Rice DK Autumn 2015 Preview

Rice - Denmark's brightest and most colourful design house - likes to be noticed. You can instantly
tell you've arrived at Rice HQ when you turn the corner on the small industrial estate in which they are situated and spot the wall painted bright pink. Rice have been a big part of our business since we started our small shop in 2007 and we've seen their collection grow and develop over the years, but never has it been anything other than bright, bold and colourful. Rice are now such an important part of our business that we have come to Odense in Denmark to preview Autumn / Winter 2015 as early as possible, and we're pleased to be here, not least of all because Rice share our ethical business principals.

Sometimes a place feels instantly like home - rarely does an office achieve that. Our visit is a chance to catch up with old friends - various colleagues at Rice we have worked with over the years greet us. Rice, however, has an ethic built around home comfort, family life, entertaining and friendship so maybe it should be little of a surprise that this is one office which manages to be comfortable and welcoming. Decorated typical Rice-style with a combination of old and new pieces of furniture, all set off by a huge amount of colour, the Rice office is a place to relax and play as well as work. The whole office is open plan so everyone is accessible. Even the staff canteen is a riot of beautiful colours. It quickly becomes obvious that design, colour and a happy environment inform everything Rice does.

But work is what we've come all this way to do so before long it is down to previewing the new collection for Autumn 2015. This year, Rice have nailed their Autumn colour range with a combination of rich purples and blues together with muted pinks. The new designs on the melamine are beautiful and quirky. Thrown into the Autumn colours are splashes of gold and rich blues. Quirky characters also feature in the collection as usual - playfulness is a key part of Rice's style and this season's striking illustrations by Andrea Letterie feature scarf clad polar bears and cups of whipped cream topped hot chocolate. It's almost enough to help you forget the beautiful summer weather and make you hanker for longer autumn nights in. 

Because a busy day always requires a hearty lunch, Helene and Maria take us to the Riceteria - Rice's new venture into cafe culture. It's a great new project in the centre of Odense - the perfect place to hang out with a cold drink on a hot day, full of young mothers and other lunchers eating and drinking Rice style. The Riceteria is a great showcase for Rice products with all the food served on them together with a shop area attached. Helene tells us that Rice are now franchising the Riceteria to several locations in Germany. 

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There are some great new designs coming to the new collection at Rice. We love these big candle lanterns and some of the quirky new illustrations from Andrea Letterie. It almost makes you hanker after the colder winter nights.

New Rice Autumn stock will be arriving soon at fig1.co.uk. 

Colourful Christmas Inspiration

Owl Candle Holder by House Doctor

I've become obsessed with my camera of late. In the Spring I treated myself to a Canon 70D and it has become my constant companion, my friend and my plaything. I may even be a little in love with it. Remember when you were young how certain presents at Christmas invaded your imagination with their newness and you couldn't stop playing with them? I was like that with every set of Lego Technics I was ever bought and I'm like that now with my Camera. And like Lego, it keeps it's newness because there is always another bit you can bolt on - lenses, lights, flashes and tripods - and always new things you can make with it.

Last week I had the opportunity to help style a Christmas photo shoot for a magazine with a friend of mine - Kirstie Young - an inspirational photographer. It was a great opportunity to combine the visual styling side of my day job with some practical experience and learning from a great photographer. The day left me inspired to put together my own Christmas shots for Fig1.

Below is a sneak preview of some of the Christmas table ideas I've been working on. We have a collection of more traditional decorations in the shop too, but this was a chance to experiment with colour. Working so closely with the Danish company Rice for the last few years has been a shock treatment in the possibility of quirky and unusual colour combinations - I love throwing different colours into the mix and seeing what combinations take flight in my imagination. Some combinations come alive when you put together, seeming to tug at you invitingly. So why not? While I have the chance to play with colour and experiment with my camera, why not build, make and create something different?

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by Mark Fletcher

In the pictures: I've taken some of the geometric and metallic influence from our other Danish companies House Doctor and Bloomingville and added in some crazy, quirky Rice-style colour combinations - mostly thanks to their beautiful ceramics - to get a non-traditional Christmas look. For me, a neutral background is essential to any bold use of colour to keep a sense of calm and to make the colours you want sing out. 

The presents in these pictures are wrapped in House Doctor double sided wrap, again with unusual quirky geometric patterns, the double sided nature of the wrap means you can turn back an edge to reveal a stripe of the pattern on the reverse of the paper. 

Character, fun and playfulness: characters like the Owl candle holder, bird and gnome candles add a sense of fun to an otherwise sophisticated setting. I like having something in the room which makes people smile when they see it. The photo below is my favourite from last years Christmas photo shoots and it still brings a smile to my face.

Keep an eye on our Facebook fan page for more Christmas ideas as we get closer to the big day and check out our Christmas section of the site and the Rice ceramics section for most of the products used in these photos.

Competition Coming Soon....

We have a competition to win 2 Rice kids storage baskets arranged with the Green Parent Magazine - out on 7th November - grab the magazine off the shelves or keep an eye on our Facebook fan page or our blog for more details around that date.

That's a Wrap, Folks! Anyone for a Double?

Paper Angels by Jurianne Matter

They say that presentation is everything. Mind you, they say all sorts of things. Still, I'm rolling with this

Gnome Candles by Rice, Wine Glass by House Doctor

particular phrase this Christmas and getting the wrapping done early so that rather than throwing paper and tape at gifts on Christmas Eve, distracted by the smell of wine mulling, urchins singing carols and the gentle sound of snow falling (obviously, we live in a novel by Dickens), I am instead, wrapping a few presents as and when I can of an evening. Besides - it gets you in the mood.

My secret weapon in the quest for beautiful presents this year is some double sided wrap by House Doctor. I've found that folding back one or two edges over to reveal the pattern on the other side, and sometimes wrapping at a jaunty angle, is a great alternative to using ribbon. It takes a little practice and experimentation to get going, but I am really pleased with the results. People who are getting two small parcels get to have one wrapped one way and one the other.

I like small gifts at Christmas - things that friends can use and consume - and making them look special from the outside just shows that extra little thought and attention.
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House Doctor Wrap, House Doctor Star Candle Holders

Paper Stars Made from Strips by Rice, Copper Lidded Box  by House Doctor

Christmas Tree Lights by Think Gadgets

Owl Decoration and Mercury White Glass Bauble by House Doctor