TIMID MAGAZINE: BE BRAVE, BE LOUD, BE UNAPOLOGETIC

Hoang and Anh Nguyen grew up with a father who they dubbed, "The Goodwill Raider” – a man who consistently collected thrift store junk and spun it into gold. Their father learned this necessary skill in order to survive in the United States after leaving everything behind in Communist Vietnam.

"Back then there was no technology, families were separated, and people were displaced with no contact all over the world," Anh recalls.

As refugees, the family’s only shot at a new life was sailing away to the open seas on a banana boat – with the slim chance of being picked up by a trade freighter. The Nguyens sailed on that banana boat with no end in sight for almost a week. What was originally a fishing boat had been modified to accommodate 100 people brimming with hope. Survival of the voyage was uncertain… (Read the full article)

Revolukin Feature

Some of you may know we like to dabble in photography. Here’s a photo we took in the Philippines while swimming with whale sharks.

Totem Feature

Totem features creators and their story all over the world. This year, Bienal Comunicacion reached out to see If I could illustrate an animal, pet or spirit animal I identify with. I ended up stacking all the animals that are significant in my life on a literal totem as this years contribution.

Shoutouts to the Bienal gang. The bookl turned out amazing.

FEATURED: ADAPT PODCAST EP8 "INFLUENCE THROUGH DESIGN"

If you haven't yet. Here's an interview we did with the dope people of Adapt. Check out the episode here or on their site. 

Made Forbes

Read full article here. FORBES

The Light House looking for YOUNG artist

Yo, is your youngster or you know of a young'n that loves to make art. The owner of the "Light House" across the street from Dolores Park is looking for aspiring young artist's to fill their walls. If you're interested email sash@artsash.com for more info and how to go about this. This is happening super fast so don't sleep on this.

As you can see they obviously have some work done. There are plenty more panels to fill.

#LOVE from THEHUNDREDS

The age-old debate of whether we’re a product of our environment will forever be contested from both sides of the spectrum, but in the case of brotherly industrial design duo Creative Session, no other version of their adolescence could have shaped their respective careers like the one they experienced growing up in Portland, Oregon..... (READ MORE HERE)

Bentley for Eames

We didn't realized how our pup Bentley can be so patient. I left Bentley on the Herman Miller eiffel for a moment and when I came back he was still there hanging out. Totally perfect photo op. Wish I took the photo on a higher res camera though. I think we're going to do a collection of Bentley on designer chairs. enjoy.

#sketchinglab2014

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. -- Helen Keller

This photo doesn't nearly capture how incredible this experience was. We are truly blessed and inspired to share knowledge and creativity withSketching Lab and the students.

To be in the same space as @patrickballesteros and @johntimms and feel and learn their wisdom/energy was so Priceless.

Costa Rica gave us new perspective and approach to life and design. Thank you very much and a video will be coming very very soon.

THE AUDI EXPERIENCE

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work."

--Thomas A. Edison 

Coming  into 2013, Anh and I felt hopeful for Creative Session and excited for what the future will throw our way. Incredibly for the both of us, opportunities are perceived as fun and hard work merely feels like playing. While we both juggle regular day jobs at  Astro Studio and Lab126 we make it a priority to routinely get together, have fun, and design without limitations via Creative Session. With C.S. we love what we do, therefore it never feels like hard-work. As ambitious as this year unfolded, I have to be honest. I never imagined it ending working with AUDI.

It went down like this. We posted on Instagram. Audi Re-Posted with the caption "If this is just a doodle, imagine a full drawing. Now that's impressive. " The sketches gained traction on Social media.  Sarah Lindberg (Marketing @ Twitter) tweeted "That would make an incredible fabric print. #IWantanAudiDress."  Audi reached out and the rest was history. 

 "If this is just a doodle, imagine a full drawing. Now that's impressive. "

--Audi

The best part about doodling is the freedom to imagine and explore ideas loosely on paper and then to interpret them into something of visual value.  These therapeutic sessions inspire new avenues but notably has become a series we dub "5 Minute Doodle." Who would have imagined a simple 5.M.D posted on INSTAGRAM would've opened up unimaginable doors: designing a dress inspired by Audi from a Post-it note and attending an Audi A3 reveal, a private rooftop party. It still feels unbelievable, even today.

(Custom artwork designed using our Audi sketches.)

"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but doing it."

--Greg Anderson

Audi’s request was simple but the experience was HUGE. Design a dress that retains the original sketch and captures the company's aesthetics. For us both, this journey was worth every moment; as professionals, we are often silo-ed into very specific trades and to say we're only industrial designers is to deny us of the very reason we started designing. Basically, we do what we do for the love of art and creativity and shouldn't  be limited in anyway. This project captured more than just industrial design for us, this project allowed us to be uncomfortable, to experiment and to collaborate which is what CS is all about.

Here is a photo diary and video of our Audi experience. We can't say this enough but we are truly thankful and honored to have been a part of all this.

  

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This is what started this all:

COROFLOT LOVING'S

As the holidays roll through and the work load piles up, features like this make everything worth every bit of sweat and energy. 2013 has been a blessing and we hope to match the drive through new years and onto the next. Thank everyone for keeping up with the Nguyen's.

Here is a quick screen capture taken from the site. (Hey, ma i'm at the very top!)

"LAMPFIRE" CORE77 FEATURE

"Welcome to the Great Indoor Gathering" --Core77  <--read the full article here. 

We designed "Lampfire" around this same time last year at about mid December to early January. If it was remotely anything close to how cold it is right now, I can imagine the influences in having a faux indoor campfire. (doesn't produce heat though haha.)

Nostalgia is really the main driver in designing LampFire. The memories linked with crackling fires, burnt indigenous wood, clothes suffocating in smoke and mesquite flavored hair are all attributes of bonding around an amber lit campfire. The feel involved around a campfire are the influences applied in designing an indoor lamp that advocates coming together and bonding around a central matter.

In light of the situation here are some unreleased photos of "LampFire" (no pun intended.)

BAKER'S SON

We've been working with Keith Magruder on all kinds of projects since CCA days and have been following "Baker's Son" and his success. Keith has been travelling nonstop between LA and the Bay Area as of late for his shows and now working for Tom's (shoe) as a private artist. Between our busy schedules, we both made time to catch up last weekend and knocked out a process video of him painting. He's currently working on a collection called "Sweet Memories" using mainly watercolor as a medium.

Here is the video:

Keith also produces music. This track used in this video was an original by him. Check out his Baker's Son Soundcloud.

In his own words:

"Growing up, I remember helping my mom and grandmother in the kitchen as they baked cakes and pies. No matter what the occasion, even if it were a funeral, their work brought joy to people. I wanted to bring that experience into this setting. Our world is filled with so much destruction and chaos that sometimes we forget the simple sweet memories from our everyday lives."

And sneak peeks of the other paintings in the collection.

GOOD LISTENING : STWO "TRY TO RESIST"

Straight out of Paris, France STWO (pronounced stew) is a 20 year old producer making super-super fly music with less than 6 months of experience under his belt. SKILLING IT. [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/97958010" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

Hungry Ones our HOMES SAM STAAR

Steal Like An Artist

This little booklet by Austin Kleon highlights why ALL of our ideas are never original. Our ideas are essentially more like collections of things we've seen and love, translated. For those of you who do not have time to read this thin booklet. Here is a video he did for TEDtalks.

Jennifer Aquino the "PaperSmith"

Its amazing how social media has changed the platform in meeting people. More specifically it sped up our rate in discovering and sharing. Jennifer Aquino is one of those people I stumbled upon and continue to follow her craft. She is what I dubbed the "PaperSmith" (instagram:jboogs317)

(Bellow are few photos Jennifer shared with me.)

As most of you know my brother and I are a bit crazy about sneakers so imagine how excited we were to find someone working with paper as a medium. Jennifer does an incredible job at working in a structural and 3dimensional way, unlike origami she seems to have the mindset of a seamstress and an engineer as she tackles each paper project.

As a creative I know what it's like to be driven by passion and finding inspiration in everything. As ambiguous as everything is, you always will find a way to apply it back into your craft. For Jennifer she finds inspiration all around her, whether it is music, movies or cruising the aisle at Bed, Bath & Beyond. You can imagine exactly how Bed, Bath & Beyond of sorts is a supply store for her. Think about the variety of texture, materials and randomness you may find when your mindset is in search for interesting paper for the next paper shoe.

Jennifer claims as geeky as it may be, when working on some Jordan Concord's she was out shopping for a friends gift. The gift bag she bought had the perfect texture for her project so she bought 50 more. Now that's passion.

Jeff Staple Confessional The Red Bulletin

Inspired by the Red Bull Music academy talk, these guys started this chapter of a sit down chatting session with creatives. Dubbed "The Confessional"

Mama, we sorta made it!

After a few long weeks of waiting and voting... results are in! From 365 designs we made top 40! From 40 we short listed to 5! Thanks again for all the love and support from the community, HONESTLY we would not have made it without you!

Mt. Tabor Cross Fit

During my trip back home to Portland I accompanied a good friend to an 8am Cross Fit session after a long night of boozing. The place is called "Mt Tabor Cross Fit" the owner a extremely fit, fun, energetic women name Alex whom was friendly enough to offer up a class for me to try out that day. I gracefully declined and thanked her for her generosity but I was way too hung over to do anything extreme. Especially when it's been awhile since I've done anything physically strenuous.  

I had my canon with me so I offered to snap some photos as they work out. The 14mm fish was great for capturing the space and everyone in it. Told Alex i'd share the photos with her and hopefully the photos will be a good way to promote the gym. We talked a bit about my interest in photography and I told her my real interest was actually in design, the photo/video stuff was something I recently got into because it's been an effective tool to promote Creative Session.  Anyhow Alex mentioned there was an upcoming competition the gym was going to attend and have been in the market for a logo to represent the gym. I suggested for an events like this a graphic T would be more interesting and the benefit of this is that you can change it each year- yes, i offered up my services to take a stab at the design.

Here are the results of this years 2012 Mt.Tabor Cross Fit graphics. Unfortunately the project was a quick project therefore i did not document my process, hopefully the next time ill be able to show our process better.