Café America on Archinect!

Read the full Café America post on Archinect here.

Café America sightings...

Café America is popping up all over the blogosphere. Latest sightings... igreenspot, Furnishh!, and Crib Candy.

More photos form Ctrl+Alt+Design!

These great photos come from Jean Lee of Ladies & Gentlemen who was part of the blind jury for Ctrl+Alt+Design. See the full slideshow here. Again, the show is up through July 12th if you missed the opening...

Above is a chalkboard paint covered pig by Ladies & Gentlemen.

The Bread Friend Map by eating designer Tricia Martin.

Tricia with her giant bread peel.

Sunlight filling the gallery.

Another view from above.

Darin Montgomery of Urbancase with James and I.

Jean and friends in cute dresses.

Cardboard scrap lighting by Greypants.

Tea-cup by Elisa Werbler.

Someone wearing our Ty shower curtain.

Opening night of Ctrl+Alt+Design...

If you missed the Ctrl+Alt+Design opening last Friday in Seattle, here are a few (not so great) pics. I promise to go back a take some better ones before it closes on July 12th. Tricia Martin has some better shots over on her blog here and here.

Above is a handmade paper lamp shade by LiT. Below is a Tyvek bag by Meet Me Here. The following is a lighting installation by Brite Collective, Jason Neufeld's ceramics (on the pedestal), two clock designs by Stanley Ruiz, a standing lamp and chalkboard paint animals by Ladies & Gentlemen, and our Café America chair and Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain poking out from behind the crowd.

There was so much great work to see that we are definitely going back to spend a calm afternoon taking it all in. Big thanks to JOIN: Design Seattle for all hard work that went into making this show happen!

UPDATED 06/17/09: Here's a link to some great photos from opening night taken by Erik Johnson of Hankbuilt.

Ctrl+Alt+Design on Cool Hunting!!

A nice long post... with a good shot of Café America included! Read it here. If you missed the opening Friday, Ctrl+Alt+Design is up through July 12th in Seattle.

UPDATED 06/16/09: Also see a nice post about the show in the Seattle Metropolitan magazine blog, Who What When, written by Laura Cassidy here.

Bellevue By Design

If you are a Seattle-area teen interested in art and design, you should check out this new program called Bellevue By Design that Chelsea Green of Grain will be leading at Open Satellite this July 13 - 31st, 2009. The program will run Monday - Friday 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. Here is the full description:

Bellevue By Design is a three-week, college prep/intensive exploration for local teens passionate about art, design, and architecture. Participants will engage in the public and private identity-building processes of their hometown. Through meetings with local artists and community stakeholders, guided field work, and studio art making, teens will have the opportunity to reshape their city with a rich (and unexpected) array of tools and information. A final presentation of the teens’ research, process, and design solutions will be publicly presented at Open Satellite or at a Bellevue partner organization.

To learn more about the program please contact Laura O'Quin at laura@opensatellite.org or 425.454.7355.

Café America on Contemporist...

Super excited to see the big crisp photos of Café America on Contemporist today! See the full spread here. Thank you for the support Dave!

Grain presenting at GreenDrinks June 18th

Our friends at Open Satellite have invited us out to Bellevue to present at the next Eastside-Seattle GreenDrinks on June 18th 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm. We will be presenting our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain as well as talking about some of our up-coming projects. If you are in the Seattle area, we hope to see you there. The event is sponsored by Georgetown Brewery, so don't forget to bring your own reusable cup.

The current Open Satellite exhibition is Vehicle by New York-based artist Seth Kinmont. It is an amazing installation of in-process electric cars and is not to be missed!

Bazaaro

James and I took a break from the office/studio today to meet some of our neighbors and sell our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtains at the Indie Bandita Bazaar on Bainbridge Island. We signed up on a whim and weren't sure what to expect, but it ended up being a fun day full of shower curtain conversations and sales. Our chic booth (pictured above) dazzeled passers by, and some even recognized us from the Bainbridge Review...

Tomorrow, Saturday June 6th 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, my little brother/budding entrepreneur, Tyler, will be "manning the booth" with some of his friends from Woodward Middle School. Come by after the Farmers Market and check out all the local wares!

UPDATED 06/09/09: Below photo is of our "sales associates" working the booth.

Ty on the Mother Nature Network!

Here's what Matt Hickman, eco-living expert/blogger for the Mother Nature Network, wrote about Ty in a piece titled "Against the grain" from June 2nd:

"Here’s a new PVC-alternative shower curtain that’s recently crossed my path and should appeal to those, dudes or not, looking to green-up their bathrooms: The Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain ($30) from Bainbridge Island, Washington-based, Rhode Island School of Design-founded sustainable design firm Grain. It’s made from HDPE, the petro-based but highly recyclable plastic found in shampoo bottles and the like. The Ty is, of course, PVC-free and doesn’t off-gas. It does breathe, slowing down the mold and mildew growing process and giving it a longer life. It's also ethically made in the U.S. and packaged minimally in recycled paper. In terms of design, there's not much to look at (only available in white) but I still (think it is) super cool.

Also available from Grain are two slightly more pricey but no less intriguing green items for the home: Café America ($600), an indoor/outdoor chair made from recycled chain link fencing and a bench ($500) made completely from scrap wood and clamps.

I’m looking forward to new developments from the folks at this brainy, grainy green design collective from the Pacific Northwest."

See the full post here. Purchase Ty through the Grain website here.

Reminder: Ctrl+Alt+Design June 12th - July 12th

Just a reminder... If you are in Seattle June 12 - July 12, come check out our new work at Ctrl+Alt+Design. We'll be showing with 26 other designers (see below) in this Join: Design Seattle curated exhibition.

From Seattle, WA: Brite Collective, Heath Bultman, Dreamlets, Forty-Five-09, G.S. Gartrell, Grain, Greypants, Iacoli Mcallister, Jeff LaCoste, Meet Me Here, Ladies & Gentlemen, Paul Pitacitelli, Submaterial, Urbancase

From Portland, OR: Tricia Martin, Erik Johnson

From Milwaukee, WI: Misewell

Chelsea, MA: Timothy Liles

Providence, RI: Elisa Werbler

New York, NY: Andre Claire, Charles Constantine, Sallyann Corn, Martin Gloeckle, Joe Kent, Kiel Mead, Jason Neufeld, Stanley Ruiz

The opening is June 12th, 6:00-7:00pm (all ages), 7:00pm-Midnight (21+), at Ouch My Eye 1022 1st Avenue South in Seattle. Hope to see you all there!!

Blu in USA Today!

We were excited to see our friends/clients at Blu featured in an article titled "Prefab homes sprout green designs, improve affordability" in USA Today a couple days ago.

At $135 - $175 a square foot we think that you are going to be reading a lot more about Blu in the near future! Above is a rendering of their Blu Origin home design. Read the full article here.

More Model Citizens...

These new Model Citizens photos all come from the Core77 New York Design Week 2009 slideshow. They were taken by Lisa Smith (above) and Glen Jackson Taylor (all below). We were proud to see that 18 of the 445 pics posted from the busy week were from Model Citizens. View the whole slideshow here.

Appropriated Series: Bench by Grain.

Anno Domini calendar by Stanley Ruiz.

Frame Pendants by Iacoli McAllister.

Ceramic pots by Jason Neufeld.

Bombus Shelters (buriable beehives) also by Jason Neufeld.

Shelf by e. carmichael.

NYC Metro Cuff by Design Hype.

Interior installation by Nathan Thomas Studios.