Emily Davidow » furniture

Reboot and Reset with Bruce Sterling

Emily — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 06:55:54 +0000

I love Bruce Sterling’s closing talk for Reboot “action” edition conference that took place in Copenhagen on June 26. Bruce lays out his vision for the next ten years of dark euphoria, favela-chic, gothic high tech and stuffed animal frontiers. (His talk references a photoset, studies in atemporality, (featuring examples from Wellington when he was here speaking at Webstock on What comes after Web 2.0). Here’s what really resonated:

Objects are printouts – not treasures, not things to stocpkpile.

Our posessions are frozen social relationships. Think of them as hours of time and volumes of space.

Reassess the objects in your space and time. What is most important?

What you use all the time. Get the best possible common everyday objects. Your bed! You’re spending a third of your life in the thing – you should go out and buy the best bed you can get. The sheets, the pillows, they’re pretty high up there too. And a chair.

Things that are beautiful

Is it so beautiful you’re going to show it to your friends?

Is it on display?

Things that have emotional meaning

Are you going to tell anybody else about it?

Does it have a narrative?

Or are you its slave?

Tools

Have high technical standards

Be very demanding

Don’t make do with broken stuff

And everything else? (probably 80% of your stuff)?

Virtualize it.

Store the data.

Get rid of it.

I did a big reset one year ago moving from New York to New Zealand, and was surprised by the euphoria of liberation from so much stuff I thought I loved. Below are a few tools and resources that were awesome for virtualizing, storing data and getting rid of my stuff – perhaps they may help when it’s your turn.

For virtualizing books and almost anything with a barcode then managing and visualizing the data, Delicious Library makes it easy and fun. You hold the item’s bar code up to your camera, then see all the data about it. You can even see what the item resells for on Amazon and post it for sale there in a couple of clicks. It’s amazing to see my old library visually on the screen as I once knew it physically and to often be able to access the sections I want to reference through either Google or Amazon book search even though I no longer have the book physically before me.

If you’re in NYC and don’t have time or desire for selling on Amazon, The Strand pays fairly for used books, and Housing Works accepts donations that are tax deductible and for a great cause.

For furniture, electronics, etc, I took photos and made a catalog document linked to a live Google Docs spreadsheet that had up-to-date pricing and availability. Cocktail evenings (needed to empty my liquor cabinet) helped move the goods. Most items sold to friends, friends of friends and then lovely random people through Craigslist who would likely have become dear friends had I stayed. (We have the same taste!)

Purchasers arranged their own pickup/delivery, often after getting quotes from multiple providers through CityMove.

For the bulk of the other stuff that’s not exactly marketable yet still usable, Freecycle connected the stuff with the people who want it. As a safety for moving day, I selected a couple of large furniture items to donate to Housing Works in advance and scheduled a free pickup through them so any last items that didn’t sell could be donated and removed at the same time.

Furniture Typeface

Emily — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:06:53 +0000

Furniture Typeface by Cody Haltom, created for High Fashion Home in Houston.

links for 2008-02-22: Design to Inspire

Emily — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:32:38 +0000

Design and the Elastic Mind – New York Times Review

“Design and the Elastic Mind,” an exhilarating new show opening on Sunday at the Museum of Modern Art, makes the case that through the mechanism of design, scientific advances of the last decade have at least opened the way to unexpected visual pleasures. Features “Honeycomb Vase” made by 40,000 bees and Tomás Gabzdil Libertini through a process of “slow prototyping,” Front Design’s Sketch furniture, and Joris Laarman’s bone furniture. More images from the show.

(tags: moma art patterns scale nano informationvisualization technology)
Gotham » A Font We Can Believe In

Obama’s main “change” banner font is Gotham, designed by Hoefler & Frere-Jones for GQ to be something that would look fresh, yet established, to have a credible voice to it. It also needed to look very masculine and “of-the-moment.” Mission accomplished.

(tags: typography politics obama gotham fonts typeface)
Endemic – New Zealand Design Store

Online outpost of Devonport, Auckland, NZ based Endemic, devoted to artist and designer made fashion, publications, art toys and a wide range of playful imaginings. (Looks like physical store opened right after I visited this wonderful area — will have to go back.)

(tags: playful design creative shopping newzealand endemic artbooks)

creativity, design, technology, typography

NY Design Week Highlights: Haute Green & ICFF

Emily — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:23:34 +0000

HauteGreen

HauteGreen’s 2nd exhibition of sustainable design that’s both aesthetically pleasing and friendly to the environment offered many delights. I’m not sure how I’ve lived so long without The Green Light, by xDesign (Natlie Jeremijenko, Amelia Anon, Will Kavesh), a botanical lamp, terrarium, and airfilter all-in-one. I also loved My Secret Garden, a rug made from discarded blanket scraps by Studio Jo Meesters, and Our Flesh and Blood, a chest of drawers made from reclaimed intricately carved furniture, an FSC-certified plywood base and drawer fronts screened with images by Art With Function. More photos from Haute Green.

ICFF

The Corona solar light, designed by Shane Kohatu and Emi Fujita, is a solar powered outdoor LED lighting system that can be staked to the ground, attached to a wall or placed on a tabletop. It uses no glues or fasteners, and is easy to diassemble for recycling.
AfterGlow, a glow-in-the-dark recycled plastic adirondack chair made from 100% post-consumer recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE), a number two recyclable plastic (i.e., milk jugs), developed as a collaboration between Loll Designs and Douglas Homer.
May all your days unfold as delightfully as Molo design‘s paper and textile seating and textile softwall (used as a bar setup at ICFF). Their felt rocks rock, naturally.
Amaridian offers modern, sexy, tribal furniture and accessories from South African designers, including rocking bench and bug screen.
MIO’s cork ModuTiles and cardboard Nomad architectural system. Also their softbowls, featured also at Haute Green. Ok, we love everything they make, especially the recycled cardboard PaperForms acoustic weave tiles/3d wallpaper. Appreciate how their catalog lists the materials, design and origin positive aspects of each item (renewable, recyclable, compostable, recycled, closed-loop manufacturing).
Fernando & Humberto Campana’s TransNeomatic container made of re-used scooter tire and natural wicker for Artecnica’s Design With Conscience project that pairs designers with artisans around the world. Transneomatic bowls are produced in Vietnam using scooter tires rescued from landfills.
PIE’s undulating furniture handcrafted from natural materials such as water hyacinth, liana, bamboo and rattan. Furniture collection is available at Vivavi. Founders Bannavis and Michelle Sribyatta founded PIE (Project Import Export) in Spring 2005, the same season they welcomed the birth of their son, π (~3.14).
Amenity Home’s adorable non-gender-specific Home Nursery collection made from 200 thread count organic cotton with non-toxic dyes with a foresty theme.
YiAhn’s Bassinet that converts to a toy bin and bookshelf, then a chair and table as your child grows.
Valentin Vodev’s roller buggy stroller/scooter goes straight to my skating heart.
I’ve loved Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec’s Cloud Shelving System since it was introduced. In fact, the only reason my walls aren’t lined with them is that they’re made from polystyrene, and I can visualize them offgassing just like the vaporous body they resemble. NeotericHome offers an eco-friendly version made from bamboo. Alas, the main reason my walls won’t be lined with these is that they’re 5.7 times the price of the original. (Disclosure: I don’t actually remember seeing this at the show, but it’s on their postcard.)
Design Boom’s DesignMart featured fun cash-and-carry accessories: “Chicken in space” theme embroidered laptop bags, clutch purses and accessories by Mandarin Orange. After washing drip-dry-dishes from giffin’termeer, each piece can stand upright, so the water runs off with no need to towel dry. Mixko’s “English Summer Pendant” with a cottony cloud and glass rain drops.

More photos from ICFF

links for 2006-11-27

Emily — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:17:06 +0000

Xerox Seeks Erasable Form of Paper for Copiers – New York Times

Brinda Dalal, Xerox “Garbologist,” discovered a notable change in the role of paper in modern offices, where it’s increasingly used as a medium of display rather than storage. Documents are stored on central servers and personal computers and printed only as needed; for meetings, editing or reviewing information. The pieces of paper spewed from copiers frequently end up back in the recycling bin on the same day they are printed, she noted.

(tags: paper environment recycling reusable erasable innovation invention technology)
HSIM: How Stuff Is Made

HowStuffisMade is an encyclopedia of and manufacturing processes and labor conditions involved in the production of contemporary products. HowStuffisMade (HSIM) reconsiders engineering / design education as fundamentally connected to the social and political constraints, organizational innovations and global context that inform manufacturing decisions.

(tags: design howto manufacturing wiki research useful interesting lifecycle ecosystem interconnected sustainability)
Digital Well Being

London and online shop showcases the sometimes weird and wonderful relation between technology and nature through a selection of products, software and art. Pictured: Marcel Wanders‘ brilliant and delightful home cinema series.

(tags: design technology london products shop shopping Interaction art)
Life Goggles online video sharing quality comparison

Comparing interface and video on youtube, vimeo, google, revver, blip.tv, soapbox and metacafe side by side. (I like Blip!) with link to quick and easy how-to-post-videos for newbies.

(tags: video comparison YouTube Google service)

out of thin air – sketch furniture by front

Emily — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 02:56:14 +0000

Is it possible to let the first sketch become the object, to design directly in space?

Watch some of the fabulous members of Front make this series of sketch furniture by combining two highly developed techniques. Invisible pen strokes in the air recorded with motion capture become digital 3D-files that are then materialised into real pieces of furniture through rapid prototyping.

Love also their 3-D flower wallpaper; the rat wallpaper, not so much.
(Thanks Very Short List!)

links for 2006-06-13

Emily — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 22:17:05 +0000

Turning Rivers Into Playgrounds – New York Times

Fun along the NYC waterfront, including kayaking! (Picture at right is from my own kayaking on the Hudson adventures.)

(tags: nyc kayak hudsonriver hudsonriverpark pier63)
New American Dream – Conscious Consumer

information to make informed choices in the marketplace to protect the environment, enhance quality of life and promote social responsibility.

(tags: environment consumerism guide socialjustice qualityoflife shopping)
Kate’s Paperie launches home store in SoHo

a favorite paper source had been playing with rugs and now apparently into wallpaper, rugs, throws, sheets, linens, containers, lamps

(tags: home design color shopping nyc soho katespaperie retail)
The Global Microbrand

Presentation at Reboot8 by Hugh Macleod & Rick Segal: “A global microbrand is simply a business, which would be small or unsustainable in a local community or even nationwide, but can be big business when it can reach customers world wide through the internet and serve them efficiently. High-end products which cost much more than their transport seem to be natural candidates for this kind of business.”

(tags: brands branding business microbrands global marketing web2.0)