Tobi had an unmatched ability to re-mix cultural artifacts, making objects that comment on our society and explore the notion of value. He was the master craftsman of humor, beauty, and wit. When Kegan and I started Design Glut, it was because we dreamed of creating conceptual objects with the kind of impact he achieved. His work sparked our imagination.

Boxcutter by Tobias Wong, 2002

Cokespoon #1 – a bronze casting of the ubiquitous pen cap dipped in gold

Doorstop – Concrete casting created in a Savoy vase, which then has to be unashamedly smashed in order to yield the form.

Camoflauge iPad case by Tobias Wong and Chelsea Briganti

I cannot believe I’ll never get to see a new idea from him, a brilliant nugget, something that alters my perception of the ordinary.

The first time we met him, in 2007, he was our hero and we were a couple of kids just out of school that could barely contain our excitement. Then and every time we’ve seen him since, we found him to be incredibly friendly and down-to-earth. Even though we only knew him casually, the news of his death is hitting me terribly hard. We wouldn’t be doing the kind of work we do if it weren’t for his influence. He was completely genius, unique, irreplaceable.

Thank you for the inspiration.

Kegan (left) and Tobi (right) outside the Wrong Store. Image via Core77

Design Glut is a very small company of 2 people. We’d gotten pretty comfortable with that, until our latest adventure. As we curated and organized a show during Design Week called Uncomfortable Conversations, all of a sudden we were working very closely with a group of 15 designers and 6 sponsors.

There were plenty of times when we found ourselves less-than-amused by the number of uncomfortable conversations we had to have to pull this thing off. It was a ton of work, but by rallying a group, we were able to make a statement of such greater magnitude and depth than we ever could have done on our own.

On May 16th, 400 people came out to the opening party. Uncomfortable and comfortable conversations were had. Conceptual design was appreciated. And we realized that Design Glut has the ability to bring together the design community IRL, not just on the internet, which is super exciting. Here’s a recap of the our first event – with more shows definitely to come!

In the gallery, a.k.a. an empty storefront in the Meatpacking District that we took over for a week.

photo by Jacob Krupnick

Chrissy Conant’s A2Zzz Pillows. Cuddle up with some Ambien.

Will Robison’s Kevin Carpet Bench. For an hour each day that the show was open, a fetishist was rolled up inside the carpet and show-goers were invited to sit on him. Here’s a series of pictures showing Julio, the human carpet, going in:

Will sitting on Julio.

photo by Jacob Krupnick

From left to right: Liz, Julio’s wife, Vincent, Julio’s adorable little baby boy, and Matthew Waldman of Nooka

photo by Jacob Krupnick

Demian Repucci’s Consumption dinnerware is decorated with infographics that describe the vast differences in food and water consumption around the world.

Vincent Lai’s Deterrent bag is reversible, allowing you to bust out some spikes on a would-be attacker.

Uncomfortable Typographic Situations by MSLK shows what can happen without proper kerning. Also a good litmus test for how dirty your mind is – different show-goers saw different things on first glance…

photo by Luke Escamilla

Body Function by Matthew Waldman. It’s uncomfortable. Enough said.

photo by Jacob Krupnick

Materious’ briefcase/paper shredder (cleverly titled In Case) is a must-have accessory for crooked CEOs.

photo by Luke Escamilla

Chi-Merica by Paul Loebach is a reconfiguration of his Half Mirror, putting an uncomfortable conversation about the ethics of furniture manufacturing out there. That’s the designer, caught nervously biting his nails.

photo by Ryan Heiser

Ana Linares’ It’s Not You / It’s Not Me necklaces are a conversation starter, but a relationship ender.

photo by Ryan Heiser

Which contrasts with Sruli Recht’s Garrote necklace/choker – a conversation starter, but a life ender.

Karl Zahn’s hanging lamp, Heavy, addresses the terror of the cartoon world – death by falling anvil.

And then there’s the Trashlight by Craighton Berman. What do you throw away? What dirty little secrets get hidden in those black plastic bags? If you think you have nothing to hide, or if you’re a bold exhibitionist, cast light on your refuse and put it out on display.

And the final theme of the show was uncomfortable conversations about touching. For those of you who find the subway too germy and and tightly packed, put on a pair of Andrew Haarsager’s Mind The Gap gloves. Should someone’s hand start to drift down the pole towards yours, you’ll be well-protected and ready to impale them.

If you’re the angry type (and New Yorkers tend to be), perhaps you should consider letting go of some of your grudges. Shaking hands with your enemies might seem too extreme a first step – so use Dominic Wilcox’ Pre-Handshake Handshake Device to get used to the motion.

photo by Ryan Heiser

We believe it’s the role of creatives to start the uncomfortable conversations that cause people to grow.

“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” – Timothy Ferriss

Inspired by the quote above, we challenged a group of designers to create something which provokes an uncomfortable yet important conversation. Participating designers were given complete freedom with the type of object they created, the materials they used, and the topic of the conversation they set out to provoke.

As a result, we have ended up with a wonderfully broad body of work – housewares and furniture, jewelry and fashion, graphics and video. Still, everything exhibited here has one thing in common: the desire to make you uncomfortable. It’s your turn to judge how well they succeed.

- Design Glut, Curators

[This move was not endorsed by Kegan, who shot me an extremely dirty look upon hearing the can pop open. It should be noted that she is currently building a scale model of our gift fair booth in Solidworks rather than obsessing over Twitter drama, which makes her a better person than I am.]

Some design junkies may not yet know about the epic Design-Loves/Hates-a-Depression Fight of January 2009. Read this and form your own opinion:

- Design Loves a Depression by Michael Canell for the New York Times, January 3rd

- Design Hates a Depression by Murray Moss for Design Observer, January 7th

- DESIGN FIGHT! by Stefan Boublil for The Apartment Broadcast, January 9th

And now, to quote @stefanboublil, “Because nobody asked,” comes my opinion.

I <3 the depression. That's right. I've been saying this since before Michael Canell's article came out. I don't mean to be insensitive. I am not belittling the trouble that the current economic disaster is causing for many people I love and their families. But to quote Stefan once again, “What is wrong with suggesting that design’s next evolutionary step might be reduction again after years of maximalism?”

My favorite article on the recession is also over at Design Observer, and while it seems to be getting a lot less attention than Murray’s piece, it is actually filled with useful information relating to getting through an economic downturn. I recommend that everyone read Designing Through the Recession by Michael Bierut.

His conclusion is the same one I’ve been reaching in many recent conversations. “Use this downturn as a learning experience. If you’ve got the discipline to survive, or even thrive, in the next year or so, you’ll be mastering skills that will serve you well forever.”

I’ve been comparing the recession to the silver lining on a forest fire. Here’s a basic lesson from the Discovery Channel: “Ecosystems such as prairies, savannas, chaparral, and jack pine forests are dependent on periodic fire to maintain themselves. Otherwise, these ecosystems would be taken over by trees. Periodic fires can open up sections of the forest canopy, creating an opening for smaller plants that need lots of sunlight to grow; this stimulates diversity in the forest ecosystem.”

So the recession is clearing the big guys and allowing the little guys to get more sunlight. Of course, the big guys aren’t going to like it, because once you’ve set up a successful system you would prefer to just sit back and reap the rewards rather than having to continue to fight for it. And if you’ve become one of the big guys, you’ve probably fought really hard to get there and done some really innovative stuff and deserve to be rewarded. But then you get complacent; suddenly you’re no longer as innovative as you were when you were young and hungry. A new generation of little seedlings will rise up.

Another great plant-based analogy for the recession is in this article that was forwarded to me by my aunt last month. The entrepreneur in a recession is like a Lotus in the Swamp.

“History suggests that difficult economic conditions may actually be the best of times for entrepreneurship. Like a lotus that thrives in a dirty swamp, some of the most innovative companies have emerged during deep recessions. And just as the lotus relies on the swamp for its nutrition, startup companies can actually benefit from difficult economic conditions. The Great Depression of 1929 was the most severe and prolonged economic crisis the world has ever seen. And yet, it was during these times that great companies like Motorola and Texas Instruments were founded. Ironically, it was during the Depression that Fortune was launched, when there wasn’t much business to talk about.”

Now nobody’s saying that the Great Depression was overall a good thing. The point is that there ARE good things which came out of it. Going back to the Design Fight, this is exactly what Canell argues.

“The pain of layoffs notwithstanding, the design world could stand to come down a notch or two — and might actually find a new sense of relevance in the process. That was the case during the Great Depression, when an early wave of modernism flourished in the United States, partly because it efficiently addressed the middle-class need for a pared-down life without servants and other Victorian trappings.”

There is plenty of excess in the world today, and a lot of good would come from going over it all with a fine-toothed comb and separating out what’s really essential. We named our company Design Glut for a reason. We believe that we are living in a Design Glut. There is too much stuff on the market. And if a tanking stock market is what it takes to instigate change, then so be it.

However, all of this discourse has led me to a bit of an existential crisis. If the recession clears the Design Glut, then our company name will no longer be witty and ironic. Shit. I suppose we’re secretly hoping for that joke to become obsolete, and then we can start a utopian new company called “Design Perfect Equilibrium” or something. Until that day, or until the day that we become a bloated, complacent beauracracy ourselves, we get to blog about radical ideas.

P.S. On a side note, how awesome is it to see people getting riled up and discussing this stuff? Quoted from @mocoloco, “re Design Depression Debate, waiting for someone to throw a punch! It’s a tempest in a teapot, but it draws attention to design.”

I discovered the Fuck Off Sarah Palin T-shirt just as my terror at having Palin as a VP was peaking. I thought, if anything captures the zeitgeist right now, it’s this. I wanted to know who was behind it. Kim Berlin is a creative director who decided to get political after she became supremely pissed at the Palin campaign. Go get a shirt or a button for yourself, and let the conversations begin. Proceeds will be donated to Planned Parenthood in Palin’s name.

What led to the first shirt?

When Sarah Palin’s Vice Presidential candidacy was announced, I got really angry. Not necessarily that she accepted the nomination, but how so many people seemed to be so fooled by her. I thought, “What the hell? This woman, who nobody’s ever heard of, who has absolutely zero credentials, could be our next VP? She’s not presidential material by any stretch of the imagination.” You have to think of someone in terms of being presidential material when they’re a vice president. And let’s face it, McCain is no spring chicken.

Late one of the nights of the convention, I had to take a taxi from the train station back to my home in north Jersey. Making conversation, the cab driver said, “So, how about that Sarah Palin!” I remained quiet as I wasn’t quite sure which way he was going to go. And then he remarked, “Did you see how she was just stroking the head of her child? Wow. That lady’s unbelievable!” He was completely enamored with her. A person from right in my own backyard. I couldn’t believe it. And I thought, “That’s it.”

I’m a creative director by trade, so at work the next morning I quickly whipped up the simplest slug of type I could. I didn’t feel this woman was worthy of any clever copywriting or a well thought-out design. I simply took my message, printed it out on heat transfer paper and took it home. I had a sample t-shirt left over from a client pitch that just happened to be this great organic cotton. So I made one for myself. And that was it. I washed it once and wore it out the next day.

It was a really interesting experience introducing the shirt to the world. I started out feeling very proud of it… but some people were giving me the stink eye, a little bit. I don’t think they knew exactly what it meant, as the developments were so new at that point. But when you’re dropping the F-bomb smack-dab in the middle of your chest, in the ‘burbs no less, you’re bound to get some sort of reaction. So as I went along that morning, I kind of buttoned up my cardigan a little bit. But then I got to work and people said, “What, are you kidding? Wear it open!” So I did.

I went out and about, and I couldn’t even believe the response. People were into it. It was very cool. I even kind of relished the odd dirty look. That’s what this is for, after all; I want to open up the dialogue. I want people to talk about this.

Right now you’re wearing the pin, which I love. I think it’s a modern update to the traditional stars-and-stripes, red-and-blue political pins.

I feel at one point in time, the red, white, and blue may have stood for something, and that something was hopeful. But the connotations have changed. All the propaganda surrounding the race has been bastardized into this… I keep calling it a vaudeville show. I feel like it’s a freakin’ vaudeville show. All the manufactured drama colors the public’s opinion and overshadows the facts.

When did you set up the website?

I have a Facebook friend who told me one of his colleagues wanted a shirt. I told him, “Oh, it’s only an iron-on.” But she wanted one anyway. So I made one for her and sent it over. She said she would love to know if i had a site so she could blog about it. At that point I said to myself, “Oh, crap, if people want to blog about this I have to have someplace for their readers to go.” That’s when I decided to set up the website. While I’ve designed tons for my clients, it’s the first I’ve ever actually done, hands-on myself. I probably shouldn’t admit that! I know I didn’t create it the right way… I was communicating with my cousin who’s a programmer and he wanted to do the whole thing properly, using CSS, tracking hits and the whole shebang. And I thought, yeah, that would be great, but I just want this up, I want it now, I want it to look exactly as I want it to, and I want to be able to do it myself. So I quickly made it in Dreamweaver, and it was done. It was up within a week of her announcing her candidacy.

I’m not out there promoting it at all; maybe the odd email to folks I already know. It’s really getting around just by word-of-mouth alone. Luckily, Refinery29 covered it, and that’s actually how it’s gotten the most exposure.

Have you gotten any hate mail?

No. Not a single thing. I was hoping for some! That would have been great. I’d like to hear both sides. No, the only thing I saw that was negative were some comments on a few blogs. One was, “Where would you wear this? I couldn’t wear it in front of my children.” OK, totally understood. That’s responsible. And then there was a comment recently about the grammar. But that’s really all.

I think my favorite part of the whole thing might be that a percentage of the sales are going to be donated to Planned Parenthood in Sarah’s name. Could you talk a little about that?

I’m really glad about that too. It’s not a unique idea; there are all these emails circulating about ways one can challenge Sarah Palin’s position. One of the emails I received suggested to make donations in her name, because she’s not a supporter and she’ll receive a thank-you note for each donation made in her name. And I thought that was perfect. I don’t want to support a candidate’s campaign specifically, because that isn’t going to do any “real” good. They have plenty of money. But if I contribute to a cause that I believe in, that’s actually making a difference.

Truth be told, I’m not a political person in any way, shape, or form. But I have never cared about a cause the way I care about this one. What pisses me off is that so many of our fellow citizens so fooled by her. And people remark, “Well, if the Republicans win this year, then it’s our fault for being stupid, so shame on us.” Which I think is true. But, man, how disappointing would that be?

After the success of this project, do you have any other ideas coming down the pipeline?

People keep asking me that. Officially, I’m going to say no. This is my one-hit-wonder. I don’t even know if I’m going to leave the site up after the election. I’m definitely going to run out of merchandise… I’m just printing to meet demand. I’m not making lots. Hopefully the message becomes irrelevant really fast and this becomes a non-issue!

Yes, ideally this whole thing is dead by November.

Yeah. It’s been a little stressful because I want to make everybody happy and get them their stuff as soon as possible, which means I have to turn everything around really, really fast. It has a limited life-span. Literally one more month, and then it’s all over.

So, I’ve been at Design Glut working on product development and helping with small business responsibilities for almost three months now. I’ve met some interesting people, learned a lot of new presentation techniques and seen how a couple of young designers can make a name for themselves, not to mention a bit of money.

My name is Karl Zinsmaster. I am a student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, looking at two semesters left in the furniture design program. In May, I decided to relocate to the East temporarily. I moved here with the plan of seeing what the magical and mysterious New York City had to offer a young designer. I didn’t, however, have much planned out past that.

I started my stay by going to ICFF and Design Week to gather contact information from whoever was interesting. I built a website and a new resume, and without any real clue as to whether or not I would be worth a damn in the eyes of design professionals, I put some feelers out. I contacted everyone in the New York area that I was excited about from Design Week. I trolled the internet for Brooklyn-based industrial and furniture designers, and began trying to make myself visible.

Within a few weeks I had weaseled my way into a number of interviews, and gotten a satisfying amount of feedback. I was talking to people from gigantic companies with corporate jobs (and budgets to match) to solo designers and artists working out of crawl-spaces and concrete sardine cans. Those types were stuffed into old factories, walk-ups and warehouses. Out of the few who I clicked with, Design Glut was the one I was most excited about. Their conceptual philosophy aligned itself well with my own, and they seemed honest and passionate about the work they were doing. After meeting with Kegan and Liz, I decided it was the place for me. (Luckily, they thought so too.)

The best bit of information I’ve picked up here is that it’s not magic that makes you a noteworthy designer. It’s just good ideas, solid skills to begin realizing those ideas, and bullheadedness in promoting something you believe in. My experience in New York has been so far, so good, and all it really took was a bit of confidence and some shots in the dark.

Liz Kinnmark and Kegan Fisher, NYC Designboom Mart, 2007
www.designboom.com

The DesignBoom Mart was stepping into the unknown for us. It is a cash and carry market that happens every year at ICFF, as well as at other trade shows worldwide. The folks at Design Boom describe it as “…an unprecedented opportunity to meet the young avant-garde, and become familiar with their work.”

For us, it meant a chance to participate in ICFF without throwing down thousands of dollars. We applied through their website, submitting images of our products. We got the good news that we had been acccepted, paid the $300 fee, and suddenly it was happening. We had an entry point into the coveted trade show.

We also had a four foot table to fill with an egg cup and a coffee cup. This seemed like a waste. We put our heads together… How could we come up with more stuff to fill the space? It was in that moment that we started meeting in our spare time and designing together. Looking back, Design Glut probably would not exist today were it not for the chance stumbling onto Designboom.com. The Crude collection and the Hookmaker were designed in those last-minute brainstorming sessions right before the show.

We entered the show as two designers sharing a table. We came out of the show realizing that we worked so well together, we should probably start a company. We came up with the name Design Glut, bought Designglut.com, and hastily put something up there, mainly because we’d met Harry from MoCoLoco.com at the show and he’d told us he’d blog the Crude Jewelry, but only if we had a website. It was there, behind that four-foot table, with our respective business cards guarding our products, we realized we needed to flush out all those little details that give one the appearance of having a company. After all, when someone asks what your brand’s name is, you certainly don’t get very far with the response, “We don’t have one”.

And while yes, we did sell products, and came relatively close to recouping our investment, the real advantage of the Mart was everything we learned, the people we met, the confidence they gave us, and the boost of press coverage.

I recommend the Mart to any young designer looking for an inexpensive way in to the design world, but I caution, this is still ICFF. The level of quality of everything there is very high and very intimidating. Be prepared, make business cards, figure out packaging, price points, wholesale costs and shipping. Write down every possible question you would ask yourself, and then answer them. Half the battle is how you display your products. You have a table surface, and a wall; apply your skills as a designer to distinguish your presentation. Everyone drapes a cloth over their table; think bigger. Always think bigger.

A year and a half ago, Liz Kinnmark and Kegan Fisher founded Design Glut, with little experience and lots of guts and idealism. It’s been a whirlwind experience. After four years of receiving design education, we could talk about form and and gesture and concept until we were blue in the face. But when it came to putting our own designs into production, and building a business structure, the language was often foreign.

What is a purchase order? How about a Tax ID numbers? What does C.O.D. mean? The list goes on… We quickly realized how ignorant we were about basic business. It would have been great if there were a resource to get us up to speed, we thought. And the more we thought about it, we realized since it wasn’t out there, we should make it.

We hope to inspire others to build the architecture necessary to turn their own dreams into actions. Designglut.com is our way of taking a step forward to strengthen the community of design-driven entrepreneurs. We know we are not the only ones trying to figure this stuff out, trying to create a niche in the marketplace and trying to positively influence people through functional, accessible objects.

The site will be updated frequently with interviews and editorials. It will include conversations with innovative design firms and consultancies, owners of design boutiques across the country, and little-known designers starting to make waves. In addition, we are compiling industry events, covering those we attend, and writing about the lessons that we’ve learned in our experience starting Design Glut.

Our first week of interviews includes discussions about running a successful design consultancy (with Klaus Rosburg of Sonic Design), why Italian furniture manufactures really aren’t that scary (with Brad Ascalon of Brad Ascalon Studio NYC), and insights into the Do’s and Don’ts of approaching design boutiques (with Matt Bird of the Curatorium).

Welcome to the newest network of designers contributing their stories, and sharing knowledge of what it takes to thrive, today, in the design economy. In order to best push this resource in a useful direction, we would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on the matter. Don’t hesitate to leave a comment or send an email. Designglut.com is now a resource for you.