A + ___

Production!

I was able to cut, drill, form and seal all the spring steel before losing access to the shop!

Craighton graciously hosted our last class in the new digs of Manual and Craighton Berman Studio.

It would be criminal to have posted a year’s worth of speakers and dance moves and not include the hustle. #nobrainer But which hustle?? Van McCoy or Rick Ross? I have thought about this for quite some time and a mashup of both best suits my final thoughts.

Van McCoy’s chart-topping hit, “The Hustle” in 1975 is lighthearted, easy going, and dare I say, groovy. I have enjoyed this class for the same reasons. It served as welcomed creative break of making and hearing from various makers compared to a written thesis. Don’t get it twisted, though. I learned so many valuable insights into the importance of self-branding and was exposed to a wide range of how businesses are ran, but the delivery of information was easy to digest and most importantly, relevant. 

Rick Ross is a boss. He said so himself. While I don’t condone every lyric in that song (that would be most), I am all for the beat and the very general message of work ethic. The Van McCoy half of the class was very much in line with the weekly guest speakers. The Rick Ross half of the class definitely applied to the design and fabrication of our products and the Kickstarter journey. Like its bass, Kickstarter and prototyping had its highs and lows, but we all found a way to persevere. 

Though my professional goals do not directly lie in product design, I have been inspired to continue to create on a very small and personal scale. In the first class we did had an assignment to sketch our notes in lieu of writing. This is something I plan to continue to exercise! 

To conclude our guest speaker series, we spoke with Kip Kotzen, founder of neo-utility. Neo-utility is like a fairy godmother for all designers. They serve as a distributer, retailer, wholesaler and brand builder specifically for designers looking to expand internationally.

What I found most interesting about Kip was the haphazard way he came into an industry he is now so successful in. As a former book publishing agent, Kip had a love for midcentury modern furniture, particularly Eames furniture. This interest landed him a job with Vitra that later led to Areaware. 

As we will all be graduating in the next few days, it’s a reflective time filled with anxiety and excitement on entering or returning to “the real world.” Kip had two pieces of advice that really resonates because they are applicable beyond our careers. “Everything starts with a conversation.” “People have to be willing to connect on all levels.”

Thinking of a dance move that, like Kip, has the ability to bring dances/people together, I selected the happy dance by Pharrell. Though not your typical signature dance since its really just a combination of swaying and bouncing both ways to the beat, the focus of the music video is on the diversity of people unified by a common emotion. Likewise, Neo-utility brings a diverse range of products unified by great design. 

Bryce Roberts is the co-founder and managing director or OATV, bringing accessible capital to more people. As in indie venture capital company, they provide the “rocket fuel” to companies at the very last second. Very...uplifting.

Before the tutorial videos in class and speaking with Bryce, I knew absolutely nothing about venture capital and after all of that, I can’t confidently say I understand it all now. I know there are a lot of calculations that go into investing, as Bryce said, there are good companies and there are good investments, the two are not alway synonymous. I think I just have a tough time knowing there are uber rich people willing to throw what I value as a lot of money with the acceptance that things most likely will not pan out.

What I did appreciate was Bryce’s acknowledgement of the following:

“Not everything has to be a company/start up. Not everything needs to be scaled. Somethings can be just projects.”

In the present, I am happy with just projects and thankful for Bryce’s crash course in v.c. knowing that such an option exists. Likewise (and I mean this with no offense), I don’t fully get the Gangnam dance, but know that it exists out in the world and many other people enjoy it. Additionally, Gangnam blew up with international success and vc’s tend to follow mega trends, perhaps not in the realm of music videos, but pop culture remains extremely influential.

Andrew Neyer was a ball of energy. He personally drove down to Chicago to talk about Stuff, his experiences and he brought treats!

You can tell Andrew is the epitome of the class motto “always be hustling,” but what I respected was the efficiency of his work ethic. Sometimes the thought of never stopping is daunting and exhausting. Andrew illustrated working isn’t a simple on and off switch, but rather a light on a dimmer. Fitting, since he has an entire lighting line.

The key is to put in work for the least amount of time. To Andrew this means using the same design processes and filters for his products and art. He even cut down the time commuting to and from work by Youtubing “how to build a shed” and converted it into a super sweet office. 

There are three staple components to Andrew’s practice: lighting, smaller products and illustrations. Similarly, there are three staple components to the hammer dance: running man, fall back and the crisscross and pose. I initially thought of this dance because it was the first one that came to mind that would match the energy level Andrew exuded. The forcefulness in each dance move is counterpart to the bold aesthetic of Stuff and it’s punchy labeling. Lastly, Andrew’s illustration career can be more tangentially associated with the extremely short lived Hammerman cartoon.

Custom designed postcards went out today! It was exciting addressing them, knowing many will go across the country.

Last month (yes I am that behind), we were graciously welcomed into Unison’s storefront here in Chicago. The shop was the epitome of their brand. Robert and Alicia design beautiful, playful textiles that are meant to live amongst other brands and styles in, you guessed it, unison.

It was interesting to hear Robert’s game plan for shows and all the options that are available. He looks for new suppliers, partnership opportunities, finished products that enhance Unison’s aesthetic and takes note of the emerging trends.

Unison is also the only brand we have heard from that distributes a physical catalog. Before branching out into hard goods, the catalog was a way for Unison to communicate the ease in which their products can be integrated with existing craft. Most people are visual learners and need the assistance of beautiful photographs of a product in use to start to envision it in their own space. 

Both Robert and Alicia started their careers with the super fabulous Marimekko. In the Finnish spirit, I am pairing Unison with the Humppa. Humppa is a type of music, but it also refers to a style of dance and can mean social dancing. It’s a lot like how the waltz or mambo are both types of music and a category of dance with different variations...at least that’s my reductive understanding. It is comparable to the foxtrot and has been likened to the samba, but there is much more improvisation.

Similar to Unison’s bold and whimsical patterns, the humppa is equally playful and characterized by happy, lighthearted vibe. It is appropriately a partner dance, where the couple bounces around the dance floor, much like how Unison has bounded around different categories like from bedding to dinning to bath textiles. 

I am convinced Robert and Alicia have been to a humppa or two during their time with Marimekko and hope that is something they have carried into Unison.

P.S. A creeper picture of a (coffee) maker with its (human) maker. Couldn’t resist.

It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you without a dope beat to step to...

My apologies!

Since the campaign ended, I have fleshed out my budget and expenses in addition to my production schedule (below). 

My initial goal was to complete fulfillment by July in order to give myself time to work on my thesis and graduate (denoted by that grey column --a clear separation between grad school and the real world). I have restructured my plan to now have more done before May 7th. The main priority is fabricating all of the spring steel pieces while I still have access to the shop. The rest I can fortunately complete wherever.

I also tested out the aluminum with the interior frame. It didn’t come out with as clean of a bend as I had hoped, so I will be returning to my original plan with an added piece of basswood. There was a way to incorporate the aluminum, but it would involve way more labor and time. 

I still have a nice ledge for the front postcard to fall into, and I won’t have to deal with joining two different materials now. 

My thank you postcards will go out this coming month! I have narrowed down a concept for the design and will create a post with the process and final design.

A couple of weeks ago we had the privilege to (virtually) tour Joey Roth’s new studio/storefront and glean valuable information about his practice. Unlike our past guests, Joey began his independent career two months after graduating with a design degree. He noted the intensity of devoting all his time and energy into a single product was enough to keep him focused in his initial period. I noticed there were several times the conversation that circled back to his passion as a driving force to get projects done.

What I found inspiring was Joey’s drive to teach himself the intricacies and mechanics of speaker technology. This was great timing for me to hear as I thrust myself into the world of coding and the Internet of Things for my thesis project. While I am all for directed education, I do recognize there are connections that wouldn’t have otherwise been made if not for self directed learning. Joey, for instance, invented a wood antenna screw based off of his own needs!

Another aspect of Joey’s practice that I admire is the range of products he designs --from the Sorapot to the ceramic speakers to the self watering planters to the design posters (personal fave) -- all show control in the variety of function and materiality. Since these products are so diverse, Joey’s wife Jana has been instrumental in finding outside products to build a more comprehensive aesthetic to the brand. 

Though we didn’t have the pleasure to speak with Jana personally, I chose a partner dance because Joey repeatedly expressed Jana’s essential role in the firm in addition to their desire to remain small in personnel. The Viennese Waltz is a dance that requires a partner, however as with most partner dances, there is a lead. I think this nicely illustrates their working relationship with Joey taking the lead in the design direction, much like the lead dancer would inform the line of dance. The Viennese Waltz is characterized by constant turning and intermittent moments that include change steps, Contra Checks (like a dramatic half dip), Fleckerls, and whisks. The use of the entire dance floor is what initially made me think of paring the two as it reminded me of Joey Roth’s assorted product line. Despite the movement all over the floor, it’s not erratic, rather it’s done gracefully and held together by a continuous line. Similarly, Joey’s various products are held together by and aesthetic line that is reinforced with partnership brands much like the intermittent moments in the waltz serve as reinforcement. 

This is a little closer to a true Viennese Waltz. Here is a good ol’ DWTS version with a lot of creative liberty.

Up until this point in the class, all of our guest speakers have utilized Kickstarter: whether it was to garner a community through the launch of a new company (Yield, Misen, Gramovox), test new products and iterations with an existing and expanding Kickstarter following (Studio Neat, Super Mechanical, Max Temkin), expanding an audience on an existing product (CW&T, Crucial Detail, Tash Wong), working for Kickstarter (Stephanie Pereira) or one of the founders (Charles Adler) -Kickstarter was at the center of the discussion. 

And then we heard from Bradley Price of Autodromo. Bradley has never used Kickstarter and from the sound of it, won’t ever. 

It was an invigorating conversation that reminded us all you can be successful, independent professional designer without using a crowdfunding platform. His trajectory wasn’t novel --industrial design degree, worked for a corporate firm for ten years, the last two of those years in which he moonlit for his personal project, --but nonetheless it was good to hear an alternative perspective to the basis of our class. The traditional path is still viable and valuable and Bradley Price is living proof.

One thing was very apparent in the way Bradley runs and plans to run Autodromo. He values his autonomy. Rather than heed to the demands of a corporate client or the thousand or however many backers from Kickstarter, Bradley is in complete control of his designs and operations. He encouraged us to recognize the inherent skill sets we bring with our formal design training and bring in consultants to supplement our brands for those the skills we don’t have. 

The way Bradley Price operates Autodromo can be described by the Single Ladies dance made ridiculously famous by Queen B. Unlikely pairing, perhaps. Of course there are a few differences, but their similarities are greater than you may think. Besides Bradley’s resolve to remain independent and the obvious connection to the message of independence in Single Ladies, the designs of Autodromo products and the choreography of the Single Ladies music video both heavily draw inspiration from the 1950s-1980s --Bradley through vintage car design (Stradale 1950s early 1960s, Veloche 1960s, Prototipo 1970s, Group B 1980s) and Beyonce through Bob Fosse’s choreography of “Mexican Breakfast” (1969) and high-cut leotards from All That Jazz (1979) and A Chorus Line (broadway 1975, movie 1985).

Additionally, Bradley stressed the emotional connection he hopes to foster between an Autodromo watch and it’s owner, a relationship that becomes unique between the two. Similarly, part of the popularity of Single Ladies is the emotional connection you can’t help but feel a little empowered when it hits the air waves. And while the song itself is super catchy, when you hear it, you immediately picture the dance. That emotion is tied to the visual representation much like the visual watches are emotional cues to its owners. 

Probably the most discernible similarity is in the craft. Watches by nature are mechanical and Bradley is meticulous in it’s design. For any one that has tried or even witnessed someone imitate the Single Ladies dance, knows that it is a very exacting routine. Both watch and dance achieve such a high level of refinement because of the acuity of many pieces and movements that make it a spectacular whole.

I must admit I was stumped when trying to pair Victor Saad, founder of the Experience Institute, with a dance move and it’s held me up from posting about the guest speakers that followed. When it comes to the Experience Institute, I find myself conflicted. Here’s why...

One great piece of advice that Victor had was that we need to learn how to tell our story multiple ways depending on whom we are addressing and acknowledge that by changing the way the narrative is crafted, the meaning of our story may change as well. It was clear Victor is really good at telling a story. He’s enthusiastic, finds relatable moments and most of all, passionate about the Experience Institute. And why wouldn’t he be? After all, the Ei is based on his own experience. 

Fittingly for our class, Victor is also all about the hustle. Hustle, positivity, self-awareness and socially conscious people are what Ei is looking for in its students. These sound like people I want to be friends both professionally and personally. 

Looking around the room, our class seemed equally sold. 

My unease about the Experience Institute stems from two major pillars of Ei: lack of theory and being a for-profit academic organization. I carry the bias of accepting a lot of student debt and as I have to define who I am through my research when looking for jobs, I can’t help but think about how grateful I am for the program I’m in. Much like Victor, I want to create social change, but for me it’s using museums as the vehicle. My entire first year was based on understanding the theories and historical practices of museums and similar institutions. These fueled amazing, thought-provoking discussions on current and future practices. History and theory isn’t for everyone. I get it. But if Ei is promoting design, business and social change, it seems somewhat negligent to not provide historical context for the social change that needs to be created. I think this is also why I appreciated Bradley Price’s talk the following week. He acknowledged his dual degree in art history and industrial design has better informed his work. 

Secondly, the Experience Institute is a social enterprise, simply put by Victor as a for-profit, for-purpose model. I have a super basic understanding of social enterprises and I am mostly for them. It’s mixing social enterprise with education that makes it muddy for me. I know it comes down to me being naive to the nuances of funding the two types of education. At the moment, I don’t buy into $12,000 a year.

I do appreciate at most, that the Experience Institute is providing an alternative to traditional academia and I believe that Victor has the best of intentions. I also like the idea behind providing an individual scale of the project through the Leap Kit. With all these mixed emotions, I recently stumbled upon the Nitty Gritty. It’s a mostly forgotten song from the 1960s with no official music video that I could find and hence, no “official dance.” There is however, this gem of a clip from the Judy Garland show in 1964 where a few people performed to the song by Shirley Ellis. Unlike all other posts, this dance isn’t about Victor as a creative. Rather I think it captures the awkward clunkiness of how I feel about the Experience Institute. It’s fun, I’d go along with it, and there is a slight timidness and uncertainty in it all.

WEEK 3:

Sometimes I have a feeling that being funded is more stressful than not being funded yet. There is a mounting expectation to deliver satisfaction through perfection of real products living with real people --completely obvious, but nerve-wrecking nonetheless. Thankfully there is a little cushion in my funding that allowed me to do a little more R&D on my interior frame. 

I tried laser cutting at the Harold Washington Library Maker Lab (shoutout to John for his help and CPL in general) with a different type of plywood. It was a fail. You can see how smoky it got from the adhesive between the layers of plywood and it didn’t even cut through!

So went back to ordering cuts from Ponoko and crossed my fingers that it they would get to my job and ship out quickly. Finger crossing success! I also ordered different thicknesses of sheet metal from good ol’ McMaster Carr. 

WEEK 4:

Prototype Christmas. McMaster Carr and Ponoko literally deliver.

I’m experimenting with the length used to wrap the outer bottom edge and leaning towards ending half way up the side that you would pull from. I’ll head to the shop later this week when I’m on campus to cut the metal into strips and test out the matte black spray paint on them.

1/32″ thickness

1/16″ thickness

1/20″ thickness

Once I get into the shop and figure out if this will work mechanically and aesthetically, I should be able to sleep better. 

Until then, holding my breath during the final countdown...

The week we visited Gramovox was in short, refreshing. Their office was a bit minimalist, but it had all of the essentials: comfy seating, Noguchi coffee table (extra points), dope vertical turntable and an awesome team. Co-founder Pavan Bapu filled the rest of the space (and my sketchbook) with practical quotes from first hand experience. 

“There is nothing more rewarding than creating something that never existed --and people want it.”

We got into a little of the nitty gritty technicalities that make the Gramophone and Floating Record function, all masked within clean hardwood and wood veneer boxes that make their product statement pieces in any room.

It’s this fluidity of technicality, originality and expression that compels me to liken Gramovox to voguing. I’ve learned there are several styles of voguing, but for the sake of comparison I will use Madonna’s music video because she helped mainstream voguing and she’s The Queen, duh. Gramovox’s products are clean and precise, mirroring the clean and precise moves that make up voguing. Precision is key for both sound and dance. Moreover, the creative expression that marry acoustics and aesthetics is the signature statement for Gramovox and voguing. You just can’t compete with Madonna or Gramovox’s floating record player.

WEEK 1:

AH-MAH-ZING. Thanks to the generous support from friends and family, I reached my goal on the second day. It is wonderful know there are people that support you and it’s all the more wonderful to know that there are people willing to monetarily invest in you. While I love my family and friends, the best feeling came from backers who I didn’t personally know. It’s a totally different gratifying feel, and an empowering one at that. 

The fabulous folks at Kickstarter also created a kick-ass page for our class ON TOP OF “loving” all of our campaigns. And talk about nailing the short descriptions of everyone’s project! It brings a wonderful cohesion to what we’re all doing. 

WEEK 2:

Thankfully the spam-ish emails and messages have calmed down, though can’t really get annoyed with them for doing their own hustle. 

I realize my ultimate goals (career wise) are different from the rest of my class. As a refresher, I’m one of two graduate students in the course and the only one from Museums and Exhibition Studies. I love the process of making and calling it my own, but it won’t be my main focus --at least not in the foreseeable future. This class has been great on how to build and brand myself as an independent designer, thinker, etc. With different goals coupled with a limited quantity, I have decided not to pursue major press outlets and instead divert my attention and energy elsewhere like filling my website with content.

Though I’ve held off on doing any media outreach and promotion of my own, I’ve been talking up my colleagues’ campaigns. I honestly believe in the value of everyone’s projects and the world should know about all of them!

Some very gracious backers included funds more than the set reward amounts. This gives me a little wiggle room and motivation to take one last look at minor changes to strengthen the interior frame. fingers crossed.

On to the second half of the campaign!!

“Treat money like gas in a car. You need to pay attention to it so you don’t get stuck on the side of the road, but you don’t want your life to be a tour of gas stations.” -not Max Temkin

We visited Some Office - home to Cards Against Humanity and a variety of other creatives endeavors to meet with Max Temkin. Though his ten secret steps remain a secret, the Tom O’Reilly quote above that he paraphrased is great advice. Max referenced O’Reilly when asked about the decision to not sell Cards Against Humanity. The ability to maintain creative authorship with his colleagues runs throughout Max’s various projects that fall under Maxistentialism including several games, board member positions, a zine and most recently, a type of logistics company.

When thinking about what dance I could pair with Max, I first thought of Pharrell. They’re both creative, entrepreneurs and ultimately want to make the world a better place. But Pharrell isn’t a dance. He has these little sway moves that come up in several music videos, but it’s basically called keeping a beat. 

I’ve been wanting to include Thriller into one of my posts on guest designers and I am happy to say today is the day. The dance sequence in the Thriller music video is really technical; it’s more than just the three steps to the right and lifting your arms up like praying mantis. Likewise Blackbox, is a logistics service that makes all the technicalities in fulfillment and shipping look easy. And similar to the various entities that form Maxistentialism, Thriller is a compilation moves that has created its own brand as a whole. Both are extremely creative and adamant on the aesthetic quality of presentation. Plus, Max came from the group Cards Against Humanity and Michael came from the group Jackson 5. Ok, last one was a longer stretch than usual.

(The full music video link in under the first mention of Thriller. The one below is cut to the dance scene. )

We couldn’t have had a better guest speaker for our first week back from winter break. Stephanie Pereira is currently the Director of Community Education at Kickstarter and former Director of Kickstarter’s Art Program.

She offered solid advice on launching a successful campaign that came down to being intentional --with your community, in communication with your backers, in outreach/promotional, and of course, your goals. 

By having very few rules, Kickstarter allows for a myriad of projects across a range of categories to launch. A huge benefit to crowd-funding is testing out the interest in a product and gaining a following. This makes me think of the Cupid Shuffle. There are basic instructional steps similar to the template laid out for every Kickstarter campaign, but within each campaign is a huge assortment of products,  personalities and communities. Creativity is what makes each campaign...and dance its own. Both are open to anyone and quickly gain a following. The Cupid Shuffle is almost as infection as Stephanie’s enthusiasm for Kickstarter.