
© 2015 Visibility ·

















Kyuzo Collection
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Client
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Development
Kyuzo is a capsule collection of desk and home accessories, driven by materiality and designed to provide divisions of space through subtle hierarchies. Named after a character from Akira Kurosawa's 1954 epic "Seven Samurai”, the collection is by no coincidence comprised of seven objects.
The project is a meditation on formal purity and composition. The works within the suite are each made of a considered material coupled with an equally considered production method; the range includes cast iron, aluminum, wood, glass, and marble. While each component has its own strength, the grouping of objects is most balanced when viewed as a full set, each unit thriving on the sculpted language of another.
Each object satisfies a specific function for the desk and the home. The collection includes a paperweight which allots a space for more important documents, a two tiered folio holder, bookends, a tray for pens and pencils, and a dish with a sectioned slope, available in three sizes. While a primary use case has been established for each object, there's an openness that allows the objects to live and be used in a variety of ways.
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Materials
Cast Iron, Cast Glass, Marble, Aluminum, Hard Maple Wood
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Press
Metropolis , Wallpaper* , Design Milk , Core77 , Mylo













Life Measured Pitcher
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Client
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Development
This pitcher incorporates the universal concept of measurements and brings them to a human level. The user’s daily idiosyncrasies are captured in a vessel which allows for adjustable measurements. The silicone rings can be moved to a desired height in order to indicate where one should fill to.
When watering plants, each ring could signify a different plant in the house and how much water they need. When mixing drinks, each ring can indicate an ingredient. Additionally, the silicone rings act as convenient grip throughout the day-to-day routine.
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Materials
Borosilicate Glass, Silicone
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Press
Dwell , Design Milk , Leibal



Duo
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Client
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Development
Employing aluminum and cedar wood for their sophisticated material properties, Duo uses the language of a continuous line, allowing metal to transition seamlessly into wood. The fragrance of cedar naturally repels insects while keeping your garments fresh. The aluminum is robust yet light, giving the object a playful confidence. These materials combine a new world material with an old world one to make a better hanger, an innovative form that still feels familiar, a new classic.
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Materials
Aluminum, Cedar Wood
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Press
















Shapes Bundle
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Client
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Development
For the Wallpaper* Handmade project in 2015, Visibility was partnered with Outdoor Voices, a recreational apparel brand based in New York. Together we found an exciting opportunity to play with form, color, and material, creating a family of five objects made of natural materials and intended for use both within and outside the realm of yoga. These fitness-related objects, commonly hidden away or relegated to a space outside of everyday living, seek to bring warmth to a domain that can often come across as sterile or unconsidered. Included in the set is a resistance band, a wood yoga block, a triangular cork block, a wood roller, and a felt mat.
The objects themselves employ a diversity of forms allowing for a variety of different exercises. They reference typical fitness products but leave the use cases pleasantly open, encouraging the user to find new ways to interact with them. The forms humbly fit together in a bundle, in a playful composition of materials and color, held together by a fabric resistance band. The dyed wooden block works similarly to typical yoga blocks, with a handle that has been added for carrying and performing additional poses. The birch roller is 12-sided with hole details on the side for carrying and for rolling. The cork triangular block has grooves for grip that fit comfortably in the hand. The mat is laminated from two different sheets of natural felt; the surface a softer felt for cushioning, and the bottom a harder felt for gripping the floor.
The project was exhibited at Wallpaper* Handmade in Milan, 2015.
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Materials
Birch Wood, Cork, Felt, Performance Fabric
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Press
Wallpaper* , Wallpaper Online , Fast Company , Ligature , Design Dose , Design Milk , AIGA Eye on Design






Standard Paintbrush
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Client
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Development
We were asked by SHOP Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to design a tool for sale to coincide with the museum's show "Tools: Extending Our Reach". In response to this prompt, we approached the classic paintbrush.
Working with a paintbrush manufacturer and a CNC shop, we were able to develop a machined wood paintbrush that is a useful progression of the archetypal paintbrush one would find at a local hardware store. The sculpted end allows it to open paint cans, so that the painter can get to work right away. The body is shaped so that one can comfortably hold the brush in a variety of painting and opening positions.
The Standard Paintbrush is produced in a limited run, created exclusively for SHOP Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
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Materials
Birch Wood, Ox Hair Blend Brush







Plus Coat Stand
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Development
The Plus Coat Stand uses the iconography of the '+' and the 'o' signs to hang and to hold one’s coats and umbrellas. This object simplifies the process of arriving home, allowing for one place to gather one’s belongings. In the same way that the '+' and the ‘o’ work together, so do the materials. The wood, steel and rubber form an efficient structure allowing for lightness to combine with usefulness. The horizontal ‘+’ at the top uses rubber caps to ensure that garments stay on, deviating in form from traditional hook employing coat stands. This innovation to the archetype creates a product with new usefulness and value.
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Materials
Steel, Wood, Rubber
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Press
Leibal , Dailytonic , Mijlo , Design Milk





Arc Mirror
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Development
The Arc Mirror is an object as intimate as the action it implies. It reflects the user while holding the objects that are part of the daily ritual. These objects are then emphasized by their own reflection which appears crystalline in the shelf space. The mirror displays an authentic materiality, allowing the stainless steel to become both reflective and structural. The hole can receive a coat-hanger or towel, and the mirror itself mounts with a simple bracket.
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Materials
Stainless Steel
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Press










Ridge Kitchen
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Development
Ridge Kitchen is a collection of porcelain tools for the kitchen. Made from a material true to the landscape of the kitchen, the surface conveys use through pattern and motion. This pattern acts as a visual and physical grip. The forms reference the language of the machine while being implemented into traditional kitchen products. These objects want to be as charming as they are useful.
The pitcher serves two cups of liquid. The grooves on the mortar and pestle are perfect for the twisting motion required in grinding. The grater is specifically meant for ginger and garlic, modeled after traditional Japanese porcelain graters.
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Materials
Porcelain
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Press
Dezeen , Core 77 , Mocoloco , Dailytonic , Design Milk , Leibal , Architectural Digest Russia , Cretus Magazine , Monocle Magazine , Fiera




Utility Mirror
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Client
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Development
The hand mirror is innately a personal object. One will always use this object alone, allowing them to appreciate it with each use. Glass mirrors are ephemeral in nature; by making the surface stainless steel and the handle rubber, the mirror speaks the language of utility and encourages use.
The Utility Mirror is made by polishing a piece of stainless steel to a perfect mirror finish and dipping it in industrial rubber tool grip.
Images by Alyssa Kirsten.
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Materials
Stainless Steel, Rubber
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Press













Linework System
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Client
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Development
Furniture system designed for the central offices of Artsy, an online platform for discovering and collecting art. The objective was to design an office system that would allow for versatile storage as well as collaborative and personal work surfaces.
Shelving holds the objects that we want out of the way, but available for continued use and on display for the convenience of others. When the structures that hold up our possessions utilize lightness, those structures allow the objects to speak for themselves and to communicate their meaning to the users.
The Linework system elevates the objects that one chooses to fill the spaces with. The shape of the bookshelf frames the items which live in the space it creates. The shelving and desks derive functionality from linear elements combined with minimal surfaces in an efficient way. Less material creating an aesthetic and utilitarian impact.
The desks are at various standing heights to provide a break from the traditional sedentary office culture. The free standing desk, as well as the bookcases, have a raised shelf below for storage of bags and personal items. This provides a space for objects that do not belong on the ground or the work surface. The spacing of the shelves on the bookcases are enlarged to allow for Artsy's extensive collection of art books.
Images by Nick Simmons & Gregory Cartelli.
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Materials
Ash Wood, Tubular Steel
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Press



Poolside Chair
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Development
Outdoor and indoor chair that takes inspiration from the archetypal slatted deck chair; which is then elevated by complex formal geometries, sensitivity to ergonomics, and color.
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Materials
Steel, Vinyl
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Press
Surface , Casa Vogue , Lonny



Oaxaca Case
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Development
The briefcase is an archetype with connotations of luxury and gentrification. This polypropylene case references the material and formal language of generic shopping baskets from grocery stores, where the pattern is derived from.
The Oaxaca Case was created through two simple processes. The polypropylene sheet is laser cut, and then briefly scored by a CNC milling machine. By using living hinges it allows this two dimensional pattern to fold up and become a rigid structure. The scores on the sides allow the bag to flex open and closed. The piece quickly assembles and snaps together with polypropylene fasteners on the sides. By utilizing a sheet material, the product can be flat packed and shipped to either the retailer or the user, and easily assembled. This process results in the briefcase gaining value in both the production method and the application.
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Materials
Polypropylene
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Press


Stepladder
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Development
A wooden stepladder. The steps are angled to be parallel with the ground when in use, curved on the sides to allow the steel mechanism to fold, and routed with grooves to provide a grip for the user. Wood is chosen for its aesthetic qualities and steel for its structural qualities. The frame consists of two bent laminated components that are produced from the same mold, for ease of manufacturing.
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Materials
Ash Wood, Steel
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Press
Wallpaper* Magazine's 2012 Graduate Directory , Design*Sponge




Suna Broom
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Development
There is a connection between sweeping one's floor and raking the sand in a traditional Japanese Zen Garden. In these gardens it is not about the sand, it is about the act of raking and what one contemplates during this repetitive action. The broom works like this too; as a tool it interacts with the user on an emotional and utilitarian level.
The goal was to make a better broom, even if only by a small contribution when considering that the broom is such a highly evolved object. The focus was on the idiosyncrasies that make sweeping cumbersome and often counter-intuitive. From here we developed a broom that acts as both hand-duster and broom. The pivoting head allows it to access all corners, it stands upright on its own, and it folds and is held vertically by a magnet for easy storage; the bristles will never see damage while not in use since the broom will not be resting on them.
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Materials
Hard Maple Wood, PVC
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Press


Utility Stool
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Development
Derived from the formal study of a utilitarian object; this stool is practical and easy to understand, while maintaining a complex geometry. The U-shaped seat informs the user of the intended direction, while a hollow form is lightweight and the casters provide mobility.
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Materials
Fiberglass, Felt