new gold dream

the form3 crew completed work on benny gold's new retail

space earlier this week and we look forward to hanging out

tomorrow and celebrating the beginning of the new era.

as we've posted before, it was a real pleasure to work with such a
strong creative individual. not only is his design sense so refined
and thoughtful, he is a solid personality with strong respect for
his own work and those around him. thanks again to benny and
hiromi for bringing us on to this project.

these images are from our original 3d modeling sketches

compared to some final photos.

declare the pennies on your eyes

death and taxes. no doubt. we got an email reminder this

morning from the california board of equalization that our

due date for tax payment is coming up.

really.

on a lighter note, moonlight brewery out of santa rosa

creates one of our favorite black ales in northern california

and we traditionally have (at least) one every april 15th.

the name? death and taxes, of course.

wasted!

the city of san francisco has a goal of reaching zero-waste by
the year 2020. although this may not be realistically achievable,
it allows for the contemplation of an effort that ultimately
helps citizens consider their waste in a responsible fashion.
the city currently has an impressive 72 percent recovery rate
through an aggressive recycling program and a civic base
that maintains a pride in progressive solutions to the many
problems we face as a society.

one simple solution: REDUCE at every opportunity. for many
other suggestions and strategies to consider your choices on a
daily basis, check out the website daily acts.

we try to do our part by re-purposing wood scraps from our
larger projects in creating lamps, seating, containers,
and various other smaller scale pieces. we source salvaged
and reclaimed materials at every chance and promote this as
a first option to our clients. we also collect our saw dust and
distribute it for free to local ranchers and others to find a
re-purposed application. as a business we have NEVER had
garbage pick-up. NEVER. we haul any unusable scraps to the
sonoma county recycling center for use in creating mulch.

in other topics about solutions for watse, we recommend
this article in the ny times reporting on the broad use of new,
cleaner garbage incinerators across europe that convert trash
into heat and electricity.

they call it stormy monday

some of our favorite clients of all time, bill and carol, came by
our studio in tomales yesterday for a visit. they were coming
down highway one from their home in the hills above the
mendocino coast.

we worked closely with them and their contractor a couple
years ago to customize a spec home they felt needed more
attention to detail. we've been doing great work with them
ever since and even named one of our credenzas after bill.

if you're ever in the anchor bay area and hear the blues harp or
flute carrying a tune across the hills, you know you're close to
their amazing home. tell them form3 sent you, they'll thank you
and send you on your way.

what the world needs now

the milan furniture fair opens this week, exhibiting new

work by both forward thinking designers and, of course,

those who follow the business-as-usual model.

we designed this dining chair in 2004 and it hasn't

changed much since, with the exception of the material

we use for the seat and back. although our wood choices

for clients are always sustainably-sourced, we've been

leaning heavily toward reclaimed, salvaged or this version,

which is glued-up scrap plywood. does that make form3

ahead of the curve or maintainers of a new status quo?

perhaps both. either way you look at it, we're still pretty

awesome. what!?

check out this article in the ny times about the idea of the

world needing another chair.

solid gold

we've had a number of clients over the years that have been

a real pleasure to work with for many different reasons. it

always provides incentive to spend more time focusing on the

details that will bring the end result something extra, and one

yardstick we use in measuring that relationship is working

weekends. (we'd rather not, but sometimes do.)

yesterday benny gold was good enough to open a chunk of

his saturday to let us back in and keep refining his new retail

space. (the april 17th opening is getting so close.)

since our first meeting and seeing his building, to the early

stages of design, and now the installation, this has been a

truly solid experience. it's always rewarding to work with

other creative minds to produce something so smartly refined

and this one hits on all marks.

(chris took this shot of the stay gold sticker out in tomales

at the william tell house, where we've been doing some work.

benny sure gets around.)

sign o' the times

our friend, omar, sent these pictures to us after crossing the

golden gate bridge into marin county recently. he was on his

way up to tomales for a visit to our new studio.

proud owner of a number of original form3 pieces, it seems he

can't get enough of our work, he absolutely LOVES us!

indeed. we feel the same. well done, sir.