Fido and Piet

Here's a couple of interesting new prototypes from last week's Copenhagen Design Week.

Fido by Danish designer, Marie Berri, is a new functional side table collection. Displayed in a rather tongue in cheek doggy style, the wooden tables can be rested on or balanced adjacent to sofas to provide a practical surface for drinks, laptops etc.

Piet is an attractive chimney-free indoor fireplace by Fredrik Hyltén-Cavallius, an industrial design student at Lund University. The white ceramic outer shell is formed in an elliptic egg shape in an homage to Danish architect Piet Hein and lined with brass tiles.

As ethanol rather than wood is burned no smoke is produced making it suitable for indoor use...

BRIO joins Hello Kitty club

BRIO has joined the Hello Kitty fanclub with its latest collection of wooden toys that will be launched later this year. Licensed branding marks something of a diversion for a Swedish company previously noted for its original approach to the toy market.



Three of its iconic designs, the toddler wobbler, sorting box and wooden stove, have been given the pink and white treatment along with the release of a retro looking pram.

After a couple of years of financial turbulence it's easy to recognise BRIO's business logic. Although the products look good and are a great learning tools I'm still not totally convinced... (JH)

funky and more functions from Walk on Water

Swedish accessories brand Walk On Water has retained the funky and added a bit more function with its latest bag collection. The new releases include a versatile pink design that doubles as both a laptop bag and a handbag and is aptly named Girlie Bag. While the two-tone striped holdall winks to the Seventies, there is also a new Stockholm Collection with extra protection for the more conservative among us.