The Columbus College of Art and Design recently published a report entitled Creative Columbus, which is an inventory study of Central Ohio’s creative industries including the arts, design, performance, media and marketing.

The prominent design fields in the area are fashion, industrial, interior and communication design, with a concentration of businesses in downtown Columbus and many self-employed creatives in based in Clintonville.

During our visit we took a closer look at communication designers and their role in local businesses. We want to highlight CSCA (Columbus Society of Communicating Arts) for its unique and independent approach to design promotion, and its Creative Best Awards initiative that rewards local talents.

A special mention goes out to Ologie, a branding agency that helps businesses with social media strategies, and to Gabe Shultz for his insight on the role that graphic designers play in the corporate world and for keeping the experimental alive through his project Bored Sketchbooks.

Photos: © Jeff Seslar of Chromatic Identity – © Gabe Shultz

For the longest time Columbus has been considered a typical American city and its local population has been viewed as a mirror image of the U.S. population as a whole. For this reason the city is often used as a testing ground for corporate America’s latest products and services.

Large chain retailers and brands such as Abercrombie and Fitch and The Limited (parent company of Victoria’s Secret) are headquartered in Columbus. Similarly, large insurance companies are firmly based there as well.

Despite such facts, Columbus doesn’t lack personality and is not afraid of supporting independent initiatives. And with the largest university campus in the United States, Ohio State University is a strong local asset that grows and graduates inspired young minds and plays a role in spreading fresh ideas into the city’s diverse communities.

During our short stay, we had the opportunity to walk High Street of Short North, an area recently praised in the New York Times. Highlights include Jeni’s Ice Cream offering handmade confections made with locally sourced ingredients, the spacious and luminous Northstar Cafe, and Tigertree, a select store with unique design pieces from the area and beyond. The noteworthy North Market (the only market in Columbus and also small business incubator) was unfortunately closed during our visit.

The Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum complex that includes  19 museums, 17 of which are located in Washington D.C. One can look at it as a cluster of varied architectural buildings or a giant display of over 136 million objects, artworks and specimens. Visitors have free access and usually make the effort to walk the long distances from one building to another – the Smithsonian website clearly advises people to wear comfortable shoes before a visit.

Due to our limited schedule, we narrowed our visit to the National Museum of the American Indian (pictured above). We were initially attracted to its controversial postmodern design which was previously referred to as “native by design” by the National Geographic magazine. The building was designed by several Native American architects – Douglas Cardinal, a Blackfeet Indian; Johnpaul Jones, a Cherokee/Choctaw; Ramona Sakiestewa, a Hopi, Donna House, a Navajo/Oneida, and Lou Weller, a Caddo Indian – and its construction was assisted by a Native American Design  Collaborative known as the Table Mountain Rancheria Enterprises.

The museum has an exterior cladding of Kasota dolomitic limestone that give the building the appearance of a stratified stone mass that has been carved by wind and water. The interior is unfortunately more conventional and consists of dark gallery spaces generously filled with over a million artefacts.

A temporary exhibition called Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America caught our attention. By looking beyond the traditional representations of Native American culture, this show reflects indigenous culture in a 21st century context. We learned that skateboarding has inspired many Native American youths to start their own companies and build community-based skate parks in the United States. By fusing design, graphic art, filmmaking, and music through skateboard culture, those individuals are affirming their identity within contemporary American society, perhaps to also show that their heritage is vibrant and alive.

The Design Center at Philadelphia University is located at the former private residence of Goldie Pailey (mother of CBS founder, William Pailey). The house borrows from California’s mid-century modern architecture. Even though the house has been converted into a gallery, the interiors have been kept intact. It features a beautiful 50’s kitchen with original appliances – that serves as a meeting room, closet spaces and bathrooms, including one that is being used as a site-specific installation room filled with light bulbs. Some vintage cabinets and drawers have been turned into mini fiber galleries by designer Todd Oldham  (pictured above). In fact, there is not a single space that is not creatively occupied at the Design Center. It is a real cabinet of curiosities.

Lace in Translation (pictured above) is the latest exhibition at the Design Center. Dutch design studios Demakersvan, Cal Lane and Tord Boontje were given access to the Quaker Lace Company’s collection to re-interpret the pieces and produce something new. The results are original pieces of contemporary furniture, garden sculptures and interior objects that reflect the delicate complexities of lacing.

Providence, one of America’s oldest cities and the birthplace of the American industrial revolution, pursues Rhode Island’s story of innovation through its schools, its communities, its businesses and its public services. It is a city that uses its creative resources to transition from past to present and understands the need for a more sustainable future.

Providence is a mid-sized city that is conveniently located between New York and Boston and is known for its outstanding young student population. The renowned RISD and Brown University play a major role in the community and are sources of valuable ideas for the region and the world. Since 2008, A Better World by Design is an example of how local and international designers come together in Providence to think about a better future through design: how can we reshape our community and sustain our environment?

Providence is an inspired city because it is constantly searching for newness and ideas, whether it is food or new places to experience and visit. At the Steel Yard, people connect while learning about things that are hand-made, introducing welding, blacksmithing and casting amongst others activities. This former steel and iron industrial site serves as a catalyst for urban regeneration and community growth through creative approaches. Meanwhile, La Laiterie promotes “haute farmhouse cuisine” by featuring the best of local and seasonal produce on their menus. The honest quality of its dishes is a reason in itself to visit Providence.

By reconnecting people to the notion of craftsmanship and the processes through which objects are made, new possibilities emerge and stronger communities are formed. It was with those intentions in mind that  The Steel Yard was founded by Nick Bauta and Clay Rockefeller in 2001. This former steel and iron industrial site serves as a catalyst for urban regeneration and community growth through creative approaches.

The Steel Yard initially started off as a shop where metalworkers could use welding or foundry equipment. It later expanded to become an educational and multidisciplinary arts facility where individuals from different backgrounds can learn and work together. Additionally, some of the spaces are used for open houses, workshops, demonstrations, exhibits, and performances. Outside the main building, smaller spaces have been restored or added as small business incubators.

The Office for Lost Objects™ is the intriguing name of a furniture design practice led by Jarrod Beglinger. It creates conceptual furniture and uses design philosophy to question our relationship with objects and everyday life.

This philosophy is based on six principles:

• Respect the Super Normal.
• Revel in the infra-ordinary.
• Honor craftsmanship.
• Follow a logic.
• Express an integrity.
• Seek an essence.

Jarrod started with engineering studies at MIT which later led him to do an internship at BMW in Germany where he became more aware of design. He decided to spend more time in Europe and applied to Eindhoven’s Design Academy where he was accepted to pursue a Master’s degree. There, he discovered a new way of seeing the world through design and started to make design pieces that worked as social commentaries. His strongest design influence is the “Super Normal” as practiced by Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa: a type of design thinking that emphasizes less on aesthetics but rather focuses on making “normal” objects that integrate so well in everyday life, people don’t even question them.

The University of Iowa’s Center for the Book (UICB) is a rarity in our digital age. What is the role of the book in our society and how does the book take shape as an art object? From paper to printing and binding, the book is a traditional medium that manages to survive alongside digital content, invites the reader to slow down, reflect and look at the world in unexpected ways.

The UICB’s paper mill is led by Professor Timothy Barrett who is a leading research scientist in his field and focuses on the history, technique, science and aesthetics of hand papermaking. The paper made at the Oakdale facility is commonly used by American libraries for their archives.

Kathleen Tandy (left) and Liz Munger are both assistants at the paper facility and showed us the various steps in papermaking.

For furniture designers Dexter Thornton and David Larabee of Doublebutter, traditional marketing strategies were not quite affordable and seemed too conventional. So instead they decided to use their skills and have a little fun on the streets of Denver by throwing miniature versions of their Roadrunner chairs up in the air.

Each miniature is carefully made in their studio. The mini chairs work as a pair (usually green and red, or green and yellow) and are attached together with a thread. The locations are chosen for their backdrop and potential in creating an interesting site specific installation. We liked the idea so we took a few of them to chuck during our US cities tour. The Roadrunner coming to a city near you!

Pilchuck Glass School is located in a remote area outside of Seattle and hidden behind hundreds of trees on a mountainside. This secluded artist-in-residence programme is unique: gathering glass artists and other creatives such as fashion designers, musicians, or graphic designers, in order to let them collaborate and push the boundaries of glass. During the summer programme, residents have the possibilities to experiment in different ways. The “hot shop” (pictured above) is an intensive collaborative facility where glass is heated, melted, shaped and assembled to deliver unexpected results.

Other facilities include a “cold shop” where glass objects are blasted and perfected in running water, a plaster studio with casting kilns and a rare vitreography print shop where glass plates are engraved to produce unique monotypes and prints on paper.

Results from the “Monsters and Aliens” workshop (pictured above) are concrete examples of collaborative projects happening between experienced and emerging artists. Glass is a very technical craft that requires years of experience to master and can easily fulfill a lifetime of learning.