Grain at JOIN: Design Seattle's Ctrl+Alt+Design exhibition!

We have been selected to present Café America and Ty at the First Annual Design Review established by JOIN: Design Seattle at Ouch My Eye. The blind jury included Jon Junker and Seth Grizzle of Graypants, Inc, Jamie Iacoli and Brian McAllister of Iacoli & McAllister, Dylan Davis and Jean Lee of Ladies & Gentlemen Studio and John Gascon and Mike Christensen of Ouch My Eye.

The show will include the work of 26 designers and an installation piece by (knee shy) and will be up for an entire month!

Here are the details:

Ctrl+Alt+Delete

Ouch My Eye

1022 First Avenue South

Seattle, WA

June 12th - July 12th

Opening: July 12th, 6:00pm-7:00pm (all ages)

7:00pm-Midnight (21+)

Hope to see you all there! Facebook invitation here.

Thanks RISD Views!

It was cool to find Grain mentioned on a number of pages of the Spring 2009 RISD Views magazine. Firstly, our Sustainability Systems Strategist, Sami Nerenberg (also the youngest adjunct faculty member at RISD) contributed an inspiring article (pages 10-13) entitled Changing Design / Designing Change. 

Reminder: Sami needs your vote on Ideablob this week. Please support her amazing Room by Room project here. 

Secondly, Grain was grouped with our friends at Ecolect and Dawn Danby of Aylanto in a section called Designing a Sustainable Future (page 28). 

Finally, there was a nice little mention of the summer program that I led at the Seattle Art Museum last year called Re+Vision: Design Your (Neighbor)hood (page 33). 

Download the full magazine here. Thanks again RISD!

Post Model Citizens...

Thanks to everyone who came out to support Model Citizens in New York last weekend! Our favorite part of the show was getting to know all of the designers exhibiting. It was such a great community. See links to all of the participating designers here. Big thanks to Erika Carmichael for the invitation.

Above and below are some pics from the show. The ceramics in the second to last shot are by Zena Verda Pesta. The cardboard partition wall and mirror cut-outs in the last shot are by Ben Blanc.

We were thrilled to sellout of the Ty Recyclable Shower Curtains that we brought (should have packed more) and happy to have convinced many a sitter of the comfort level of our Cafe America chair.

Read more about Model Citizens exhibition (including a mention of our Cafe America chair) in the Metropolis Magazine blog post here or on Core77 here or here.

UPDATED 5/28/09: See all our photos from Model Citizens here.

Go Time! Please Vote!

Thanks to all of YOU, we're in the FINALS - but now the real competition begins! Please vote again for our Room by Room pilot here!! Or if you haven't already, please take a minute to sign up!

As an exciting update, Room by Room has gotten a grant! As part of the stimulus package, the Workforce Investment Act has chosen Room by Room as one of its pilot projects to provide job training for at-risk youth!!

Plus we have a sweet new video! See above. :-)

Thanks for VOTING!!!

Ideablobbing to the Finals

We are proud to announce that Sami has made it to the finals for her Room by Room pilot show on Ideablob!! This means she has a 1 in 8 chance of winning $10,000!!!

Voting starts again May 22nd so rev up your engines friends and get ready to vote! Competition is SUPER tough and we will need all the support we can get. 

Sign up to be a "Network Node" to message all your friends starting Friday. 

Or be a "Blog Master" to write and comment on blogs across the web to link to Ideablob!

To sign up, contact Sami : sami (at) graindesign.com

Woohoo!!!

Flat-Pack: Cafe America

Our new chair, Cafe America, which we are showing at Model Citizens in New York May 16-18, was designed to compress for flat-pack shipping. This improves shipping efficiency and saves on packing materials and costs. We can actually ship two in one box so I suggest buying a pair! Above is James demonstrating the assembly process. All that is needed is a few minutes and an allen wrench. 

Getting ready for Model Citizens...

We're in New York getting ready for Model Citizens (which opens Saturday May 16th) and loving all the press going around. Check some of it out here:

Design Glut interviews Erika Carmichael and Mark Goetz about the inspiration behind Model Citizens and shows our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain.

Cool Hunting gives a preview of the exhibition and shows our Cafe America chair (pictured above).

Core77 gives its preview of the exhibition, including a list of all the designers, and also shows our Cafe America chair.

Hope to see you all at the show May 16-18th, 475 10th Avenue at 36th Street!

Grain in New York for Design Week

Reminder: If you are in New York for Design Week, come check out our newest work at Model Citizens!

Model Citizens  

Exit Underground 

475 10th Avenue (@ 36th Street) 

New York, NY 10018

May 16 - 18, 2009 11:00am to 6:00pm 
Cocktail Reception May 16 5:00pm to 7:00pm 

We will be showing our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain and our Café America chair (pictured above) along with a few other surprises. Model Citizens is a newly formed organization committed to connecting an international community of independent designers. We are excited to be showing with old friends Nathan Thomas, Niels Cosman and Audra Wolowiec of AND Department of Mineral Science, and

e. carmichael, as well as with new Seattle friends iacoli & mcallister.

Hope to see you in New York!

Grain in the Bainbridge Review

Thanks to Dennis Anstine, Editor of the Bainbridge Review, for the nice article on Grain today! Check it out here. Photo of us with our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain by Brad Camp. 

Heroes and Pilots: Vote Here

Our very own Sami Nerenberg is set to take off on her pilot eco-home makeover show, Room by Room! After Timberland has chosen her as an EarthKeeper Hero of 2009, this summer, 10 inner-city teens will compete in six weeks of eco-design bootcamp to be the best eco-designer and win their very own healthy home make-over!

Within the home one can find environmental burdens such as lead paint, mold, pests, and toxic cleaning products under the sink that can lead to things like learning disabilities, asthma, and even cancer. These burdens fall hardest on low-income often minority communities. It's her goal to share ways to make healthy, beautiful and affordable changes that we can all do during this time of uncertainty and rebuilding.

With the Majora Carter Group as her media consultant, Timberland as her publicity outlet, RISD and Brown University as her cohorts, this project is set to take off!  But she needs your help!

Vote for her idea on ideablob here so she can win $10,000 to pilot the show!!!

Brick by brick, block by block, Room by Room, together we can help to restore and redesign this nation!! Design for America!

Timberland's EarthKeeper Hero!!

Good News! I've been recruited by Timberland as an Earthkeeper Hero for 2009!  What does this mean?  Well, Timberland has partnered with a social network called Changents.com to develop the Earthkeeper Heroes program.  Together, they are "talent-scouting" around the world for six high-potential green agents of change from Generation Y and providing a promotional/consumer engagement engine to "break" these individuals onto the global environmental scene.  I am one of the six! 

The objective is for Timberland to position its Earthkeeper brand and ethos as a vehicle that helps individuals become the catalysts of environmental change around the world.  For me this means more horsepower to drive exposure for my work in Design for Social Entrepreneurship at RISD and my upcoming summer project! 

Please check out my story area on Changents and if you care to stay updated on my adventures, "back" me! 

Ty at Did You Know? in Rhode Island...

If you live in Rhode Island, you will be able to check out our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain at the Did You Know? store in the next few weeks. They specialize in "products that sustain you, and the planet too" and have locations in both Wakefield and East Greenwich. Yeah Rhode Island!

Cafe America on Core77!!

We were happily surprised to find our new chair, Cafe America, on Core77 this morning!! The chair, which is being finished as I type, will be shown at Design Within Reach Seattle tommorow as part of the M+D+F exhibition. We are also taking it with us to New York next week along with our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain and our Appropriated Series Bench for Model Citizens NYC 2009. We just figured out pricing, so I hope to get Cafe America up for sale in our Grain shop soon!

In the meantime, here is a little more info on Cafe America:

Café America is a surprisingly comfortable indoor/outdoor chair. Taking inspiration from ubiquitous chain-link fencing, it recontextualizes the unsung material. A unique cushioning effect is created by the lightly tensioned chain-link seat and back. Café America is made of recycled chain-link whenever possible and flat-packs for efficient shipping and storage. 

Materials: 

Recycled galvanized steel chain-link, with stainless steel rod and fasteners. Color powder coating available.

Environmental / Social: 

Recycled Content, Environmentally Preferable Finish, Handmade in the U.S., Flat-Packs for Shipment, High Durability, Recyclable

Origin: 

Hand made in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.

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Ty available at eConscious Market!

Our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain is now available for purchase at eConscious Market!

eConscious Market is a "for-benefit" online shop based in Boulder, Colorado. They sell "the finest ecologically and socially responsible products available and donate up to 10% of every purchase to the exceptional non-profit organizations listed on (their) website".

We are really proud to have been selected as a new vendor!

Reminder: DWR Seattle M+D+F Exhibition Thursday May 7th

Come see Grain's latest chair, Cafe America, at Design Within Reach Seattle's M+D+F Exhibition along with the work of 7 other local designers this Thursday May 7th, 6:00-8:00 pm at Design Within Reach Seattle 1918 First Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101. One night only!

M+D+F 2009 is a juried exhibition of innovative furniture by emerging designers in the Seattle area. Organized by the DWR Seattle Studio and juried by Seth Grizzle and Jonathan Junker, of graypants, and Craig Brooks, Principal of KONTENT PARTNERS, M+D+F provides an opportunity for peer, public and professional recognition for up-and-coming designers and firms. 

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