Category: Making Modern

Jamie Wolfond, the founder and creative spark behind Good Thing, is the type of person who seems to find the world so relentlessly inspiring that one can’t help but want to tap into the flow of creative juices.

Take the story behind his backwards design philosophy. It’s one marked by clear design thinking and a striking ability to trust in the excitement and uncertainty of the creative process. Check it out:

Unison: Your process is fascinating. Can you describe it for us?

Jamie: The premise of this way of working is to design backwards. So, rather than starting with an idea of what a product is going to be, making a sketch, making a model, and then finding a person who’s going to manufacture that thing, I start with the person who’s going to manufacture the thing and work in reverse.

I look at what manufacturers are already doing and think about what else could be created using processes they have in place. Whether creating something large or small in scale, I begin with the same premise—the same questions: What does the process look like? What are the strengths and limitations of this person? This process? This machine? How can those strengths be useful?

From there, we get to what the product is going to be. With this approach, we not only end up with something that’s inherently more efficient to produce, but also something that’s inherently of higher quality.

At the same time, it’s a process that’s inherently risky, because you’re approaching people who don’t know how to do a particular thing, and you’re going down a new road with them. In many ways, you’re both equally inexperienced, working together to make a product that’s never been made before. It’s an uncertain process, and failure is actually a really important part of it.

Unison: But Good Thing isn’t just you and some manufacturers. Tell us a bit about how the business has evolved and grown.

Jamie: Once I began taking these products to market, I started to recognize a great opportunity. I had developed relationships with brands like Unison, who appreciated this thoughtful design perspective and wanted to sell these products. And I was located in a country where self-production has become a truly great opportunity. Since manufacturing goes so deep into my process, it just made sense to shift and become the manufacturer.

From there, it wasn’t long before I found other designers who I wanted to have in on this effort. Today, we don’t solicit designers who adopt my design process. Rather, we work with designers who share our love of materials and process.

In essence, the backwards design approach led to Good Thing, and Good Thing led to relationships with other designers, and that’s leading us onward.

We also still work with outside manufacturers. And it’s become more interesting as we’ve gotten big enough to make an impact on some of those partners. We love finding a designer with a great idea, but we also love finding a manufacturer whose business we can breathe new life into by updating their product.

At the same time, working with other designers has also led to working with other producers. All this has made the company into a more sort of social entity. We’re pairing designers and producers, facilitating and creating opportunities.

Unison: With all these designers and producers, how do you create a cohesive design perspective?

Jamie: We still have this love and appreciation for process. That defines our taste and how I decide what products to license.

But of course, there’s not a rule to what the concept or meaning is behind a piece that anyone designs for us. It’s a quality, a certain something that aligns with who Good Thing is. It’s hard to describe what that certain something is, but the one thing all our products have in common is an almost uncanny level of simplicity.

The process of designing an object into a product is a process of taking something that would otherwise seem a little undercooked, and turning it into an item that’s perfectly cooked to rare. Never overdone.

Look at the Easy Mirror for example – still one of my favorite products. It’s almost not even a product. It’s so simple and stripped down that it’s almost just a piece of shiny metal.

In general, I’m interested in figuring out how little you can do to make something. I don’t like to make things that are complex, and that’s certainly reflected in the company’s products as a whole.

Unison: Speaking of mirrors, can you reflect (wink wink) on what motivated the design of the Utility Mirror?

Jamie: The Utility Mirror was designed by Joey Guerra of Visbility. I’ve admired that product since Joey designed it in school close to 6 years ago, and it’s a pretty impeccable example of somebody thinking like Good Thing.

There’s an industrial rubber tool grip produced in a factory that makes tire, rubber, and car parts. So we say, okay, this tool grip is made for one thing. But we actually think it’s extra beautiful. How can we take advantage of this to make something entirely different?

So we took this grip – something that’s relatively inexpensive in reality and connotation – and figured out how to combine it with something as precious as stainless steel. We married industrial rubber and polished metal to create a thing that never existed before.

Unison: And what about the General Bucket? It seems to embody everything Good Thing is: simple, interesting, and open to interpretation. What motivated that?

That one was very much a collaborative effort between myself and [co-founder] Samantha Anderson. I had been visiting a metal spinning facility in Greenpoint, to watch their process and better understand what metal spinning really is. (It’s basically a process of rotating a piece of sheet metal on a lave, and it’s all about being concentric.) They have this ability to find the center point of an object, no matter how it’s made.

To come up with the idea of the General Tray, we fused this inspiration with some bowls that Sam had been working on. It’s a handled vessel that has a basic, intuitive instruction to it. But what you get, when you experience the product, is only basic suggestions for how it might be useful, and nothing more. So those inherent suggestions end up acting like a framework around which users invent the meaning of the product. How it’s used is determined entirely by how a user receives the intuitive symbols and how it dovetails into his or her routine.

Unison: So clearly, you’re a treasure trove of inspiration. Any final words of wisdom?

Jamie: The parting word: do it backwards. That’s my suggestion. It’s a process that I’m interested in understanding more about, but not one that I own. I think it’s how a lot of designers understand manufacturing and communication, so it’s something that I like to see other people doing. And something that I find eye-opening and intrinsically important to explore.

Here in Chicago, Garfield Park Conservatory is one our few respites from the long, cold winters (besides Lincoln Park Conservatory – and, of course, just heading south for a while).

Garfield Park Conservatory was designed by Jens Jensen in 1908 and went through a traumatic remodel after a huge hail storm destroyed a lot of the windows.

Many of the plants there are as old as the building. It’s become quite the treasure.

And since they are open to photo shoots, the conservatory trees and plants became the backyard scenery for our summer collection. The traditional Moroccan fountain is also amazing and set the backdrop for our new water buckets.

Take a look:

Nestled in a tree-studded design enclave just west of downtown Chicago, the bricked loft district that houses our design studio and corporate offices is also home to a host of other creative talents that infuse our world with inspiration, innovation, and integrity every day.

In the coming weeks, we’ll talk with some of our neighboring artists, designers, and other creators about what they do and why they do it.

First up: Eli-Wyn, a family-owned upholstery business that brings a personalized touch to everything they do. And the list is lengthy: re-upholstery, custom furniture, window treatments, fabric sales, and pickups and deliveries.

We at Unison can happily vouch for the quality of their work; over the years, we’ve become such fans that we’ve begun working with Eli Wyn to produce some of our ottomans, poufs, and piped pillows.

Recently, we caught up with Molly Quinlan, who runs the shop with her husband, John.

Here’s what we talked about:

Unison: Eli-Wyn offers such an array of services. How did your business evolve?

Molly: My husband, John, had a retail store for many years, and he used Eli Wyn upholstery at the time. So when the owner retired and offered us the business in 1996, I took over and dove into the reupholstery business. At the time, I was a designer at a commercial furniture dealership in Chicago, and ready for a change.

Eli-Wyn offers upholstery services as well as custom furniture. We make everything from headboards to sectionals, ottomans, and pillows. We also make custom window treatments.

We moved to the Fulton area about 6 years ago, and we welcome customers to come and select from hundreds of fabric samples that we have in our showroom.

Unison: That sounds like a unique model – kind of a hybrid between an upholstery shop and a design studio. Do you feel this makes you different from others in your field?

Molly: Yes, the full-service aspect is unique. John brings deep retail experience from running his own store for over 10 years, I bring the design background, and we have a gentleman on staff who, upon request, will go out to customers’ homes to help them take measurements, select fabrics, etc. We love to work with both designers and end users, and our full-service approach allows for that.

It’s also nice that we have a library up front to service customers and designers who want to select fabrics. And the custom furniture side is unique as well.

Unison: And can you tell us about the vibe in the design district of Chicago where you (and we) are located?

Molly: This area has been wonderful. We have met many different artisans who share a collaborative approach to their work: there’s Unison, and also a refinishing company, custom cabinetry makers, and a graphic printing company that we have had the chance to work closely with.

It’s been great to be able to utilize the knowledge from the various crafts. It is definitely a  unique area to work in.

Photography credit, John Sturdy

Pat Kim is a designer / maker based out of Brooklyn, with a knack for creating fun, thoughtful, and timeless objects – which is just one reason that we at Unison love to collaborate with him.

To celebrate a few of his latest additions to the collection, we took some time to ask Pat a few questions about his philosophy and inspiration as a designer. His answers inspired us, so we thought we’d share them with all of you:

Unison Home: How would you describe your overall design philosophy?

Pat Kim: My aim is to create functional, thoughtful objects with a balance. I try to instill a simplicity to my designs, with just the right amount of flourish. I believe the objects we make should be timeless but with a certain nowness. I try to make and design objects that are seen as personal, something you will care for and that will be long lasting.

UH: What inspires you most about designing pieces for the home?

PK: When I go about designing new pieces, I think about what I would want in my own home and use that as a jumping point. In that way, my collection is a really personal reflection of my personal tastes. I’m also inspired by antiques, especially antiques from around the world. They help me to realize what is lasting, the kind of objects people hold on to and pass on, and what these objects say about us.

Soaps

UH: What inspired the soaps you’ve created, or what do you find particularly important or interesting about them?

PK: For the soaps, I was inspired to tackle the process of casting, which is so different from the woodwork I normally do.

What really interested me about working with soap is the clarity and color of the soap, the way it plays with light. I think this is especially true with the Soap Fruits and Cones.

For the Soap on Rope, I wanted to in modernize a nostalgic object that is visually striking to an oftentimes mundane space.

Triangle Dinner Bell

UH: How about the Triangle Dinner Bell?

PK: The Triangle Dinner Bell is unique in that it is both a functional object as well as a piece of wall art. It is a symbol that, for me, represents togetherness, family, and friendship.

Zig Zag Trivet

UH: And the Zig Zag Trivet?

PK: The Zig Zag Trivet is an object that is a culmination of a long process of experimentation with form and the processes to achieve function. I think the combination of the zig zag form and material make a really great, simple trivet that does exactly what it needs to do and then some. Its form lends itself to being used as a serving platter, desktop organizer, display for small objects, planter stand, or whatever else comes to the imagination.

UH: Anything else you would like to share about your experience as a designer or your feelings about interior design?

PK: The culmination of my experiences in woodwork, toy design, leatherwork, jewelry, etc. dictates my process, and I hope that shows in my work. Though I don’t strive to master any one skill/craft, I’m inspired by those who demonstrate mastery, whether it’s in cooking, smithing, printmaking, or hand lettering. I try to use what I’ve learned everyday and hone my skills with every new object I make.

Do you have some questions for Pat (or any of us)? Share them on Facebook, and we’ll be happy to answer!

Part of this year’s holiday photo shoot took place at our family farm in Wisconsin where Robert spent much of his childhood running around amongst pine forests, taking sauna and feeding the animals in the barn. On the hill is an original cabin brought in from the northern woods that was once home to a family from Sweden. It’s a place full of history and steeped in Scandinavian simplicity. We took along Chicago-based photographer and filmmaker John Sturdy to shoot a little behind the scenes. Here is the result, set to the beautiful music of The Lesser Birds of Paradise.

Thank you, Midwest ducks.

The next time you’re snuggling up with a Unison pillow, take a moment to consider all the thoughtful steps that went into the making of that cozy-beautiful accessory. The list of elements and contributors is longer than you might think – and, true to the value system we work by, very carefully curated.

Allow us to introduce you to one of the greats:

The high-quality, sustainably made feather-down insert in every Unison throw pillow comes from a wonderful little company in Michigan, just across the big lake from our Chicago headquarters.

For over 50 years, Down Inc. has remained one of the country’s only vertical manufacturers in this industry. And we’ve had the great pleasure of working with them since 2006.

Down’s proprietary processing guarantees a highly clean and sterile feather-based product.

Their secrets to success? Partnership, sustainability, and a keen eye toward nothing-need-be-wasted resourcefulness. With Maple Leaf Farms – the leading producer of duck products for restaurants and groceries across the United States – as their parent company, Down Inc. has plenty of fluff to go around.

That’s the kind of smart, sustainable business that we like to join up with.