Save The Date Seattle: Nov 13th + Nov 28th

If you are in Seattle this November, there are two great design events coming up thanks to JOIN: Design Seattle. Grain will be participating in both, so we hope to see you there!

SCRAP

November 13th, 2009 - January 13th, 2009

A show of limited edition design objects in scrap wood by Seattle artists and designers. Will feature work by Grain, Iacoli & McAllister, Loc Trinh, Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, Laura Yeats, Trey Jones and Darin Montgomery for Urbancase, Fortyfive09 and &C.

Opening: Friday November 13th, 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Location: Fancy 1914 2nd Avenue (btwn Stewart & Virginia)

DESIGN SHOPPE

Saturday November 28th, 2009 7:00pm - 11:00pm

A one night pop-up shop featuring design objects from local artists and designers. Silent auction to benefit JOIN: Design Seattle and Nest Seattle.

Location: Vermillion Art + Wine 1508 11th Avenue (btwn Pike & Pine)

For more info on either events, please visit JOIN: Design Seattle.

Room by Room Video!

Harken Productions just put together an awesome video of Sami's Room by Room summer program for the City of Providence. Check it out!

Thank you Michelle Le Brun for putting this together!

JOIN's 'Design Shoppe' Call for Submissions

DATE: Saturday November 28th (one night only)

TIME: 7pm - 11pm
WHERE: Vermillion Art + Wine - 1508 11th Ave btwn Pike and Pine - Seattle, WA 98122
OTHER: In addition to the Pop-Up, there will be a Silent Auction to benefit JOIN and Nest Seattle. The sale and auction are cash and carry, no credit cards will be accepted. We will have dedicated "cashiers" to handle all transactions. In other words, you don't have to "man a booth," you can enjoy yourself.

TO SUBMIT: Objects should fall into the following categories: table top, lighting, accessories, jewelry, soft goods. No furniture will be accepted. Objects must be priced under $100 retail. Please send submissions to info@joinDesignSeattle.com with the following:

Designer name
Name of piece
Material(s)
Dimensions
Number of pieces available to sell
Price
1-3 images

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Midnight November 4th
DELIVERY DEADLINE: November 20th

FEE: Once your work has been chosen for inclusion in the Pop-Up, there is a $20 fee to sell. This fee will help offset marketing costs. Neither JOIN nor Vermillion will be taking a commission of sales.

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If you have any questions please contact: jamie@iacolimcallister.com

For more information about our organization, please visit: www.joinDesignSeattle.com

JOIN promotes emerging independent American design by providing designers a forum to show work, get feedback and support. By organizing design shows, events and hosting an online design calendar, we strive to be the adhesive and a resource that binds a thriving, but fragmented, furniture and product design design community in Seattle.

Grain joins 1% For The Planet!

We are excited to announce that we are now members of 1% For The Planet. Since 2002, 1% For The Planet has inspired 1,243 companies to contribute 1% of sales, or more than $30 million, to 1,837 environmental groups around the world. Learn more about 1% For The Planet on their website here or in this video.

Members include Loomstate for Barney's New York, Clif Bar, Patagonia, Grounds for Change, Jack Johnson, Q Collection, SIGG Switzerland, Taproot Tea Company and Zoe Melo.

Look for the 1% For The Planet logo on all our in-house products starting this month.

Calling all Seattle-area illustrators/models...

Are you going to be in the Seattle-area October 24th? Interested in art, design, photography, modeling, feasting, visiting beautiful Bainbridge Island and/or just helping us out over here at Grain?

We are in the process of re-launching our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain and its new sister: Ty DIY which is a 'draw your own design' edition. To get ready, we are hosting a shower curtain photoshoot and we need artists and models to make it happen.

Anyone interested in being one of the new faces of Ty and helping Grain out in a MAJOR way, please let us know if you can make it by October 5th by emailing us at info[at]graindesign.com.

Here are the details for our shower curtain/photoshoot/feast:

Saturday October 24th

12:20pm Take the ferry to Bainbridge

1:00pm Have a refreshing cocktail; Get a Ty DIY shower curtain and markers to illustrate; Draw your heart out

2:00pm Have another cocktail or two; Get photographed with your custom Ty DIY

3:00pm Have a feast in your honor!

Added bonus: You get to take your new custom Ty DIY curtain home with you to keep forever! Thanks in advance for your support!!

Congratulations Earthkeeper Hero Sami!!

Brit and Sami were in New York celebrating with the other Timberland Earthkeeper Heroes, including newest Hero, Grammy Award-winning musician, humanitarian and Goodwill Ambassador to Haiti, Wyclef Jean! Congratulations Sami!!

Read more about Sami and her work with Nate Bastien as Earthkeeper Heroes here.

Blu Homes acquires Michelle Kaufman!

We are super excited to announce that our friends at Blu Homes have acquired the assets of mkDesigns, which owns the prefab home designs of architect and green pioneer Michelle Kaufman! Above and below are some images of homes by mkDesigns. Blu's plan is to apply their own technology to the Michelle Kaufman designs, such as mkGlidehouse, mkLotus and Sunset Breezehouse and make them available nation wide. With this acquisition, Blu is fast becoming the leader in prefabricated green homes. Congratulations Blu!

Read the full press release here.

Grain profiled on JOIN!

We are really excited to be the first local designers profiled for JOIN: Design Seattle. The article and most of the photos come from Jean and Dylan of Ladies & Gentlemen. JOIN is planning to have one new designer profile each month so stay tuned!

I posted the profile below. You can read it on the JOIN blog here too. Go Seattle!

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Welcome to our very first JOIN Designer Profile. On behalf of JOIN, Dylan and I will interview talented and emerging designers and visit their studio and homes starting in the Northwest region. Our goal is to share a little something about each designer's work, personality, work/living space, and design philosophy.

Welcome to our very first JOIN Designer Profile. Today we’ll be featuring Bainbridge Island-based design all-stars, Grain. We had the extreme pleasure of enjoying a perfect summer BBQ evening at their picturesque 1901 island home situated a short ferry ride west of downtown Seattle. Grain partners, James and Chelsea, live and work out of the home and adjoined workshop, which they have renovated and decorated to perfectly reflect their appreciation of the home’s character, but also their clean modern style. They prepared an amazing meal, which we enjoyed on their wooded porch. What an inspiring setting to design in.
When Grain isn’t enjoying laid-back island living, they’re busy working away as a design studio and consultancy with an ecological focus (easy to understand their appreciation of the earth given their surroundings). Grain’s goal is to help clients develop sustainable solutions that have a positive effect on humanity on a social and global scale.
Each of the four members of the collaborative can trace their roots back to Rhode Island School of Design where they first developed their approach to sustainable endeavors. Their diverse body of past work ranges from furniture to socio-cultural documentation and more.
They also have a budding collection of their own products that includes the simply clever Ty shower curtain (made from durable, recyclable and water-repellent Tyvek). Grain is also in the unique situation of operating on both coasts with half its workforce on Bainbridge (Chelsea Green and James Minola) and half on the East Coast (Brit Klienman and Sami Nerenberg). While working at a distance can have its challenges, Grain sees the arrangement as an advantage, allowing them to meet their client’s needs from multiple perspectives and locations. We spoke to partner Chelsea Green to learn more about what makes Grain tick.
Studio Name: Grain
Members: James Minola, Partner, Chelsea Green, Partner , Sami Nerenberg, Sustainable Systems Strategist, Brittany Kleinman, Designer
Location: Grain is based on Bainbridge Island, which is a 35 minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle. We also have designers available in Boston and New York.
Website: www.graindesign.com
Started In: 2007
What's the story behind your (company/studio), how did it start?
James first conceived of the consultancy while we were all still students in the Industrial Design Department at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He invited us all to participate. At first he was the only full-time Grain employee. In 2008 I began working full-time for Grain as well. Along with being our Sustainable Systems Strategist, Sami is the youngest adjunct faculty member in the Industrial Design Department at RISD, where she teaches the popular Design for Social Entrepreneurship studio. Brit works full-time for Jack Spade, is the creative force behind AVO Market and designs for Grain.
What's your design philosophy and approach?
We focus on uniting sustainability and business through design. We believe that there is an inherent responsibility in the practice of design. We approach every design problem through a rigorous and systematic process - always considering the social and environmental benefits and affects of the work that we do.
What are some highlights (life changing events) you've experienced that influenced your current work or philosophy?
We all come from different backgrounds which have led us individually towards design and focus in sustainability. My background was luxury interior design. I had enormous conflicts with using my design thinking merely to facilitate conspicuous consumption. I loved the opportunities for creative expression that the seemingly limitless project budges allowed me, but at the end of the day I felt unfulfilled as the work required me to turn a blind eye to some of the larger social and environmental realities of the world. I believe design has the capacity to promote positive changes-to inspire and be catalyst for good. I want to spend my short time on this planet working on projects that are in line with this belief.

What do you consider your most successful and or rewarding project?
For me, one of the most rewarding projects that we’ve worked on together happened before we even became an official collective. It was Bridging Cultures Through Design, the wintersession course at RISD in which James, Brit and I met. It was led by designer and educator Mimi Robinson, who has worked for years helping artisan groups bring sustainable products to market.
After a month of studying Guatemalan artisan techniques and traditions, we traveled in a group of nine RISD students to the communities of San Antonio Palopo and Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala to create a collection of textile-based products for contemporary markets. The goal of the project was to build sustainable income opportunities for the artisan communities that we worked with – providing them with design ideas to help build future collections. As a group, we developed over 60 products (many that are still in production) that were launched at the New York International Gift Fair.

Getting to experience the whole process of authentic research, culturally and environmentally sensitive product development and the economic forces that influence everything, really opened our eyes to how impactful design can be.

On top of it all, it was the project that led us to meet each other!
What's your favorite place to visit and get inspiration? (i.e. countries, cities, your home, beach, middle of nowhere, etc.)
I personally get a lot of inspiration by going back to New York (my home of 7 years) to be with friends who are in similar places in their careers and creative work. I also have family in London that I like to visit often. It is such a gritty, diverse and creative environment for me. We get a lot of inspiration from living here in the Northwest as well. There is just so much awe-inspiring natural beauty. Its influence is ever present.
What do you like to do when you need a break from design?
James and I have to remind ourselves to get out there. Because we live and work in one place (on an island no less) and are a couple, we spend the majority of our time together and in work mode. We get that guilty feeling that a lot of young entrepreneurs experience when they steal time away from their work. That said, we are learning to create more balance. We spend a lot of time outdoors since moving back to the Northwest. Walking, hiking and beach lounging are a major part of our repertoire and definitely get us out of the office. I am also pretty dedicated to practicing yoga several times a week and spending several hours with The New York Times on Sunday.
We also love food: foraging, cooking, reading about and experimenting with. We have a so-so vegetable garden, though it seems to get better each year. We also belong to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) so we have access to a lot of spectacular local produce to play with. We have lemoncello working its magic as I write and beer and wine making on our to-do list this year.

What's your favorite object? Why? (i.e. something of sentimental value, or something with character, charm, or simply will designed)
The most important objects that I own are all sentimental. Photos, love letters, old journals, sketchbooks and jewelry that I have been given by family and friends. They would be the things I grab in a fire. That and my hard drive.
What's your favorite, well-designed food? why?
Um, this could be a long list... Generally, I prefer simply prepared foods that celebrate ingredients at their finest. A caprese salad of heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella with basil from the garden and great olive oil and balsamic comes to mind. When prepared properly, it just lets each ingredient shine and fills you with the taste of summer. In winter, we also make this slow cooked bolognese that is so rich you almost have to lie down after a bowl of it over pasta. It has these deep flavors (from the red wine, pancetta, etc.) that just continue to reveal themselves with each new bite.


What are the strengths of design in the Northwest? How do you see it becoming stronger?
There is a lot of great design happening in the Northwest. The tricky part is getting to know what’s going on beyond the surface. Becoming involved with JOIN has made a major impact on how connected we now feel to the Northwest design community - which is really important to us as we think about growing our business here.
In an effort to educate myself on contemporary art and design in the Northwest, I began a blog in late 2008 called Village Mews as a way to archive everything I was stumbling across in my own personal research. In doing this, I thought I would begin to get a more cohesive picture of the Northwest design scene. Almost a year later, I am not sure if I can summarize it into a neat package. That said, there are some themes that begin to bubble up. One is materiality; there is definitely a consciousness to the way designers here think about their use of material – whether it be reclaimed, sustainably sourced, or locally produced. Secondly, in the process of making, there seems to be a strong D.I.Y./craft/handmade affinity. Also, here in Seattle at least, it feels like a lot of designers try to leverage the tremendously rich manufacturing/production processes available locally in their work. These themes are not necessarily unique to the Pacific Northwest, but they are the themes that I would identify with Northwest design if I had to make some unifying connections. If I were selecting a couple adjectives to describe designers here, I would probably pick authentic, straightforward and resourceful.
As far as strengthening design in the Northwest, I think the efforts of JOIN are going to be a catalyst - bringing together the disparate work of our regional designers. This should help us more clearly define our collective efforts and get the word out about what we do so well here. Through the grey and gloom that we are infamous for, I think the future looks bright for Northwest design.

Room by Room Wrap Up

After an intense 6 week eco-design bootcamp, Sami just wrapped up Room by Room - the healthy home make-over show with inner city teens!

Each student had a $100 budget to make over their rooms to be healthy and beautiful in an affordable way.

Check out below a clip from some of the last day's silliness and some of the pics from the final presentations.

Getting set up for final presentations! Aileen and Melvin's!

Jaymin and Donnie's Goods just before final presentations!

Room by Room finale!

Doing some filming for the intro of the show!

As a Timberland EarthKeeper Hero, Sami has been blogging about her experiences here! Stay tuned for video clips from the show!

'Design To Go' opens tonight!!

And no, James and I aren't there, but Brit will be, along with Erika and other Grain friends like Jamie of Iacoli McAllister and JOIN. It should be a packed event! We are really excited and humbled to be showing with this group.

Above and below are the photos that have already popped up on Cool Hunting and Flavorwire. Read more about 'Design To Go' on Core77 and T Magazine.

Below are our Cheri necklaces next to Kiel Mead's birdie light.

Above are our Cheri necklaces again!

New designs in the Grain shop!

If you haven't been to the Grain shop in a while, it is worth a visit. We added two new pieces today: Cheri and Zero Waste.

Both of these designs are making their debut in the American Design Club section of the 'Design To Go' pop-up shop in New York tonight. Both will be available for purchase there until September 26th. If you aren't in New York, you can purchase from Grain shop directly. As with all our designs, wholesale/trade prices are available along with custom orders by emailing us directly here.

Thanks to all who have supported the shop thus far! Look forward to more soon!