Reviewed by
Mary
Designer Box is a company that loves aesthetic interior style and design. Every two months they send out a beautiful item for your home, all made by independent designers and craftspeople using natural and/or recyclable materials.
Subscriptions cost from €40 per month, and each item will have a value of at least €90. Each box also contains a design magazine, which includes information about the designer of that month’s item.
The Designer Box experience always starts for me with admiration at how well their items are packaged. They are delivered from mainland Europe, and despite their frequent fragility, everything arrives in perfect condition.
In the box is a cardboard tube, nicely branded with this month’s concept, Slow Life.
Also included is the excellent design magazine.
As always, I don’t know what’s going to be in the box, so this is the first thing I see when I remove the lid of the tube. It looks like a ceramic cup.
And there’s five more!
These are really beautiful little cups. They are made from lovely white ceramic, and the texture is smooth but not slippery. The shape is extremely pleasing and fits perfectly in the hand.
As you can see, one of them has a gilt ring around the bottom. This is entirely intentional. The magazine suggests that you can use this unique one any way you like, perhaps to denote seniority, a special guest, or even as a sugar bowl.
The designers have been inspired by the shape of water towers. There is also a distinctly Japanese aesthetic too. As well as tea or coffee I can imagine these beautiful little cups being perfect for sake.
This matching, or almost matching set manages to convey a handmade quality. They are all identical but they don’t feel as if they have just rolled off a production line.
In practical terms, they stack neatly and are a lovely size for espresso (or indeed sake!).
The elegant shape will look wonderful in any environment, whether you are sitting in a peaceful garden or round a table. While they suggest delicacy, they don’t feel fragile, partly because of the slight texture of the ceramic. This makes them a pleasure to use day-to-day, rather than feeling that they should only be for special occasions . I’m a complete coffee addict, and drinking my morning espresso from one of these little cups certainly made it feel more special.
