The evil time sucking SM bird

A couple of weeks ago on Twitter, where I spend an inordinate amount of time absorbing the wit and wisdom dispensed in 140 characters or less and trying valiantly to throw the odd riposte back into the milieu, Veronika Miller (known to the Twitterati as @Modenus) brought up the idea of a mini-blog-off (no, no, not a diminutive Russian). She had posted an entry on her own blog about quirky design moments and objects, provoking the question: what is successful design?

A few of us took the bait she proffered and verbally batted it around a little until the joint blogging idea was suggested. So here we are, drawn like flies to –(oh never mind…): please check out Paul Anater, Veronika Miller, and the DogWalkBlog and their respective perspectives.

Wise interweb pundits

Being a researcher and the cautious type – not to mention a “wordie” – I started with looking at where the actual word “design” comes from. When you check it out in the dictionary the definition is a bit of a let-down; it comes across as rather technical, as a construct or an assembly approach e.g. if you do this and this and this, you will have a “design” – as if it can be taught or practiced. Which is often as far as it progresses, or rather, as far as it allowed to progress – becoming a sort of manipulated topiary of function; it has a certain basic appeal but it lacks oomph . And this is where the divergence begins, where the good, the bad, and the fugly begin to shake out…

The operative word would be “successful”. I would suggest that, whereas it is good and even desirable to have a basic foundation:  the brick by brick approach of knowing fundamentals such as color theory, pleasing proportion, ergonomics, and the rest of the Design 101 syllabus – excellent design cannot be taught or learnt from an instructional video, lecture, or reference book. It is absorbed, it is earned, it is basically intangible. It requires experience, sensitivity, and willingness to think outside the box of required reading materials. Design that is derived from that limiting set of approved tools might provoke the observation “… and that’s all she rote”.  It comes up short and does not satisfy.

Island by Fu Tung Cheng

I am a concrete artisan. I work with an amazingly versatile material, unrestricted in dimensional expression, as well as nearly all other physical attributes. I am privileged to be able to express myself through this medium by integrating my clients with their environments, creating functional art with cast concrete usually in the form of custom countertops, sinks, and other architectural surfaces. I came to this craft from a carpentry background, bringing the requisite manual skills, a good work ethic, and a familiarity with kitchens and bathrooms. That was it. My adopted material of choice was foreign to me – at least the high performance, high capability variety with which I fulfill my commissions. I had to learn how to “be with it”. I taught myself the basics and grew into a comfort with this very complex material we know as “concrete”. I am also completely untrained in design and have had (am continuing) to develop a “feel” and a style of expression, a design sensibility which is manifest when experienced by the user  and/or an onlooker. I have found this process to be very rewarding and am beginning to have it validated by the feedback and comments coming from my clients and other people who have seen my work. And this brings me to my very simple but very encompassing postulate concerning successful design: I know it when I see it.  I will leave it to the other, more learned practitioners to tell me exactly why this or that pushes my buttons (I bow before your wisdom) – I am learning as fast as I can, dammit! – in the meantime, I will trust my gut and the seat of my pants. How proletariat.

Our local masonry supply store closed last fall after nearly 50 years of operation (if I recall correctly), victim of the economic blues and a multinational corporate parent bent on trimming away the marginal outlets. It was a sad day. The yard sat empty over the winter, full not with pallets of brick and block, bundles of #4 rebar, and assorted flue tiles, but with drifting snow, scuttling dead leaves, and blank windows. Then I received a postcard in the mail at the very beginning of March, announcing that Shanahan Construction Supply Company of Turner’s Falls, MA was buying the property, expanding the store, and re-opening on March 29th, reincarnating it as a new and improved version of its old self.

Being ever the opportunist, and always on the lookout for a public venue to showcase our craft, I beelined it down to the drab gray concrete block structure surrounded by chain link fence and sure enough, there was lots of activity. I went inside, promptly met the hardworking owner, Ted Whelan of Guilford, VT, congratulated him and made my proposal: “Wouldn’t it be great to have a custom concrete countertop at his checkout desk, for all the builders, and homeowners to ogle?” He agreed (Ted’s a nice guy) but said he was already talking to a bluestone supplier about that very thing. Ted also sells woodstoves and fireplace inserts, in addition to masonry, stone, tools, and landscaping materials,  so I  proffered something about future possibilities and took my leave.

The next day the phone rang. Ted had changed his mind and wanted to talk about taking me up on my idea. I scooted back down, got some quick numbers, and off we went, back to the shop – they were opening in less than three weeks!  The retail counter was a big ell shape, resting on a wood-framed half wall which would be veneered in stone as part of the display. I opined that it might be nice to have his company logo embeded in the top, a suggestion he liked a lot. We decided to work with the logo colors overall – a sage green background  with a dark red logotype. A heavy grind to expose aggregate and a grommet hole for computer cables were also requested. I decided to add some crushed amber glass at the 90 degree turn for sparkle, radius the three exposed corners for comfort, and a little shallow bowl depression for fun. The joint between the two 7 foot sections would be a “z” puzzle seam. It would be sealed with our new high performance reactive lithium sealer, to withstand the wear and tear of a building supply location.

A week and a half later, we carried in the finished countertop. Ted loves it, we love it, and his friends and customers love it. That’s what we like to hear! The new store opened March 29 th and we wish Ted all the best (and hopefully, some business coming our way!).

Art Underfoot

We’re just wrapping up another facet of the studio relocation to the Book Press building: the new office/showroom space. A 14 x 20 area was partitioned out of the 4800 sq. ft. shop to create a dust-free and “quieter” administrative workspace and display area for our concrete countertops and other cast architectural elements. We approached the project with an intention of honoring the hard-working past by giving it a new task: providing a textural counterpoint to the displays of finely finished artisan concrete which we will showcase there in the coming months.

The pre-existing  40 year old concrete slab floor was in pretty rough shape from its former life as a printing factory – gouges, drilled holes, layers of grease, ink, solvents, oil, and other nastiness had left their industrial mark. We scraped and scrubbed off the topmost layers, then rented a diamond floor grinder to get down to the raw concrete in preparation for staining it with a wash of transparent colors. We removedabout 60 pounds of concrete dust with the machine and an attached vacuum, exposing the aggregate to varying degrees in the process. Then multiple washes and wet-vaccing to clean up all residue before we spray applied 5 shades of water-based stain to create a vivid organic land/waterscape, sealed with a satin floor sealer. The result is a walkable canvas – what we call “Art Underfoot” – which will set the space apart as befits its purpose and “wow” our visitors with implications of concrete possibilities. Stop in and check it out!

A new day dawns

One of the mantras in our concrete countertop studio is KISS (and why not?) which is an acronym for Keep It Simple Stupid (in a nice way…); we try to apply this wholesale to a wide range of activities. Including visual references – hmm, does that make them visceral references? And so, Captain Obvious would like to share an overt snippet:

Concrete Detail has just moved our artisan concrete design studio, production shop, and (imminent) office/showroom into a new facility at 22 Browne Court Unit 165 in Brattleboro, Vermont. New beginnings. And every day, on the commute into the shop from Wilmington, this is the view with which I am blessed, atop Hogback Mountain on VT Route 9: looking southeast from the foothills of the Green Mountains into New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

A long absence from concrete countertop blogging, engendered by a protracted business relocation, is nearly over. No new posts since early December – wow! But now, six or seven weeks later, the shop is fully shifted and is now morphing back into production as we unpack boxes and crates and attempt to get the office/showroom into the same condition. We have been working the customer relations end from the old location at the Cotton Mill, waiting for the new office build-out to be completed – with mixed success; apologies to our clients and contacts who have been caught in the fallout. The new showroom plans include an overlayed and acid-stained floor!

Several concrete countertop projects have transpired in the interim and pictures and descriptions are long overdue. I hope to remedy that soon with updated posts and accompanying photos showcasing our latest work, including two more kitchens, a couple of vanity tops, a fireplace surround ensemble, restaurant tabletops and countertops, and others. Many more are in the wings as we begin to enjoy our new space and settle into a more efficient and productive studio workspace at the Book Press building in Brattleboro’s north end. Stay tuned, please!

Open Studio Visitors

Over the past weekend, between trips to Concrete Detail’s new shop space at the Book Press, we participated in our last in-house showing at the Cotton Mill building in Brattleboro, VT. This annual three day weekend event, known as “Open Studio”, showcases about 25 businesses and artisans which are part of the 60-65 member-strong Cotton Mill complex. The former textile mill is owned and operated by Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) as an incubator facility for start-up and existing entrepreneurs. The event allows the public to witness the amazing variety of endeavors flourishing behind the  century-old three story brick walls.

Our concrete countertop studio has operated within those walls for the past three years and the Open Studio weekend has been a fantastic avenue of   direct marketing exposure for us,  as well over a thousand visitors stream through the shop space and we are able to interact directly with them.  Artisan concrete must be experienced to be understood and this is a stellar example of that magic happening… The gleam of understanding and the excitement in the onlooker’s eyes is contagious, as they begin to comprehend the possibilities displayed before them. We converse with so many people that we literally begin to run out of voice toward the end, but it is most definitely worth the effort. Those seeds planted begin to sprout dreams, and then plans, and soon another concrete countertop creation is conceived and cast for an appreciative owner. And ’round it goes…

Does every blog entry require crisp photographs, maps and charts, or even links to other “relevant” content? Well, probably. At least the posting pundits and interweb wags would have it that way. But, I’m going rogue – at least briefly. Perhaps it’s just becasue I don’t feel like uploading another batch of pixels…

Concrete Detail is moving its concrete countertop studio to the BookPress building on the north end of the bustling burg of Brattleboro, Vermont. In two weeks. Are we looking forward to this transpiration of events? Yes and no: yes, because we will gain on several (or I should say many) fronts. More space, better space, cheaper space; better access for inbound and outbound materials and products; private entrance, showroom, room for expansion, synergistic neighbors, oh… I could go on and on.

No, because we have to schlep our worldly goods (after we sort through and fill several dustbins) piece by piece from one corner of town to another. I know, stop whining and get over it… OK, I’m over it. It’s all good.

Here we grow!

We are nearly ready to ship out the latest concrete countertop project from our casting tables and one of our most ambitious yet: a total of five sections of 2″ thick pure white concrete, destined for an inhouse restaurant at ABC Home and Carpet, on Broadway in Manhattan. Two of these pieces weigh over 600 pounds and are 10 feet long. They will form the bartops in a newly renovated restaurant at this prestigious New York retailer of interior furnishings – everyone knows of ABC in the design world!  Now a bit (or a lot) of Vermont craftsmanship will help the shoppers to satisfy their hunger for excellent cuisine and the best in architectural concrete surfaces. The bar was designed by Eric Slayton of  Brooklyn (go to http://www.ericslayton.com/) who has his custom furniture pieces on the showroom floor there. His work in steel, concrete, and wood emphasizes the material surface in a clean, straightforward manner, honest and functional.

Concrete Detail has planning a move to new quarters in a different area of Brattleboro, Vermont which is our base of operations. We are in a 1700 sq.ft. shop right now, part of an old textile mill near the Connecticut River on the south end of town. The property is owned and administered by BDCC as an incubator space to encourage new and growing businesses. They are great landlords and friends.

They also own a former printing facility on the north end of town which we have had our eyes on for awhile. A very large complex, there is a plethora of wonderful space there just begging to be used for cool creative businesses. We are beginning the buildout of our new space, taking 2400 sq.ft. for now (a 30% expansion) and an option for 2400 more, down the road. We will be moving into  true industrial space, 16 ft. ceilings, no obstructions, concrete floors (we’re on wood flors currently, which is a problem for water management),  and lots of very nice access. The slab is being cut in the next couple days to install drainage for our wet processes. Then wiring, some more walls, doors and windows and we can move in (and pay for it!). A little nerve-wracking, but very exciting. The future’s so bright…

Concrete Detail is who we are – Artisan concrete is what we do – Plus we like to pay our bills. How do you get the message in front of the people who appreciate (and commission) the artform so that they get what they want, we get what we want, and everybody’s happy?  (I like being happy…)

You have to make the connection.  That’s called marketing and it is a topic which I greatly enjoy, as a matter of fact. Happily I am getting better at putting it into effective practice. Case in point: one of our (myself and expert assistant Kate McCarthy of element1) marketing initiatives currently underway is filling out our company branding – building a recognizable, consistent entity, with the desired result being: if someone in northern New England wants an artisan concrete surface or object for their home or business, they “know” us and will turn to us, since we have established a solid presence and reputation for just that. Period. And so we have developed a nice “stamp” or medallion, to go with our logotype.  Black  + white,  positive + negative, form +cast, you + me. It’s all in the details.