Styleture

Eva Zeisel, Industrial Designer

The Styleture editorial team has many heroes in the design world; perhaps none have been more of an influence on us than the late Eva Zeisel. Ms. Zeisel, a Hungarian-born industrial designer known for her work with ceramics, passed away on December 30th at the age of 105. As admirers and fans that are simply in awe of what she contributed to the design world, we’d like to take this opportunity to remember her.

Zeisel was born in Budapest in 1906 to a highly educated and intellectual Jewish family; her mom was the first woman to receive a PhD from the University of Budapest, one of her brothers was a sociologist and economist and the other a chemist and philosopher of science. Zeisel on the other hand, was more drawn towards artistic pursuits. She learned ceramics through a local guild and worked for several German manufacturers. In the late 20’s, she became a designer at Schramberger Majolikafabrik and began creating unique and geometric designs for tea sets, vases, inkwells and other ceramic pieces. Her designs were influenced by the architecture of the times. Her life was actually quite glamorous; she spent time at cafes and parties among big city intellectuals and artists. She eventually moved to Russia to work in the country’s ceramics industry, but in 1936 she was falsely accused and arrested for participating in plot to kill Joseph Stalin. She spent 16 months in prison – how’s that for suffering for your art? When she was released from prison and deported to Austria, she met up with her future husband. Shortly thereafter, they had to leave for the U.S. when the Nazis invaded the country. Read the rest of this entry »

In Styleture’s “Sultan’s of Style” series, we profile game-changing artists who have pioneered their way into the history books of design.

Robert Brunner

Robert Brunner, born in 1948 in the U.S., is an accomplished industrial designer who has produced groundbreaking works for high-profile clients. When he’s not hanging out with Lady Gaga or Dr. Dre, Brunner is off in his own world creating leading-edge products; most notably, he provided design and direction for Apple Computer in the early 1990’s, coming up with the look for the PowerBook. Today, Brunner leads the design team at Ammunition LLC, responsible for a plethora of notable designer products: Beats by Dr. Dre is a new line of high-performance headphones developed in partnership with hip-hop artist and producer Dr. Dre; the Element Grill by Fuego is an affordable, gas-powered grill that extends the design language of the Fuego product line into a more mainstream product family; and the Arc Collection by Zephyr is a line of high-performance, design-forward range hoods that deliver compact power and sophistication to the kitchen.

Apple PowerBook

Beats by Dr. Dre headphones

Zephyr Arc Collection range hood

Element Grill by Fuego

Such products are proof that Brunner is not only a gifted designer, but an icon of modern style. His eye-catching designs are welcome on the pages of Styleture any time.

Let’s be honest; when we think of kitchen ventilation hoods, the first thing that comes to mind is certainly not a game-changing designer like Robert Brunner. After all, this is the dude who back in the day, dreamed up the design and direction for Apple’s Powerbook. Since then, he’s gone on to form Ammunition Design Group – a powerhouse design firm based out of San Francisco. When Brunner’s not hanging out at the Grammys with Lady Gaga and Dr. Dre, he’s collaborating on design projects with them: he whipped up the HeartBeats by Lady Gaga headphones as part of the Beats by Dr. Dre line, also his.

Now, Brunner has brought his name and talent to Zephyr, an innovator of design-forward ventilation hoods. The Zephyr – ARC Collection by Brunner is nothing short of pure geometry, bringing a sleek, minimalist aesthetic to a product that was once considered a utility, not to mention an afterthought. He’s utilized classic materials like glass, steel and wood, and created a series of range hoods that are as much about clean air as they are about clean lines. Here are a few of Styleture’s favorites from Brunner’s ARC Collection:

Horizon

Zephyr Horizon by Robert Brunner

The editorial team at Styleture couldn’t help but notice that the Horizon has a striking similarity to the latest iMac^®. Certainly, Brunner has taken the sensibility he once brought to Apple and infused this range hood with a similarly striking style. Horizon enters a low-profile freefall just inches from the kitchen wall, then challenges its audience with a sweeping, thirty degree upward lift. Compelling in red, black, white glass or stainless steel, the glass surface may be etched in one of two patterns: a leaf motif on white glass, or flower on black glass. A removable front panel for easy cleaning and service access, and a duo of halogens, completes this beauty.

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