Bike to Work Day
How a Bicycle is Made features the design and manufacture of Raleigh bicycles, as told by a designer to a father and son. Find out more information about this film at the British Council.
Factory Visit: Teviz
Flannel, a fabric noted for its cozy, breathable, furry texture, is among the first things with which we all fall in love. As comforting as a mother’s heartbeat, a flannel blanket was likely one of the first cloths with which we came into contact upon being born.
L.L. Bean’s 100th Anniversary
Following photos of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Babe Ruth, my face — and more importantly my Norwegian sweater — show up in the video L.L. Bean created to celebrate their 100th Anniversary (00:57 seconds). It’s somehow all-the-more fitting that I’m followed by kindergartners on their way to school with their first backpacks… and a snowman.
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My Favorite Super Bowl Commercials
In the midst of a big show from fifty-three-year-old Madonna and a big win for the G-Men, during this year’s Super Bowl, General Electric paid tribute to the Americans making some of the company’s products.
They act as a nice reminder in a time when it’s easy to take for granted the inestimable benefits of a global economy that there are skilled and passionate craftspeople who live and work in our own backyards.
The next time you reach in your ice box and crack open an ice cold Budweiser, remember to toast the good people of GE’s refrigerator and turbine manufacturing facilities in Louisville, Kentucky and Schenectady, New York.
To watch the entire series, go to ge.com/stories.
Made Right Here
I am posting this on All Plaidout as an ALL POINTS BULLETIN. We would love your help sharing this video with whomever you can, by any means possible. We are looking for investors and networks to fund future episodes. If you feel comfortable hosting this on your blog, your facebook page, your Tumblr, or your Twitter we would be so thankful. And if you know someone who would be interested in such a project, please share with them as well.
Longtime fans of the blog know I love a good factory visit. In May, Joe Gannon and I took a trip to Tennessee. While there, we shot video at Pointer Brand, Imogene + Willie, and at Billy Moore’s house. It was all done with the hope we’d come away with some kind of TV pilot.
The show is called Made Right Here. It’s our desire to not only show how it’s made, not only where it’s made, but to also show the people who make it. We want to tell their stories. We also asked them to show Joe and I how to make one of their signature items. We made six pairs of carpenter jeans at Pointer. We made a chambray western shirt at Imogene + Willie, and we made belts and buckles with Billy Moore.
I say we made… really, we tried and failed to make all these things. This is part of the story, too. These people are craftspeople who’ve dedicated their lives to mastering a skill, a skill that is really tough to do.
We have been sharing this with people to whom we’re connected in television for the last month or so, and we’ve received some positive feedback. One criticism is that we need to shorten the trailer to about two minutes (It’s sitting pretty at just under seven minutes right now).
Joe and I owe an endless amount of thanks to the wonderful people we met at Pointer Brand, Imogene + Willie, and of course the inimitable Billy Moore. We also must thank our team, Mr. Here Productions’ Matt Springer and Rick Page. Without their impetus, their hard work, and their abilities as producers and directors, this would still just be an unfulfilled dream.
Dwell Magazine: Ain’t That America
Aaron Britt asked me to write a short piece about Americana-inspired interiors for the October issue of Dwell. The piece is entitled “Ain’t That America,” a tribute to John Mellencamp’s “Pink Houses.” Accompanying the piece are photos and tidbits about several cool things still made in America. Other highlights in the issue, which is devoted entirely to things Made in America, include a profile of Jack White’s Rolling Records Store, the Cricket Trailer, and a nice write-up about the Finn Lofts, a new building in Wichita, Kansas. Fittingly, I was born just outside of Wichita.
I’ve come to be known for writing about things made right here at home, and I was thrilled to have the chance to write about it for a publication that’s come to be known as the bellwether in all things pertaining to design. Special thanks to Aaron and everyone at Dwell for the unique opportunity to write about something I love for a publication I’ve loved.
Do me a favor: please go to your local bookstore or newsstand and buy two or three copies of the October issue of Dwell. Let’s make it a best-seller.