Browsing Tag

Design Challenges

Maker Stories

Terra-bly Delightful Design

September 22, 2011

Ed. note: Next month we’re hosting a ceramics design challenge here at UncommonGoods, and we can’t wait to see all your beautiful, clever and unique creations. But ceramics can be a somewhat broad category. If you’re wondering what sorts of product entries we’re looking for– well, would it be fair to say everything? We love pottery and ceramics– plates, cups, vases, decorative objects, all of it. Especially pieces that make you start talking. And there’s no doubt that Michael Terra’s designs are conversation starters.

If you’re a frequent reader of our blog, check out our product stories, or subscribe to our emails, you’ve probably noticed that we don’t shy away from wordplay. So, when we heard that ceramicist Michael Terra’s new products were taking puns to the another level–the third dimension–we couldn’t resist.

“I like looking at what everyone else is doing and then look in another direction and look at what no one else is looking at,” Michael explains. “I love puns at any time, and as I was thinking about word conversions I realized that there was a multiple way of seeing/hearing the sounds of language that we use everyday.”

His Writer’s Block and Ceramic “Reading” Glasses play on the multiple ways we see and hear language.

Continue Reading…

Design

Get Out the Vote!

June 23, 2011

UncommonGoods and City Harvest’s design challenge is well under way! We’ve picked out the top 24 semifinalists, now we need your help in choosing which designs will move on to our final round.  Get your votes in before 5 PM Eastern Time tomorrow!

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
We’ve tallied up the results so far, and here are your 10 favorites: An Apple a Day Keeps the Hunger Away, Word Cloud, Enjoy the Harvest, Hey, there’s food on my plate!, Feeding Birds, Heart of the City II, Delivering Bread, Big Apple Feeds, Heart of the City I, and Fruit of the Harvest.

Don’t see your favorite design included?  Use our Community Voting App to tell us which design you’d like to see printed on our next Plate With Purpose™.  You can give a thumbs up or down on each design, and we’d love to hear additional feedback in the comments.

We’ll pick one design from the top 5 entries, which will be announced on Monday, June 27.

Design

Plates With Purpose™ Partner

June 9, 2011

Need more reason to enter our design challenge?  Gain inspiration from the women who make the Plates with Purpose™ and will be etching (your?) winning design onto a new plate to benefit City Harvest!

Cassandra said, “Our Plates With Purpose™ concept was founded by Mary Irwin-Scott,” one of the co-founders of Riverside Design Group.  “We were looking for a way to strengthen and support our community.  Beginning with a single design in 2004, the collection has grown to several beautiful designs that raise funding for a diverse group of national and regional non-profits.”

This is the first time Riverside Design Group has done a contest for its plate designs.  Cassandra is excited to view the submissions and said, “This could be the start to a whole new wave of plates!  It is also really gratifying to see the outreach of Plates With Purpose™ growing to new partnerships.”

Cassandra encourages artists and designers to “Be bold!”  She says, “I think the most graphic designs tend to be the most eye-catching and will serve to represent the impact City Harvest is making in the community.  I also think designs are most compelling when they tell a story …  so if there is a reason you are choosing a certain motif let us know.”

Plates With Purpose™ has brought together artists, non-profit partners, and customers together because, “People love the designs and the way the missions of the organizations are captured in the graphic artwork,” said Cassandra.  UncommonGoods’ partnership with City Harvest serves as an especially meaningful opportunity to put food on more plates of the hungry in New York City.

Design

Harvest Plate Design Challenge!

June 6, 2011

Starting today, we challenge you to give us your best design for a new Plate with Purpose(TM): submit an illustration that embodies City Harvest’s mission to rescue food for New York’s hungry. The winning design will be etched onto a frosted glass plate that will be sold at UncommonGoods this holiday season, and $5 from each plate will go to benefit City Harvest!

Need some inspiration? Watch this inspiring video to get to know the people of City Harvest and why their work is so important to the New York City community. Then check out our other Plates with Purpose (TM), to see what we’re looking for in terms of design. The plate you design will be featured in bold fall colors like gold or copper.

If you win, you could receive $1,000, see your name on a product featured in our holiday catalog, and make a big difference for the charity that’s working to feed hungry New Yorkers.

What are you waiting for? Whether you’ve got a design in mind or an artsy friend with great ideas, help us help City Harvest to rescue food for New York City by sending submissions and spreading the word!