Etsy

Big Etsy logo

Etsy is a wonderful site of inspiration for ChairBlog.

A search for chair gave 1414 items today

From its press page I gathered following:

What is Etsy?

Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade.

Its intention is to offer viable alternatives to mass-produced objects in the world marketplace, and to encourage consumers to be aware of the social and environmental implications of their purchases.

The connection between producer and consumer has been lost. Etsy has been created to help them reconnect, and swing the pendulum back to a time when we bought our bread from the baker, food from the grocer, and shoes from the cobbler.

Etsy’s Beginning

Etsy was conceived by Rob Kalin (27) in early 2005. A painter, carpenter, and photographer, Rob found there was no viable marketplace to exhibit and sell his creations online- other E-commerce sites having become too inundated with fraud, overstock electronics, and broken appliances. Ever industrious, he, along with Chris Maguire (25) and Haim Scoppik (27), designed the site, wrote the code, assembled the servers, spliced the cables, and launched Etsy on June 18th, 2005 after only three sleepless months.

Brooklyn-based Etsy now has 48 full-time employees, approximately 650,000 registered users, 60,000 of whom are individual artists selling more than 950,000 of their handmade creations.

Etsy Blog

Etsy has its own Blog: The Storque.

Best Chair Design Blog

Best Chairs Design Blog

Via Blog Catalog I came across the Best Chairs Design Blog by Fahmi Mohammad, an Indonesian based architect and interior decorator with similar interests as Yours Truly. Enjoy!

Kezu

ABCD 01
ABCD Sofa by Piere Paulin in fabric Momentum
Photo thanks to Artifort

No, I have no commercial interest in this post! I simply am impressed by Kezu‘s website: It is clean, well designed and has a very high usability, even though some parts are in Flash. The Flash items they use are very clever.

Kezu represents inter alia Artifort, a Dutch Firm that in my opinion can learn a thing of two from Kezu’s site.

Why am I ranting about Artifort’s site? Simply because once I wanted to post here about Artifort’s celebration of Pierre Paulin’s 80ieth birthday, 60 years of design and 50 years of designing for Artifort and couldn’t find enough information on Artiforts site that I could easily reproduce here.

Thanks to Kezu I am now able to download high resolution photos.

Artifort took ABCD in production for this celebration. It is a 1968 design of Pierre Paulin, here shown with the the original fabric ‘Momentum’, (designed in 1967 by Jack Larson).

Pierre Paulin Portrait removed

Oops while revisiting Artifort’s site I now see Artifort has changed its site and moved away from its former flash only lay out……like many should do. I hate Flash as it is used on most sites without thinking about the web surfer who wants to get information rather than mere stylish flash presentations of products without details….but even now the Kezu site is my favorite.

Kezu on the ABCD Sofa:

The shape of the ABCD seems to be derived from
an egg carton, powerful, protective and elegant. Its curves look like waves… organic, soft, relaxing yet supportive. The ABCD is available in two sizes, ideal for hotel lobbies and lounges. At the time, Pierre Paulin’s designs were revolutionary, now they have become timeless, an evergreen.

Well, this is the same comment as on the Artifort site.

Kezu on Kezu:

KE-ZU supplies furnitures that makes people feel good. Since its founding in 1992, the company has focused on this singular vision delivering an extensive range of residential and contract furniture that has become synonymous with the way we work and live in today’s better environments.
KE-ZU specialises in the sales, marketing and distribution of high quality residential and contract furniture throughout Australia. We exclusively represent a select portfolio of innovative manufacturers supplying interior and exterior products for residential and commercial projects. Our nationwide distribution network makes available a broad mix of European and locally manufactured products through both contract and retail markets.
KE-ZU is also a major shareholder in Andreu World Pacific – a partnership with Comax Australia and Andreu World s.a. of Spain. This operation imports and stocks significant volumes of unfinished furniture components which are then assembled, stained, foamed and upholstered in Comax’s state-of-the-art factory in Brisbane.
KE-ZU’s strong and intense relationships with manufacturers, distributors and customers combine to maximise our market penetration throughout the region.
Quality focus

Like our customers, KE-ZU is passionate when it comes to quality. We focus on the quality of design and construction, service and performance, lifestyle at work, as well as the quality of the relationships we form with manufacturers and customers.

KE-ZU undertakes a mixture of direct and indirect business through showrooms in Australia and New Zealand. Selected for their ability to exceed our quality benchmarks, we are exclusive agents for the following manufacturers:

Enjoy!

Last edited by gje on April 10, 2011 at 2:42 PM