TGM NEWS
Designing the Pollinate Pitch Experience
The last few months have been massive for the team at The Good Mod, with many big new projects secured, some fully underway, and one of our largest ones to-date just completed: the conference room and pitch stage for Pollinate, a fast-growing interactive branding and advertising agency in Portland, which was just recently voted 2015 Advertising Age Northwest Small Agency of the Year.
photos by Arthur Hitchcock
Concept
The prompt was straightforward: develop lighting and a conference table to seat 15 people comfortably in a fairly small space of 21 feet by 18 feet. Goal was to provide an arena for multi-directional presentation that navigates both digital and analog work, while delivering an intriguing experience for Pollinate’s most important clients.
Taking inspiration from the energetic aesthetic of the agency, lead designer Brock Odalovich and owner-designer Spencer Staley decided to push Pollinate’s momentum to the extreme: surrounding the presenter with crystalline slabs of sheet metal visually breaking out of the ground, the design’s dramatic vortex explodes under a sci-fi inspired spotlight.
The table
The table’s major challenge was to seat that many people with enough leg room in such tight space, and identifying the need for maximum floor space for multi-directional presentation. Lead designer Brock Odalovich's solution was a horseshoe-style design with a base-less cantilever table that is sturdy and still allows for enough floor space around the presentation pit.
The base was created out of 1200 pounds of individually laser cut and hand-welded asymmetrical pieces of sheet metal. Special feat was the integral joinery in order to make the table base break down for a standard residential elevator. The tabletop iced the cake: 15 pieces of differently adjoined veneer pieces framed by oak hardwood edging visually extend the cascading facets of the steel base.
The light
Hovering above, Spencer Staley’s lighting design extends the crystalline language of the table with five individually shaped pyramidal boxes clustered into a star-shaped chandelier. Exploding into sharp angles, the 300 pound LED light piece is capped with removable shade panels covered in technical light diffusing fabric—all results of exciting new experiments in the use of materials.
"From the initial brainstorming session to the final installation we couldn’t have ask for a better experience working with The Good Mod. The creativity they brought into our showcase conference room leaves a powerful impression on our clients as they come to visit. We can’t wait to work with them on another project!"
- Laura Runkle, Pollinate
TGM field trip: Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co.
The Good Mod was recently invited to tour the factory of Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co., a Portland-based interior products company focusing on vintage and contemporary light fixtures, home accessories, furniture, and hardware. Having only been to the saliva-inducing showroom with perfectly arranged vignettes of slick and stylish, yet cozy and unusual home goods, it was exciting to see what goes on behind the scenes, through the factory doors...
Schoolhouse, founded in 2003 out of owner Brian Flaherty's basement, now employs just over 100 workers in the four-story, 125,000 square foot building that produces anything from light fixtures, clocks, hardware, to cushions and bed spreads—and shares the space with graphic design print shop Egg Press.
We had a chance to visit with Colin Jones, Marketing Coordinator, and get some insight into Schoolhouse's facilities. We witnessed production methods at hand, and even caught up with some old friends—vintage pieces that have made their way from The Good Mod to the offices of Schoolhouse Electric. What a fun and inspiring tour.
Light fixture production and the process of applying patina
The Prop Room at Schoolhouse Electric, filled with eclectic vintage pieces for photos
Photos by Arthur Hitchcock
- Amanda Leaman
Look-back at IDS West
The Good Mod made its way up to Vancouver, B.C. in late September to participate in the much anticipated Interior Design Show West (IDS West), representing phenomenal Pacific Northwest establishments, design firms, and creative thinkers.
For our first trade show, and one at such high level no less, we decided to showcase what we do well: excellent craftsmanship with an experimental and playful attitude.
One thing we’ve been playing around with a lot has been CNC Line Drawings. We decided to take this as inspiration for our back wall, and developed a decorative wall system with flexible elastic to give our ping pong table a show-worthy backdrop.
The TGM Ping Pong Conference Table—walnut with copper inlay, copper plated legs and a custom copper net system—was truly the highlight of our booth and wrapped many a visitor up in some fun time-out. The booth showcased the myriad of options available in such a system: wood types from walnut and oak to marble or Corian, powder-coated steel legs in any color imaginable, and center strip inlay in silver, brass, copper or powder-coated steel.
For those wanting to take a seat and hang out a bit, we presented our TGM Sling Lounge: vegetable tanned leather with brass and copper hardware on a turquoise powder-coated flat-packable frame.
We had a blast! Check out our ping pong table options and sling lounge on our site, and follow us on Instagram for more ridiculous videos like this one.
- Amanda Leaman
A touch of TGM in the Pope Mobile
Custom projects at The Good Mod come in all shapes and sizes, from multiples to one-off projects of custom routing, engraving, and other 3D modeling and rendering. We recently helped Kendall Mingey of Cupolette realize the walnut base for the Portland Rose Reliquary, which traveled with Mayor Charlie Hales and First Lady Nancy Hales to Rome for a two-day summit on cities and climate change hosted by the Vatican, and was gifted to Pope Francis. We hear it even rode in the Pope Mobile!
The hand-crafted bronze rose on a walnut base, acts as a reliquary, which has a small compartment in the bud at the center, in which several seeds from Portland’s white roses were placed. The engraving reads: “From Portland, the City of Roses, for His Holiness, Pope Francis, 2015.”
To read more about this historic Vatican summit held in July 2015, visit First Stop Portland and Mayor Hale's blog on portlandoregon.gov.
Custom Game Table
Back to basics! This custom table was realized in collaboration with one of our clients.
The asymmetrical design adds intrigue.
It is our solution to the need for a game table in a small space. You can store your games and sit comfortably while playing.
Work with our design team and let us help realize your custom project!
The combination of wood and metal with a matte black finish adds strength to this design.
- Arthur Hitchcock