28 December 2007

This month I traveled to China to work on some new products for Ruffwear's Fall/Winter 2008 season. It was a fast, last-minute trip, but I managed to work a ton and take a few photos too! My first four days were spent in Shanghai, which reminded me a lot of New York City. Unfortunately, there isn't much historical architecture to enjoy as the Shanghainese have embraced modernity with enthusiasm! The wrecking ball has no mercy.

My second four days were spent a few hours outside of Shanghai in a rural farming area that has recently become a garment manufacturing area as well. Walking around the area near my hotel was wild; I felt like I was walking through the pages of a National Geographic. On my last day, I convinced an employee of the sample room to let me borrow a bike, and I spent a few hours pedaling around, taking photos, and being gawked at. The bike was old and the breaks didn't work, but the bell did! What a fantastic way to see a new place. Photos of both parts of my trip are below.

02 September 2007

After many months of hard work, the Spring/Summer 2008 Ruffwear product line is almost ready for release! This was my first influential season as a designer at Ruffwear, and I am really excited to see how the products are received. We were featured in the Bend Bulletin today, check out Badger in his sweet Approach Pack, DoubleBack collar and Skyliner boots!

29 May 2007

Our dog Kaya is a total powder hound, so Erik and I indulged her by taking her along on a three day backcountry ski trip on South Sister. South Sister is the youngest and tallest of the Three Sisters volcanic mountains just outside of Bend. The skiing was sweet! And Kaya showed her appreciation by warming our feet in the tent. Check out the photos below!

13 May 2007

This month, I headed over to Asia for the first time to work on some new design projects for Ruffwear. My first stop was in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon), Vietnam, where I visited sewing and rubber molding factories to see our manufacturing in action. Vietnam is amazing; I immediately fell in love with all the motorbikes, the food (!), and the warm, friendly personalities of almost everyone I met.

After Vietnam, I traveled to Busan, the second largest city in South Korea. While In Busan, I developed prototypes for a new dog boot. Working in the R&D center of a human footwear factory is fascinating! Busan is a very beautiful city. It looks like a bunch of huge skyscrapers were smashed between lush, green mountains and the sea. What a treat to stay on the beach and eat the best fish on Earth!

Check out the photos below from both cities.

15 November 2006

We have a dog! Erik and I just adopted the most awesome Chow/Golden mutt from our local humane society. Her name is Kaya, and she rules. More to follow.

01 November 2006

Oregon or bust! Erik and I just moved from NYC to Bend, Oregon, where I'll be working as a product designer for the awesome dog gear company Ruffwear. I've known about Ruffwear for some time because of their affinity with canine search and rescue. Check out the press release here. I sure will be putting my season pass for Mount Bachelor to good use this winter!

24 June 2006

I just returned from a weeklong trip to Madrid to exhibit at ZOW on behalf of Material ConneXion. What a crazy city! This year marks the 125th anniversary of Picasso's birth, as well as the 25th anniversary of the return of Picasso's Guernica to Spain. In celebration, there were concurrent exhibitions of his work at the Museo Nacional Reina Sofía and the Museo del Prado.

Perhaps even more visually arresting than any museum, however, was the Hotel Puerta América. Conceived as an architect's playground, each of the 13 floors was created by a different architect or designer with little regard for functionality or traditional contract design. The result: an astounding collection of disparate spaces, linked only by their unique artistic vision. The two-hour tour was exhausting, but incredible. The photo above is of the hallway of my favorite floor, designed by Plasma Studio. I will be covering the hotel for MATTER magazine, the materials-based publication of Material ConneXion.

17 March 2006

Speaking of blogs, the Sierra Club project was mentioned on my favorite blog, inhabitat. Actually, inhabitat is tied for first place with my other favorite blog, treehugger. Please feel free to share any other favorites with me! And check out the post here.

I got a brief mention in Bruce Nussbaum's design blog, NussbaumOnDesign, as a result of a slightly rowdy material-related conversation (who knew materials could be so interesting?), check it out on businessweek.com. And, for the record, Core77 has great conferences.

09 February 2006

New site layout! This is the beginning of a new look for lindseyclark.com. There will be new content updated regularly, so please check back soon! If you'd like to be added to a mailing list for updates on press, shows, projects, and all things skiing, please email me at lindsey@lindseyclark.com. Cheers!