John Lewis & Partners
|
Sponsored Content
Spot the TV! When Art Meets Tech
This blink-and-you’ll-miss it TV looks like artwork when you’re not watching it
Sponsored Content
We’re used to optical illusions at home. From trompe l’oeil murals and faux finishes to blink-and-you’ll-miss-it storage, we’ve mastered the art of creating smoke and mirrors for the sake of merging design thoughtfully with our lifestyles. However, when it comes to such a prominent lifestyle feature as the television, how do you incorporate it into your design without it dominating your space? We’ve seen designers try to hide the TV, and retailers try to shrink it – yet with the biggest growth in sales going to screens as large as 65 inches, according to renowned retailer John Lewis, this isn’t going to work. What do you do? You blend it.
Meet Samsung’s new design, The Frame, in collaboration with industrial designer, Yves Behar. Designed to blend in seamlessly with your home’s decor like a work of art, it’s the hidden TV you’ll want to show off.
Meet Samsung’s new design, The Frame, in collaboration with industrial designer, Yves Behar. Designed to blend in seamlessly with your home’s decor like a work of art, it’s the hidden TV you’ll want to show off.
Blink and You’ll Miss It
In this new design, the traditional black screen has been eliminated and replaced with a screen designed to look like artwork. When you’re not watching TV, you can choose to display family photos, or hundreds of works of art, in ‘Art Mode’. Here’s the extra clever bit, hidden brightness sensors then throw light around the room to ensure that the visual experience is natural and authentic, it doesn’t look like a computer screen compared to other art that surrounds it. This work of art is designed to add subtle ambience, changing with its surrounding environment – all packed into an extra minimal frame.
There’s a reason why tech companies are partnering up with designers – from fashion to industrial. According to John Kempner, Vision Buyer for John Lewis, as we buy bigger TVs, the design factor becomes increasingly important: “TV manufacturers now put as much effort into making TVs look stylish, even when they’re turned off, as they do into ensuring their technology enables us to view the best possible picture,” he says.
In this new design, the traditional black screen has been eliminated and replaced with a screen designed to look like artwork. When you’re not watching TV, you can choose to display family photos, or hundreds of works of art, in ‘Art Mode’. Here’s the extra clever bit, hidden brightness sensors then throw light around the room to ensure that the visual experience is natural and authentic, it doesn’t look like a computer screen compared to other art that surrounds it. This work of art is designed to add subtle ambience, changing with its surrounding environment – all packed into an extra minimal frame.
There’s a reason why tech companies are partnering up with designers – from fashion to industrial. According to John Kempner, Vision Buyer for John Lewis, as we buy bigger TVs, the design factor becomes increasingly important: “TV manufacturers now put as much effort into making TVs look stylish, even when they’re turned off, as they do into ensuring their technology enables us to view the best possible picture,” he says.
Partnering up with Samsung, world-renowned designer Yves Behar – who has a reputation for reimagining commercial products – aimed to rethink the whole TV-watching experience. It wasn’t about making a TV disappear, it was about blending form and function in a brand new way – a technological object becomes a decorative element.
Work of Art
TV design has come a long way to allow a work of art to be presented in such a natural way. “This is particularly evident in the removal of the traditional black plastic bezel designs that were evident on TV sets only a few years ago,” says Kempner. “Now virtually all new TVs have minimal or no visible plastic bezels.” Behar consulted framing experts to decide on a range of easily exchangeable wood frames in different colours and finishes, so you can choose an option to suit your style – from rustic oak to industrial black.
36 artists were consulted for the project, creating a fun and varied curation of abstracts, landscapes, portraits and more that you can buy in Samsung’s online ‘Art Store’. When it comes to incorporating your chosen print, try making art the inspiration point for a whole room’s colour palette and material choices. Doesn’t this serene hallway console vignette look like it was informed by cool waters shown in the artwork and the timber tones of the frames?
TV design has come a long way to allow a work of art to be presented in such a natural way. “This is particularly evident in the removal of the traditional black plastic bezel designs that were evident on TV sets only a few years ago,” says Kempner. “Now virtually all new TVs have minimal or no visible plastic bezels.” Behar consulted framing experts to decide on a range of easily exchangeable wood frames in different colours and finishes, so you can choose an option to suit your style – from rustic oak to industrial black.
36 artists were consulted for the project, creating a fun and varied curation of abstracts, landscapes, portraits and more that you can buy in Samsung’s online ‘Art Store’. When it comes to incorporating your chosen print, try making art the inspiration point for a whole room’s colour palette and material choices. Doesn’t this serene hallway console vignette look like it was informed by cool waters shown in the artwork and the timber tones of the frames?
Decorating With a TV
The idea that a TV can form a beautiful design element in the home is a concept to be celebrated. For Kempner, there’s a reason why buyers want to invest in large TVs (in fact, John Lewis is offering the 65 inch version of The Frame exclusively to the UK): “Huge enhancements to overall picture resolution have meant that we can view content on much larger screens and still enjoy true-to-life images without any blemishes or ‘pixelisation’ to the picture,” he says.
Designing with this TV is the fun bit. Like any picture frame, it can be mounted with other pieces of art around it in a salon style; you could lean it on the ground – bohemian style – stand it on its own on a console, or mount it onto an easel-style stand. “It even looks stunning above a fireplace…which has, until now, been an interior design faux pas to put a TV above a fireplace,” says Behar.
Tell us
Do you hide your TV or show it off?
For more information on The Frame, visit John Lewis. Plus, listen to Yves Béhar talk more about the design process, here.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team
The idea that a TV can form a beautiful design element in the home is a concept to be celebrated. For Kempner, there’s a reason why buyers want to invest in large TVs (in fact, John Lewis is offering the 65 inch version of The Frame exclusively to the UK): “Huge enhancements to overall picture resolution have meant that we can view content on much larger screens and still enjoy true-to-life images without any blemishes or ‘pixelisation’ to the picture,” he says.
Designing with this TV is the fun bit. Like any picture frame, it can be mounted with other pieces of art around it in a salon style; you could lean it on the ground – bohemian style – stand it on its own on a console, or mount it onto an easel-style stand. “It even looks stunning above a fireplace…which has, until now, been an interior design faux pas to put a TV above a fireplace,” says Behar.
Tell us
Do you hide your TV or show it off?
For more information on The Frame, visit John Lewis. Plus, listen to Yves Béhar talk more about the design process, here.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team
John Lewis & Partners first opened in Oxford Street London in 1864, and we now have 46 shops nationwide plus our... Read More
Review by Hayley Young:
* John Lewis Fitted Kitchens ask top end prices but they sub-contract the work to unqualified builders (a very quick google search revealed that the 'vetted and checked' fitter was actually a bankrupt...More
Review by Opun:
We find great inspiration for our customers from our colleagues at John Lewis. Many of our customers fitted out their new bathroom, loft, extension or kitchen with John Lewis furniture. We are always ...More
Review by Bluewave Electrical:
We used John Lewis to source a TV for a clients home .
John Lewis were fantastic and could be more helpful .More Stories from This Pro
Alfresco Dining Tips for Small Outdoor Spaces
Don't let your pint-sized outdoor area get in the way of a fantastic summer get together
Full Story
Where are the wires??
I presume you will need to keep the TV on STANDBY or ON the entire time however. Not great for the environment or our energy bills. Or am I wrong?
Brilliant! We've had Samsung TVs for several years now, and I dislike it being the focal point of a room - yet I don't want to re-arrange the furniture on those occasions that people are here to watch something. What a great solution this is - some good thought went into this.