To wit: “Although their forays into a wild variety of projects (furniture, interior architecture, products, web design, videos) could be mistaken for the experimentation of ebullient, wild-eyed youth, it is more likely that the firm is representative of a shift in the way that a new breed of designers is responding to the current economic climate.”

The spread features the photography of our good friend and frequent collaborator Jason Travis. The text and images were art-directed and assembled into a cohesive whole by MA Creative Director (and Armchair Art Director) Kevin Byrd.

We at People of Resource were pleased to debut our design exhibition, Yall & Us, on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at our studio in the historic Telephone Factory at the end of Modern Atlanta’s design week.

Although the focus was on design from all over the US, it was certainly our goal to put a bit of a Southern accent on the proceedings.

Toward that end, we sought to align every aspect of the event with that combination of scrappiness and hospitality for which the American South is known. In contrast to the typical trappings of the design exhibition world (wristbands, “no sit” signs, and corporate sponsors), Yall & Us attendees paid no admission and enjoyed complimentary Bourbon & Blenheims and Pimm’s Cups while admiring 40 design objects by 15 designers from across the US.

Hands-on interaction with the objects was encouraged and those who were especially intrigued were able to order prized pieces for themselves from their mobile phones thanks to e-commerce support from Subports.

The design of the exhibit itself drew on the utilitarian language of workshops: information about the objects and designers was displayed clearly on clipboards throughout the space. Illumination was provided by generic, everyday clamp lamps fitted with halogen bulbs.

FEATURED DESIGNERS

Craigton Berman, Chicago
Design Glut, Brooklyn
Et. Al., Etc., New York City
Jason Miller, Brooklyn
Joey Roth, San Francisco
Jonas Damon, New York City
Kiel Mead, New York City
Materious, Chicago
Object Group, New York City
Refined Sugar Studio, Cincinnati
Rich Brilliant Willing, New York City
Studio 1 AM, Chicago
Thoughtbarn, Austin
Von Tundra, Portland
Wintercheck Factory, Brooklyn

COLLABORATIONS

One exciting aspect of planning, designing, and producing this exhibition was the opportunity it presented to work with talented friends on various components of the show. We were pleased to commission Jason Travis to photograph the weekend’s events. In the weeks leading up to the show, we commissioned Farbod Kokabi of Armchair to create the exhibit’s bold, minimalist promotional graphics. Finally, we designed an e-commerce site filled with objects from the exhibit for Subports. For their part, Subports handled development of the site and provided their innovative text-to-buy platform as the e-commerce backend for both the site and the exhibit itself.