wooden radio

item: wr03-cube/4b
designer: singgih s. kartono, indonesia
materials: pine, mahogany and fabric
courtesy of: habitus living magazine
photos via: http://www.magno-design.com/
comments: these radios are beautiful in design, materials and craft. they are made in the designer's village which helps provide work to people in an area that is struggling. it's an admirable story of a designer who chooses to use his design skills to help the community he is from rather than leaving for more profitable work. good design + good deeds; something i am seeing more and more of these days. makes me happy.

flotsum and jetsam table

item: flotsum and jetsam table
designer: marcus o'reilly architects, australia
materials: found and colored driftwood on a black steel base
courtesy of: habitus living magazine
photo via: http://www.marcusoreilly.com/index.php
comments: this table is beautiful and modern. the contrast of the worn, soft and rough driftwood to the steel base in combination with the muted colors just makes me giddy.

naoto fukasawa

some pieces designed by naoto. pics were taken at luminaire in chicago after the presentation he gave last june at the museum of contemporary art.

jose thenee

architectural artifacts, 4325 n. ravenswood avenue in chicago, had a comprehensive exhibit (ironwork and drawings) recently of jose thenee's work. thenee was an ironworker from argentina. amazing work, beautiful in it's detail, proportion and expression. they had an entire wall covered in his drawings, put me right over the edge. just beautiful.

design revolution roadshow

some pics of the design revolution roadshow last year. was lucky enough to hear emily pilloton speak about her book, "design revolution: 100 products that empower people". the book is full of amazing work that uses design skills and design thinking to solve problems for communities in need. the pics are a few of the designs mentioned in the book. from top to bottom, grow, an energy delivery device that resembles ivy growing on the side of a building. it harnesses solar as well as wind power. solio classic, a universal hybrid charger for handheld electronics that uses solar energy. and lastly, an educational toy. follow the work that project h design, a non profit that she founded, is currently working on at their website. check out their blog for a full explanation of the work and the incredible progress they are making. http://projecthdesign.org/

2010 holiday cards

cards covered in paper scraps the same way you would make a book cover for your textbooks back in grade school. also a hand cut snow flake ornament fits in the partial pocket on the inside.

last year's holiday cards

the card folds into an envelope so it's only one piece of paper. the first shot shows the inside of the unfolded card and the second shot shows the folded finished piece ready to mail.

more holiday decor

paper table top tree and more origami wreaths.

more holiday decorations

this is my holiday tree of sorts. it was a display piece for a retail store, i spray painted it and drape the green ribbons to imply a tree shape. it has hooks on the inside of each ring which makes hanging ornaments easy. also, the prints and paper garlands in the background are from "star shaped press" in chicago. designed and letter pressed to perfection on gorgeous recycled paper. they sell cards, prints and misc items, check them out. yum.

happy birthday ma!

feliz cumpleanos nata. her birthday was back in august. some pics of decorations i made for her.

holiday decorations

Origami paper wreath for the front door.