black & blum's Flower Loop flower vase.

I recently went to the Gift Show at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City. I like to go and get inspired by some of the innovative designs that I come across. Having recently finished re-doing my apartment, I walked the show looking, not only for designs to inspire my own business, but also for ideas for those small finishing touches that might add that finish to my apartment. I found one such finishing touch from a team of two London-based designers, black & blum. Their simple philosophy is that ‘designed’ products can be made affordable without compromising quality. The products that I saw showcased were original, sometimes humorous and really beautifully designed. I bought a flower vase (see photo) that looks terrific on top of my wall unit. A perfect finishing touch to my newly designed space!

An elegant yet minimal flower vase made from free flowing steel wire. The form looks appealingly simple and unique from every angle. It can be used individually or interlinked to create a cluster. Flower Loop is inspired by the Fibonacci curve that is seen throughout nature and looks correct and balanced to the human eye.

Salad Plant

Another whimsical, yet functional product design of theirs that I loved is their “salad plant.” This is a pair of salad serving spoon and fork, designed to look like large blades of grass which sit in a salad dressing mixing bowl that looks like a flower pot! What fun!

These leafy salad servers stand upright in their own pot and will give life to any table setting. The pot can also be used for mixing (and serving) your salad dressing. They are also the ultimate salad decoration when stuck into the salad upright!

- melamine salad servers and pot

– 44 x 11 x 6.5cm

Photo Montage Cake

Here’s a great idea to make a special occasion even more special: A photo montage on a cake! I created this photomontage which was then printed with editable ink on edible photo paper by my good friend Edie of Cakes ‘N Shapes Ltd. in New York City. 

I started creating these photomontages as gifts for my friends and family. When a good friend of mine went to China to adopt her first daughter, I designed a photomontage to commemorate the journey. These have made wonderful gifts for various milestones such as 40th and 50th birthdays, weddings, Bar Mitzvah’s and holiday gifts.

What started out as something I just did for fun or for friends has since grown into more of a business. Not only do these montages work great on cakes but they can also be printed on fine art paper, suitable for framing, mounted to be used as sign-in boards for celebrations, be printed on t-shirts and more. The possibilities are endless!

Click here to see mor examples of my photomontages.

http://www.cafepress.com/checkmanfineart