THE MODERN MINT BLOG
A Magazine Rack? Or Something Else?
We are rapidly expanding the products we offer on the Modern Mint Shop – you may have noticed the new trug/carriers go up this week? But we are finding that we don’t just want to sit here letting someone else do all the hard work of designing and making a product… we want to do this ourselves!
Enter our new designer (he’s Italian, so surely he must have style?) who has started developing new product ideas with us.
As ever, we start from a broad canvas and try and discover what it is we want to make, what it is you want to buy, what style we can bring to the piece and how it can be designed in a way that reduces waste.
We find out the rules to design by as we go along, and when we find these rules, we can use them to inspire new products. This is what we have so far…
A) Minimal design, maximal effect.
B) Closed loop material usage (to reduce waste.)
C) Can the packaging hold as much value as the item itself?
It is an exciting journey, with no guaranteed reward – perhaps we design a load of rubbish, or never find the funding to make anything, or the products just don’t thrill people the way a new mobile phone does… who knows? But that is what is lovely, and spurs us on – who knows? We are in this to unearth treasure!
Here are the first designs for a magazine rack. A magazine rack may sound a little dull, but we are forever needing somewhere to put all the post that comes in, so that is why we have started here. We think this could be made of green oak, or maybe cork…
What do you think?
Below is a take on our logo here at Modern Mint, using wood. It could be the basis for a wine rack, a shoe rack, a letterbox, a cutlery tray, a toothbrush holder… you get the idea right? We are exploring…
We have a few designs up our sleeves for ashtrays, letterboxes and cantilevered pergolas (this one is incredibly exciting!) and would also like to make a dog house and a spice tin. We have just been to India, which is why we think we need a spice tin.
If you have any products you are in need of at home or in the garden, want them to be funky, a piece of art, while also being practical… get in touch with us here at Modern Mint!
Look forward to this design journey from magazine racks to… who knows what?!?
EBTS Boxwood Growers Forum
Through the European Boxwood and Topiary Society I worked with Chris Poole and Sue Mesher, members of the EBTS board, and we set up a Boxwood Growers Forum. This was to discuss how to make sure this wonderful topiary plant stays in the public conscioussness – we know many growers, suppliers and distributors have stopped selling it as the cost of replacing boxwood that has blight, or is nibbled by the boxwood caterpillar, makes it unviable to offer to clients and gardeners. But Boxwood is a phoenix plant, and there are ways to deal with the problems associated with Buxus. …
Modern Topiarist @ Garden Masterclass Poland
My video on Modern Topiary for Garden Masterclass has been translated into Polish, for the keen gardeners (and happy pruners!) of Garedn Masterclass in Poland. Tickets for the first showing and q and a were available here. But it will become available on the Garden Masterclass Poland website at some point in the near future – so if you are a keen clipper and want to know more, but speak Polish and not English, then I suggest you visit the website and get watching. (Of course, if you don’t speak English, you may not be able to read this…. hmmm… …
Topiary Hotline
The European Boxwood & Topiary Society are to run a Topiary Hotline for keen gardeners and people who love to clip. Date is tomorrow, April 16th 2024, and you can get a ticket for the Zoom meeting here – Topiary Hotline. Run by Chris Poole and myself, we set this up as an antidote to the huge amount of questions we have to answer about topiary throughout the summer. The plus is that their is an excitement around topiary and pruning. The problem is we need to help people in a better way… … so we will be giving people …