Designer, author and craftsman Peter Buchanan-Smith started Best Made in 2009 as a store that carried well-designed, high-caliber tools. The company has since expanded it’s variety of superlative goods to include books, letterpressed maps and camping gear. Best Made advocates for outdoor living as a means to accomplish worthwhile projects and create memorable experiences. Where is the fulfillment in staying inside all day? It’s time to get off the couch and return to our maternal roots in nature.

In all likelihood these gorgeous artifacts are being purchased by city dwelling design nerds… but I see it as a step in the right direction. In 2010 the company diversified it’s repertoire with rucksacks, hunting knives and first aid kits. It’s only a matter of time before they’ll stock everything you need to lead a successful existence in the wilderness and look damn good doing it.

Dave Colson
www.orange-element.com 

The MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) Art Market is a venue for the sale of original artwork and handcrafted pieces created by more then 250 students, faculty, staff and alumni. The event, which lasts for four days, is a perfect opportunity for holiday shoppers and helps to provide funding for need-based student scholarships. Some of the works you can look forward to seeing include illustrations, prints, posters, paintings, sculptures, photographs, mosaics, stationery, T-shirts, ceramics, jewelry, textiles, book arts, tote bags, letterpressed gift tags, screen printed wrapping paper and much, much more.

Vendors will be accepting: Visa, MasterCard, cash & check.

Admission to the market is FREE.

Make sure to stop by the Graphic Design tables at their new location on the 2nd Floor to see works by current & previous Orange Element interns, Nicolette (me) & Jasmine.

Hope to see you there!!

Nicolette

Andy
www.orange-element.com

We recently discovered a really cool website called Engrave Your Book. Engrave Your Book curates an artist series of engraved leather covers for Moleskine® notebooks, and you can even get custom covers engraved for yourself or your company! There are some really cool designs available for purchase, including the one above by Option-G. Take a look at some of the cool images below:

Andy
www.orange-element.com

1. Design things to be useful :: simple enough… consider finding the need before finding a solution. Our designs need to first and foremost address functionality.

2. Dematerialization :: Design something smart. He used the example of the iphone; we no longer need to carry a watch, gps, pda, mp3 player, camera, phone, etc. It can all be contained in one small product, increasing usability and convenience for the user and decreasing the number of products that will eventually end up in our landfills.

3. Substitution :: Consider your materials. Does that chair need to be built from fresh chopped wood from the northern Boreal forest or is there an opportunity to utilize recycled or sustainable materials? For print designers there are no excuse not to consider recycled, fsc or sfi certified paper options anymore. Recycled stock costs and quality have improved dramatically over the past few years to make them equally competitive beside a conventional stock.

4. Transmaterialization :: Turn products into services, the hybid taxis being a perfect example for this strategy.

5. Localization :: Reduce transportation, support your local providers and keep your money local. See Andrea’s May local challenge below to get started on this strategy today!

6. Informationalization :: Research is essential to design. A building designed to works in downtown Baltimore may not be appropriate on the flood plains of Africa. Consider the variables that effect design and open you thoughts to the input of outside opinion and research.

7. Design for “intended” reuse :: As artist, we often feel as though we can turn any hunk of trash into a worthy piece of artwork but the average consumer may not have the creativity or interest to go this extra step. Why not design products that are intended to be reused when their original intended use is through. Shedroff used the example of Maille Condiment Jars. When finished with the product you are left with a classy drinking glass.

8. Design for durability :: design a product to be serviceable, repairable and upgradeable. Our designs should also be something that people want to have around. I like the example of OXO. If you look at the products on their site they have their own unique distinctive look but the style is attractive, timeless, and puts the demands of function first. You will even find a section on their site for refills and replacement parts – why replace the entire product if it is only a small piece that is no longer functional.

9. Design for disassembly :: Why is it so difficult to figure out if the water bottle or lunch container you just ate from is recyclable or not? And what is the meaning of the filled in symbol verses the outlined symbol. If a product is intended to be recycled why make it such a mystery. Be intentional with your design and don’t make the user question the capabilities of a product.

10. Redesign the system itself :: Our economic models stink (in Shedroff’s words describing the GDP) We need new ways of thinking because decisions we are making on the old ways are unstable and detrimental.

For more on ways to be a sustainable designer he recommends the following books:
* Design is the Problem by Nathan Shedroff and Hunter Lovins
* Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
* Nature Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins
* Leading Change Toward Sustainability by Bob Doppelt
* The Next Sustainability Wave Bob Willard and Hunter Lovins

—EJ
www.orange-element.com

]]> http://www.orange-blog.com/2009/05/07/compostmodern-4/feed/ 0 http://www.orange-blog.com/2008/11/10/recovered-classics/ http://www.orange-blog.com/2008/11/10/recovered-classics/#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:30:40 +0000 Orange Element http://www.orange-blog.com/?p=795 With the invention of devices like Amazon’s Kindle and even the increasing popularity of audio books, publishers are struggling to keep traditional book publishing and production from going extinct.  A new publishing house, White’s Books, has a novel idea of how to keep the printed word around for a long time.

With the idea that the classics are the books that most people treasure, White’s Books has redesigned the covers of a number of classic literary works by authors such as Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte and Robert Louis Stevenson.  The hope is that the new book designs and thorough, luxurious production methods will create a newfound demand and appreciation for these works–possibly inspiring a new generation to pick them up and give them a read.  Read more about the redesign and an interview with the man responsible, HERE.

Beautiful:

I like new twists on old classics.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

It doesn’t look real, but it is. You simply swipe your library card in front of the chairs and like a little puppy they follow you around, waiting for you to want to sit. They do this using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, but it can best be explained by checking out the video:

Now THAT would be a fun product to brand and market.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

Read more here at Wired: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/bmw-builds-a-ca.html

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

And while we’re on the topic of product design, I wanted to share something I read about in my latest issue of Popular Science (I love this magazine, as well as Popular Mechanics – call me a dork, I don’t care). It was an article in their Concepts & Prototypes section about a solar-powered sailboat that a Turkish design firm had concepted called Volitan. The article discussed that while using wind power is by default sustainable, nearly every sailboat has a motor that burns gasoline. In the US alone, there are over 10,000,000 gasoline marine engines.

Designnobis has come up with a solar powered craft that uses both wind power as well as solar to propel the hull forward in the water. It’s a boat concept with stunning good looks, but that to me seems completely feasible as a production model (although the carbon fiber hull would probably make for an extremely costly venture). Take a look at the pictures below and read more about Volitan at Gizmodo HERE.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com/

As I’ve mentioned, Ande Campbell recently returned from the How conference in Boston, and in doing so she brought home a really cool poster that I had to share on this topic. It’s from a design professional named Maggie Macnab who recently wrote a book that I’m hoping to read shortly (I’ve heard it’s good) called Decoding Design.

I think it captures part of the challenge that I face everyday. Enjoy (click for full size):

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com