Devils in The Detail by Page One Publishing
With over 250 full-page close-ups of patterns and photographs of applications, we are thrilled to be part of this amazing group of progressive designers.
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Maya Lin my hero A few months ago, The Museum Contemporary Arts in downtown San Diego, had a Maya Lin show called Systematic Landscapes. In conjunction with the show, we had the rare honor to watch the Academy Award® winning feature documentary, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision and met the filmmaker Frieda Lee Mock. The 90-minute film was truly remarkable, with tears shedding down my cheeks the entire time. I watched with great intent, feeling inspired in every way possible; as a Chinese woman, as a minority, as an artist and mostly as a female architect. In the last 11 years living in the U.S, I’ve had my fair share of “colorful” episodes while working as a designer in the field of architecture and design. You name it; I’ve seen it all. I’ve had peers and clients discrediting my work because I was considered “too young”, not American, even a terrorist (just because I was born in a different country), the list goes on and on. But after watching that documentary, Maya inspired me to face challenges and discrimination with clarity, poise, dignity and most of all integrity. Watching her cut through all the politics involved in the controversial Vietnam Veterans Memorial when she was only 21, her years of personal criticism and attacks on her designs, how she survived thousands of threats, pounds of hate mail, moved me so deeply that after the documentary ended, I looked at my husband Joe, and said, “Bring on the pink hard hat! I no longer fear!” Thank you Miss Maya Lin, you are one true hero to me. – Mel Lim 
Our Children’s Gorilla Scull Cave Looking at the products from Our Childrens Gorilla, makes me want to be a 5-year old again. Their line is innovative, original, fun, creative and simply functional. As a kid I remember building little huts out of card board boxes and sleeping in them for days! But whenever I would take my huts out to the garden or park, it would be destroyed as soon as it rained. And also carrying them across the park, was a huge chore. Especially when I made the castle sized ones – it literally felt like I was lugging a giant tractor! I wished The Scullcave existed back then. It is the perfect solution! It’s lightweight, portable and most of all durable. So you can set this up anywhere you feel like crawling into a ball with your playmate, indoor or outdoor and you can do this over and over again. I wonder if they would ever make a larger adult size one? I had the pleasure to meet the 2 amazing Swedish designers, Christopher Nordstrom and Jennie Pitt, from Our Childrens Gorilla back in 2007 during the Bubble New York trade show. – Mel Lim 
Origami Bijou by Cindy Ng No, it is not an article about your favorite soap opera. It’s an article that is literally about the young people and the restless people. My name is Cindy Ng and I run Finger Magic / Origami Bijou as well as an origami design boutique based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am young, I can pass for 18 years old and it gets worse, my voice sounds like Mickey Mouse! Despite these “unique” qualities, I am a restlessly hardworking individual who started running my own business 5 years ago. I believe I am highly qualified to start a discussion about my squeaky voice, youth and how that plays out in the professional arena. To begin, the voice stigma became most apparent when I was 14. I was working at my father’s print shop and had to call the bank – the customer representative would not speak to me and actually asked to speak to an adult. I was offended because I couldn’t get my job done! I am now 26 years old, and sad to say that still happens today and I still have the high-pitched voice. Next, comes the problem of my age. There might be some truth where small business owners that just started are ignorant or inexperienced, but that applies to everyone regardless what age you are. In the first couple of years, companies would ask me to design origami pieces or brainstorm ideas with them. Of course, that made sense since I also have a business degree in economics from UC Davis. (But knowing your 4 P’s in marketing is completely different from executing the concept!) Right off the bat, it would often appear to be a nice collaboration, until it was too late. CINDY WAS WORKING FOR FREE!!! It may seem that a young age coupled with a youthful voice is not quite the winning combination to running a business or climbing the corporate ladder. I think quite the contrary. With young age, comes the abundance of energy, innocence, aspirations, idealism, enthusiasm and joie de vivre! Yes you may get taken advantage of when you are young, but that applies to a lot of other budding businesses. I agree that with age we will grow emotionally and with this we will be able to adapt to problems and deal with human interactions better, at a sophisticated and more civil level. But age does NOT hinder my ability to produce work, my industrious work ethic, or my determination to grow and succeed. Hence, empower yourself! Once you start respecting yourself, you will able to demand your worth! Nobody should ever work for free, no services should be traded, and that products should never be paid with meager back-page endorsement or tiny 1-line editorial print feature. The last five years have been a road of self-discovery. As an entrepreneur and a designer, I have learned to accept that though I may not be able to change people’s common perceptions but I CAN change and grow myself. I know I am equally qualified and as smart as everyone else in my industry. I simply needed to let go of my own self-limiting thoughts. Yes it may take an extra effort to impress a fellow professional or a possible client, and convince him/her that I am no longer in high school or college. But one trick I’ve learned that works quite well is that I do not speak unless it is of VALUE. Talking out of my ass is wasting other people’s time, and worse – my own time. Essentially, I’ve come to embrace my perceived negative qualities and turn them into assets. Today my squeaky voice is my most valuable and distinctive asset. Many individuals I encounter now say, “Oh! I remember you!” It really is part of my brand recognition when I stand out among a sea of competitors. In regards to coming to terms with my vibrant youth, I lovingly tell myself, “I am always the youngest and most responsible owner at a tradeshow, while most of my friends are having hangovers from a rough Friday night out clubbing.” And THAT is truly as young and as restless as you can get! Note from BACE: 
Ana Hagopian’s Paper Necklaces Mel Lim met Ana Hagopian on a serendipitous road sales meeting. Ana had just landed from Barcelona and came into Juxtaposition in Orange County to show off her wares too. Mel was blown away by the craftsmanship and beauty of Ana Hagopian’s work instantaneously. Ana went on explaining how each piece was made, as she gestured fluidly with her fingers, how she would roll the recycled pulp, fold, twist them into shapes and further explained how she would color die each piece, set to dry and handled each one with care to produce a single necklace! Ana’s work is simply stunning, original, and most of all inspiring and couture. It was such an auspicious meeting Mel would never forget. |
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