Epic photo post: what I did on my "summer vacation"

What better way to spend Labor Day eve? I guess I'm supposed to be not laboring or some such hooha, so let's have a semi-proper Summer wrap-up, with a look at what's been going on inside the TieLab - more on the process end of things rather than product.

Overall, we're pretty product-obsessed, but our new-ish studio space has begun to make a world of difference in terms of what, how, and the quality of production. It's been, for the most part - to quote the internets - full of win.

For those following along at home, in the beginning of March we began our migration down from the sixth floor, a tiny wee spot (ok, super-massive by nyc standards, LOLZ). It was less than one quarter of the whole floor. Our new spot a few levels down is a full half of the floor, clocking in at nearly 3000 sq'! Awesome, right? Well, most certainly, except it was hit and required one serious load of work to transform from a predominantly afterhours raveity-rave spot to a proper studio. (Yes, we had a EPIC SUPER RAVE one small little gathering of friends since then, and no, we won't talk about that now. ;) Thnx!

A few befores and afters (please pardon some of the camera phone shots - they're not the best but at least you can get an idea of what we've been up to. When it's a little more done, hopefully some better pictures will follow):

BEFORE:

Main printing area at brightest time of the day.

AFTER:

Main printing area at brightest time of the day.


A little cheap laminate goes a long way

Of course there were the many requisite trips to Ikea, which is always a good time!



And yes, we had to buy one. Some designer at Ikea is funny.

One of the big Ikea quests was getting some proper lighting - although the studio is well bathed in light during the day, as soon as 8pm hits now, it goes dark pretty darned fast. With 16' ceiling, it turns into a lightless cave.



Being able to actually see what you're printing really rules!

Ikea is great, but it alone gets a little boring, so I've been trolling craigslist to try and find some key pieces that would otherwise be financially implausible.


Hello Saarinen! Painting by Joe Jagos who has since migrated to nyc. bastard.

We've been up to much more than just re-decorating and minor construction. We've had a few school groups through to tour the space, given some talks on running your own shop and studio business and have had some wonderful press opportunities. Our other giganto project was the acquisition of our new packaging. 1000 wood boxes = very heavy!



Of course this happened on one of the hottest days of the summer. We all look...ravishing! ;)

So what did you do on your Summer vacation? At some point, I'd like to actually go on vacation.