John Arndt and Wonhee Jeong are the founders, owners, and designers of Studio Gorm.
Studio Gorm itself is located in the swooping front section of a now defunct car dealership in Eugene, OR.
The interior space of the studio is jumbled but clean given most of John and Wonhee's work takes place in the woodshop or ceramic studio.
John stands with his Dutch bicycle and self-designed bike bucket and bag. The bucket was a purchase from a farm store and the bag was something he designed and sewed himself. John likes to see the bag as an extension of his desire to solve problems elegantly and simply.
Classic looms stored away inside Studio Gorm and the couple's dog, Juji.
John and Wonhee work out some design problems in a new lamp they're putting together. They often re-conceptualize and tweak designs long after the initial incarnation.
The studio space where senior design students spend most of their young lives.
Senior Product Design student Sean Kelley.
This stool, made entirely from reclaimed wood, has been one of Sean's major projects.
Sean spends up to 12 hours a day in or around the design studio trying to clarify his designs and produce something worthwhile.
Senior Product Design student Diana Lien.
Diana oversees the CNC routing of a new toy chest that she's designing.
John attaches simple dowel legs and a milled table top to the sawhorse type table the two have been developing lately. "This table is really about reclaiming materials that were relegated as low quality and re-making them into something sleek and functional" - John
Different sized table tops hang at the ready inside John and Wonhee's home.
John and Wonhee crafted all of the implements that are a part of the ceremony. It's important, they say, to have a connection with the objects that you create and use. The idea, they admit, is a bit more eastern than western.
Finely ground green tea is spooned before being mixed.
Each movement in the ceremony is specific and ritualized. John and Wonhee designed their set to give users physical cues of how and when to drink and speak.
Simplicity is always the guiding principle for Studio Gorm.
Leather samples haphazardly cover a wall at Bill Adler Design, based in Eugene, OR.
Located inside two industrial warehouse spaces, Bill Adler Design specializes in leather goods, specifically belts and bags. Bill Adler himself got his start as a film actor before starting to sell belts out of a van in Venice.
Given the rapid turnover of the fashion industry, Bill Adler's design floor is always littered with remants and last years styles.
Sean Kelley was hired on at Bill Adler after completing an internship there last summer. Out of the six students who held internships there, he was the only hired. "I think you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. I don't mind starting at the bottom." -Sean
Brent Adler, the company's head merchandiser and Bill's son, takes care of most of the company's overseas business. He's leaving for China on Sunday. "I didn't go to college, I learned about life in the school of hard knocks." -Brent
All of the company's production happens at overseas factories. Even materials used are sourced from overseas. Because of this there is a constant stream of product traveling back and forth between Eugene and China, just to get one design right.
Nicole Leatherbury is a designer and product developer at Bill Adler. She is leaving for her second trip to China on Sunday.
One of Bill Adler's primary clients is Nike Golf. They design hundreds of Nike Golf belts every year. Employees say that even with the recent Tiger Woods debacle sales have been steady.
Mariah Rich is the brand manager at Bill Adler. This puts her in charge of making sure that each brand within their realm has a cohesive image and story. The makings of these identities all happens on her computer. Mariah has worked with Bill for years and credits her current success to his creativity in the marketplace.
Bill Adler's BMW outside the cinderblock studio.
Belts from Bill Adler Design often end up in chain department stores.
John and Wonhee find it important as professors to impress upon their students the beauty that design holds when it is simple, thoughtful, and wasteless.
Two of Studio Gorm's major projects were featured in the book 'Desire; The Shape of Things to Come'. For now, most of their design projects reside on the conceptual side of design.
