Jan

Funky Furniture Maker Nails The Creative Process

by Janine Boylan on January 14, 2013

Apple cabinet, showing imaginative result of the creative process

Apple cabinet © Straight Line Design

Judson Beaumont Thinks Outside the Box

Wooden furniture. It is solid, smooth, rigid. It may have level-straight lines or gently carved curves.

An inner voice reasons: There are limits to what you can build with wood, right?

Not according to Judson Beaumont. In fact, it appears that you can take a bite right out of his funky furniture.

Beaumont, owner and designer of playfully-named Straight Line Design, oozes with creative thinking. He learned early in his experience that you don’t have to do something just because it has always been done that way. Describing his creative process, he says, “I love it when someone tells me that ‘You cannot build that’ or ‘No one would want that.’ These words only encourage me more.”

His imaginative furniture certainly defies expectations, and it appears to defy physics.

But there are things you can’t do with wood. For example, everyone knows you can’t fold solid wood like an accordion.

Accordion cabinet, showing imaginative result of the creative process

Accordion cabinet © Straight Line Design

Oh, I see. It looks like you can.

Beaumont’s creative process begins simply with this: question the ordinary. While he ensures that each of his pieces is functional and may be based on some elements of tradition, he certainly is not bound by what has been done before.

Becoming a master of a craft is no small task, but pushing the limits to become uniquely creative takes his skill to a new level.

Ha! A new level! That sounds like furniture levitates or something!

Little Black Dresser, showing imaginative result of the creative process

Little Black Dresser © Straight Line Design

Oh, I see. It does. This Little Black Dresser seems to hang in space.

Beaumont had to learn to create furniture with dove joints and perfectly fitting pieces. But then he challenged himself to try unconventional, unexpected angles and figured out how to make a wooden cabinet appear to bend, fold, or explode.

Explode?

Boom Cabinet, showing imaginative result of the creative process

Boom Cabinet © Straight Line Design

Oh! I see. Cabinets can explode!

Beaumont tells more about his creative process, “My rule is: if you can draw and design it, you can build it.” And he has. His clever sketch became a canned bench.

Peel furniture sketch, showing role of design in the creative process

Peel furniture sketch © Straight Line Design

Canned bench, showing imaginative result of the creative process

Canned bench © Straight Line Design

Every one of Beaumont’s designs is functional. And beautiful. That’s what makes them doubly inspirational.

Furniture is functional. And solid. I know that furniture is solid.

Hollow chair, showing imaginative result of the creative process

Hollow chair © Straight Line Design

Hollow chair and friend © Straight Line Design

Oh, come on. How is hollow furniture possible?

Beaumont’s mantra for getting creative ideas: “Be influenced and inspired by the norm, and then challenge it, change it, melt it, stretch it, alter it for the better.”

Well, no matter what you do to it, one thing is certain: you can keep furniture in the house.

Bad Table, showing imaginative result of the creative process

Bad Table © Straight Line Design

Oh, I SEE! This Bad Table has to stay outside!

OIC that imaginative results come from a creative process that knows no limits.

What funky furniture would you have Beaumont design for you? Leave a comment below!

VIA Laughing Squid

Inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Janine Boylan 3 Comments

The World's Art & Design

Jan

Creative Inspiration Flows In Underwater Photographs

by Meredith Mullins on January 10, 2013

creative inspiration from curious jacks over the sand

Curious Jacks over Sand
© Robin V. Robinson

Artistic Expression from Down Deep

I’ve had this OIC Moment before. A déjà vu of the deep—from growing up with Jacques Cousteau, learning life lessons from Nemo, and visiting aquariums all over the world. The beauty and intrigue of the ocean world is never-ending.

But as I stood in front of the underwater photographs in an exhibit at the Center for Photographic Art in California, I was mesmerized.

These images showed me that an OIC Moment can come again and again. Something familiar, something seen before can always be seen in a new light, with new eyes. Viewing mysterious underwater images that capture the vastness of our planet can be a powerful creative inspiration.

Creative inspiration from a school of curious jack fish

Curious Jacks
© Scott Campbell

Diving into the Images

I lost myself in these images, especially the photos (above) of the Curious Jacks. Suddenly, these fish became personalities. Where were they going? What were they thinking? Who, exactly, were they?

Some looked decidedly grumpy.

Some looked mean.

Some looked determined (places to go and people to see).

Some looked flirtatious.

Some looked detached . . . too cool for school (that’s a fish joke).

Some looked bemused.

Some looked, well, curious.

The Jack groups seemed a bit disordered. They were all headed in a different direction, either fiercely independent or in need of a little leadership. I began to imagine their story:

Was it the lobby of an ocean convention center as strangers converged from far corners of the world?

Or, was it a “city” street where each individual carries his own story or follows her own path?

Or, could it be the moments before a school picture, before the students are ordered into neat rows by a bossy yearbook editor?

What do you see?

Fish Intensive II
© Robin V. Robinson

How the Photographers Capture the Moment

California photographers Scott Campbell and Robin V. Robinson captured underwater moments that most people do not have the opportunity to experience. Scott’s ability to hold his breath for up to seven minutes allows him to photograph underwater life without the interference of SCUBA equipment.

creative inspiration from a diver alone with a school of fish

Diver and School
© Robin V. Robinson

Robin loves the sense of relaxation during a dive. “Fish don’t have cell phones or email,” she says. “I never feel more present than underwater.” She also welcomes a sense of not knowing what is “out there.”

They both take their creative inspiration from the freedom they feel while underwater and the ability to explore the deepest parts of themselves while they are alone in the vast expanse of the deep.

creative inspiration from a school of barracuda

The Spell of the Sea

Scott and Robin’s talent and technical skills in photographing underwater let us feel the quiet, the peace, and the alien quality of the deep. As Jacques Cousteau said:

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

Lose yourself, as I did, in these photographs. Create your own imaginative stories about life in the underwater world. And may you feel the same inspiration and freedom that these photographers felt as they captured this wondrous world.

Cousteau quote VIA Brainy Quotes

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

The World's Photography

Jan

Creative Ideas: Dishes Feed a Community Art Project

by Janine Boylan on January 6, 2013

Belgium tree, showing creative ideas for a community art project

Belgium’s Porcelain Tree of Taste

In the back of my cupboard, I have a few dishes that don’t match the rest of my set. One plate was a gift from a relative, another was from a garage sale, and a third came from my travels. I never use them, but since I can’t seem to part with them, they continue to occupy space in the cupboard.

From Unused Dishes to a Creative Idea

Like me, Inge Vanluyd and Stefan Vanbergen of the creative agency mooz noticed that they had a small collection of unused dishes in their cupboards. But, unlike me, they had an inspiring OIC moment.

For the holiday season, they decided to create a stunning porcelain tree in their city of Hasselt, Belgium. A tree decorates the town square every year, but instead of cutting a live tree this year, Vanluyd and Vanbergen created the tree as a community art project.

They asked local residents to donate old white plates and cups (blue or gold trim was acceptable, too). Collaborating on the creative idea, three thousand people contributed about five thousand cups and plates.

close up of Belgium tree, showing creative ideas for a community art project

The resulting tree took about a week to construct. It stands almost thirty feet (9 meters) high and almost twenty feet (6 meters) around.

Showing yet another creative idea, the designers decided to call the creation a “Tree of Taste,” a nod to the city’s culinary title, “The Capital of Taste.”

A Little Gift Goes a Long Way

Hasselt’s tree was on display until January 6, the end of the holiday season. While some residents missed a traditional holiday decoration, others noted that the sculpture was more environmentally-friendly than killing a live tree.

Continuing with more creative ideas in an environmental theme, the plates will be reused as part of a permanent mosaic in a community parking area in the city.

Oh, I see, a little gift goes a long way! Alone, the plates would have continued to gather dust in the cupboards, but together, they became a tree of solidarity. Many members of the community gave a little of themselves, and the result was a large gift for the city.

If anyone is inspired for a community art project for next year, let me know. I may have some plates I can contribute!

VIA Designboom