Botanist Designer Series: Benches That Give Back

Eight icons of design have joined forces with Orange22 Design Lab to launch the firm’s Blank Canvas Project. Super high-profile designers, including Yves Behar, Karim Rashid, Milton Glaser and Massimo Vignelli, have created new editions of Orange22’s indoor-outdoor, eco-friendly Botanist furniture.



Above: original Botanist Benches

Orange22’s original Botanist line features intricate surface patterns cut with water-jet technology. Each sleek, metal form begins its life as a Blank Canvas.


Above: the "Blank Canvas"

“We designed the structures to be strong and versatile enough to sustain any pattern we could imagine,” says Orange 22 founder Dario Antonioni. “Now, the industry’s most celebrated designers will do the dreaming. Consumers are embracing design more and more each year and now with the Blank Canvas program they purchase furniture products with the knowledge that they too will be making a difference.”

2008 Blank Canvas Participants:


Botanist matches each designers royalty to a foundation or charity of their choice. Pictured below is each bench and the designer's choice of charity.

Yves Behar - Fuse Project, San Francisco:



Margo Chase - Chase Design Group, Los Angeles:



Milton Glaser - Milton Glaser, Inc., New York:




Kahi Lee - Kahi Lee Lifestyle, Los Angeles:



Karim Rashid - Karim Rashid, Inc., New York:



Joe Ricchio - Ricchio Design, Seal Beach:



Massimo & Lella Vignelli - Vignelli Associates, New York:



Claude Zellweger - One & Co, San Francisco:



The Designer Signing and Silent Auction of the above benches was held in NYC on May 18th, 2008. But unsigned versions are for sale in various sizes where Botanist benches are sold (google them).


About Orange 22:
Founded by Dario Antonioni in 2000, the Los Angeles based design lab creates and fabricates mass-market and limited-edition objects and furniture, brand-defining retail environments, residential interiors and design concepts licensed for mass production. The studio furniture has exhibited at the most prestigious international design shows in New York, Paris, Cologne and Milan.

Orange22
125 West 4th St. #102
Los Angeles CA 90013

The Botanist Designer Series site.

Moira McLaughlin: Dog Art, Dog Talk, Dog Videos. Doggone Fun.

Who is Moira McLaughlin?

Above left: photo of artist and dog lover Moira McLaughlin
Above right: portrait of Moira by Sheila Cameron

She's been an actor's assistant (Kevin Costner), a screenwriter, and a video producer, but says that "being an artist and a blogger has been by far the most satisfying career yet. And, I get to stay home with my Longhaired Dachshund muse, Darby. Perfect!"


above: Moira and Darby

Moira McLaughlin (MORE-a Mc-LOCK-lin) began her career as an artist in 2002 when she made a dog collage for each of her family members for Christmas. They were a huge hit and inspired her to start her company, DreamDogsArt, where she make custom collages and dog art products that she sells worldwide.

Her blog, Dog Art Today, is devoted to daily dog art from around the world. Features include contemporary dog art, the history of dogs in art, dog art auctions, books, posters, fashion and decor. She has lists and links to many dog related sites worth checking out.

Below are some examples of her custom dog collages:



Get pricing info on her custom dog art collages here.

Below are some of her greeting cards:


and some of her limited edition dog art prints:



Her latest endeavor is this fun morphing video of dogs in art throughout history:



Above: 5,000 years of dogs in art. Inspired by Philip Scott Johnson's Women in Art film.
Music: Parlez-Moi D'Amour by CharlElie Couture from The Moderns soundtrack.

For a complete list of the art and the artists within her video shown above, visit her blog, Dog Art Today
Visit her blog here.
Visit her cafepress store here.
Visit her dream dogs art store here.
Visit her etsy store here.

Neoshed: Hip Housing for Unfeathered and Feathered Folk

Neoshed makes architecturally stunning prefab sheds for use as an office or pool house or whatever you'd like. Equally attractive are their birdhouses and bird feeders.

They began with the prefab sheds which then inspired the designs of their bird houses and bird feeders. The birdhouses and bird feeders are made to order and lead time is typically 2-4 weeks. All birdhouses and bird feeders have free shipping. *Please note the birdhouses are listed as either $150.00 + shipping or $200 with free shipping on their site. I'm not sure which is accurate.

The Sheds (for us humans) come in 3 styles:

Type 1 studio is 10' x 10' and starts at $10, 500.00:




Type 2 Studio is 14' x 12' and starts at $14,000.00:





Type 3 Studio is 12' x 14' and starts at $15,000.00:





And for our fine feathered friends, their homes are just as cool.



Inspired by their sheds, they are made of hardwood plywood and finished with a marine varnish so they won't fade in the sun. Each are $200.00

Type 1 measures 6" x 6" x 7":


Type 2 measures 6" x 10" x9":


Type 3 birdhouse was inspired by the architecture of Richard Meier and measures 7" x 7" x 7":


Their latest additions are these stunning birdfeeders. Also inspired by their shed designs. Made of dark stained plywood hardwood with aluminum colored painted roofs, there are three styles. Each measures 18" x 12" x 10" and costs $250.00.

Type 1:


Type 2:


Type 3:



Neoshed is based in Hagerstown, MD.
See the site and buy the products here.