Zip Ties at design week!

The Zip Ties will be part of the stopTHINKshop pop up during NYC design week! If you will be in town next weekend please stop by to see the ties, as well as lots of good design from other makers.

Tie tool

Here's the tool I made to cut the angled ends of the zip tie, so that I can turn this task over to my sewing contractor. It's a cheap arbor press from Harbor Freight modified to do this particular task.

I'm proud of my new tool. As an independent designer, you have to embrace every aspect of the job as something creative or you will go crazy.

Here are ties before and after cutting. (And you can see clearly the reason the end is cut last: it's almost impossible to sew the zipper onto the felt in the same place every time.)

Even though my new tool cost about 75 bucks, it cuts ties faster than the bigger techshop press I had been using, and way faster than a hydraulic press I tried.We will use this cheap and dirty device no matter the quantity.

Ready for sewing

Here are cut tie pieces ready to go to the sewing company. I love the way layers of felt look stacked together. Maybe it reminds me of my undergraduate studies in geology, where we looked at layered sedimentary rock.

By the way, I've been working with a friend/colleague Mike, who will be doing outreach work for the tie, to expand the colors and materials for the tie. So I will post what we come up with!

Celebrate the Journey at the A+D Museum of Los Angeles

I am honored that my UM Tote will be included in the auction to benefit the A+D museum of Los Angeles!

The auction is part of the museum's gala called Celebrate: The Journey, featuring travel items from around the world of design. Check it out online or go to the event on May 18th.

SF Popup - this Friday!

We will have a few lamps in this fabulous pop up in SF, curated by our friends at Handful of Salt! Please come for the opening on the evening of May 3rd, or visit the store during that week.

Great Quote

"Go ahead and make something for the elites. Not the elites of class or wealth, but the elites of curiosity, passion and taste. Every great thing ever created was created by and for this group."

-Seth Godin (from his blog)

Shrimp-pak

I've been working on the closure of the new coaster pack: tape? tab? snap? I decided on velcro. It's the easiest solution and allows for repeated opening. And also the velcro anthropomorphizes the pack in a way that I like.

Next step is to find somebody to make the packs. The final will be in orange.