The world according to Lava

Dutch magazine CREATIE hands over the reigns of her content to a new guest editor each month. This month, the honor went to Hans Wolbers and Anne Miltenburg of design agency Lava. In the magazine, they plead to the design world to open their eyes to the qualities of the non-western world of design. Miltenburg: “Often, people unconsciously speak about design from outside the west in a degrading way: ‘in a while they’ll be at our level’. No, they are already there: be inspired!”

2010 was a special year for Lava: a 20 year anniversary as well as winning the title ‘European Design Agency of the year’. Nevertheless, the studio is not resting on its laurels. Wolbers: “We Dutch are in a luxury position, with our history of Dutch Design. It’s something we can lean on comfortably. Abroad, when I mention I’m a designer from Holland, the Is Dutch design still so fantastic? The world surrounding us is not sitting still either. There is beautiful, qualitative work being made in Brazil, China and India. This is the work that we want to put in the spotlights.”

Putting a vision in the spotlights: that is just what the guest-editor of CREATIE is supposed to do. Wolbers and Miltenburg present work of designer/artist Pan Jian Feng (China) for Nike and the WNF, the vision on an Indian design process by Rajesh Dahiya (India), the wonderous world of Homa Delvaray (Iran), the lifesize arabic calligraphy of Nja Mahdaoui (Tunesië) and the diaspora of Brazilian design talent (o.a. Yomar Augusto who designed the Adidas World Cup South-Africa font). They worked in close co-operation with Nils Adriaansen (editor CREATIE) en Astrid Prummel (editor in chief). Apart from the magazine there will also be a live event, Creatie on location, where creatives can meet the guest editors of the past year for an afternoon of inspiring lectures and workshops on the 25th of November in Rotterdam.

CREATIE is only available for subscribers. You can preview the issue online.