Artist Joy van Erven and designer Finn Ahlgren met one fateful night in Tel Aviv, and from this encounter grew Godspeed. Part furniture company, part commentary on contemporary design, Godspeed lets a one-hour time limit dictate the final piece: no sketching, no planning, just scrap materials and 60 minutes of human faculty. The result? Interesting pieces that are both playful and haunting at the same time.
For more images, check out their flickr stream here.
(via dornob)
After spotting this pocket square made from neon tape over at Once Wed, I had to check out where it came from. For a recent Kate Spade event in SOHO, Rebecca Ward really outdid herself…she even had a tape bar for guests to decorate anything they fancied. To check out more photos, click here and here. My only question: What could you do with all of that tape after the event?
( via Once Wed, images via Kate Spade)
(images via Giver’s Log)
Sending mail, in my opinion, is almost better than getting it. Unexpected packages can brighten even the dimmest of days, and with the series 13 Ounces or Less from Giver’s Log, you can get inspiration for charming tidbits that fall within USPS guidelines. For even more ideas, check out their flickr group…the bouncy balls below are my favorite.
With a Pencil in My Pocket, a site based on six shared subscriptions to 500 Colored Pencils (mentioned in our December/January issue), includes a community of 150 people. Each person receives one colored pencil per month for 20 months and writes a short story on a manifestation of that particular color. Then, the stories are posted for all to see…and so far, I’ve appreciated every one of these Technicolor insights.
(images via With a Pencil in My Pocket)
Earth and water, with a little help from human hands, create some beautiful things. These homes, called cases obos, were the traditional mud dwellings of the Musgum peoples of Cameroon, and though rare, some groups still construct them. Wonder what the grooves are for? They help with rain drainage, allow people climb to the top for maintenance, and provide a canvas for customization. Check out more at Designboom here.
(via Slipcast and Designboom)
If you’re like me, you have a sprightly pair of rain boots and a blah pair of snow boots. I’ve been trying to inject some color into this dreary season by wearing the brighter (but less equipped to handle the cold) rubber wellies. Thanks to Tanna of Alaska Crafter, I can now make boot liners of my very own! Pull out an old cozy sweater and fire up the sewing machine—the sleeves become socks in this ingenious reuse. Click here for the full tutorial with pictures.
(via Recyclart)
Lately I’ve been immersed in Colum McCann’s novel, “Let the Great World Spin.” The story revolves around the lives of several different New York City residents during the summer of 1974, when Philipe Petit decided to tie a tightrope between the then uncompleted World Trade Center Towers and take a stroll.
Anyone who has seen the 2008 documentary, Man on Wire, by James Marsh, has a sense of what it must have been like to actually witness the epic event. Of course, seeing it from the comfort of a movie theater or curled up on your couch can’t come close to standing on the streets of lower Manhattan on a muggy August morning and seeing a spec step off a 1,368 foot tall building onto a thin steel cable. Still, the film does a decent job. But I’m tempted to say that McCann’s description in “Let the Great World Spin” does it one better.
On a recent flight back east from California, I dug into the chapter, “Etherwest.” Here, McCann paints the picture of some computer hackers in Silcon Valley calling pay phones in Manhattan’s financial district in hopes of getting someone to pick up and give them the play by play of Petit’s walk. During this reading I was struck by what I found so amazing about this feat. Obviously it was an incredible physical undertaking and an adventure unlike any other. More than that though, I was taken with the fact that Petit took this amazing risk for seemingly no other reason other than to see if it could be done. To see what is possible. To see what would happen.
Much like Petit’s walk atop New York, the city of Detroit sparks similar emotions in me. I visited the city a few weeks back and it never ceases to amaze me so I thought I’d share some of my photographs from this recent excursion.
Dutch artist Jimini Hignett carved this piece from discarded scraps from a burnt out house in Detroit this past summer.
Speramus Meliora Resurget Cineribus is the city’s slogan. In Latin, It means “We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise from the Ashes.” (more…)
If you happen to be in the Brooklyn area, drop by Etsy Lab’s free-for-all craft night tonight from 4-8 pm. Though each event usually has a theme, tonight it’s all about what making whatever you want to make. Finish up something that’s been waiting in the wings, or try your hand at an entirely new trade. As always, the Etsy team has a stash of supplies and tools that you can use. So get crafting!
I just want to fill up these coptic bound journals from Whale Heart with anything that comes to mind—recipes, dreams, lists, games of MASH…and the covers range in style from 1960s transfers found in Lisbon (top) to carved binder’s board (bottom), so there’s something for everyone.
(via Mustard & Sage, photos via Whale Heart)
To keep with the office supply theme from this morning, here is a piece from French artist Baptiste Debombourg made entirely of staples—35,000 of them. Inspired? Just don’t take it out on your cubicle…unless you get permission first.
Read more about the piece here.
(via Dude Craft, via Notcot)
Don’t fret, you can make these darling bloomers yourself thanks to Sarai of Sweet Sassafras! Download the free pattern here, scrounge up a yard of fabric, some elastic, and ribbons and get to sewing. In only a couple hours, you can have romantic, handmade underpinnings of your very own.
I’ve recently learned a couple of things about ergonomics, including the dirty little secret that there’s really no ergonomically correct way to use a laptop. The screen is below eye level, so you crane your neck down; when you’ve got your elbows aligned properly, the display is too far away, so you lean in and scrunch your spine. It’s a disaster! A laptop stand to elevate the screen plus an external keyboard can be a pretty good solution, and I’m looking into getting one to improve my home set-up. This industrial looking number by Danish company AIAIAI (better known for their futuristic headphones) caught my eye. At $70 USD, the A-stand isn’t cheap, but the product description notes that the design was inspired by “the use of plumbing tubes in designing anything from chairs to lamps.” So I wonder if I could DIY something slightly more appealing than my fall-back plan: a stack of books.
And here’s a good place to start reading about computer workstation ergonomics.
The date is set, so pencil it in: March 19th marks Swap-o-Rama-Rama Chicago’s repurposed textiles fashion show. re:MAKE has three different categories (K-12 student designers, college/pre-professional, and professional) highlighting DIY collections that use at least 50% reused material. Even if your garments have never graced a catwalk before, you are more then welcome to submit your designs, with a chance to support worthy beneficiaries and get a little exposure while you’re at it.
Check out this video for more details.
Threadless partnered up with Chris Cardinal to host a grand knitting competition called Threadknits. Yes, we said a knitting competition. You can win cash, artwork, and other neat-o prizes by turning your favorite Threadless design into a fiber masterpiece. Check out the rules, get signed up, choose a design, and view the gallery to see what you’re up against. They’re accepting entries now through March 1st, so get to it!
Leafcutter Designs‘ Lea Redmond (also behind the World’s Smallest Postal Service) together with Sam Bower of Green Museum hatched a plan to map the origins of various goods we purchase. Each circle sticker represents a different category—food, clothes, other stuff, reused/homemade—which gets placed in the corresponding country. The idea is to make this exercise one that becomes part of our culture, one that spreads near and far. For that reason, you can download a free printer-ready or editable Illustrator file here, make a donation to receive pre-printed maps, or take a peek at other customized designs. For more of their story, click here and help spread the word.
(via Leafcutter Designs)
Alexa Fornoff is the assistant editor of ReadyMade, and she blogs here about art and happenings. She enjoys reading—a lot—and is currently making her way through the Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions. When her nose isn't buried between pages, she likes to eat good food and drink good drinks.
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Amy Palanjian is originally from a mile-wide town in south Jersey. When she's not creating color-coded spreadsheets, watching out for excessive garnish on food shoots and keeping the ship afloat as ReadyMade's deputy editor in Des Moines, she quilts, bakes granola and blogs about people who make things at her appropriately titled blog, Things We Make. She blogs daily about food.
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Katherine Sharpe is the online editor of ReadyMade. She lives in Brooklyn, where she mostly makes food and to-do lists, but she's interested in bigger, headier creations: think Buckminster Fuller-esque architectural utopianism. She blogs daily or almost-daily about furniture, design, buildings, awesome jobs, and books.
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Andrew Wagner, ReadyMade's editor-in-chief, has long been driven by his curiosity about how people and places mutually affect one another. After founding Dodge City Journal, and helping to found Limn and Dwell, he saw American Craft through a major redesign. His interests include architecture, design, art, music, baseball, and the ineffable yogurt/granola combination. He tries his best to post on Tuesdays about architecture, design, and cities.
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