workin' for a livin'

everyday.

all day.

no matter what.

the result of travis' hard work in its final resting place.

takin' what they're givin'

part time summer work comes in many forms. for my nephew travis,
it meant flying out to northern california from tucson earlier this
month in order to lend a hand on a few different form3 projects.

here he's working on the new addition to the benny gold retail space
in san francisco. we've repeated the look of existing plexiglass
shelving we created for benny when his shop opened in april in
order to accommodate his fall line coming out next month. his
success sees no limits and we're honored to be a small part of
what he's offering the community.

as for travis, he's back in arizona starting his senior year at catalina
foothills high school. a true baller with a big heart and sly sense of
humor, he looks forward to lighting it up on the hardwood this coming
fall.

thirty inch vertical? check. sweet pull up jumper? check. ball handling
skills like earl "the pearl" monroe? check. awesome farkel game?
check.

the day without a post

although our inability to post yesterday may have felt
to you, our faithful readers, like we were 1.8 million light
years away, sucked into the black hole of cassiopeia.

rest assured, we were not sucked into the void nor have
we turned into neo-luddites, we were on a mission
from the "god particle".

the shell game

for years now, one of the main concerns in high energy physics and
particle acceleration has focused on the search for one of the most
basic building blocks that define the fabric of our universe.

a thousand physicists working at the fermi national accelerator
laboratory in batavia, ill., reported in paris on monday that they
had not found the so-called “god particle,” yet. but they are
beginning to figure out where it is not.

over the last decade physicists working on two separate experiments
at fermilab have combed the debris from a thousand trillion collisions
of protons and anti-protons looking for signs of the the higgs boson,
which is said to be responsible for imbuing elementary particles with
mass.

although this information doesn't have the immediate impact of a
newly crowned little girl with a wad of cash and pancake make-up,
it resonates, believe it or not, even deeper with it's implications not
only in science, but spirituality and the existence of the idea of god.

training day

in relation to yesterday's post specifically, and
over-design in general, i have been thinking
about how it all begins.

oh, number 52, have you no wad of cash to parade
for your picture?

too good to stop

martin schoeller's iconic images of female bodybuilders
were not what i was going to blog about this morning,
but the harsh veracity of the images are so compelling
that i could not stop myself.

the line between constructing an ideal image of self yet
creating an image that becomes freakish to the majority
is the strength of these images and keeps me staring, and
staring, and staring...

sweet leaf

corrine ullman, an architectural designer from brooklyn, created
two murals that hang on the side of a condominium in nyc for a
competition sponsored by the real estate blog curbed.

one is of trees with leaves glowing in the sunlight, the other of the
same trees in shadow. she coordinated the images of he trees with
similar trees in the surrounding neighborhood.

nice touch by creating a feeling of nature in the midst of the urban
jungle.

the name's not boy. it's roy

seems like a simple enough game.

throw a ball down a lane and hit some pins.

best of luck.

last night we took to time to do our best ernie mc cracken
impersonation. turned out to be our best roy munson effort.

you got me working day and night

when you spend 10 hours a day working in your home office, you
better make sure you give yourself an opportunity to really like
your surroundings. and if that office is for a husband and wife,
it better be really good.

we designed this home office for a couple down in san jose who
worked side by side everyday and wanted their marriage to last
through the trials and tribulations of doing so. the room they
designated for the office space wasn't necessarily the largest
space to work with, so we made it, in the client's terms, "a sexy
place to work".

we were recently informed they conceived their first child in that
office.

your welcome.

leave your keys at the door

for those who like their lights turned low, their coltrane set on the
hi-fi, their cocktails stirred gently and their atmosphere sexy, mod
and minimal, you've come to the right place.

we strive to create environments where ideas are expounded, drinks
are consumed and children are conceived. welcome to the abstract
lounge line. sit back, relax and enjoy yourself.

fourspace is down for the form3 whatever.

it's a mad world

for those who follow television with a creative approach to fine
entertainment, one of the best shows on the air is, no doubt,
mad men on amc.

the mood, the design, the characters and the often not-so-subtle
social commentary of this well-crafted series is not to be missed.

we'll be in front of our picture tube this sunday night with our
looking balls locked on every second as the new season kicks off.

throwing it all away

vik muniz's work "pictures of garbage" documented in
lucy walker's film "waste land" is a project surrounding
the world's largest land fill, jardim gramacho, located in
rio de janeiro and the locals who survive off of and utilize
the discards of a wasteful society.

always using waste as both an inspiration and source for
his work, muniz traveled back to his homeland to use trash
from this land fill to create portraits a few of the hundreds
of local garbage pickers.

through the collaboration between the artist and the people
he worked with, lives are re-imagined, re-valued and made
just a little more hopeful.

did you really just throw that bottle in the trash?

solid state

concerning the broader scope of environmental responsibility, there
are many opportunities to make decisions in our daily lives that have
a lasting effect throughout our lifetime.

this salvaged elm dining table and bench set we designed stand out
as a perfect example.

the source of the wood is salvaged from a ranch in north marin
county. the clients live less than 25 miles away in south marin.
the fabrication took place in southern sonoma county, no more
than 35 miles north of the client's home.

that, my friends, is LOCAL.

this reduction in carbon footprint is a strategy, if employed, that
produces such a positive affect from the simple act of the client's
choice to trust in the power of a local economic investment, it
provides an outstanding example of what could be part of our
future solutions to some of our more accessible problems.

so get off your ath and do the math.

going LOCAL helps.

tailor made

we continue to make all the incremental adjustments for client's
different body types in order to provide the best match in accordance
to their specific human dimension. this plyform lounge chair fitting
was insane.

these particular individuals worked with us like a bride getting fit
for a wedding dress.

maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration.

but then again, maybe not.

sketches of rudolph

one of our personal favorite architects has also been one of the
most dismissed architects in american history.

paul rudolph created numerous structures that no longer exist
in the greater sarasota area due to the lack of preservation, and
perhaps, his place in the history books of american architects.
known for his box-like, brutalist school of design works, he
stands out as one of the most unique voices in the modernist
movement.

these drawings display his craft and vision in an uncompromising
artistic light and provide insight to this singular architectural body
of work.

sign in and drink up

this is what we do in our down time. find out what the william
tell house needs and create it.

the cool little town of tomales just got cooler.

if you're heading north OR south on highway one, you know
you've got to hit the breaks after locking your looking balls on
this baby.

C'MON!

masterpiece

the films of quentin tarantino are rarely a disappointment. even
death proof, who most people underestimate, is a truly remarkable
film in so many ways.

it's been awhile since our last viewing of one of our favorite films
of 2009, so last night we watched inglourious basterds and
enjoyed every one of the 153 minutes. the opening sequence is a
perfectly executed set up, as is the last moment, as lieutenant aldo
raine refers to the newly cut swastika on ss colonel hans landa's
forehead as his masterpiece.

he's been chewed out before. no doubt.

(we also think the classic 70's look of this poster released for the
italian cinema couldn't be better.)

gimme the shot

the giant drink board we designed and built for the william tell
saloon in tomales greets all those who dare enter the friendly
confines out on highway one.

on the opposite side, a photo chris took last spring on chileno
valley road hangs over the 25 foot long rail we built for those who
choose to stand while drinking their favorite beverage of choice.

we've promised more images of the work we did on the place, but
it proves to be somewhat of a challenge. daylight mixed with low
wattage incandescent bulbs make for some difficult lighting
situations and, believe it or not, patrons at bars don't appreciate
a couple strategically placed half k's in their faces during drinking
time.

we promise we'll figure it out and show the work we've done.
we LOVE the results (and so do the friendly residents of tomales).

the kick

the world cup final, full of yellow cards and one red card, proved
to be a bit less graceful than what was expected. the outcome,
ultimately, was just as paul the octopus predicted: espana as the
victor.

we know a few friends in barcelona were going loco yesterday
after andrés iniesta launched what proved to be the winning
goal with less than 4 minutes remaining in the match.

congratulations to not only spain, but south africa as well for
a great job hosting the tournament as the world watched.

now PLEASE lose the vuvuzelas.

bench obsessed

it was pointed out by a late comer to our posts from a couple
weeks ago that we failed to include these two benches in the
conversation: the original huf store bench and the hayes valley
store bench were coordinated by design in order to maintain a
consistency in branding for the huf-obsessed shoppers.

we didn't include these because we felt we were on the verge
of overkill on the f*@#king benches, already!

now we know it.

in the news

for those who can't get enough architecture and design news,
we give the form3 seal of approval to one of the best sites that
compiles essential information concerning some of the most
interesting projects from around the globe: arch daily.

they posted on the architectural firm ozel office's proposal for the
new opera house in izmir, turkey a few days ago. the project is
thoughtful in respect to the social and cultural history of the
region and aesthetically outstanding in both proposal and
representation.

the only thing that would make this project more refined would
be a few form3 benches in the lobby.

no doubt.

(call us.)

book smart

we've been known to read a few books now and then and our
favorite bookstore in san francisco, william stout, just so
happens to be one of the best art, architecture and design
bookstores in the united states.

we find ourselves having to write down titles before we enter
this maze of publication in order to not spend an entire day
perusing the incredible stacks on both floors.

we highly recommend bypassing amazon or other online
opportunities and head down to montgomery street and
say hello to their world of books.

tell them form3 sent you, they'll know what to do.

prague matic

we recently had an inquiry from the czech republic concerning
one of our personal favorite work desks we've designed. although
it didn't quite make sense from a financial standpoint for the
interested party, they had some kind words to say about this design.

built from fsc-certified birch plywood, reclaimed handles and a
custom metal base, we've fabricated a number over the years.

we would have loved to know one of these was being used diligently
somewhere in prague by a dedicated writer, but, although it didn't
end up happening, we certainly appreciate the interest.

tell me more

after seeing the t-shirt design we did for the olde sonoma public
house, the good folks at the william tell needed to get in on the
action.

we've been mocking up this new crest for them and it looks
as if they've settled on this design.

look for the t-shirts and trucker caps to be hanging behind the bar
by next weekend.

stool sample

simple. honest. clean. minimal. what other words describe our
kitchen counter stool?

awesome? yeah, that might work.

using reclaimed douglas fir that was milled in 1905 from the
northern california coast, no doubt this old-school wood has
a few stories under its belt. one of it's favorite? how it got a
second life as this stool and has been admired by thousands.

all those adjectives describing this stool? they come from
proud owners of this stylishly handsome form3-designed piece.

that's right, stylishly handsome!