Craighton Berman

Coil Lamp at the Fab Color exhibition during NY Design Week.

Sun, 20 May 2012 10:31:12 -0500

Coil Lamp at the Fab Color exhibition during NY Design Week.

Lash Stool premiere at Once Removed during NY Design Week 2012....

Sun, 20 May 2012 08:44:28 -0500

Lash Stool premiere at Once Removed during NY Design Week 2012. More info to come.

Coil Lamp in Fab's NY Design Week Pop-Up Shop

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:12:22 -0500

Recently accepted into the Art Institute of Chicago’s permanent collection, Coil Lamp will be popping it’s head into Soho during ICFF this week as a part of Fab.com’s “Color” themed pop-up shop. This pop-up shop coincides with an online sale—so now’s the time to pick up a Coil Lamp for The Nice Price™.

More info on the pop-up show below.

fab:

Here at Fab we love color. Strong, happy, polychromatic hues are at the core of our company soul. That’s why it was the obvious theme for our first physical pop-up shop. Yes, that’s right, we will have a brief stint as a brick and mortar. From May 17–22, we invade New York’s SoHo neighborhood with the Fab Color shop, where we display a color riot in the form of 150 hand-selected items from our favorite designers. You’ll find candy-tinted treats like a pink 1964 typewriter, a yellow and purple banana skateboard, rainbow-colored knuckledusters and a special red lacquered version of Alvar Aalto’s classic Stool 60.

Why are we doing this? Because it’s NY Design Week! For five, ahem, fab days, the city is abuzz with design presentations, launches and parties, from the official International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Javits Center to the abundance of independent off-site events all over town. Like ours. Which is not just ours, actually, as we got a little (a lot) of help from our friends.

Innovative modular carpet company FLOR has opened up its SoHo showroom to graciously host our Color Shop, along with a few other vibrant installations. Visionary Belgian design house Quinze & Milan has created an epic sculpture of mountainous proportions made of its iconic Pouf 01 seat. We’ll also display its newPilot Stool and the popular Jellyfish Chair and Primary Pouf collections. (These products will also be available in an online pop-up shop on Fab.com from May 17-31 at special prices.) But there’s more! Also, as a special treat to our visitors, we teamed up with AREAWARE and Quinze & Milan to introduce Big Red, a giant orange robot sculpture that’s based on award-winning designer David Weeks’ popular wood toy Cubebot. Quinze & Milan has recreated Cubebot in a ginormous version in comfy foam, so visitors can sit on his lap and rest their weary feet. And head. Big Red has really supportive shoulders, too.

But he’s not the only new friend you’ll meet. We decided that we wanted to get out in the real world and get to know our customers, so the Color Shop is staffed with Fab employees from our buying, marketing and supplier relations teams. Come and say hello! If you’re among the first 1000 visitors, we’ll give you a poster that looks like this:

And if you can’t stop by, don’t be sad. Our entire Color Shop will be available at Fab.com from May 17 to June 17.

May 17th-May 22nd

Thurs-Sat 11am-7pm Sun 12-6pm

FLOR, 142 Wooster St

Between Houston and Prince

I’ll be showing new work this coming week in NYC during...

Tue, 15 May 2012 22:54:00 -0500

I’ll be showing new work this coming week in NYC during ICFF in a “collaborative” show in the always-essential Noho Design District:

Once Removed is a design experiment with nine collaborators from across the globe, featuring new work by Atelier Takagi, Brendan Ravenhill, Craighton Berman, Fort Standard, Kelly Lamb, Rachel Boxnboim, Studio Swine, Tres Birds Workshop, and Vahakn Art & Design Studio. This exhibition will showcase objects bound not by a single aesthetic or function, but instead through a shared history of visual cues.

Each of the invited designers was asked to submit a set of personally snapped photographs from their daily routines or travels; show curators Jaime Kopke and Jordan Kushins selected a series of these images and distributed them to the group to become the basis for a new design. These pictures could be used in whatever way the individual/studio saw fit, from developing a product that suits some need in another’s world to simply incorporating a particular pattern, shape, color or material from one of the shots. Through this dedicated perspective swap, the designers help inform each others’ process from afar and create a collection united by a unique communal vision.

Once Removed will be on display in the Noho Design District at 22 Bond Street, from May 18th to the 21st. Hours are 12pm to 7pm.

You can see more of the backstory behind some of the photos on the Once Removed Facebook page and Tumblr. I’ll be posting my piece and the process behind it in the next week.

MANIFEST DESTINY

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:01:00 -0500

May 2012 marks a new chapter of Craighton Berman Studio, as it officially becomes my full-time endeavor.

After close to 7 years with gravitytank, I decided to take my next step and focus on my personal practice. Walking away from an amazing job doing interesting work with smart people wasn’t a decision that was easy to make, but one I ultimately had to do.

Those that know me, know I’m fiercely independent—a spirit embedded within me by my father, who has run his own business since the day he received his masters degree in the early 70s. Growing up I knew no other way other than the independent path, and that sense of autonomy has been my ideal state—no, my manifest destiny—ever since.

Going forward, Craighton Berman Studio will fully become a creative studio focused on the advancement of ideas—through both consulting and self-initiated projects.

The consulting services will focus on using visual-thinking to shape concepts, tell stories, and define experiences. Self-initiated projects will endeavor to bring ideas to life through tangible embodiments such as products, illustration, and digital experiences. (This description is a point of departure, and is sure to shift and focus as time unfolds.)

So here’s to the the past, and everyone who has encouraged me, supported me, and challenged me (most notably Emily). You all made me a more interesting maker and a more interesting human.

And here’s to the future—the era of continental expansion—and the boundless potential it holds.

The March 2012 “visual table of contents” for Dwell’s ‘Modern...

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:17:00 -0500

The March 2012 “visual table of contents” for Dwell’s ‘Modern World’ section: the seventh in an ongoing series. Selected works:

Visit the #dwell tag on my sketchblog to see more from this ongoing collaboration.

My arse, as pictured in the San Jose newspaper.

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:13:00 -0500

My arse, as pictured in the San Jose newspaper.

Lytro Photos from TEDxSanJoseCA

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:53:20 -0500

Ren Ng, PhD, the founder of Lytro, was one of the speakers at TEDxSanJose 2012. He shared his much-buzzed-about lightfield camera technology—advanced optics that allows their camera to capture more data than conventional digital imaging devices—which allows users to do amazing things like pick a point of focus AFTER YOU TAKE YOUR PHOTO. Lytro’s VP of Marketing, Kira Wampler, snapped a few shots of me finishing up some drawings, which you can play with below. Try single clicking various areas of each photo to change the focus:

A beautiful camera, with some awe-inspiring tech to back it up.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to fly out to the...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:04:00 -0500

This past weekend I had the opportunity to fly out to the Silicon Valley to graphic record TEDxSanJose 2012 on behalf of gravitytank. I visualized over 22 lectures in one day from a diverse cross-section of makers, thinkers, and doers from 14-year-old entrepreneurs to established research scientists. These visualizations are massive murals (8 ft x 4 ft) drawn on butcher paper live during the duration of the lectures. See in high res here.

"Relating a logical and productive strategy is important to persuading clients to do the right thing...."

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:33:00 -0500

“Relating a logical and productive strategy is important to persuading clients to do the right thing. It can help make a group of decision makers behave more constructively in the design process, but it doesn’t insure an interesting design result. Serious design, design that makes breakthroughs, design that inspires, is often a result of accidents, personal obsessions of the designer, and that designer’s intuition, determination, arrogance, and naivety. Great design solutions often fly in the face of logical explanations, even when the designer provides one.”

- Paula Scher

The February 2012 “visual table of contents” for Dwell’s ‘Modern...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:56:08 -0500

The February 2012 “visual table of contents” for Dwell’s ‘Modern World’ section: the sixth in an ongoing series. Selected works:

Visit the #dwell tag on my sketchblog to see more from this ongoing collaboration.

Gapers Block gives a nod to Coil Lamp's addition to the permanent collection at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:17:00 -0500

Gapers Block gives a nod to Coil Lamp's addition to the permanent collection at the Art Institute of Chicago.

I’m honored to announce that Coil Lamp is now in the...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:44:00 -0500

I’m honored to announce that Coil Lamp is now in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. It is currently on display in the show “Rethinking Typologies” running March 3–July 29, 2012.

I simply cannot find the words to express the absolute reverence I have for the work that is surrounding Coil Lamp in the show—Wanders, Bouroullec, Grcic, Jongerius, Arad, Campana, Béhar—not to mention the master artworks that the 132-year-old institution has within its walls. I can only say that I am among absolute giants, and I am deeply honored to be there.

This past week I attended SXSW Interactive, the digital-focused...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:23:00 -0500

This past week I attended SXSW Interactive, the digital-focused conference that precedes the infamous film and music fests in Austin, TX. It was my first time doing “South By”, and although it was surely an over-the-top “shit show”, I had a great time spending time with people making interesting stuff. I also brought along my iPad and furiously scrawled sketchnotes of most of the panels I attended, as well as commentary on the event at large, which I published on-the-fly as live reportage. You can see the whole set in full on my sketchblog.

Rewrite Desk, GPOY

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:23:00 -0600

Rewrite Desk, GPOY

I’ll be at SXSW Interactive this week from Friday March 9th to Monday March 12th. You can...

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:15:00 -0600

I’ll be at SXSW Interactive this week from Friday March 9th to Monday March 12th. You can catch me doing some graphic recording for Dean Kamen’s panel, sketch reporting for Core77, participating in Sketchcamp, and generally soaking up the SXSW “thing” as a first-timer. If you’re going to be there and want to grab a beer or coffee, do drop me a line.

The melancholic soundtrack for a marooned astronaut.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:18:04 -0600

The melancholic soundtrack for a marooned astronaut.

Michael stopped by my studio to work on a publication project a...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:39:53 -0600

Michael stopped by my studio to work on a publication project a few weeks ago and snapped a bunch of photos of the mess inside.

Photo

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:32:52 -0600

A few months back myself and another colleague from gravitytank...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:12:00 -0600

A few months back myself and another colleague from gravitytank facilitated a ideation workshop for the Revitalization & Business club at the University of Michigan’s MBA program. The one evening workshop was sort of a crash course in using design-thinking techniques to augment the work they were doing for Detroit Impact, a program where student teams consult to address specific challenges and opportunities facing Detroit businesses and organizations. The club put together this video to talk about the program, which features lots of B-roll from the ideation session.

Urban affairs have been an passion of mine for some time, and it’s exciting to see the world of strategic design and creative business start to get involved. Affecting change through bottom-up projects is the kind of authentic development that can save our neglected cities and neighborhoods, and I’m happy I contributed, even in a small way.

Thanks to Grant Hughes for the photo and video.