Last weekend (May 3-5th, 2019), the romantic historicism Grafenegg Castle in Austria was transformed into a stunning design landscape. Both Austrian and international exhibitors have presented design in all its facets, from classic to puristic design, in front of the grandiose scenes of the historic Grafenegg Castle.
Founded by Peter Syrch and Sabine Jäger, the Design Days took place for the 3rd time in a row in Lower Austria, having been established as a hotspot for all design lovers and people who have high quality esthetics standards.
More than 100 national and international top brands have presented their classics as well as novelties in the fields of interior design, lifestyle, outdoor and design.
Moduletto showed many notepads customized for businesses. One of these individualized versions caught my eye immediately: a notepad customized for wien.info and wrapped in a beautiful upholstery fabric from the very famous Backhausen company. The fabric was designed by Vincent von Dagobert Peche, a well-known art nouveau artist. This customized notepad is 100% Austrian, starting from the paper inside, the fabric cover and the production. Another beautiful Moduletto to enhance our desks!
Wienerwald Werkstätten showed a stunning furniture cube. The family owned company takes care of every process, from the careful cutting in the forest to the manual processing in the production facility, to the personal delivery and installation of the furniture. Nothing is left to chance.
Their passion for craftsmanship is also evident in their portfolio folder. The cover – out of beautiful recycling paper – was finished with a burning stamp realized by hand, in the shape of a tree trunk.
It’s so great when companies implement their message to the smallest detail.
Jewelry lovers’ heads were also turned at the event. At Nikl Juweliere – a family owned company, Christina Reinisch impressed visitors with a live production of a golden ginko leave. Surrounded by the old goldsmith’s tools, coupled with the dexterity of the goldsmith Christina and the luster of the gold, a special atmosphere has been created by Nikl jeweler.
What is so beautiful on the location is the old interior of the castle. Some exhibitors had their booths in front of beautiful old bookshelves like the label Gerald Pahr, showcasting pretty cool men shirts.
Having many styles in the portfolio, the most popular one is GP04 which is tailored along the muscles. The shirts are very puristic but still so unique with this muscle cut. The muscle shirt is so unexcitingly exciting that I would wish these shirts also existed for women.
Another Austrian institution is Wäscheflott. Since 1949, the traditional company has been producing tailor-made clothes. As the oldest specialist company in this segment, they are still producing all the products in Vienna. Many celebs from the art and culture are customers of Wäscheflott. Today, Beatrix Stekl is part of the 3rd generation running the company. From the attire to the tags, everything is of highest quality. The tags are out of 100% cotton paper – simply beautiful.
The new, cheeky-playful packaging brand Paperholic makes the hearts of all decorating fans and paper enthusiasts beat faster. Founded by Birgit Horn, Paperholic offers a potpourri of stylish paper sacks, ribbons, stickers, stamps, postcards, bows and many other unusual deco elements.
Under the motto “All’bout paper”, “Paperholic” provides a “play kit” that is as versatile as the base material paper itself.
Following the stunning smell of fresh roasted coffee beans, I ended up at Salatkaffee. The owner Bernd Salat, has a roastery in the beautiful Waldviertel region in Lower Austria. There he roasts coffee beans weekly. And all this with passion, lots of crema and love. Salatkaffee is using only 100% Arabica beans of first-class quality and they are purchasing the high quality goods from the best coffee growing regions, such as Guatemala, India, Honduras, Costa Rica and India. As a paper lover I was also impressed by the branding + coffee packaging!
An overwhelming scent of flowers reached me at Flobox. The flobox (“flower box”) stands for a modern, shipping and airworthy flower packaging. In principle, it is an elegant box made especially for this purpose, which reveals its splendid flowers when opened. Some of the boxes are out of beautiful pearlescent papers. Founded by Andreja Mayer, flobox is an elegant and stylish way to make flower presents! By the way, with Mother’s Day almost here, they would be a perfect gift.
On the same topic of alluring scents, the cosmetic brand ACHTSAM, the founder Andrea Seebacher attaches great importance to natural active ingredients from sunflower, rapeseed, chamomile, grape seed, lavender, poppy seed, stone pine and hemp, all coming from Austria. Also for the packaging, the company is using 100% recycling material. Lastly, the packaging is constructed very careful: violet glass protects the valuable active ingredients, which is then packed in a beautiful, natural looking recycling board.
©2019 Peter Baier for ACHTSAM®-Cosmetics
The visit was so worth it! The organizers have had an incredible vision to display design in an exceptional setting. The mix of exhibitors was outstanding and above all the environment – the beautiful romantic Grafenegg castle – made the Design Days an unforgettable experience!
© Design&Paper