Envelope paper sleeves turn smartphones into analog devices

London design studio Special Projects has created Envelope – paper sleeves to seal away smartphones to minimise screen time for the day while still allowing access to basic functions.

Users can download and print two different envelopes – one featuring a dial pad to make and receive calls and the other a simplified camera with no viewfinder, just buttons to capture photos and videos.

These work in coordination with an app, which takes over the entire screen and blocks all other functions or applications while it is being used.

"It's been a really interesting exercise taking a device with so many functions, masking it to remove all of them, and then slowly adding them back in," said Special Projects co-founder Adrian Westaway.

"With the camera, we wanted to present the most extreme and clear version of the concept so we got rid of the screen altogether."

This creates a user experience similar to that of an analog 35 millimetre camera, complete with the anticipation to see how your photos turned out at the end of the day.

The project was inspired by stories of people going to extreme measures – physically locking away their smartphones or buying old school Nokias – in an attempt cut down their screen time.

Rather than expecting people to abstain completely, Envelope eases the process by allowing users to access only the functionality they actually need via a calm, minimalist design.

Paper maintains the touchscreen functionality, and is fragile enough for the envelope to be effectively destroyed when it is unsealed.

Special Projects hopes that this creates a greater incentive to last as long as possible without opening it.

"We really wanted to create something physical when we started working on these experiments, but we wanted it to be as accessible as possible, ideally completely downloadable," Westaway told Dezeen.

"It turned out that paper was the best material for this as it is pretty much ubiquitous and people can easily print it at home or at work."

Although the envelope currently only fits the Google Pixel phone, the project is completely open source and could be adapted to suit any device.

The team has also considered the environmental impact of the project, claiming that printing out one page per day for a whole year would produce approximately 10 grams of CO2.

For comparison, Special Projects calculated that using a mobile phone produces 1.25 tonnes of CO2 a year per person, once the energy requirements for account networks and server infrastructure are taken into account.

Envelope is the second design developed by Special Projects as part of the Google Digital Wellbeing Experiments.

It follows last year's release of the Paper Phone – a daily, printable booklet that holds all your essential information for the day.

A recent exhibition at London's Somerset House invited artists to explore how technology such as smartphones has created a stressful 24/7 lifestyle.

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"Every time someone wanted me to write an essay, all I wanted to do was paint a picture" says Es Devlin in Dezeen's new podcast

Dezeen's new Face to Face podcast series kicks off with an interview with artist, designer and director Es Devlin, who discusses her seaside upbringing, her maverick student years and her meteoric career.

Listen to the episode below or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts to catch the whole series.

 

In the Face to Face series, Dezeen's founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs sits down with leading architects and designers to discuss their lives.

Working with Kanye West

The first episode features Devlin explaining how she first became a theatre designer before branching into stage design, creating sets for artists including Beyoncé, Kanye West and U2. The interview took place in the bedroom of her home and studio in south London.

"I’ve known Es for a few years and she really is one of the most amazing, electrifying people to speak to," said Fairs.

Artist and designer Es Devlin is the first guest on Dezeen's new podcast Face to Face

"She peppers her dialogue with references to art, science, movies, culture, theatre, literature and quite often the references go over my head and I have to sit there nodding as if I’ve read that book or seen that play."

Obstacle courses for guinea pigs

Devlin grew up near the coast in East Sussex, England. "We were making a lot of stuff because there wasn't a lot else to do," she said of her earliest creative experiments.

"And it was mainly using Kellogg's cornflakes packets or toilet rolls or making runs for the gerbils and obstacle courses for the guinea pigs."

Devlin started out as a theatre designer and has designed sets for operas such as Carmen

Devlin studied literature at Bristol University but was a rule-breaker from the outset.  "Every time someone wanted me to write an essay, all I wanted to do was to paint a picture," she said. "I deviated a lot from the course."

Later, when studying theatre design, she continued with her maverick approach. "I didn't pay any regard to the stage direction," she explained. "So if it said on the play, this play takes place in a room with doors, I didn't actually read that part."

"A fluke that happened three times"

She describes her move into the world of pop stars as "a fluke".

"It was a fluke that happened three times," she recalled. "There were three pop artists who all asked me to design their concerts at the same time. It was the Pet Shop Boys, a singer called Mika, and Kanye West."

Devlin has designed stage sets for some of the world's biggest music acts, such as U2

Produced by Dezeen's in-house creative team Dezeen Studio, Face to Face episodes will be released every Tuesday at 9:00am for the next eight weeks. Interviewees will include Thomas Heatherwick, Hella Jongerius and Norman Foster. The podcast features original music composed by Japanese designer and sound artist Yuri Suzuki.

Face to Face is sponsored by Twinmotion, the real-time architectural visualisation solution that can create immersive photo and video renders in seconds.

Subscribe to Dezeen's podcasts

You can listen to Face to Face here on Dezeen or subscribe on podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

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Famna sofa by TAF supports the sitter in comfortable embrace

Stockholm design studio TAF has created a sofa for Swedish retailer Svenkst Tenn with a curvaceous form to recreate the comfort and elegance of lying in a roll top bath.

The studio, headed by Mattias Ståhlbom and Gabriella Gustafson, was asked by Svenkst Tenn to create a contemporary sofa that would complement its collection of classic 20th-century pieces.

Established in 1924 by Estrid Ericson, the store is best known for producing pieces by Austrian architect Josef Frank, including furniture and a range of colourful fabrics and accessories.

In recent years Svenkst Tenn has collaborated with leading designers to expand its product range. TAF's Famna sofa is the largest item it has developed so far.

The company still produces sofas designed by Frank and his contemporary Björn Trägårdh in the 1930s and 1940s, but their size and style makes them unsuitable for many modern homes.

"They asked us to create a soft and comfortable contemporary sofa that retains the distinctive Svenkst Tenn expression and uses their traditional manufacturing processes," Ståhlbom told Dezeen.

TAF examined people's posture in various scenarios and eventually drew inspiration from the way in which traditional bathtubs embrace and support the user.

"When you sit in an old roll top bath it looks so elegant and also so comfortable because your arms a little higher and you have this rounded surface all around you," Ståhlbom explained.

"That's why we chose the name Famna, which means embrace in English."

The sofa features a low seat height and generous depth that invites users to lounge. Large, pillow-like cushions help the design to invoke the comfort of a bed.

Famna was also influenced by the way Svenkst Tenn's upholstered furniture is made at the O.H. Sjögren factory in the Swedish town of Tranås.

The company, established in 1902, is one of the country's oldest furniture manufacturers and uses traditional techniques to craft pieces for several Swedish brands.

"The way they produce furniture using hand craftsmanship makes it possible to create curves that are more complex than you would draw if you were designing for mass production," said Ståhlbom.

"We were able to design a form with curves in several dimensions that looks good from all angles, including from behind," he added.

"It takes a week to produce one sofa, but it is incredibly durable so it will last forever."

The sofa's wooden frame is assembled using a method similar to boat building.

Intersecting pieces forming a solid structure that is fitted with pocket springs.

TAF considered how the shape and proportions would suit being upholstered in some of Josef Frank's iconic fabrics, which typically feature large, colourful patterns inspired by nature.

The sofa's legs are made from solid beech wood in a range of finishes chosen to match the most popular fabric options.

All of the cushions are the same size so they can be easily rearranged and stacked to reduce the seat's depth if required.

A matching stool is also available.

TAF, which was founded by Ståhlbom and Gustafson in 2002, has also made a light shaped like a poster tube for Swedish brand Zero, and a table with an upside-down frame for Danish company Hay.

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Paul Uhlmann Architects builds barn-like rural retreat in Australian bush

Agricultural barns were an inspiration for this holiday home in Pullenvale, Australia, designed by Paul Uhlmann Architects and featuring glazed gable-ends.

Called The Barn, Paul Uhlmann Architects built the rural getaway for a couple, their children, and their horses, which live in the nearby paddocks.

The two-storey wooden structure is clad with Australian hardwood and topped by an industrial-style corrugated zincalume roof.

"The owners had spent a period living in the USA, [and] initially came to us with the brief to design an 'American barn'," founder Paul Uhlmann told Dezeen.

"We wanted to push the idea of 'the barn' further. The strength of a single form often works well in the Australian bush; as the landscape is usually quite free formed and loose the single form provides a stark contrast to the backdrop."

The focus of the home is the double-height living, kitchen and dining space at its southwestern end.

Sliding wooden screens at either side of the building allow the living area to open to the landscape.

Framed by the exposed timber beams of the barn's structure, a run of kitchen counters sits directly against the glazed gable-end of this space.

This aspect looks out towards the landscape and is protected from glare by the roof's overhang.

To the northwest, this living space opens onto a terrace sheltered by a hardwood canopy.

Distinctive from a traditional barn is the smooth curve of the roof's apex, which is visible throughout the interiors of the building.

"The curved barn form doesn't appropriate any local regional forms – rather it reinterprets a standard gable form found on local sheds and barns," explained Uhlmann.

"We also looked to some design precedents, such as Glenn Murcutt, a very influential Australian architect who has reinterpreted regional buildings in the past."

The two-storey section of the home houses games and media rooms as well as a garage on the ground floor and bedrooms and bathrooms above.

The master bedroom overlooks the living area.

Organised as an open run of bunk beds, the children's room is lit by a high-level window in the northeastern gable-end of the building.

"A generous bunkroom enables the children to host multiple friends over the weekend while the adults can entertain separated on the ground floor," explained the practice.

Skylights in these bedrooms allow those inside to "watch the clouds go past during the day and the stars by night".

Downstairs the wooden structure as been left exposed, with the ceiling painted white.

Many architects draw on agricultural forms such as barns and sheds when designing in rural settings.

In California, Mork-Ulnes Architects clad a Triple Barn residence in weathered steel, and in the Danish countryside Chrisoffersen Welling reinterpreted the area's traditional barns to create a home for a family and their pet falcons.

Photography is by Andy Macpherson Studio.

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Assemblages of Found Florals Imprinted on Ceramic Mugs and Plates by Hessa Al Ajmani

All images © Hessa Al Ajmani

Artist Hessa Al Ajmani often gathers small flowers and fronds from her mother’s garden. She brings the floral arrangements to her home studio, where she presses the groupings onto her earthenware and stoneware pieces, leaving simple and realistic imprints. Based in Ajman in the United Arab Emirates, the artist uses some plaster molds and stamps she creates herself, although each piece is hand-built, preventing any two from being exactly alike. Before firing, she peels off the greenery and petals, revealing the small grooves and divets that she later paints.

Because Al Aljmani doesn’t use a wheel, her pieces typically take hours, or even days, to finish. “I’ve been playing with all sorts of clay (air-drying, polymer, earthenware) since I was a child. I learned how to work with it professionally in university, but didn’t pick up the practice until about a year ago,” she said on her site. “I had to re-teach myself all the basics and do endless tests with clay consistency, form, texture, firings, etc.”

Shaping each ceramic piece and layering the found florals is therapeutic, the artist says, because it requires patience and has fostered an acceptance of and appreciation for imperfection. “My ceramic work speaks of my memories of home and the process of self-healing. Through imprints of flower, leaves, and patterns, it invokes a sense of nostalgia and the idea of home as a space of free thought and personal growth,” she said.

In addition to her own practice, the artist founded the Clay Corner Studio in 2019, which offers ceramics and painting classes. To watch Al Ajmani’s process, check out her Instagram and see which pieces she has available for purchase in her shop.

 

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A post shared by Hessa Al Ajmani (@hessaalajmani) on Mar 2, 2020 at 6:47am PST

 

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