Hasta La Ideas

Utilitarian backpacks handmade by a Minneapolis-based artist

After working on a “bucolic sheep farm” in rural New Zealand, artist Amber Johnson returned to Minneapolis—where she received a BFA in drawing from the College of Art and Design—and began experimenting with wool in her parents’ basement. Her seemingly innate talent for hand crafting utilitarian bags took shape, and today the young designer peddles wool and leather backpacks online under the moniker Sketchbook.

Primarily working with premium wool when she started out in 2006, Jensen has since expanded the collection to include leather and waterproof waxed canvas styles, increasing the durability while maintaining a classic aesthetic. The Great Outdoors Backpack, for example, reflects the simplicity of early mountaineering bags, but features a new type of waterproof fabric that more closely matches untreated cotton duck.

While the exteriors are adorned with elegantly robust hardware, the interiors are equally beautiful. The gray Track Backpack is particularly stunning, a straightforward bag lined with a tangerine-hued nylon ripstop and accented with handles and straps made from Ralph Lauren remnant leather.

Each bag is prototyped and tested by Jensen before making several others, and every piece is made by hand. The packs can be purchased online from the Etsy Sketchbook shop, with styles typically spanning $150-200.

Removable fabric wall decals designed to help kids get crafty

Kids are fickle. Keeping them entertained is a never-ending problem for parents. Enter Sticky Tiki, a creative solution in the form of reusable wall decals, originally hand-painted and printed by a crafty couple in Napier, New Zealand. Made from rip- and wrinkle-proof fabric, the graphics are backed with a low-tack adhesive for easy transfer— either to reconfigure the shape, apply them outdoors or to take them with you if you move.

The printed fabric is also washable, so they not only encourage cognitive thinking through creative application, but allow for messy kids to go wild with them—perfect for interactive storytelling.

Sticky Tiki wall graphics last three to five years, and have been tested for long-lasting strength after repositioning, which work up to around 140 moves. Leaving no marks on the walls when moved, if your little one outgrows the design, there is no need to repaint the room.

The decals come in a variety of styles and range in price, typically spanning $25-150. Pick them up online from the official website or Etsy shop, where you can also contact the makers about customization.

Hammarhead and Triple Aught Design build a Triumph-inspired motorcycle for city streets

High-performance apparel and equipment manufacturer Triple Aught Design earlier this month offered up floorspace at their San Francisco headquarters for motorcycle builders Hammarhead Industries to set up temporary shop. The intense three-day bike build—a process involving a few dozen tools and many more sleepless hours—resulted in a beautiful bike that typically would’ve taken three months, the Jack Pine Triumph Scrambler.

“Both inspired by classic design but without being nostalgic,” as TAD founder Patrick Ma describes the bond between the two design-driven companies, they teamed up based on a shared “clean, stripped-down aesthetic of the modern design approach, upgraded with the performance advantages of current technology.” While their compatible values made the project a no-brainer, the build proved to be a different story.

James Hammarhead himself took to the shop armed with an ample supply of cold Pabst to fuel his creative fire. After working tirelessly through all hours of the three days, this California spec Jack Pine motorcycle was born.

With a reworked seat unit and custom pegs to accomodate a passenger, a new “dark matter” black paint job and weighing 45 pounds less than a stock Scrambler, the street-legal bike was designed with the SF streets in mind. A modified exhaust system and shortened rear frame loop adapt the bike to the rigors of city riding (previous builds were geared for Hammarhead’s backwoods Pennsylvania stomping grounds), while remaining true to the iconic bikes of the 1950s.

In the final nod to their deep roots in craftsmanship and hands-on approach to manufacturing, James rode the Jack Pine out of the shop moments after completion, showing both companies’ dedication to making products built for daily use.

Head to Hammarhead Industries for more information on their limited series of production builds and to Triple Aught Design to check out their gear and garments—including their to-be-released locally made Horween leather Streetfighter jacket sported by James (pictured) throughout the build.

The first product to come out of a video series on upcycling

Oregon’s own wooden eyewear makers Shwood today premiered a latest sunglass collaboration with San Francisco streetwear label Huf. Made of broken skateboard decks, you can see the production process of the resulting “Six-Ply Fade” in the first experimental video on Shwood’s buzzy new site “Experiment with Nature.”

We recently caught up with Shwood founder Eric Singer to chat about “Experiment with Nature” and the consequential Huf collaboration.

How did the “Experiment with Nature” project come about?

“Experiment With Nature” has been Shwood’s tagline from the beginning. Everything from product concepts and manufacturing to packaging and branding strategies begin as an experiment in our wood shop. The EWN project was designed to share this experimental process and DIY mentality with the world. The videos aren’t simply about making sunglasses, but rather the concept of transforming everyday objects or natural resources into anything interesting really. Upcoming videos will feature everything from tools to transportation, all sharing the concept of transforming everyday objects or natural resources into interesting final products. We want to inspire others to try new things and see what works.

How did you choose the content? Specifically, how did the collaboration with Huf owner Keith Hufnagel happen?

If there is one thing we have a lot of at Shwood, it’s creativity. Sometimes it can be a struggle to stay concentrated on producing sunglasses when there are so many other projects we are dying to experiment with. So we decided to share these creative experiments with others—built a website, called up our videographer and got started on the first series, “Skateboard Shades.”

We met Keith Hufnagel and crew at a tradeshow last year and immediately took a liking to one another’s brand. We decided to partner on a collaborative project and ended up with skateboard shades. Making sunglasses from old skate decks had been something we had wanted to experiment with for a long time. So it seemed like a good excuse to make the trek down to skate with our friends at Huf.

How a young French designer’s radical approach yields soulful results

Toying with high and low, mixing handmade craftsmanship with mechanized production, contrasting natural materials against plastics—the work of emerging industrial designer Jean-Baptiste Fastrez is a study in opposites, shedding new light onto everyday objects by highlighting dissonance. But unlike many exploring the same concepts only to deconstruct design, this rabble-rouser sets up the tension as a means to give “soul” to an object. His latest project takes on the hair dryer, incorporating the “great craft tradition” of handle-making to reinvent the common appliance as a modern tomahawk. “My aim,” the young Frenchman explains, “is to give to this type of product some more interest, sense and sculptural presence,” an approach that lends the object status befitting today’s well-coiffed warriors.

This avant-garde approach, honed as an assistant to the experimentally-minded design team of the Bouroullec brothers for the past three years, is a through line in Fastrez’s independent work as he applies radical ideas to mainstream design. Like the tomahawk hair dryer, his electric kettle series attempts to make “serial production and handmade production coexist within one same object.” By creating a standardized, technical base that meets safety restrictions, the kettle itself can be customized through a rapid prototyping machine or by enlisting the help of independent craftsmen. This industrial-meets-independent design system allows users to play with how they will use an object, again giving it the kind of highly sought after personal value that appeals to the consumer looking for a self-aware way to express their individuality through design.

“I would like for the consumer to choose his electrical appliance as he could fall in love with a piece in a secondhand market,” Fastrez emphasizes. At play along with this notion of individualism is a sustainability element—if the object breaks, the consumer isn’t forced to buy an entirely new appliance.

Questioning the efficiency of mass production, Fastrez’ approach largely works to upend the way standardization processes lead to “soulless objects” and thereby facilitate our throwaway society. In addition to creating adaptable design, introducing a new purpose can also increase the emotional value of an item. The Fog table, created in collaboration with designer Marc Sarrazin, repurposes metallic mesh (usually used to make soundproof electronic drums) into a tabletop, which only functions when the table legs have been extended to stretch the fabric tight enough to support objects.

Keep an eye out for Fastrez’ upcoming projects, which includes designs with Sèvres ceramics and Circa glass, as well as a solo exhibition at the Design Parade at the Villa Noailles, Hyères. The industrious designer says of his forthcoming plans, “a year of very exiting work.”