I’m excited to announce that I will be writing for Herman Miller’s Lifework blog from time to time. The blog which recently launched in December, explores issues that arise around working from home. For my first contribution, I spoke with artist Matte Stephens about his inspiring workspace. You can see the full piece here.
Chris Bettig runs a studio out of his home in Los Angeles, CA called The Mountain Label. He has an impressive amount of work consisting of laser etched wood, collages, paintings, and lovely prints. Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting with him. In today’s Grain’s Eye View, Chris gives us some handy advice on collecting and an interesting glimpse into the future.
Wayne Pate runs a whimsical design studio in Brooklyn, NY called GoodShapeDesign. He has the best doodles, and also sells playful prints on his website. Today, we have the pleasure of getting the Grain’s Eye View on Wayne’s studio, including info on his favorite objects and some handy organizing advice.
Rilla Alexander is a member of the well known and respected art and design collective, Rinzen. The group’s posters and album covers have been exhibited at the Louvre and their large scale artwork installed in Tokyo’s Zero Gate and Copenhagen’s Hotel Fox. Today she gives Grain Edit readers a sneak peek into her studio and shares some of her favorite objects.
A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of hanging out with Victoria of Milkfed Press, a letterpress and bindery studio based in Oakland. Her space is large and bright, filled with a wonderful collection of equipment and type, and was originally a grocery store where the owners used to stash cash within the walls.
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Last week we had the chance to hang out with the crew from San Francisco design studio MINE. Under the direction of Christopher Simmons, MINE is a small and versatile design shop. We got the low-down, talked graphic design, told some jokes, and saw lots of cool work.
The office is a little nook in Bernal Heights. Very intimate, and accommodates the three designers nicely. You know you’re there when you see the funky doorbell, the Eames furniture, a bright orange bean bag chair, and the distinguishing sign on the door that reads “this is our office.”
I’m always impressed with the quantity and diversity in the projects they’re working on. They’re driven by concepts, not by a certain style. The work doesn’t look like it was “designed by MINE.” Instead, it makes sense, has personality, and definitely communicates a point of view.
Thanks again to MINE for opening up the studio, and letting us snap these photos.
Enjoy the tour!
Thanks to Tim Barber and the rest of the gang at Odopod for inviting me to their studio last Friday. They regularly meet to discuss design and Tim asked if I would like to join them and bring in some of the things that inspire me.
While I was there I was able to take a few photos of the studio. It’s a beautiful space filled with exposed brick, concrete floors and Eames Chairs. When I walked in the main entrance on the first floor, the first thing I noticed was an Odopod sign that looked like it was ripped straight off a Motel 6. It was hot in San Francisco on Friday so, I was lucky that Odopod came with AC, Free WIFI and HBO (I gotta get one of these signs). The rest of the first floor includes meeting rooms and the company parking lot (What is a design studio without atleast one vintage fixie?). The second floor houses the designers, the book collection and a big letter “O”.
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Thanks to Geoff Wagner and the rest of the crew at Chronicle Books for for taking the time to show me around the Office. It’s a beautiful space with lots of nice architectural details including exposed bricks, beams and piping. Large globe fixtures dot the ceilings and remind me of the original Lightolier ball lights that are often found in the Eichler homes of the Bay Area. The entrance to the building hosts a bookshop open to the public. Towards the front of the shop, new books are showcased on top of rustic planks of wood recycled from one of the building’s previous tenants. The top floor features an employee lounge with floor to ceiling window walls and nice views of the Soma district.
Leah Hennen of the excellent More Ways to Waste Time blog just posted a tour of my house/ studio. You can get a glimpse of the goodies here sans my dirty laundry and unwashed dishes. As you can see, books dominate the house. Any other book nerds out there?
See the full tour here. Stop by and say hello.
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Several weeks ago I posted this wonderful Buck 65 gig poster designed by the Lyon, France based design duo Small Studio. Since then, we’ve been trading emails and they’ve been kind of enough to allow grain edit readers a sneak peek into their design studio.
I love the hand drawn typography often found in their poster work. In the examples below you can see the development of the type work for several posters that were designed recently.
