/or the child and/or what they are actually eating at the time…

(Image from Tamasine Osher Design)

3) Finally, and on a more serious note, I also found this kneeling stool and desk for kids – it naturally encourages them to sit in a neutral posture (which has been scientifically proven by scientists to be critical during the early years of spinal development). With conventional seating and desks, children tend to "hunch" up, putting considerable strain on their neck, shoulders, upper and lower spine. They also do an adult version, which unsurprisingly is considerably bigger and more robust, but also very comfortable

(Image from ubiquity design studio)

Three striking pieces of product design that are, rather aptly, in their infancy. I know they already do an adult version of the spine friendly desk and chair, but I quite fancy an adult version of the cow… don’t you?

*Walt Disney