Dublin designers Notion have established their own design brand called NTN with an inaugural collection featuring wooden sunglasses, an aluminium watch and a table with a hammock underneath (+ slideshow).
Collection 01 is the first range of furniture, lighting and fashion pieces by NTN, a brand set up by Irish studio Notion.
"This has been an in-house project from the beginning really," Notion director Ian Walton told Dezeen. "We established Notion four years ago and having our own products was always something we hoped to achieve.
Included in the range is the white wooden Hammock Table, which has a fabric shelf for storing items stretched between its four legs using rope.
A matching Windsor chair has been adapted so the row of vertical wooden poles that form its back are covered with a sheath, creating the Dowel Chair.
The Waterford Lamp has a bottle-shaped glass shade joined to a grey braided cable by a three-armed aluminium section. It also features a spiral-filament bulb.
Wearable pieces in the collection include glasses with curved plywood frames connected by aluminium corners, which conceal brass hinges.
These G1 Glasses are available in teak and natural aluminium with brown-tinted lenses, or black-stained ash and black anodised aluminium with black-tinted lenses.
The case of the W1 Watch is CNC-machined from solid aluminium, with minute markers etched onto the crystal above the face. The timepiece features a vegetable-tanned leather strap and the case is available in natural aluminium or black.
Walton and fellow designer Marcel Twohig formed Notion in 2009, and they hope to source production of their first NTN collection themselves.
"As far as production is concerned our primary aim is to take it to market ourselves," said Walton. "We believe in the ability of designers to create autonomous brands and if the collection is well received then we will do everything we can to continue down this route."
We recently interviewed young designer Hanna Emelie Ernsting, who is producing her latest furniture collection herself following a "really tough" experience with a major brand.
Here's the information that Walton sent to us:
In 2009 Marcel Twohig and I founded an industrial design studio in Dublin called notion. After four years notion is, and continues to be a living breathing professional design practice. Earlier this year we took a hiatus from client work to focus on our own sketches and ideas, something that we have wanted to do since forming the studio. The result is a new product brand NTN and our first collection.
NTN designs and produces collections of products. These products are connected by design rather than category, a model much more akin to fashion than industrial design. It is our goal to continue the creation and curation of these product collections biannually, each of which will clearly come from the same design thinking, but which will each contain varying product categories.
Collection 01 contains five products; the Dowel Chair, Hammock Table, Waterford Lamp, G1 Glasses and W1 Watch.
Hammock Table
The Hammock Table is a low coffee table defined by a suspended fabric shelf. The shelf is kept in tension by rope connecting to aluminium leg mounts. The solid table top is of bleached Irish sycamore which is blended into the round legs.
W1 Watch
The front and back body parts of the W1 watch are CNC machined from solid aluminium. The integrated aluminium dial is created in the same process. The floating increments are etched directly onto the crystal. The watch is finished with a vegetable tanned leather strap. Available in both natural and black anodised aluminium.
Dowel Chair
The Dowel Chair is a modern take on the classic Windsor chair. Constructed from solid bleached irish sycamore the seat back consists of sixteen spindles with a removable fabric cover. On the underside the legs are blended into the seat.
G1 Glasses
The character of the G1 Glasses comes as much from the materials as the shape. Formed plywood frames and temples are connected by a CNC machined aluminium armature. This armature also incorporates the custom brass hinge. Available in teak and natural aluminium with brown lens or black stained ash and black anodised aluminium with black lens.
Waterford Lamp
This pendant lamp consists of a thick, clear glass shade hand blown in Waterford, Ireland. A machined aluminium hanger suspends the shade from the grey braided cable. The lamp is finished with a hand stitched filament bulb.