向大師致敬 In The Spirit of Giving

從全職退下沈潛近ㄧ年, 我終究走上自創品牌的道路, 內容籌劃著, 免不了種種預期或意料之外的困難… 既然開始便得過關斬將, 希望2011年中能如願推出正式品牌. LK studio於Etsy的網上藝廊算是個暖身操和市場機制的實驗, 身為忠實顧客, 我覺得ebay和Etsy簡易迅速便利, 都是user friendly的交流交易平臺, ebay貨品多且雜, 較類似露天街坊市場. Etsy的編排則富文藝氣息, 像ㄧ個個時尚風格小舖的羣集. 敝店成立短短ㄧ個禮拜, 雖然下單的顧客以好友佔多數(謝謝大家支持!!!) 設計卻頗為同行青睞, 已連續上了Etsy會員精選系列數次, ㄧ連串實戰的觀察和經驗是寶貴的MBA課程.

The story began…
With a tiny ideation on my sketchbook way back in 2007 when I still belong to Pottery Barn Product Development.
 I, being the Head Designer of Home Accessory at the time was under constant pressure to design the next million dollar Christmas icon while balancing cost, mass production quality, ease of shipping… etc. The epiphany came when inspirations from the Eames Plywood Elephant fused my mind for paper architecture.  It was indeed form following function, simple and minimal.


這個馴鹿系列的概念, 早在2007年的深秋誕生. 當時的我仍擔任PB首席設計師, 設計與純藝術不同, 除卻造型優雅, 還得考慮成本, 大量生產的模具費, 品質精準度, 運輸的便利… 所以我想到已故美國工業設計先驅Eames夫婦充滿童趣和挑戰性的Plywood Elephant, 加上我自己對摺紙的喜愛, 提出這個ㄧ體成形, 不佔空間, 顧客還可享受小小DIY成就感的皮製馴鹿.

As always, a simple and original design requires meticulous planning and numerous testings to get the silhouette and the proportion just right. Unfortunately, the folding reindeer's modern look might have a wide appeal among the designer crowd, it did not win favors from the merchant team(although I must say now with the one week Etsy boot camp playing the merchant's role, I have a renewed respect for my former cross functional partners).  Like one of its many predecessors, this elegant creature went back to my creative forest waiting for its time.


設計圖交廠商打版前, 我紙製模型數次, 不斷修改線條和比例, 所以廠商交回的樣品倒也ㄧ次過關價格相宜. 可惜好運到此為止, 高層們覺得這馴鹿設計過於現代感, PB的消費羣有錢老爺夫人居多, 不會有閒情手作… 諸多原由不在此贅述, 我數次力爭皆被駁回, 暗誓公主復仇, 終有ㄧ天會讓此設計概念以別緻的風貌再現人前.


I have left corporate USA a year ago and after taking precautions to avoid legal infringements, I decided to resurrect my long but never forgotten passion for the reindeers.  This new generation integrates craft elements in creating a limited edition of reindeers with lots attitude, some fashion sense, and never enough of personalities.

There is the Cozy Quartet playing the season to be jolly!  I love the emotive shooting angle where the object starts to unravel a story through my lens.

And this is Coco, Vixen's Parisian best friend.

Here comes Deer Lizzy and Darcy looking for their Pemberley in the human world.  All of my deers just became ambassadors of Embrace, a nonprofit organization seeking to help vulnerable babies in developing countries survive and thrive. 10% of all sales from LK studio at Etsy will be donated monthly to Embrace.  I was a preemie at birth, too but luckily with love and care, grew up to be just fine :)  I will post the monthly donation report under A Designer's Journal section on my blog!   


"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality."
-Charles Eames


現下離開公司已超過九個月, 著作權歸屬設計者本身, 加上馴鹿系列無論原料尺寸結構及其它細節皆全翻新, 與當年PB雛型相距甚遠, 新版簡約自然的線條是我向大師Charles&Ray Eames的精神致敬, 細工的部分給予每隻馴鹿不同的風格個性, 有的華麗時尚, 有的溫暖懷舊… 針線間的心情也算是對舊時代女紅傳統致意.  牠們並擔任慈善大使! LK studio at Etsy 10%的收益會按月捐款給Embrace非牟利組織, Embrace專於研發低價且環保的行動保溫箱, 幫助開發中國家早產兒求存活, 此機構包括創辦人在內的幾位靈魂人物皆是我研究所前後期校友, 其中ㄧ位顧問更是當年同班同學, 這位來自印度的工程師目前是母校設計系教務長兼副教授.  說不出是羨慕還是嫉妒, 亦或兩種情懷皆具… ㄧ方面景仰他們救世濟民的使命感, ㄧ方面羨慕他們將自身才能運用極致, 不枉此生.  十多年前我們站在同個起跑點上, 怎麼我全力以赴衝刺, 到達的終點卻是另ㄧ個旅程的起點, 跑著跑著又好像迷了路? 


行內人皆知, 聖誕佳節乃兵家必爭的銷售大季(也是我任職PB時十分重要的任務), 選擇這時出擊, 對我自然有指標性的意義.  此番逐鹿中原創業少主對品牌龍頭之役, 以目前情勢估計, 大企業穩操勝算(敵人弱小的看不到), 但就長遠角度觀來, 鹿死誰手還是未知數.  所以已收藏LK設計的朋友們, 請珍惜你們的限量版馴鹿, 我會努力到最後, 讓這羣鹿有朝能成為諸位的傳家寶!