COBER // Creative Agency » Design + Design

The most interesting Man in the World

COBER DESIGN — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:33:05 +0000

“You know who he is. Right now, he’s probably luging Mount Everest or quail hunting in Tunisia. He is the only man alive able to tweet 141 characters. Once, he saw a quadruple rainbow and hiked on, unimpressed.

He is…The Most Interesting Man in the World.

And last night, he threw a party.”

Full Story at Fast Company

Mast Brothers Chocolate

COBER DESIGN — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:32:52 +0000

The Mast Brothers from The Scout on Vimeo.

Measure Twice Cut Once

COBER DESIGN — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:28:03 +0000

A humble little monument to a very sage piece of advice. A carpenter’s motto emblazoned on the most timeless of instruments: a solid brass, 12″ ruler. You can’t beat that, and you can bet that in a few years the patina and a tarnish you leave behind will make this ruler unmistakably yours. For the desk, workshop or studio, makes a wonderfully thoughtful gift.

Solid Brass 12″ Ruler
Vendor:Best Made Company
Origin: Yunlin County, Taiwan
Price: $36

“Measure twice, cut once.”- Anonymous

The Loft Chair by Shelly Shelly (No, that is not a typo)

COBER DESIGN — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:13:24 +0000

LOFT chair, American Walnut, 27.5″ x 29.5″ x 27.75″, Retail Value: $1957

The new Loft chair designed by Shelly Shelly for Bernhardt Design is a beautiful example of elegance and simplicity. No funky plastic ala Karim, no goofy hardware or ipod docking system. Just a beautiful set of lines rendered in wood with a high level of craftsmanship.

Windows 8

COBER DESIGN — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 05:07:43 +0000

Windows 8. Finally an interface from Microsoft that I actually would like to use.

Everyone needs a good axe.

COBER DESIGN — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:24:24 +0000

With a name like Best Made Co. you had better be good at what you do. In fact, you must be the best. I think this small New Jersey based company is off to a great start. I am sure I would have been more productive growing up on the farm if I had to chop wood with one of these bad boys. The only question that remains is whether or not one of these on the wall above my desk will be too intimidating for clients…

The company was started by designer and author Peter Buchanan-Smith and outdoorsman Graeme Cameron. They list Tom Thomson, Lionel Conacher, and Robert Frost among some of their inspiring people.

…always respect your Axe! I’m not talking about Guitar Hero.

Their Philosophy:

NOTHING WITHOUT AN AXE:

Every high-rise condo, luxury office, executive suite, ranch house, and farmstead must have an axe in it. We know that axes shouldn’t only be in the hands of lumberjacks: anyone and everyone should have an axe in their name. Put it in your cubicle, give it to your niece as a graduation present, or your dad for father’s day (or better yet mom for mother’s day), bring it to the company picnic, carry it to the door next time Jehovah’s Witness come knocking, or just lean it up against your living room wall and admire. An axe is indispensable and sublime, the epitome of self-reliance and independence, a perfect design object, a timeless instrument.

Masakage Tanno

COBER DESIGN — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:04:44 +0000

Masakage Tanno is a second generation wood worker. His studio, MIYABI, is named after the one of the traditional Japanese aesthetic ideals. The translation of Miyabi roughly equates to elegance, refinement, or courtliness.

The key objective of the Miyabi movement is to rid the world of crude forms or aesthetics and Maskage takse clear strides forward with his take on the humble business card holder. All of those plastic crude business card holders be warned.

The cases are available for purchase from Merchant4. If you can afford to make the investment then you know that business is good.

A few perspectives on design

COBER DESIGN — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:54:32 +0000

Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking. Milton Glaser

Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose. Charles Eames

Being a famous designer is like being a famous dentist. Noreen Morioka

People ignore design that ignores people. Frank Chimero

Good design goes to heaven; bad design goes everywhere. Mieke Gerritzen

Good design is all about making other designers feel like idiots because that idea wasn’t theirs. Frank Chimero

Good design must be defined by appropriateness to audience and goals, and by its effectiveness, not by its adherence to Swiss design or the number of awards it wins. Drew Davies

Design is where science and art break even. Robin Mathew

Designers have a dual duty; contractually to their clients and morally to the later users and recipients of their work. Hans Höger

Art is like masturbation. It is selfish and introverted and done for you and you alone. Design is like sex. There is someone else involved, their needs are just as important as your own, and if everything goes right, both parties are happy in the end. Colin Wright

The fundamental failure of most graphic, product, architectural, and even urban design is its insistence on serving the God of Looking-Good rather than the God of Being-Good. Richard Saul Wurman

Objectified = Very Good

COBER DESIGN — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:56:14 +0000

A great film about product design. A bit of an eye opener to the amount of stuff we make and consue and the responsibility we have both as designers and consumers. The bit about Jonathan Ive discussing the Apple’s design process is excellent.

“Objectified is a feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability.”

Check out the film’s website here: Objectified Film

Gary is also the Director behind the Helvetica Documentary Helvetica Film