Hasta La Ideas

Mike Abelson sets up a unique print shop at NYC’s Creatures of Comfort

Designers are typically inspired people, and those who have a natural talent can often spot a creative use for even the most familiar object—like the wheel, for example. Such is the case for Postalco‘s imaginative co-founder Mike Abelson, who became obsessed with wheels after seeing the mark that one left on a piece of paper trapped in the sliding glass door of his Tokyo home. This fascination with an object’s unintended purpose led Abelson to create a wheel printer that could add a distinct set of stripes to his finely crafted Postalco notebooks. “If you really step back and think about what printing is, and think about it as mark-making, then in a way this is printing too,” he explained to us at NYC boutique Creatures of Comfort, where he has set up the printer for a one-week residency.

Made entirely from scratch out of household products, the Postalco Wheel Printer is a bit of a Rube Goldberg machine, but Abelson delights in its ability to produce rough, imperfect stripes—an aesthetic that the Japanese have a difficult time allowing. A trained product designer (he helped launch Jack Spade), Abelson spent six months building the printer, experimenting with different wheels and methods.

With Postalco products safely in the hands of quality craftsman, for Abelson the printer is a way to get in on the production side of things, as well as to add to the notebooks’ notoriously handsome but monotone colorways. “Our products are really plain and simple, and are really just sort of geometric. I thought it would be interesting to have something that took place on the surfaces,” he says.

With tiny soy sauce bottles holding the ink, the Postalco Printer operates off of a wooden wheel that Abelson cranks on the side as a notebook passes through, and the carefully placed wheels leave their distinct marks. Those in NYC can pick up one of the one-off notebooks at Creatures of Comfort, which feature special blue and yellow colorways.

The Postalco Wheel Printer will be on display at Creatures of Comfort starting today through 10 July 2012, alongside a new film by Koki Tanaka, which shows the mixed-media artist using various Postalco products in humorous, unconventional scenarios.

See more images of the Wheel Printer in the slideshow below.

Hand crafted leather saddles from a fashion design professor turned bespoke upholsterer

Known to the cycling community as one of the premier bespoke bicycle upholsterers around, Australia’s Busyman Bicycles shines through custom craftsmanship in an industry salivating for specialized components. As the brains and braun behind the one man operation, Mick Peel turns regular old saddles into custom masterpieces by hand upholstering with traditional tools and a level of knowhow only earned through years of tinkering. His precise, and often intricate designs extend from classic perforations to perfectly mainicured letters and logos.

With a BA and MA in fashion desgin, nearly twenty years of lecturing on the subject and a sizable stint as head of the fashion design program at Melbourne’s RMIT University, Peel’s experience with elaborate pattern making and knowledge of functional design made for the perfect pathway into the world of custom saddle making. And as if his educational experience weren’t enough, Peel also did a fair amount of graphic design for Adidas Australia in the 1990s and has dabbled in furniture design here and there as well.

Regardless of the discipline at hand, Peel feels his knack for design comes from simply doing. “I do design by making. My knowledge of materials and techniques and the memory accumulated in my hands through crafting have become very much my tools and method of designing. In my practice designing and making are not separate things.”

As one would imagine working with a wide range of saddle designs means finding just the right materials to get the job done. As Peel points out, each leather has it’s own different characteristics and properties. Sheep is extremely soft and easily stretched but can be quite fragile, whereas cow leather is generally more balanced in terms of mold-ability, strength and durability. “My favourite material is definitely vegetable tanned, full grain kangaroo skin. It moulds more easily than cow skin and performs much better in both tensile strength and abrasion resistance. I will always choose kangaroo if it meets the specifications of the job at hand.”

While the expertly crafted saddles are Peel’s specialty, he also dabbles in crafting custom handlebar tape and other specialized bicycle components. For a closer look at Peel’s handy work see the slideshow below and keep an eye on the often updated Busyman Bicycles blog.

A limited-edition backpack benefiting the Million Trees NYC initiative

With a solid repertoire of collaborations and accessories under his belt, designer Matt Singer is now using his creativity for good. For his latest venture, he has teamed up with the recently revived Rivendell Mountain Works on a limited-edition backpack benefitting the Million Trees NYC initiative.

Handmade at the foothills of the Washington Cascades, the durable Cordura nylon bag sports a custom Million Trees patch, and thoughtful features like an adjustable sternum strap and padded shoulder straps help it withstand any number of daily outings.

As an urban dweller, Singer was motivated by the impact of nature on the quality of a city’s atmosphere, and plans to donate a portion of the bag’s proceeds to support the non-profit organization’s citywide mission to plant and care for one million trees in all five boroughs. The backpack is now available in limited numbers exclusively through Matt Singer’s online shop for $225.

Take this cleverly designed table from the wall to the floor with one simple motion

Hand-built in Providence, RI, Snappy Tables provide a simple solution to compact living spaces. Founder Dean Robinson crafts each petite table from bamboo, plastic or or maple Europly, adding a convenient handle to the lightweight frame for a portable, easy-to-pack piece of furniture. The handle also serves as the starting point for unfolding the clever table, which easily swings open and rests on its legs as its name suggests. The typically plain surface also offers up an array of ways to get creative with customized, bright and punchy graphics. Plus, there’s something about the pared down silhouette that makes us think the style will endure as a new kind of classic.

We spotted the line at the New York Gift Fair, in advance of their upcoming release. The tables—which work well in a kid’s playroom or as a side table in a small apartment—will sell for $200-300. See more information, including an animated step-by-step breakdown of how the easy piece works, and keep an eye on their widespread distribution by visiting the Snappy Tables website.