Between Life and Death – a Vollebak film

last updated 29 September 2022

'Condition Black' is the term the military elite have given to life and death situations. In other words, it's colour code for 'you're about to die'. Adventure sportsmen-cum-designers Nick and Steve Tidball used this term as a jumping off point for their high-tech survival jacket, captured here in Palmer's spectral video.

Shot on a Red Monochrome camera with vintage Russian prime lenses, the film catches water and ice hitting the jacket's Ceraspace panels at high speed, and zooms down among the fibre of the ultra-lightweight ceramic particles, that can survive falls of up to 120kmph. That eerie sound overdubbed in the background is composed entirely from 'space recordings' made on Nasa's 2009 Voyager mission, designed to increase your tolerance of pure terror. Read more about the 'Condition Black' project.

Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.