gold diggers

it was just a year ago benny gold opened his first retail space.

now he's already on to his second spot and new digs in the heart
of the mission district.

we look forward to seeing old friends and new faces saturday
night at the opening of his unbelievably cool form3-designed
store.

the truth is...we killed it.

broken boy soldier

back in early april, on a beautiful monday afternoon, greg was driving
southbound on highway one, heading to the form3 fabrication studio
in tomales.

while finishing the last of an awesome vegan burrito from el marachi
in occidedntal, he hit a soft patch of wet grass on the side of the road
and went into a tailspin.

trying to correct his mistake, he slightly overcompensated, hit the
asphalt hard with his tires and rolled his pathfinder, coming to a stop
with the passenger side of the vehicle resting firmly on the highway.

the good news?

no one else was hurt.

no other cars were involved. no bicyclists. no cows in the adjacent meadow.

no one.

and for that we're all very grateful.

but the guy with hot sauce on his lips got his arm crushed between the car
and asphalt as the pathfinder was rolling over.

oops.

these pics were taken on greg's blackberry following surgery while
enjoying the effects of dilaudid.

now. let the healing begin.

(thanks to all those who called, sent cards, flowers, gifts, food, beer, etc...)

golden opportunity

we took a few pics as we were putting the finishing touches on
benny gold's new store a couple weeks ago.

(the new oak floor we laid is still covered in paper. once it comes
up and benny merchandises the place, it's going to look pretty
amazing.)

it was another great opportunity given to us by benny and hiromi
and we did our best to create a unique space that will showcase
the great work that benny has provided his adoring public.

doors open this week.

if you find yourself in the mission district, be sure to drop in and
check the place out.

why?

because it's awesome.

staying gold

once we completed the benny gold store in the mission district last
year, we knew the success that benny was having with his work would
find him expanding sooner than later.

cut to early february this year, when we got a call from the man himself.

benny found a potential new retail spot in the heart of the mission, on
16th street between valencia and guerrero.

needless to say, we were walking through the space with benny and
hiromi a couple days later and within a week, hashed out some early
drawings on the interior design.

working with someone that possesses such a strong visual sense made
the design process move quickly and smoothly. we had our crew beginning
framing new walls 18 days later!

we completed the job a in mid-april and the store is set to open this
friday, the 29th.

these sketch-up drawings show the second of two designs we all agreed
upon. (more pics to come.)

huf and stuff

we've done so much work for the fine folks behind huf over the last
decade, sometimes we don't know where we'd be without their support.

in january, we got a call from co-owner, anne freeman, wanting us to
redesign their flagship store in hayes valley, SF.

we incorporated some of the elements of the skate shop and apparel store
into what had become the last outpost of huf in the city where it all started:
san francisco.

these images show some of the resulting work.

simple addition

near the end of last year, we got a call from a former client in los
angeles.

their 2-bedroom/2-bath home in the hills of mt. washington needed
some extra space for entertaining (and their new 50" HD plasma TV).
knowing they were on somewhat of a limited budget, we flew down and
spent a weekend coming up with a strategy that would give them what
they needed and not break their bank account.

a few measurements, a good conversation, a couple beers and some time
hashing out ideas on sketch up and...viola!

before we flew back to SF on sunday evening, this is what we came up
with in order to provide a fairly simple, yet compelling, addition to
their home.

(we even found time to have some pho at one of our favorite vietnamese
spots in silver lake.)

you're welcome, chris and yvette.

now go get your checkbook.

she's gotta have it

back in early december, as we were working in our studio on a
unseasonably warm late fall day, a young gentleman by the name
of cristoff walked past our open sliding door in tomales.

upon seeing a prototype plyform sofa we were working on, he knew
he found his christmas present for his wife.

three weeks later, we were getting ready to pack this up and
personally drive it down to san anselmo in order to surprise his
wife of three months, jane.

did she like it?

no.

she LOVED IT!

it's good to be black

sometime around last thanksgiving our office phone rang and on the
other end of the line was a most familiar voice: our good friend mega
from black scale.

it's always a treat to hear his silky smooth voice calling out for a little
collaboration with form3, so we got out our notepad, jotted down a few
things and set up a meeting.

these images are the results.

always a pleasure to do work with alfred, mega, ron, ruben and ryan.
brothers like no others and we're proud to have slowly turned their
store into an honest form3 project over the last year.

if you find yourself around Union Square in downtown SF, be sure to stop
in and check out their latest.

they're the bomb!

the return of form3

it's been quite a long time and a lot has transpired since we last had
an entry.

we will, in the next few weeks, bring you up-to-date with
the wonderful world of form3.

this is the final look of the bathroom project we completed last november.

sweet!