Wednesday, October 05, 2005

crafted in the u.s.a.

while away, ann and dabney received news that their not-so-beloved oompa loompa tv finally passed on with "a pop, a hiss" and a distinct smokey smell.

so upon their return, and after wading through waist-high junk mail, they promoted their tiny and seldom-used bedroom tv to the living room and gave it the tivo medal of honor.

what their miracle box had in store for them was the first three episodes of made in the u.s.a. - karim rashid's reality competition for burgeoning inventors. need you ask if ann and dabney sat right down and watched it? you need not. as two people who are trying constantly to make new things (albeit on a decidedly smaller scale), it was a fascinating glimpse at the process folks go through to quality test, package, and sell their products. on the show, testers examined, pounded, and even blow-torched some of the prototypes to gauge their durability.




so prompted, ann and dabney let feidler walk around and drool on their journal covers for a little while. they were then deemed ready for the home shopping network.

4 comments:

pupil said...

Karim Rashid is overrated, the blobject a failure, although I feel like I must have something of his in the apt. I see his Umbra trash bins for sale at the local hardware store. That's Lamebridge for you. Still, I've always lusted for this: The Q Chaise.

Anonymous said...

i have to admit i kind of admire the guy. he can produce thoughtfully-designed products at cheap prices and i love, love, love his use of color in EVERYTHING even the most mundane of objects. yes, he is certainly prolific, but i can't help but think that a sure sign of success for any product designer would be ubiquity. let's see what do we have? offhand, i can think of 2 things: method soap and a tiny tabletop trashcan we use to throw fabric scraps in.

Anonymous said...

Death to Oompa-Looma Vision!

Ashbloem said...

Though I don't like all his stuff, I'm with Ann on the colour thing - anyone who brings spots of colour into people's lives is alright by me.

The only thing I have of his is the Method line. Fucking love that stuff, man! Counter cleaner that smells like grapefruit? LOVE IT.