This week brings the mixed and mingling musical selections of Seattle-based Hum Creative. Hum creates bespoke and beautiful brands and design for everyone from corporate giants like Starbucks and Microsoft to indie songsmiths like She & Him. Read and listen as Hum Creative creates their own buzz in this week’s Playlist.
Italian designer Eduardo Alessi has a singular wit and energy. You can see it reflected in his work as well as distinct focus on sustainable products and materials. Eduardo believes if a product can make someone’s life a bit easier or even a bit more amusing, the product succeeds. His recent project, the ECO DIY Collection, is a series of 2D products made with recycled cardboard. The charming and minimal designs are modeled after endangered animals and include everything from a light to a speaker to a bookmark. Catch up with this desk-dancing-designer’s listening habits in this week’s Playlist.
Based in Pontiac, Michigan, artist April Wagner owns and operates a private, state-of-the-art hot glass facility – the largest in the Midwest – called Epiphany Studios. Blowing glass for nearly 20 years, April has created some of the most unique and striking pieces imaginable, from small glass gifts and contemporary glass vessels to large private sculptures and corporate installations. Stepping away from the heat of glass blowing, April and her assistants Ally and Nicole share the beats behind Epiphany in this week’s Playlist.
Industrial designer Matthew Plumstead is having quite a year. The Cranbrook grad debuted his wall-mounted valet, Clip Tree (above), at the ICFF in New York where it was an ICFF Studio award winner. With raves from the press and public, he decided to bring the Clip Tree to market via Kickstarter. Recently, Matthew founded a design studio, McCarty Quinn, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with a focus on useful and contemporary home and office products. Take a listen to the music that’s inspired him along the way in this week’s Playlist.
Summer has passed by again. Time to bring in the patio’s Magis Air-Chairs and head back to the city’s Aeron and Embody Chairs. With a mix of earlier 2012 releases and a few new tracks for fall, here’s a Playlist to sign off from long, hot days and check in to crisp, cool nights.
Keep an eye out for more great interviews and playlists from our favorite designers, artists, and creatives all season long.
With an affinity for playing and experimenting with raw materials, designer and product developer Martha Alvarez specializes in ceramics, but that’s hardly all. From clay to computer, her work rolls between the physical and the digital — in her inherited Mirra Chair no less (“I love it … the Mirra is perfect for this,” she says) — where Martha also does stage design, product design, and photography. This eclectic range of creativity yields an equally eclectic and enjoyable set of songs for this week’s Playlist.
Portland, Maine-based artist and wanna-be astronaut Christopher David Ryan suffers from the creative’s curse: too many thoughts and too little sleep. But like many an under-slept, hyper-inspired artist, there is a prolific pay-off. Whether working under his own name, or as Atmostheory, or as creative partner at Portland studio More & Company, Christopher finds inspiration throughout the natural world and cosmos, weaving together everything from vintage and retro inspirations to distinctive icons of the modern world. He also dabbles in music production at Monolathe Recordings and spins records, which is the perfect segue for his contribution of this week’s Playlist. Take a listen.
Along with partner Brendan Young, designer Vanessa Battaglia founded UK design consultancy Studiomold in 2003 to provide product development and interior design to local and international clients like Aeon, Touchtile, and John Lewis. In 2010, the pair founded Mineheart and produced a “lovable collection” of lighting, accessories, wallpaper and more. Vanessa shares the melodies behind her design in this week’s Playlist.
Graphic designer Bryan Patrick Todd finds inspiration a plenty in Louisville, Kentucky, where he specializes in branding and design. A mere glance at his bold yet clean work — which includes everything from posters, to murals, to logos and more — demonstrates his affinity for typography and color. With such a passion for vibrant, well-crafted forms and shapes, we wondered what kind of musical inspiration was at work behind the scenes. Our wonderment is answered in this week’s wondrous Playlist.
Gabriel Mann and Rebecca Kneubuhl are composers and musicians who collaborate on music for film, television, video games, and pretty much all other visual media. And non-visual media. Gabe is currently the series composer for the ABC television show “Modern Family” and a member of the Rescues. And Rebecca and Gabriel recently completed the score to Mattel’s “Barbie: A Perfect Christmas.” And yes, they are parents. Happy New Year from their studio!