The Making of Nature: Part 2, Models

It’s valuable to get into scale models quickly. Some forms are like puzzles. To gain a better understanding of this complex form, I made a small, clay model. Other popular sketch modeling materials include foam, cardboard, wood or paper. I have been using this same clay for years. Even at this early stage, important decisions are being made about proportion. These decisions make a great impact on the final design. From what I learn from this clay model, I am ready to start building a full scale computer model.

The Making of Nature: Part 1, Inspiration

Inspiration can come from so many things. In the case of Nature, it was simple. An interest in gardening combined with inspiration from natural and man-made patterns. The final key was the discovery of a manufacturing technique—slip casting. On an episode of “How It’s Made,” the show featured slip casting on a tea pot. I started imagining how this particular technique could be applied on a larger scale. I hoped this age-old technique could be pushed in it's ability to create a complex, organic form.



I jumped right into sketch visualization. I drew on inspiration from many sources in my initial sketches. After settling on a couple drawings that we were happy with, I looked toward the next steps.

Nature is featured in Dwell's April issue

While grabbing a bite to eat and glossing through magazines, we realized we were holding the latest issue of Dwell. We then excitedly flipped through to see if our Nature planter was featured and...YES indeed!

Such good news! Thank you, Dwell!

Hooray for Nature!

We got some amazing news this morning from Spark Awards, an international design competition based out of the Bay Area—we won Bronze for the planter design! Woohoo! Design Night was recognized along with many heavyweights including IDEO, fuseproject and Smart Design. Not bad for a side project. Great job, Dominic!

Fall in Portland

There are beautiful hues in the hills and streets of Portland right now. During a walk in Forest Park with Ruby, we shot some photos using Shake It Photo, an app that makes photos look like Polaroids. It even shakes to "develop" the pictures!

Man Shops Globe

Last night, Dominic and I caught the first episode of Man Shops Globe on iTunes. I passionately love Anthropologie and loved how the show gave a little insight on the stores brand. You know what was my favorite component of the show? The gorgeous video promo that Stefanie Augustine and Adam Gault put together (Googled it). I love the cut out texures, hand drawn/cut illustrations and rough animation. Simply beautiful! I have my eyes set on one of those rich-colored, felt throws that is in the second frame.

About to take the plunge

We’re getting our ducks in order for Monday’s premiere when we contact blogs and publications to promote our ceramic planter. Here are some design concept...I’m having a hard time committing to a look.