Design Trawler Acquires... the Colour Yellow

Yes you heard correctly. Design Trawler, or rather it's globetrotting ambassador, has just acquired the colour yellow. Not just any yellow, the colour yellow. That's right, the most famous yellow in the world, moniker of DesignTrawler.com and preserve of Pantone Corp, 'Pantone Yellow C', has a new owner.

Okay, so laying claim to a colour is a bit far fetched, and in the interests of keeping myself out of court, Pantone Yellow C translates as #FEDF00 on Unicef's Own a Colour website. A brilliant initiative, Unicef is offering people the chance to 'own' one of 16.7 million colours capable of being displayed on a computer. A design led alternative to sponsoring would-be bathmats and help save a child's life. Buy yours here.

DesignTrending - Golden Metals in 2012

With the new year imminently approaching, DesignTrawler.com takes a moment to think about what themes and materials are going to prove popular in 2012. This teak calendar from Mucu [MoMa Tokyo] sums up the predictions.

We're already seeing brass growing in popularity as a material. With the rise of the steampunk set and austere design ethic [we're in recession apparently] raw materials like bronze, copper, teak, and dare I suggest it, pine, represent honest elements that have fallen off the designer's radar. Golden metals in particular look set to replace chrome and brushed steel, as we tire of facsimile showhome furniture and gear up for the gold, in this, London's Olympic year.

Chandeliers hit a Glass Ceiling

Visiting the modernist 97 Park Avenue this September, this fantastic aircraft [with working propellers] was suspended from the ceiling in the main stairwell. A brilliant use of space, which would probably find itself housing a chandelier or feature pendent if part of a designer's brief.

While there is many an artful chandelier on the market, the functional need for a sculptural fitting to hold candles bulbs is quite redundant these days; not least in Mancaves. Using ceiling space for more dynamic art or sculpture and lighting it appropriately represents a modern day solution to 'filling the void' that seems far more relevant.