Monday Pick Me Up

A nice big bulletin board I found on Jennifer Ramos’ Made By Girl blog. It’s the work of a professional organizer based in Brooklyn who also has a great blog - The Order Obsessed (check out the post on keeping storage organized).

Heather John: The Garage Conversion Continues…

My husband grew up in Manhattan and our contractor, Billy Hartman, is from Queens. While I’m talking paint chips, they’re talking Mets pitching rotation. But one language we all speak turns out to be concrete. My husband and I wanted the slab in our garage scored to look like a New York City sidewalk—what Billy says is called a “city seam.” There’s something wonderfully nostalgic about the seams, as well as practical (these control joints help localize cracking). When it came to color, instead of a cold cityscape vibe, we added warmth and depth to the slab with subtle stain, which the pros achieved by sprinkling burgundy- and brick-colored powder pigments over the freshly poured concrete and smoothing it in with a trowel. I’ve been told that, much like a tattoo, you only get one chance with stain, so best leave it to the pros. And all the better if they’re in a New York state of mind.

Five Fabulous: Pen & Pencil Cups

1. PEN PEN by Essey, $23 Clear the clutter with this smaller version of Essey’s award-winning Bin Bin wastebasket design. Get it: Greener Grass Design

2. Pencil Cup and Pencils, $15 Instantly accent your workspace with a patterned pencil tin brimming with 22 crisp silver pencils. Get it: Susy Jack

3. Kami M Cup, $42 Handcrafted by Hidetoshi Takahashi in Japan, these gorgeously simple, lightweight cups are made from Castor Aralia wood. Get it: Merchant 4

4. Lampedusa Pencil Stand, $85 First introduced in 1967, Italian designer Enzo Mari’s sleek pencil stand has become one of the classic icons of 20^th-century design. Get it: Y Living

5. Pop Up Pencil Cup, $30 The classic drinking straw dispenser inspired this smart desk accessory by designer Paul Koh. Get it: MoMA Store.

Images linked to their sources within the numbered text

Steve Frykholm: 2010 AIGA Medalist

[From our sister blog, Discover. Congrats Steve! Cerentha]

Last week, Herman Miller’s own creative director, Steve Frykholm, was named one of three recipients of the 2010 AIGA Medal–the highest honor of the graphic design profession. It’s awarded to individuals in recognition of their exceptional achievements, services, or other contributions to the field of design and visual communication. Along with John Maeda and Jennifer Morla, Steve will be presented with the award at the AIGA Design Legends Gala in 2011.

AIGA executive director Richard Grefé said, “AIGA is proud to recognize the 2010 Medalists for their exceptional contributions to the field of design. Each has contributed to the way design can intrigue the spirit, engage curiosity, enhance business, explore creative use of visual technique, and communicate value that is respected by business, society and our popular culture.”

Steve has directed Herman Miller’s graphic identity for 40 years. His iconic work has been widely published and exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and the Danish Museum of Decorative Art.

As Cheryl Heller, chair of the AIGA awards committee, noted, “Each Medalist this year is completely unique, yet all three are stellar examples of how to be a true leader and live a life in design.”

Unique? That’s what we love about Steve. Stellar? Definitely. At Herman Miller, Steve Frykholm is as iconic as his picnic posters. We’re honored to have him here.

I Spy…

Herman Miller was spotted all over the place this week. We’d love to see what you come across in your travels. Seen any Eames chairs lately?  Stumbled across a Yves Behar Leaf Light? George Nelson Swag table anyone? If you’d like to share your finds with us you can reach me at cerentha_harris@hermanmiller.com or just leave a link in the comments section and I will follow it up.

1. Eames Lounge Chair on Design Hotels’ blog.

2. Totally Severe’s Feral Furniture desktop wallpaper includes a rather angry Eames Lounge.

3. Le Blog posted this painted Eames chair.

4. Where to start on this one! The whole house is packed with Herman Miller gems. It’s always interesting to see how people mix Herman Miller pieces into their homes. Via Twenty First Century Retro.

5. The George Nelson bench included in a Top 5 Classic Pieces roundup on His Name is RobZ.

High Five

Our week on the web:

1. Fuse Project Designer Yves Behar is the clever man behind Herman Miller’s Ardea and Leaf lights. He also has an excellent blog detailing his design journey. Where to start: April 15 and his amazing Sustainable Crystal chandelier.

2. Habitually Chic A blog is produced by Heather Clawson, a New York-based interior designer who has been blogging since 2007. She’s got a lovely eye, slightly conservative taste, definitely warm style of writing and always interesting pic choice. Where to start: Interior designer Kelly Wearstler’s office.

3. Jen Bekman This art-dealer/curator/writer and entrepreneur opened her Manhattan gallery in 2003. She also sells fine art prints online at 20×200 and runs an international photography competition Hey, Hot Shot! In her spare time she blogs a mix of news about her gallery, the artists involved and design that has caught her eye. Where to start: Gregory Krum’s home.

4. Reed Pages I interviewed the awesome Jeff Ng this week and was impressed with his online magazine, Reed Pages. There are quite a few behind-the-scenes stories that include cool workspaces. I wanted to mention it again today in case anyone missed it. Where to start: Page 32, the Fader Magazine piece. I can’t link to it directly – you have to sign in with you own email address. And one tip – click on full screen. The photography is great.

5. Red Glasses Caroline Pelletier is an interactive marketer based in Montreal. She blogs about trends and designs. Where to start: Her excellent home office round-up.

Five Fabulous: Bookends

1. Prop Bookends, $225 Functional minimalism at its finest from Chicago-based HALE industrial design. Get it: Supermarket

2. Pair of Book Ends, £18 Spell it out with a pair of smarty-pants metal BOOK END bookends. Get it: aplaceforeverything.co.uk

3. Bird’s Foot Bookends, $50 Heavy reader? These sleek bookends made from Japan’s popular Nambu cast iron can handle it all. Get it: Everbrite Mercantile Collection

4. Librastat, $28 Update your collection with this applause-worthy pair. Get it: Art. Lebedev Studio

5. London Landmark Bookend, $27.68 Let London’s iconic Battersea Power Station give your library a lift. Get it: Rockett St George

Images linked to their sources within the numbered text.

Unplggd: Just the Right Ergonomic Keyboard

“If there’s one good health investment you can make to your home office setup, it’s replacing that cruddy default Dell keyboard that came with your computer 7 years ago with an ergonomic one. With recommendations from both Alan Hedge, director of Human Factors and Ergnomics Lab at Cornell and a few of our own pickings, you’ll have plenty to choose from.

Top 6 Ergonomic Keyboards:

Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 ($89.95 + $49.95 for keypad): Just announced, this is Microsoft’s thinnest keyboard ever, just a bit thicker than a AAA battery. Bluetooth, a separate number key pad, and the handsome curved shape make this a great choice for ergonomic use. [Pictured above].

Goldtouch Go! ($139): Real light and portable, this is the ultimate laptop keyboard.

Kensington Comfort Type Slim Keyboard ($20): It looks traditional, but check out those keys! Don’t they make a lot more sense now that you imagine your hand over it?

Jasper Freeboard ($149): A mousepad built in? No way! There’s also a snap-on attachment for all you lefties out there.

Microsoft Natural Ergo Keyboard 4000 ($50): You can never go wrong with Microsoft’s classic winner. One of our personal favorites around the office.

Logitech Wave Keyboard ($50): Recessed keys make typing a breeze with Logitech’s ergonomic “wave.” built into the entire keyboard design.

[Via Inc Magazine]
By Anthony.”

Inspiration: Jeff Ng of Staple Design

Nylon magazine named publisher/ad man/brand manager/clothing designer/retailer Jeff Ng (aka Jeff Staple), The Guru. They interviewed him about his sneaker collection – which in 2009 had hit over 450 pairs. Last month he was heralded as a tastemaker by photographer William Yan (who also calls him a genius and a workaholic). But the man behind creative agency Staple Design doesn’t like the term tastemaker. Let’s find out why.

First tell me about Staple Design. You don’t like to be called a tastemaker. What do you like to be called? Staple Design operates in a few different types of businesses. First off we’re a creative agency and we work with some really great brands all across the world. We work in many different mediums. From product design [the shoe below is Staple's latest design for Airwalk] to graphic design to multimedia to marketing to overall brand consultation. Second, we have a full menswear collection that is sold to some of the best shops all across the world.

Speaking of shops, we also have our own shop called Reed Space with locations in NYC and Tokyo. Not only is Reed Space a lifestyle boutique, it is also an art gallery showcasing work of some of the best artists around the world. Reed Space also produces a quarterly print magazine called Reed Pages. That’s not everything. But it’s the main things. Yes. I really dislike the term “tastemaker”. How about just “hard worker”?

Hard worker sounds right! Describe your workspace for us. How does it impact the work that you do? Enormously. My workplace—both the office and the home are very important. I kind of believe in this idea of “feng shui”. I don’t get all weird about it. But I do believe that the way you set up your space affects the moods of everyone who enters that space. I also believe there is no scientific way to analyze this. You either sense it…or you don’t. And once you walk into a space that does NOT make good use of space, furniture and layout, you know it right away don’t you? I often get comments about the office [Jeff, seated, is pictured below in the design studio] and Reed Space  where people say, “it just feels good…can’t explain it…but just feels right in there.” That to me is the feng shui working.

I believe in an open space environment. Sure, there are times when privacy is necessary. But I think the positives for an open office far outweigh the negatives. Things happen quicker and more spontaneously. Also, everyone knows a little bit of what’s going on in other departments of the company even if it doesn’t directly concern them. [Jeff's pen of choice, below, is a Pilot G-2 (.05)].

What is your favorite part of the workday? What’s a typical workday for you? I have to say, even though I love my job, I still look forward to the END of my workday. The great thing about my job is that there is no typical workday. We do some many things at Staple and Reed Space that each hour is completely different than the last. Our spheres of culture also span so many different worlds, we get to meet and interact with all sorts of characters. It makes for an exciting environment.

What piece of home office furniture can’t you do without? A good task chair is key. I realized this when I started to travel a lot. I’ll stay in some really nice hotels where they give me some really plush cushy chair to work in and it sucks! I was a long time Aeron chair user and then I was one of the first people to get my butt into an Embody chair – which I absolutely love. At home, I use a Knoll Chadwick chair. It’s great because it’s lightweight and has a smaller footprint, which is less obtrusive in the home. I also happen to be obsessed with small desk objects like letter openers and such. I have way too many for one desk. I recently posted on my blog a sampling of them and the story behind each piece. [The BuckyBalls below are a favorite desk toy].

Herman Miller is concerned with authenticity and so are you at Staple Design. How do you define authenticity? How does that concept manifest itself in your work? Quite simple and obvious really. Authenticity is the ability to make yourself happy, isn’t it? If you’re doing things that DON’T make you happy and you’re maybe doing them repeatedly, things simply can’t be authentic in my opinion. That’s not to say things can’t be successful though. Success and authenticity are two different things. Usually, things like money, semantics or obligations get in the way of authenticity.

Mac or PC? Mac all the way. Also proud to say we just switched our POS and inventory systems to Mac as well. Traditionally, these were things that were better on a PC, but we couldn’t be happier that we have these working off a Mac now.

How do you organize your day? Like most people, I use a planner. I use iCal which syncs to my iPhone and iPad. Yes that’s me; an iSlave. I absolutely hate being late for appointments and I hate it even more when it happens to me. People often say to me, “you must be so busy…you’re doing so many different things.” But I actually think to myself and say, “I’m not that busy.” I think I manage my time quite well. There’s a big difference between being busy, and being incapable of keeping a schedule. [Below is Jeff's sneaker collection with a polaroid attached to each box for easy identification. You can read more about his collection here.]

What inspires you? People. Different people. Not just creative people or hard-working people or noble people. All people. I draw inspiration from everyone I interact with. I even draw from people I observe and never actually meet.  The more people I meet the more I feel inspired. And because of that, I travel. I travel a lot. But travel is just a means to meeting more people.

How would you describe your design aesthetic? I think at its core, design is simply problem solving. So my design aesthetic addresses that first and foremost. Work that comes out of our studio doesn’t have a distinctive style. We don’t try and apply “our thing” to projects. Other creatives have a signature look and clients may want to buy into that look. But what happens when your look is not trending? That’s a scary thing. Clients call creative/design studios because they have a problem. We do what’s necessary to solve that problem. So I make sure to resolve the problem first and then if there’s room for expression, sure, we can add our flavor.

The Playlist: Amy Feezor of Real Simple (and Lifework)

A few weeks ago, Cerentha suggested that I create my own playlist for this series. So I took her up on the idea—and learned a couple of lessons in the process. First, everyone I’ve interviewed is right: the last question I ask about an artist that represents your work is a toughie (I’m still keeping it in, though!). And second, sharing your personal music picks is a more intimidating thing than I had expected (it’s the equivalent of making a mix tape for your crush, except in this case, you’re trying to woo the whole-wide world). My thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to let me take a peek at their playlist and their work life thus far.

Does music inspire your work? If you’re interested in being a part of this series, contact me here. Or leave your details in the comment section.

What do you listen to while you work? Strangely enough, when I am writing—whether for my magazine or for my blog—it needs to be something I already know. I can’t sit around and listen to something new because it distracts me (as a “words” person, I can get especially caught up in song lyrics). I need music to serve as a background of sorts; it can get too quiet while I am writing otherwise.

How do you listen? Through my Mac and through some less-than-glamorous speakers I’ve hooked up to it and placed randomly throughout my bookshelf. It’s all I have since my studio apartment and office are so small–there’s no need (or space) for anything bigger or fancier. On occasion, I will wear headphones; and when I do, that means serious “do-not-disturb-me” business.

Do you have any favorite music websites or providers? iTunes for convenience. I used to use Pandora, but I have recently switched over to Grooveshark—no interruptions or ads, and you get to choose all the music you want to listen to. It’s awesome.

Does music influence your work? It truly can influence my mood, which can in turn influence my writing. But for me, I think that music is more of a motivator than anything.  It helps me stick around the computer, encourages me to write at times (or at least sing along/chair dance if I need a break). And this is small, but music can directly play a part in my copy, as I may sometimes use song titles or music lyrics in headlines.

Where do you find music recommendations? Friends and co-workers. Mentions on Twitter or blogs I read. NPR shows. Magazines also lead the way—I’ve been particularly loving the recommendations I’ve been finding lately in Entertainment Weekly.

What song or artist best represents the work you create? Lyle Lovett. It’s sometimes weird, sometimes refined, and always with a slight Southern accent and uncooperative hair.

AMY’S PLAYLIST

Crown on the Ground, Sleigh Bells

Wide Eyes, Local Natives

The Ruminant Band, Fruit Bats

Up from the South, The Budos Band

Better Things, Passion Pit

White Winter Hymnal, Fleet Foxes

Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Stylo, Gorillaz

Paperweight, Schuyler Fisk and Joshua Radin

California, Rogue Wave

Blue and Gold Print, Mates of State

No Moon, Iron & Wine

It’s a Heartache, Wellington Ukulele Orchestra
Images: Amy Feezor