golden state

we were down in the mission district yesterday, placing the new
hanging pegs we designed for benny gold. if you haven't been to
the store lately, you're missing out. benny's work is amazing and
now his jeans are easily accessible.

if your bouncing around 21st street, stop in and make sure to
harass gabriel a little. tell him form3 sent you.

the smaller objects of life

currently we have been focusing on working and reworking our
furniture designs. with the economic downturn still hanging on,
many prospective clients are in a "wait and see" mode concerning
some bigger projects we're associated with, so our energies have
been on the smaller projects that provide a nice creative output.

this is a completed version of our original plyform swivel lounge
chair in a bamboo veneer for a couple in marin county. built using
a reclaimed base from the sonoma county refuse center, fsc-
certified birch plywood and bamboo veneer from a job we
completed nearly three years ago, we've been able to keep the
cost of the piece low and transferred those savings to the client.

that's just the way we do business: the form3 way.

vertically challenged

we don't show all our work on our website because some things
are either hard to categorize or, in this case, don't fit well in a
horizontal format. we've completed dozens of stand-alone
bookcases or have designed many home offices with vertical
storage strategies that fall into this category.

designed and built for a client's home office in monterey
county, this particular piece is fairly simple and direct. we
spent, as we always do, extra effort and attention to detail
concerning the flow of wood grain through the entire piece.
you can notice it most easily on the continuation of lighter
grain through the doors, although we also ran the same
pattern through the back of the piece.

most people would never consciously recognize this attention
to detail, but we will ALWAYS spend the time making sure it's
there. that's a form3 promise.

end of the bench

bare with us on this one. we're adding these images to this week's
discussion for one reason: they, too, we're made from the same
drop-off wood from the panel stock used to create the center
bench for the huf store in los angeles.

the idea behind this design was to establish an exterior seating
area that looked almost as if it had a reflection in the structural
glass that defines the front of the store. it also gave a place for
the huf set to congregate outside the store without being in the
way of paying customers.

although we've designed numerous benches over the years, we
promise this will be the last entry concerning this seating strategy.

benchmark

not to be outdone, a good friend of ours who worked on the
huf retail space in los angeles had a few words to say about
form3 designed benches. his favorite pick was no surprise. the
mammoth slab sitting center when you enter 410 n. fairfax
measures 32"w x 16"h x 144"l and weighs an undisclosed,
yet ridiculous, number of pounds. (so much so we had to ship
it in two halves and assemble it in place.)

the parts were cut from fsc-certified birch plywood using CNC
milling technology in order to maintain structural integrity
over the twelve foot span. this resulted in enough drop-off
shapes from the panel stock to build a second bench that was
commissioned for a private residence in sonoma county.

the second bench is one of our personal favorites for a number
of reasons, but especially since the construction of it allowed
us to create less than 2% waste from the original panel stock.
that level of efficiency and reduction in waste is a benchmark
we hold ourselves to on a daily basis. it's these types of
considerations in planning that help us to NEVER have had
garbage pick-up at our fabrication studio going on six years
now.

did i say NEVER?

ah, yeah. NEVER.

benched again!

after seeing the new black scale benches from wednesday's
post, we were reminded by a friend in las vegas of the work
we did a few years back in his part of the world for house of
commons . he LOVED the center bench when shopping
in joseph and saskia's killer retail space and wishes they
would return and open a new store, bringing the bench
back with them.

truth is, that was one of our favorite benches too and the
experience of working with saskia and joseph on the design
of their space was an absolute pleasure. they were one of
our most considerate and appreciative clients we've ever had
the opportunity to work with.

made from dark walnut, (faux) black leather and a powder-
coated metal frame, the center bench held court nicely in their
space. the smaller bench was also walnut and metal and was
used as a roving piece for both display and seating.

joseph's not doing too much sitting these days unless it's on
his colnago frame. the kid's gone crazy like that. check out
his blog.

no cigar

earlier this spring we had an inquiry from the talented group
behind the graphic apparel company, cukui. they were ready
to open their flagship store in san jose and were interested in
form3 as a design team because of our work for the likes
of huf, fatlace and benny gold. we had an informal meeting
with jason and michelle over coffee and, based on the info we
received and taking a look at the space they were considering,
we knocked out these original designs using sketchup.

our intention was to provide a deep, rich, wood backdrop on
the retail side of the store for the flowing, yet muscular, cukui
graphics and juxtapose that with stark, off-white walls as you
enter the space in order to display artwork in a gallery-like setting.
using reclaimed wood from heritage salvage in petaluma, we
intended to employ sustainable sourcing throughout the project
and provide LED key lighting to highlight the interior.

we never ended up having much more than a few emails with
cukui since that initial meeting, and they ultimately decided
using the services of mccloud design, although we revisit these
sketches and think of what could have been.

close, perhaps, but no cigar.

look for cukui to open soon in japantown-san jose; it should
look pretty awesome with hugh mccloud on board.

ebony and ivory

after a few delays and schedule conflicts, the black scale benches
are complete and ready for delivery. made from fsc-certified oak
plywood with solid oak ribbing, they represent the beginning of a
new direction for the interior of the retail space down on grant
ave. you know everything's going to maintain the black and white
look that was established from the start by mega and alfred, so
next up is the new design for the display wall in white.

look for it when you're in and around union square. stop in, check
out their cool digs and tell alfred that form3 sent you. they LOVE
us at black scale.

iron man

for the past six years, we've relied on the talents of one of the
best welders and mechanical minds we've ever met. based just
up the boulevard on the north side of petaluma, don german
and his brother established gb iron works in 1958 and have
been going strong ever since. at nearly 70 years of age, he's just
beginning to consider the idea of slowing down, even though he
still intends to participate in the baja 500 this upcoming fall.

camera shy as ever, here he shows us the final result of the metal
work he completed for the black scale benches. we're hoping he
never actually retires since it's such a pleasure to not only work
with him, but listen to some of the impressive stories from his life
experience.

incredible mind and awesome personality.

back in the saddle

with the charms of pebble beach behind us, we look forward to
the work ahead this week. many thanks to john and lorraine for
being the BEST HOSTS EVER over the weekend! congratulations to
graeme macdowell for his championship efforts on the links.
he has made not only history, but thousands of irish eyes smile.

these images were waiting in our inbox, sent by our most
excellent client in los angeles, christopher: the last round
of documenting some of the work we did on his home in mt.
washington last fall. the repetition of proportion and materials
worked out well and we appreciate the time he found to capture
so much of what we created for he and his fiance, yvette. we
hope it enriches their daily experience and enhances their life
immeasurably.

we're off to portland tomorrow for a couple days on a road trip,
so some of our next dispatches will be from the great state of
oregon.

happy summer solstice.

come to papa

droopy red cap? check.

big white beard? check.

pure blue skin? check.

a happy father on father's day? double check.

that's one happy papa.

classic

watching the u.s. open yesterday, I have to wonder about

some alarming trends in golf fashion. What happened

to the classic patterns of yesteryear? arnold palmer, back
in the day, looks like he's straight out of central casting.

that's what i call classic.

C'MON!

gone golfin'

every so often we actually get to take a break. greg is out of

reach in pebble beach, enjoying the splendors of the u.s.

open for the next few days. many thanks to brad for the ALL

ACCESS PASSES...do you call them that in golf?

verum est in beer

our work at the olde sonoma public house is mostly complete,
although we had a meeting yesterday with the owner, coley
thinnes, in order to establish a run of limited edition t-shirts.
looks as if we'll being doing a version of this classic old world
crest we created. (there's an alternate version the staff voted
for over the one shown.)

if you find yourself cruising down highway 12 through the
sonoma valley, make sure to stop in for a pint and one of
these form3 designed t-shirts. they will be available
exclusively at the pub beginning next weekend.

crazy little thing called books

for those who still read the old fashioned way, this is custom-
designed for things called "books", which makes this piece of
furniture a "bookcase". this particular bookcase is made to
order for our good friend, and one of our all time favorite
clients, portland resident and souchi clothing designer suzi
johnson. she has more books than she knows what to do with,
so she called form3 for a little help.

as forward thinking as the city of portland is, it's nice to know
there's another person out there supporting one of this country's
greatest independently-owned bookstores, powell's city of
books.

if you find yourself in the rose city this summer, or any time,
make sure to stop in at the souchi store and powell's. tell them
form3 sent you. they LOVE us!

the awesome train

we do our best to consider ways to reduce our waste at every
turn. one of the most creative ways we've employed this ethic

is the design of the lamps we fabricate. the only material that

is not reclaimed or re-purposed are the interior electrical

components. not only are the results a strong aesthetic

statement, they provide a solid comment on what we consider

waste. this particular design is made from scrap plywood off

our fabrication studio floor. we keep barrels of these lengths

around for just this opportunity.

thanks to jessica for the order and reminder of how awesome
these lamps are. we think YOU'RE awesome for thinking we're
awesome!

freewallin'

after the tech talk session from the other day's post, christopher,
our client in los angeles, decided to send a few more photos of
the work we did on his house in the hills of mt. washington.

the intention of the design was specific in creating an open space
floor plan which allows light to flood the interior by removing
non-weight bearing walls between the different sections of the
house. the results are a significant improvement in the line of
sight between rooms, mainly the kitchen and dining, but also
including the front hallway leading to their main door.

after reconfiguring the interior, we we're able to expand the size
of the kitchen and provide more cabinet space and extend counters
in order to create more usable square footage for the couple. we
also designed a number of built-in and custom pieces of furniture
to maintain continuity with the architectural design.

thanks again to christopher for sending out these images. it's
always nice to see our work after it's been lived in for awhile.

pass the mic

it didn't take long for jim and stephanie to book kat for a
second round of karaoke at the william tell saloon. with the
first night having such a great response, it was an easy choice
that was greeted with huge grins, a couple high fives and lots
of friendly trash talk.

as one local rancher was overheard saying the other day
between sips of his jack and coke: "karakoe in tomales?"

ah, yeah.

karaoke in tomales.

we'll keep doing our part by creating the poster art, helping
with set-up and co-hosting the evening.

so, if you like having a good time, we'll see you at the william
tell on thursday night, july 1st. if you LOVE having a good
time, we'll see you for the FULL, blistering three-hour set.

promises, promises

after reading our post from a few days ago, our client with the
cool mt. washington digs, christopher, sent these out to us in
order to help us keep our promise of more images of that work.
he's a little busy right now on the new season of weeds, but
found time to use a point and shoot digital camera to snap
a few angles of the project. it was a battle, because there's a
button you have to push in order for the camera to work and
then you have to upload those to a magical computer and then
attach them to an electronic message called an "email" and hit
another button to send them out. ( i'm exhausted just explaining
all this technical mumbo-jumbo.) that's two buttons and a few
keys on a computer keyboard!

he needs to get an iphone.

ahem.

we look forward to the re-design of the master bathroom
later this year and a few more photos of the project sent our
way. (the opposite view of these images is pretty awesome.
you can see the griffith observatory in the near distance.)