What Women Make

Before the Thaw – Women Bursting Into Spring – Maison Objet

Chauncey Zalkin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:26:32 +0000

The new Donna Wilson “Bertha” chair which debuted at Maison Objet last week from SCP. You can see a lot of Donna Wilson’s work at Future Perfect in the Noho store (NYC).

The maker of the drink-klip, a metal clip that attaches to a surface to hold a drink which I first discovered when I met her at LDF 09, debuted a new series of wallpaper, a commanding (if not entirely comfortable looking ) chair and tableware made from Hanji (traditional Korean handmade paper) at Maison Objet this past week as well. Her name is Been Kim and she was selected as a Next Generation Design Leader of the year by the Korea Industrial Design Promotion in 2006 and in 2009. The collection is called Meeet.

And according to Maison Objet, one of the biggest best design shows on the calendar, and definitively Parisian for better or worse, this is the season of the Sweet Freak. Out with the serious and stressed vibe of the past, in with the nutso crazy. (When did the nutso crazy ever leave France?)

In other news, Moss, that old institution of design retail in New York, is closing. It may be the end of an era in design in New York but hopefully it’s a chance to usher in something new – a city where design environments with a sense of whimsy and warmth can thrive. Moss was a bit too musn’t-touch-it for the immersive hybrid retail of the future.

& let me leave you with Clouds rug by Elise Fouin of Chevelier Edition

Links:

Chevalier Edition (Paris)

Designers Block (London)

Future Perfect (New York)

SCP (London)

Beeen (Korea)

What Women Make Sustainable Gift Guide 2011

Chauncey Zalkin — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:32:47 +0000

For all price ranges and passions (the full post on Tythe.com)

1. COOKING

Epicurean Designer Cutting Boards Though this Duluth, Minnesota run company …

2. HELPING

Nomi Bags Nomi network produces recycled bags that fight human trafficking.

3. INDEPENDENT DESIGNERS

I’ve always loved the spunk of Junk Prints owner / designer Chanel Kennebrew.

4. GLOBAL DESIGN CULTURE

Yoshii Shirt Stripe Towels – Towels have a strong significance in Japan.

5. CRAFTSMANSHIP

Stacking Vessels by Pia Wustenberg – As I see it, design is art and worth the price to celebrate the human ability to transform materials for use in our everyday lives.

-Chauncey Zalkin

A Gift Guide for Your Intellect

Chauncey Zalkin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:49:52 +0000

Design Thinking Book Guide

by Kristina Drury – founder of TYTHEdesign

As the holidays are fast approaching, I thought I would have a bit of fun and put together a ‘design thinking’ book list. These could be a great options to buy for your team members, your boss (maybe as a way to kindly suggest some changes) or even as a list for yourself. I thought these books could be inspiring, make beautiful coffee table books or even just a good read.

Without further ado, the ‘design thinking’ book guide (presented in no specific order):

1.

CAD Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies, and T-Shaped People: Inside the World of Design Thinking and How It Can Spark Creativity and Innovation by Warren Berger ($12)
This is a great book to introduce yourself to the concept of design thinking and the concept of social design. Berger argues that design isn’t just about the aesthetics but about changing the world. I believe the book was written as an introduction to the value of design to the non-design community. That being said, as a designer myself, I very much I enjoyed the read. An easy read with a lot of real-world examples and good practices.

2.

Gamestorming by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo($19)
The book is chock-full of copious brainstorming activities and methods for overcoming that group creative block that can sometimes plague idea generation meetings. In addition to covering many of the techniques we use at TYTHEdesign, this book offers almost 100 methods for drawing out creativity, increasing meeting productivity, and inspiring engagement and cooperation among groups. A worthy book for anyone looking to get new ideas out of your team while bringing the team together.

3.

Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers by Alexander Osterwalder ($20)
This is a must have for any one thinking of starting a business, it will help identify the basics of your business model in tangible steps. We at TYTHEdesign use techniques from this book on a daily basis and share them with our community. It’s remarkably useful, helpful and easy to follow. We would recommend this for creative thinkers planning on going out on their own in the business world.

4.

Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes and Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity by David Sibbet ($20)
If you have ever reached for a pen to explain your idea, then you will love this book. It’s not about drawing but how to use visuals (text, simple drawn images, photographs…..) as a part of engaging your team, explaining an idea to a client, analyzing and innovating. Even though we at TYTHEdesign come from a design background, we love using this book to keep us inspired. The book has a ton of useful information that can be easily implemented. We recommend this to anyone looking to add some fun to your regular meetings.

5.

Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation By Tim Brown ($19)
As the CEO of famed design consultancy IDEO, TIm Brown makes the argument for the relevance of design thinking in all global business. He believes that for a company to survive in this era, design thinking is a must. The book dives head first into practical design thinking providing a blueprint for its use across all categories.

Good luck with your holiday shopping and see you all in the new year!

—–
KRISTINA DRURY is an expert in design thinking and the Executive Director of TYTHEdesign, a consultancy serving the social sector based in New York City. TYTHEdesign uses design-based approaches to support the goals and needs of agencies in the social sector, drawing on communication and organizational design to increase the impact of their work. Feel free to contact her if you have questions at all! She’s here to help.

Back to Native American Values: Take a look at Native American Women

Chauncey Zalkin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:55:40 +0000

When Show Love spent a few days last week at Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture (home of Blue Hill restaurant deliciousness) as the official videographers of the Young Farmer’s Conference, we spoke to 3 Native Americans who had come from 3 tribes, all working with the Food Corps an initiative to teach kids about healthy food. They came from three tribes: the White Mountain Apache, the Santa Domingo Pueblo, and the Hopi, all in the Southwest. I spoke to them at length and was incredibly moved by their work to instill Native American values in the youths of their tribes and teach sustainable farming – working with and not against nature as they’ve done for thousands of years (and which it seems, we’re just learning). The time feels really ripe to bring the U.S. back full circle to its original values that we so desperately need today. I went back to Women Make Movies site and found this series on promotion through the end of December:

“Native: Through the Eyes of Indigenous Women” includes

‘TOXIC TRESPASS, which covers environmental racism impacting native communities, CLUB NATIVE and MOHAWK GIRLS, two coming of age identity films by the acclaimed Mohawk director, Tracey Deer; the urgent and heartbreaking FINDING DAWN on the human rights crisis of aboriginal femicide; the spirited Southwestern artists’ film THE DESERT IS NO LADY, and a provocative cultural look called NAVAJO TALKING PICTURE.’

Check it out here

and read about the White Mountain Apache, the Santa Domingo Pueblo, and the Hopi tribe.

*Image from the film Finding Dawn.

Here are some more pictures from our time at the Young Farmers Conference. To learn more about Show Love, social content for lovable companies, read our press release here.

New York Now: From Didion to Start Up Successes

Chauncey Zalkin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 01:59:17 +0000

What Women Make went from being European-based to New York-based in October. Since then, the posts are slow coming as we develop our first core business, Show Love, and develop ways to bring WWM to life on my home turf. In this discovery phase, I’ve met tons of likeminded energized women playing vital parts in the social and business paradigm shifts taking place.

Here are 4 women in 4 key arenas:

Design

Annie Coggan – In a city lacking in design activity, Annie’s a breath of fresh air. Outside the world of decor and decoration, there doesn’t seem to be much of the rich critical design discussion you get in other world class cities save for This Is Product Placement co-run by Julie Taraska who I have met but that was in Italy so she doesn’t count for this post. Annie runs a design blog called Chairs and Buildings, is an architect, is a teacher, and is a resident at the women-run Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn working on a very innovative upholstery project. She’s been in the decoration blogs like Design Sponge and design blogs like Yatzer. She’s on this list for being a woman who keeps evolving and is a true artist. She also happens to have gone to Bennington College, where I went as well, and during one of the best times in its history. More on her later. More on the women at the Textile Arts Center later too – they are also entrepreneurs and supporters of community arts definitely fitting the bill as paradigm shifters. You can follow them at @textileartscent

Tech Start Ups

Kathryn Minshew – at 25, she’s the co-founder of the online magazine start-up The Daily Muse; has been awarded with Y Combinator financing and counsel; led a strategy to provide HPV vaccines in Rwanda with the Clinton Health Access Initiative in her even earlier career; she’s also incredibly unpretentious and nice, and though it shouldn’t matter she’s super pretty which doesn’t hurt in this world. (Of course if she wasn’t beautiful inside it really wouldn’t mean diddly.) She’s been supportive and warm and receptive to me and about What Women Make and she’s just the kind of person that WWM is always seeking to show to the world.

Co-working Spaces

Adelaide Lancaster – As soon as she sat down with my partner and I at the end of a long day for all three of us, she exuded an incredible sense of calm and wisdom that was truly infectious. It was a bit like having a cup of tea – if tea had any practical takeaway to offer. She gave us great advice and encouragement about our business Show Love and put us in touch with resources and lovable companies she thought would appreciate our approach to social content via storytelling. I’ll be teaching one of their workshops in the Spring. More on that later too. She and her partner Amy Abrams have a shared work space called In Good Company whose name could not be more appropriate. They also just published a book called the Big Enough Company.

One of my Heroes

Joan Didion – Okay, ‘meeting her’ is a bit of a stretch. She signed my book and spelled my name correctly after I saw her on stage discussing her magnificent career with her nephew the actor Griffin Dunne. She also said ‘thank you for coming’ and looked me in the eye. Though I wouldn’t be able to exactly call her my best friend, I felt a little bit of Didion magic dust rub off on me as I left Symphony Space and had a slice at the Upper West Side Two Boots before heading back to Brooklyn.

Stay tuned next week for my Christmas post on the Tythe Design blog.

-Chauncey Zalkin

Print Turns to Pixels Series: She’s a Literary Agent and a Bookshop Owner

Chauncey Zalkin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:33:03 +0000

What Women Make Interviews London-based Literary Agent and Bookshop Owner Felicity Rubinstein.

Felicity Rubinstein and partner Sarah Lutyens were colleagues at two publishing houses and partners as literary agents for sixteen years before deciding to open a bookstore in the north end of Notting Hill, a shop which has several times been praised as one of the loveliest in London. Being both retailers and longtime literary agents makes them ideal interview subjects for women in all kinds of creative businesses; They are creative entrepreneurs in a tough economy and their business of choice is in an industry that is in peril but also one with fierce loyalists who want to retain this most sacred of cultural experiences. I asked Felicity to share her thoughts about agenting and owning an independent bookshop in an era of such tremendous change.

It turns out that their decision and the timing of the store was not a stance against digital books or chain stores like Waterstones (The U.K.’s Barnes & Nobles) or Borders or WH Smith (which she spoke highly of), nor did it have anything to do with the marketshare taken by Amazon. “We’d been talking about opening a bookshop for a long time. It just finally happened to come together in 2009.”

Between then and now, the popularity of digital books has moved so fast and still there’s no way to determine what will happen in either digital publishing or the bookseller landscape in the months and years to come. Still, like all good small business owners – and all writers actually who are endlessly told ‘write what you know’ – she expressed great passion for her neighborhood, an area she’s lived in her whole life, and one where she has an intimate knowledge of the market.

They saw a gap and filled it: “North Notting Hill is a highly literate area. We were sure the neighborhood would appreciate a place to buy books you wouldn’t find in a supermarket.” Felicity feels that everyone in the book business harbors a fantasy of owning a bookshop. “It’s a bit like all children wanting to own a sweet shop.” (a candy store in ‘American’.)

I personally don’t want to imagine a world without aisles of books – the smell of fresh paper, a quiet public space to browse and discover – and she doesn’t think it has to be one or the other. “The curated experience at the heart of forward-thinking retail and that’s what we offer. Change is in the air and people are frightened of change. New developments are happening very, very fast. We don’t sell digital books in our stores, clearly, but we do work on digital royalties as agents. These are exciting and scary times. One of the best things I’ve noticed is that kids are reading more than ever. If reading is on the rise in children, we feel very encouraged.”

It’s clear that their love of agenting hasn’t ebbed. In their mid-30s, both working in publishing they realized that there were very few agents their age. “Most agents at the time were half a generation older than us. We felt we’d gone as far as we could in publishing and wanted to do something new and there’s still nothing like taking on a new author and announcing that their life is going to change because their book has been accepted for publication.”

Each day, Felicity Rubinstein and Sarah Lutyens walk downstairs, slide open a wall of books in the back of the store, and enter their offices where they go to work for their writers. The day-to-day decisions in the bookshop are trusted to their full time staff. Sometimes at lunch and on weekends they’ll go behind the counter “because if you have a job that involves sitting on your bottom all day answering the phone, it’s nice to get up and talk to people in the shop,” she says laughing, but she’s adamant that their day jobs as agents are as busy as ever.

The two roles compliment one another. As agents, they have to take on authors they think they can sell but “as booksellers, we recommend books that we’d give to a friend or ask our mothers to read and we can sell books that were published any time in the last 200 years.’ The balance keeps them inspired and excited – and that’s what the energy of change is all about.

Q & A

What would you say to female writers looking to the future of the publishing industry?

Keep writing!

3-10 female living authors whose books you love

Jennifer Egan – A Visit From the Goon Squad
Cressida Connolly – My Former Heart
Melissa Bank – The Wonder Spot
Mary Lawson – The Other Side of the Bridge
Emma Forrest – Your Voice in My Head
Claire Messud – The Emperors Children
Gabrielle Hamilton – Blood, Bones & Butter

Visit:
Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookshop
21 Kensington Park Road
London, W11 2EU
Tube: Ladbroke Grove

(I thought this would be a great time to post this as I run out to go here Joan Didion speak at the Peter Jay Sharpe theater…)

Friday Diary: SheMakes Holiday Festival

Chauncey Zalkin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:44:27 +0000

This Saturday, Dec 3 come to the SheMakes Holiday Festival

NYC

Support female entrepreneurs and eat delicious food while checking off your Christmas shopping list. There will be over 30 vendors there, all smart women like you.

I’ll be there doing a limited run of personalized hoodie sweatshirts for dogs, a business I had back in 2002, all manufactured right here in the garment district with my dog as my fit model. They ended up on J-lo and P Diddy’s Chihuahua and Sharpei respectively – and they raised money for the rescue dogs of 9/11 at several charity events. Was a good time. I have a big batch of red hoodies that I’ve been carting all over Europe and back and I’ll be personalizing them with your dogs name and selling them at the event. I’m very excited to revisit this fun project but the hoodies will not last. They are already selling out.

Hope to see you there:

December 3rd, from 12pm – 5pm
Saatchi & Saatchi
375 Hudson Street at Houston
(street level entrance on King St)

You can find more details here and add it to your calendars here

What Women Make supports hosts the Daily Muse, a group of young smart female entrepreneurs who’ve launched an online magazine to offer an alternative to the fluffy stuff already out there, one that speaks to the needs of young professional women. Their combined histories are impressive – from top schools to time spent doing relief work in Rwanda, directing a series of international affairs university publications, and working at top management consulting firms. Oh, and they’re also really nice people!

Follow them to stay updated on career tips, advice, and articles: @dailym_use

Also brought to you by 85 Broads and Saatchi & Saatchi

My First Creative Morning: Rainbow Parade

Chauncey Zalkin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:15:39 +0000

This was my first time at Creative Mornings, the monthly talks started by Swiss Miss design blogger Tina Roth Eisenberg. I’ve been following Swiss Miss for a few years now and her blog always has useful tips for design lovers who love technology like you and me. The talk was by graphic designer and “lucky-so-and-so” blogger Jessi Arrington.

I felt like a “lucky-so-and-so” myself because the talk was all about bright color. The talk itself was short and sweet but the rainbow parade around DUMBO that ensued was the best Friday eye-opener you could imagine. When I got home, my husband asked me if I was drunk. THAT’S how energizing it was.

Takeaways from the talk were as follows:

Think “Why Not?” instead of “Why?

This helped confirm my decision to take that color theory class at SVA that I’ve been wanting to take (coincidence) even though I think I should be taking more businessy classes; I REALLY WANT TO TAKE THIS CLASS so f*** it, I’m gonna. She referenced Steve Jobs homecoming speech and his calligraphy classes as a ‘you never know where this can lead’ example.

Don’t be glib and standoffish, be empathetic and participate.

She said this in her own way but the basic message is ‘get the chip of your shoulder and connect with people.’ Participate for crissakes. Don’t put baby (meaning you) in the corner.

and last,

Do the thing that makes you tick. Don’t do what you think others expect of you as a substitute for the real thing. It’s okay to be yourself. Really. It is.

Cindy Gallop said something along these lines at Web 2.0 in September and my old myspace page has a list of convictions that expand on the theme. Back story: I was in a hotel room int he 9th arrondisement in Paris in October 2006 when it hit me that I just had to listen to myself (I can’t believe I’m linking to this but here goes). I decided then and there that I needed to hightail it out of New York and move to Paris to write a novel, which is exactly what I did 3 months later. (Now, 5 years later, I’m married with a finished novel that I love more than anything I’ve ever done – and back in NYC ready to push it into an agents arms!)

Here are some photos of this morning and then, since we’re always work-first at What Women Make, my favorite pick from Jessi’s graphic design work.

First, the parade:

Then my favorite graphic design work of Jessi’s I would have to say are her invitations:

Some of the really handy Swiss Miss stuff is here (but it’s all great).

Jessi Arrington’s blog: Lucky-so-and-so.

If you’re a creative in New York, check out the schedule for Creative Mornings.

What Women Make

Before the Thaw – Women Bursting Into Spring – Maison Objet

You may also like...

What Women Make Sustainable Gift Guide 2011

For all price ranges and passions (the full post on Tythe.com)

1. COOKING

2. HELPING

3. INDEPENDENT DESIGNERS

4. GLOBAL DESIGN CULTURE

5. CRAFTSMANSHIP

Related posts...

A Gift Guide for Your Intellect

Design Thinking Book Guide

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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Back to Native American Values: Take a look at Native American Women

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New York Now: From Didion to Start Up Successes

Design

Tech Start Ups

Co-working Spaces

One of my Heroes

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Print Turns to Pixels Series: She’s a Literary Agent and a Bookshop Owner

What Women Make Interviews London-based Literary Agent and Bookshop Owner Felicity Rubinstein.

Q & A

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Friday Diary: SheMakes Holiday Festival

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My First Creative Morning: Rainbow Parade

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