INV/ALT design blog

Pecha Kucha Night volume 2

2008-07-11T00:45:00.004-06:00

Volume 2 of Pecha Kucha Night Denver is coming up on July 14, 2008. This is our second installment of the Japanese presentation format where local creatives show 20 images for 20 seconds each. I'm really looking forward to the line-up that we pulled together: Denver Architects, Artists, Designers (of the Type, Textile, and Web variety), a Photographer, Museum Curator, and an Aerial Dancer. It's a variety show for the creative community, in rapid-fire powerpoint style.

Monday July 14

doors 8 pm / program at 8:20 (20:20)

Buntport Theater

717 Lipan Street

$5 suggested donation

Pecha Kucha Night Denver website

Pecha Kucha Japan

If you're in Denver, I hope to see you there!

still scanning

2008-07-03T14:07:00.005-06:00

My fruit delivery from Door-to-door organics was enormous today

so I piled what I could on the scanner and ended up with this beauty:

The other day I read about using photos as inspiration for color palettes on Colour Lovers, and I had lurked around that site before but never joined in.

Here's the palette I came up with:

And here's the retro interpretation of my organic fruit delivery:

and now I'm thinking, great, another thing to be OCD about. Stay tuned for the color palette of every photo in my flickr stream...

you shall know MY velocity!!!

2008-06-09T23:02:00.006-06:00

STOKED to find my Benta plates in Velocity Art and Design today!

Velocity is an incredible design store with a huge selection of design goods that I much admire and has, obviously, exquisite taste ;)

Go get you some!

*title refers to Dave Eggers' novel, You Shall Know Our Velocity. In the Spirit of Bree's 5-word reviews: Don't Remember Much Except Title.

Face Your Pockets!

2008-06-05T13:49:00.002-06:00

I haven't gotten over the scanning thing yet.

This is my submission to the Face Your Pockets! project.

(#36 is my favorite)

Contents: bike lock, cell phone, business cards, sunglasses, keys, apple, receipt, medicine, bike light, concealer, flossers, watch, chap-stick, toothbrush, bike tools.

...also inspired by Sally TV's "My bag and its contents" series.

Annoyance Allowance + going through old journals

2008-05-25T22:33:00.004-06:00

Bree and I started a blog to catalog our daily annoyances: Annoyance Allowance. It's not a platform for bitching and moaning, but rather a place to highlight and honor an annoyance, one day at a time. The hope is that after advertising the irritation, we'll have a bit of an easier time moving on. So far, so good: we've been going strong for 5 whole days now, and narrowing down the daily annoyances to one single item has been extremely satisfying. A teaser of what's listed so far: lack of scrap paper, brown bananas, bed head, and several toilet paper-related annoyances. Intriguing, isn't it?

May 21 Annoyance: Missing Buttons

I've been trying to consider a project which would have a daily component for some time now. In 2003 I walked the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile trek across the north of Spain, and every day for 39 days I walked west - sometimes 22 miles, sometimes just 3, but a little further west each day.

Day 27 from my journal: "It occurred to me the other day that this is the longest project I've ever participated in - every day for the past month, I've worked towards the same goal, doing the same activity. Every day. I've never done one thing consistently for 27 days!" (Ed. note: I probably haven't even brushed my teeth for this many consecutive days, which is why I get to have a root canal on Tuesday. fun times.)

Also, I found a list of 63 highlights of the trip. A few of the most mind-blowing:

15. The red cup Eric bought me in Pamplona; drinking from our cups at water fountains

26. Baguettes with Manchego and Red Pepper

30. Drinking wine on the church steps in Aztorga (& the toothless Hospitalera)

36. Peeing in gutters with Christy

45. "Bitches?? You want Bitches, you go to Vegas."

56. Competitions to see who can eat the most off an apple core

Here's an especially delicious diagram of the blisters on my feet after walking west for 19 days:

The Camino definitely let an impression on me, and I've been thinking about a daily project ever since. I'm incredibly compulsive, and the thought of having a daily pattern is really exciting, but I often have a hard time sticking with new projects. Perfect example = this blog. BUT! the new blog! Annoyance Allowance! --- it's not going anywhere! AND we've put out an open call for submissions... to join the Annoyance Allowance Alliance, email a photo to us at annoyanceallowance [at] yahoo [dot] com, and we'll broadcast your annoyance to the world.

Check annoyanceallowance.wordpress.com daily for fresh, annoying content!

A brief explanation of where I've been and what I've been up to since I disappeared from my project blog:

2008-05-21T09:56:00.014-06:00

I got my dog back! Meyer was Career Changed from Guide Dog school:

I helped build two websites for some Denver business ladies:

I started a collection of scans, "What the Surface Sees"

More scans and random projects are scheduled in the coming weeks. Also look for musings on summer school in Graduate-Level Physics.

flipbook film

2008-04-15T21:48:00.003-06:00

This is dedicated to my brother Mark and his fiance, Alaina.
Congrats, you two!!

Pecha Kucha Night in Denver!

2008-03-18T23:28:00.005-06:00

I attended my first(only) Pecha Kucha Night last year during 100%design in Tokyo. The name means "chit-chat" in Japanese, and is a presentation format that allows people to present their creative projects to an audience by showing 20 slides for 20 seconds each. I was so inspired by the event that I fantasized about bringing it to Denver - and am lucky to have secured an exclusive handshake agreement with the founders to be the local Pecha Kucha Night liason. Luckily I roped Jaime from designklub in from the very beginning, and she was instrumental in securing a dope location and 90% of the speakers. I'm super excited about the lineup, which includes Denver creatives of varied disciplines: architects, graphic designers, writers, planners, artists, and crafters (PLUS my dear friend, Steve!). The platform allows both professionals and casual folks an opportunity to present on the same level, to mingle, network, and get artistic feedback. It's like creative show-and-tell for adults...

Join the chit-chat next Friday, March 28
Buntport Theater, 717 Lipan Street, Denver CO.
Doors at 8, Program starts at 8:20 pm (as in 20.20)
$5 suggested donation at the door, beer provided.

Pecha Kucha Website
Pecha Kucha Night on wikipedia

BENTA plates

2008-03-13T01:31:00.011-06:00

BENTA plates are my latest project: a dinner plate with a curved edge, designed to hold in one hand while pushing food against the curl and onto your fork with the other hand. The plates are a mini-collaboration with my sly designer boyfriend, ZK, and are part of Umbra's U+ collection for 2008. They premiered at the NY Gift Fair last month and were recently added to Umbra's website here. I'm not quite sure what the black lace and star fruit have to do with the design, but behold: the BENTA.

My mother received her order today and promptly posted pictures to her flickr account. I haven't yet received my samples from Umbra, so I was super excited that my mom surprised me with a mini photo tour tonight! The highlights:

stack of 6 plates nested together

signature decal

special foam packaging

Also, here's an unrelated photo of me enjoying an English breakfast in London a few weeks ago:

I imagine that a BENTA plate would have come in super handy as I scooped up my eggs and beans...

Plans for a dinner party are underway - menu to include peas and similar rolly-type foods. Evidence to follow.

Thanks, Mom!

p.s. This post also serves to add closure to my first post on these plates, initially dubbed "ZK pro-model plates." Except for that part about a flipbook... perhaps there will be some filming at the Green Pea Dinner Party.

six-word memoir:

2008-02-28T23:36:00.003-07:00

Interview was a disaster. Now what?

(inspired by Six-Word Memoirs on NPR)

Interview at the Royal College of Art!

2008-02-21T00:05:00.005-07:00

If I knew how to turn comments on, I would invite you to offer encouraging words. So in lieu of comments, please send good vibes by performing a happy dance at 2:40 pm GMT on 2/26.

obsessive compulsive collection

2008-02-05T22:24:00.002-07:00

Inspired by Daniel Eatock's on-going collections (see: trees, car batteries, and camera straps), I scanned my childhood collection of hundreds of sugar packets and cubes and added them to my flickr and portfolio website.

I started gathering the packets in the early 90s when my brother Eric brought me a set of island-themed sugar packets from Hawaii. I picked most of them up during travel (lots from a visit to Eastern Europe in 1992 and Belgium and France in 1995), but there are also some US gems (including the Fashion Cafe!!)...

I always wondered what I would do with them, and I think they've reached their permanent destination. Now I finally get to eat them :)))

planning and prototyping

2008-01-17T13:14:00.001-07:00

In assembling my portfolio for graduate school, I came across some old sketches from years ago when I was completing my BFA in Ceramics at CU-Boulder. The fall semester of 2005 my instructor Jeanne Quinn encouraged us to develop a system and rules for our method of working - this was easy for me since I'm a compulsive list-maker anyway, and my work has always been more calculated and planned than emotional and "artistic".

This was the system for my chain-link magnetic cups:
1. Cast a 12-ounce glass from Target into ceramic
2. Indent the soft clay casting using the original glass used, so that there is a space where two cups could hug together
3. dig out spaces for magnets to fit into opposite cup walls, allowing for clay shrinkage so the magnets will sit snugly and flush with the surface of the cup
4. Cast this prototype into ceramic again; produce

This sketch hung on my studio wall for the semester, and I'm glad I saved it. When David Pahl took product shots of the CLMCs last month, I played art director and - without realizing it - styled the cups pretty much identically to my original sketch:

Somewhat eerie, but comforting to me as well. I do like when things work out this cleanly.

Bangkok Craving Cups

2008-01-13T21:26:00.001-07:00

Look what the Gumption guru found in a Thai newspaper:

Sweet! Thanks, Tong!

Out with the Old, In with the New

2008-01-01T14:18:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year!
Big changes here at INV/ALT design:

Old: My studio is officially closed. I have loved operating my ceramic studio out of my garage and then a shabby warehouse in the Ballpark district of Denver - but it's time for me to wrap things up and re-tool for some new projects. My experience working with Umbra has piqued my interest in product design, and I'd like to move away from producing my own work to learning how to use computer programs that aid in product design and development. I'll start looking for a creative job in Denver soon - bonus if I can keep my fingernails clean and learn a new skill or two. I also have a few more tableware ideas that I'd like to pitch to some product manufacturers - and I'm applying to Grad School. Wish me luck!

New: I just finished my brand new website! I finally have a place to gather my portfolio projects from the last couple of years - please visit invaltdesign.com to see new pictures of old work and some new work as well. I used indexhibit to build the site, and I highly recommend the application to anyone who wants to "build and maintain an archetypal, invisible website format that combines text, image, movie and sound" - plus it's free, and just challenging enough to figure out that I felt like a rockstar developer when it was up and running. Please go give it a spin!

At home in DWELL

2007-12-31T14:34:00.001-07:00

Magnetic cups are in Dwell magazine!

The February issue is already out on newsstands, so go check it out pronto. My personal favorite is on page 40, but there's plenty more to see - including the mirror report on page 76 by design superstar Sally Kuchar (I love her video blog - SallyTV.com - she is super cool, and she has the coolest crew of friends ever.)

Thanks, Dwell!

holiday wreaths

2007-12-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

Holiday-themed wreaths to celebrate the seasons: Happy (last night!) of Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

These limited edition sets of six snap cups are exclusively available at Cross MacKenzie Ceramic Arts in Washington, DC.

glaze and cone tests

2007-12-10T22:36:00.002-07:00

Ceramics is (are?) a finicky material, and it seems like something can always go awry. Shrinking, cracking, warping, crazing, glaze and clay bodies not fitting together... there's always something to go wrong, and you have to budget to have extras to allow for some losses. I lost almost an entire batch this weekend because my kiln decided to go 50 degrees too hot. Major disappointment.

Explanation: Ceramicists use cones to measure firings, and each cone is designed to bend at a specific temperature. The glazes I use fire to a cone 06 (1828 degrees F) - but the photo shows that when I programmed my kiln to go to cone 06, the 06 cone completely melts, meaning that it got too hot, and the glaze surface is nasty and pocked. Yesterday I fired to cone 07 (1789 degrees), and the kiln overheated just enough to tip the 06 cone over - and the glaze surface is glassy and smooth.

Clay & glaze chemistry and kiln testing were never my favorite parts of doing ceramics, but it's satisfying being able to work through issues on my own. Looks like my trusty little kiln is acting out a little in the last stretch of our working relationship...

INV/ALT picks at designklub

2007-12-01T23:08:00.000-07:00

Jaime, who writes a Denver-based blog called designklub, asked me to be on the lookout for great finds at the designboom mart recently in Tokyo. I finally sent her some of my favorites, and the posts are on designklub here, here, and here. And just to emphasize how loyal I am to the products I featured, I wore my concrete ring and carried my BRAND_new bag today at the Holiday Handmade craft fair in Denver - for which Bree gave me a jolly hard time about. Go check out designklub's posts to see how stylish I am!

And more exciting news: my new black+color snap cups were featured on the etsy front page sometime in the last couple of days, because I noticed that one particular pair had been viewed 400+ times, while the other listings hover in the double-digit range. Score!

944

2007-11-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

Angelenos are sending snap cup love my way this month - if you're in LA pick up 944 magazine and enjoy the beauty of snap cups printed on shiny page 63! They're one of 5 Conversation Pieces: Home Designs That Will Keep Them Talking Way After the Last Bite, and are listed in the company of Kelly Wearstler and Fendi Casa. Sounds pretty good to me :)
Thanks, Martine Bury!

Tokyo designboom mart coverage

2007-11-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

Results from the mart in Tokyo are up on the designboom website! Go check it out - and while you're at it, be sure to visit the albums of my special friends from the mart:

snaps and magnets from 100%

2007-11-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

As a snap and magnet fiend, I would be remiss not to mention their presence at 100%design Tokyo last week. They were used in applications ranging from practical to playful, inventive to erotic.
Feast your eyes, fellow lovers of snap and magnetic connectors...

alien / Cas Holman's Geemo: flexible, rubbery, 3-pronged magnetic things. Myriad of functions, or none at all. Totally hilarious. *also, while downloading an application for Cranbrook's graduate 3D design program, I noticed she's an alum.

accessorizing / No Quiet's snapping compartment bags. Maybe this was the inspiration for using snaps in my cups - I've admired this Japanese design for what seems like years. Stoked to see it in person at Design Tide.

sexxxy / Casey Chen's KamaSutra dolls, also in the designboom mart. People have told me that my cups are sexual because of the male/female parts of the snaps... but this is undeniable. Two little dolls, engineered with snaps in all the right places - same sex couples available as well.

safety / Carta's AgotoB magnetic reflectors. They clip to your shirt, back pockets, or to peg your pant legs while you ride your bike. Definite design crush here. Plus their display looked like a giant bike chain with them all stuck together.

toothpicks

2007-11-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

I pocketed dozens of toothpicks while dining in Japan, and finally bought some at an am/pm before leaving. I know we've got this style in the US too, but these are from Japan, so they're extra special.

I was stoked to read the explanation of the notched design of these toothpicks in a book I read a few years ago, Toothpicks & Logos: Design in Everyday Life. Notches in the pick allow the end to be snapped off to make a prop for your toothpick - and the part that you scraped your teeth with never touches the table. Like a rest for chopsticks, except super miniaturized. Toothpicks spun on a tiny lathe... it's the ALTeration of a stick to INVent an interactive toothpick + rest. Japanese Genius.

stop-motion animated dining

2007-11-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

My PR department is working on writing my bio to be included with the marketing materials for a certain curved plate to be produced by a certain houseware manufacturer.

The conversation went like this:

A: If we're going to add inspirations, I'd like to mention adding motion to a static object or something - the curve of the plate is like my version of kinetic tableware/ceramics or a flipbook of stop-motion animation dining. Actually, I'm serious. That plate is totally stop-motion animated dining.

B: Just off the top of my head: Through its delicate and playful subversion of typical dinnerware options, the [plate] offers an inviting snapshot of design at its most kinetic.

Is that too esoteric? Prolly.

done and done. Hair and makeup, please!

mart reactions

2007-11-03T17:42:00.000-06:00

It's been great to witness people's reactions to my cups at the mart here in Tokyo. Unfortunately I don't really know what they're saying because of that whole language barrier element (found out that the words for "scary" and "cute" sound awfully similar - glad I figured that one out), but people have been laughing and playing with them and have been super friendly and complimentary. I know about 10 words now in Japanese, and the most useful is Gambate: "go for it!". People hesitate to snap the cups together (because pushing ceramics together is fairly counterintuitive), but once I encourage with Gambate they laugh and snap and it's a wild success.
These are some of my favorite pictures from the mart so far:

Yesterday was insanely busy and crowded, so hopefully today will be busy as well...
more photos soon, plus I'll add some coverage of the rest of 100%design and the container exhibit (my favorite).