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NYCxDESIGN 2013

5/9/2013



NYCxDESIGN is a citywide celebration of design of all disciplines. We're excited to be taking part in our third booth at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair as well as showing new work in four satellite shows around town. Below is where to find us:

International Contemporary Furniture Fair / Booth 850
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
11th Avenue at 38th Street
May 18 - 19 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
May 20 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
May 21 10:00 am - 4:00 pm (open to public)

Reclaim x2
446 Broadway Floor 3
Look for our piece made in collaboration with Emilie Baltz.
May 16 Noon - 5:00 pm, Opening 7:00 - 11:00 pm 
May 17 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
May 18 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

The American Design Club Presents: Trophy
Underground at The Standard East Village Hotel
25 Cooper Square
May 17 - May 20 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Wanted Design 
11th Avenue between 27th and 28th Street
Look for our new lighting for Standard Socket.
May 17 Opening 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
May 18 - 20 10:00 am - 7:00pm

East, Meet West!
Bobby Berk Home
59 Crosby Street
May 18 Opening 6:00 - 9:00 pm
May 18 - 26 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Launch: Natural Dye Collection

4/17/2013



It is with much pride that we announce the official launch of our new textile collection made exclusively with naturally dyed cotton. The line, created in collaboration with four artisan communities across Guatemala, is a labor of love that has been in the works for well over a year.

After learning of the re-emergence of natural dye experimentation in a few cooperatives in the Guatemalan Highlands, we knew that we wanted to support its growth in our own small way by developing a natural dye collection including throw pillows, woven towels, and cotton jewelry.

The above and below photos are a combination of dye process shots, showing the foraged indigenous plants, which include avocado tree bark, St. John's Wort, and wild turmeric, as well as some beautiful product shots taken by our friend Charlie Schuck. More process shots can be found on our Facebook page.

The full collection is now available in our online shop and will be on view at the International Contemporary Gift Fair, Booth 850, in New York May 18 - 21, 2013 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

Working in Guatemala

4/15/2013



The video above is a sneak peak into our work in Guatemala - both how we got started and what keeps us coming back year after year. Check out the video below to see the thread dying process that we used for our new textile collection.

Huge thanks to all the artisans who so warmly welcomed us into their studios and to Ryan Ayers for the original score!

Grain + Emilie Baltz for Reclaim x2

3/28/2013



It brings us special delight to announce that we will be collaborating with one of our dearest and most inspiring friends, Emilie Baltz, on a special one-off piece for Reclaim x2 to benefit the Brooklyn Recovery Fund this May during NYCxDESIGN.

Emilie is an artist, designer, educator and curator who we have been awed by since our first meeting eight years ago in France. We don't fully know what this collaboration will bring, but ideas around food and love and ceremony have been circling.

Above and below are some images from Emilie's photography campaign for the Aphrodisiac Cafe at the Museum of Sex in New York. Emilie's most recent project, L.O.V.E. FOODBOOK, was just awarded "Best New Cookbook" by Gourmand Awards 2012!

Reclaim x2 will be up May 15th - 17th at 446 Broadway on Floor 3 in New York with the opening party on May 16th 7:00 - 11:00 pm. The list of participating designers, including our Seattle friends, Ladies & Gentlemen Studio collaborating with ceramist Nicholas Nyland, looks like it is going to make for a great show that hopefully raises lots of money to support Brooklyn communities affected by Hurricane Sandy. We hope to see you all there!

S for Specchio / O for Origami

3/26/2013



If you happen to be lucky enough to be in Milan this week, our mirrors are included in a wonderful exhibition at Spotti called S for Specchio / O for Origami curated by Studiopepe.

Participating designers include Atypyk, Darkroom, Daphna Laurens, Garth Roberts, Hay, Ionna Vautrin, Jennifer Rabatel, Pavel Sidorenko and Petite Friture. Above and below are images from Studiopepe photographed by Andrea Ferrari and a video from Spotti. The show is up through the end of the month, so you still might be able to catch it!

We'll have more work back in Milan with the American Design Club next month at MOST, so stay tuned!

Welkom Kevin!

2/21/2013



Our new intern is finally here! We're happy to introduce Kevin Durant who comes to us from University of Howest in Belgium. As our first intern fluent in English, French and Dutch, he has become our official head of translation. Below is a little more from Kevin.

'Til 2013

12/15/2012



We're off to Oahu Monday for some much needed sun. Willis is manning the ship while we're away, but if you need something to arrive before Christmas, we suggest you get your orders in by end of day today. Don't forget our 25% discount is available until the end of the year when you take our survey.

Thanks again for another great year. Here's to 2013!

BLAK

12/14/2012



If you are in Seattle this weekend, Brite Collective's holiday pop-up is the place to be. Check out their Facebook page for more info. Hope to see you there!

Grain Turns Five!

11/29/2012



It's hard for even us to believe, but we're celebrating our five year anniversary this month! In celebration, above and below are five new photos recently taken by our equally busy friend Charlie Schuck.

Being our most hectic time of year, there isn't a lot of time for reflection. That said, we did promise Willis beers at lunch today...

Huge thanks to everyone who has supported this small business building process over the past half decade. We couldn't have done it without you!

Collective Collage

11/16/2012



The above and below images are from our recently compiled gift catalog, Collective Collage, made with friends Jamie Iacoli, Brian McAllister, Dylan Davis and Jean Lee of Iacoli & McAllister and Ladies & Gentlemen Studio. 

We have been working with these guys in one way or another since 2008. It has been inspiring and humbling to see their businesses grow and so nice to get a chance to celebrate it all with this little project. All the product photos are by the amazingly talented Charlie Schuck.

The best news is that it is all for sale and ready to ship for the holidays!

Mercado Guatemalteco

10/22/2012



Huge news: In partnership with Fab.com we shopped our way through the highlands of Guatemala on our last trip down and have brought back a collection of artisan made objects that we think represent some of the best craft to be found. We shopped local markets and met with some of our favorite artisan groups to pull this sale together and are pretty proud of what we were able to bring back.

The sale goes live Thursday October 25th on Fab.com and will be up through Saturday October 27th. Above and below is a little preview of some of our finds. We will also have a few of our Chi-Chi necklaces on sale. Many of the items are handmade one-offs or vintage, so if you see something you need don't wait. Happy shopping!

Moment Magnitude

10/19/2012



Last week an ambitious exhibition, Moment Magnitude, opened at the Frye Art Museum here in Seattle. The show celebrates some of Seattle's diverse creative practices from visual art to performance to music to design.

We are thrilled to not only have our work in the Frye’s new museum store, reconceived by Charlie Schuck to feature 40 Seattle artists and designers, but to have also been invited to help lead a 10 week workshop. The printmaking workshop features found objects and natural dyes and was designed for a very inspiring group of kids at Bailey Gatzert Elementary all in conjunction with the exhibit.

Many more photos and info on the workshop to follow in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you are in Seattle, don't miss Moment Magnitude which is up until January 20th. Huge thanks to our friends Laura O'Quin and Jill Rullkoetter for including us!

Fun & Functional

10/18/2012



The American Design Club is going to California for the opening of their ninth show, Fun & Functional, and we are happy to be one of the designers included in the exhibition!

Sponsored by the ten year old California-based gift and book company Knock Knock, Fun & Functional celebrates "good design that is both useful and whimsical." If you are in Southern California, the opening is in Venice on November 10th. Check the American Design Club's Facebook page for more details.

Welcome Willis!

9/27/2012



We are excited to announce the newest member to the Grain team: Willis Hoke. Willis jumped in to fill our Studio Manager position when Claire returned to school a few weeks ago, and we are so grateful to have his help. Among other things, Willis will be managing our shipping, working on production, helping with in-house photography, and maybe we can even convince him to step in as our new model now that Claire is in New York. Check out the below Q&A to learn more.

Grain at Design Within Reach

8/15/2012



As of today, our Bound Mirror is now available through Design Within Reach! The custom colorway, inspired by their mid-20th century palette, will be available exclusively through DWR online and in select stores.

We're admittedly a little thrilled about this collaboration. We never could have guessed, when we haphazardly started this business five years ago, that we would have our work for sale in such good company.

Huge thanks to Josh at DWR for his continued interest in Grain and help getting this product to market and to Claire for all her many hours of threading this spring and summer.

Back at NYIGF

8/10/2012



Though we aren't attending ourselves this summer, our small home and personal accessories will be on display in the JOIN booth at the New York International Gift Fair August 19 - 22, 2012.

Besides new work from Grain, the booth will feature porcelain axes and fortune cookies from Aleksandra Pollner, marbled ceramic vessels from Fleet Objects, picnic blankets and stackable snowmen from fruitsuper design, copper necklaces from Iacoli & McAllister, color stained stoneware bowls from Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, art pouches and camera straps from Little Paper Planes, totes and straps from Meet Me Here, hand-printed tea towels and trays from Piano Nobile, and key holders and wallets from Studio Gorm.

Find JOIN next to the American Design Club at the Jacob K. Javits Center, Lobby Level 2, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm August 19 - 21; 2:00 - 6:00 pm August 22.

Summer Studio

7/31/2012



It's hard to believe, but our official summer schedule ends this week as our interns Nahun "Nani" Kim and Pierre Lai head back to school.

Pierre has a few weeks with family in Vancouver and then is back to Rhode Island to finish his senior year in Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design. Nani, also a RISD ID student, is off to Rome to participate in the European Honors Program. They were a huge help to us this summer and we wish them both the best of luck in their next adventures.

In other big news, Claire Beaumont (our first intern turned first employee) is also headed back to school this fall. She has made the courageous decision to continue to pursue her pattern making education at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. We are going to miss her like crazy, but look forward to visiting her every chance we get and seeing her amazing talents grow.

In Print

7/2/2012



For those of you who didn't see it at ICFF in May, here is a little glimpse of our most recent print piece offset printed on 100% post-consumer waste newsprint by our friends at Oregon Lithoprint featuring the amazing photography of Ben Blood. Need a copy? Email us and we'll mail one out to you. Otherwise, you can see our full online catalog here.
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