haptician's Profile

...this was the first design magazine I ever subscribed to. I sincerely hope that I.D. is able to transform itself into something new and better.

thanks, sos! (my secret is that i'm really just an unemployed architect...)

yowzers, people... the digitally-fabricated Soft-Maps are the product of 4 months of development and are not cheap facsimiles of the handmade Soft-Maps. The people I partnered with are serious local craftswomen who do exquisite work; the machine does very little without their attention and skill. All the finishing is done by hand- from the binding edge to hand-embroidered embellishments by yours truly.

Like Kenn, I had to make some important decisions in how I produce things while staying true to the idea at the root of the design; I greatly admire Kenn's commitment to using sustainably-harvested materials. Several months ago, I had to choose between 1) relying on the inexpensive labor of women in a developing country 2) finding a smarter, more efficient means of production that wouldn't sacrifice quality. Without question, most of the handmade/sewn items we buy (from clothing to bedding) are produced by 15-year old girls in Pakistan and Bangladesh that should be in school. My moral compass prevents me from working this way, just as Kenn's prevents him from using cheap wood clear-cut from forests in China. The machine is just a responsible way of making something affordable to you, the consumer.

found a link to the glasses i've referenced above: http://www.momastore.org/museum/moma/ProductDisplay_Wobble%20Cognac%20Glasses_10451_10001_26867_-1_11515_11519_null__

I have no idea why this project didn't make it further... it's magical.