First, we would like to thank you for your continued support of the JOBY | Peter Stathis Venture Collaboration.  As I wrote previously, on August 25^th, JOBY was acquired by the DayMen Group, a market leader in photography and camera protection accessories. Unfortunately, based on new strategic direction, the Trapeze LED Table Light and Obus Indoor/Outdoor Light will no longer be launced by JOBY or the DayMen Group.

We deeply apologize for this change and will be working diligently with designer Peter Stathis to identify other ways to bring these amazing lights to market. We will provide further information as it becomes available. Please reach out to us at info[@]joby[dot]com if you have any questions regarding this change.

Again, we at JOBY are beyond grateful for the support of our customers and thank you for helping us build an amazing business over the past five years.

We are happy to announce that our JOBY | Peter Stathis Venture Collaboration lighting line has won two Spark:Pro Awards! The Spark Awards are the world’s first multi-level design awards. Designers from all skill sets are welcome, whether they are professional, novice or student. Both the Trapeze and Obus won this high honor from Spark and we are so thrilled! We know that they are awesome, innovative lights, but it is quite nice to hear that other folks think so too.

As usual, we are in great company for this award. Here are a few wonderful designs that stood out to me from those entered into the competition.

Out of the Box: Mobile Workstation

Urbio Urban Vertical Garden

Czech: Tiles Made of Recycled Materials

If you are interested in checking out more inspirational product designs visit the gallery of Spark! entries.

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A while back I announced that DayMen-Lowepro acquired JOBY. We were really excited about the news and I’m thrilled to report that we’ve joined forces with another amazing team of creative, active, photography-loving folks! One awesome thing coming out of this partnership for our loyal customers is that there are now double the opportunities to win photography gear! JOBY sponsors contests, Daymen-Lowepro sponsors other contests and you have even more chances to win! I think that makes this a win-win-win.

As you can see, Outpost Magazine and Lowepro are hosting a Signs of the Road Photography Contest. Simply submit your favorite photo of a wacky road sign and you can win prize packs chock full of LowePro bags and JOBY tripods – the ultimate photography power couple – if I do say so myself.

Happy weekend! And, go out there and find some crazy road signs to enter into the contest.

Last night,  Propeller Modern—a home design store that features local designers in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco— hosted the JOBY | Peter Stathis Venture Collaboration lighting line and designers Peter Stathis and Phillip Wood in a discussion about the unique design culture of San Francisco and green LED technology. Peter Stathis is a wonderful speaker with quite the sense of humor. That coupled with his deep understanding of realities of designing today made for a very interesting lecture. I enjoyed the discussion and wanted to share with you some of Peter Sathis’ comments.

Designing Today vs Designing Yesterday

Peter Stathis has been part of the design community for 25 years. He began his career in New York and about 10 years ago moved to San Francisco. 

Previously, designing in the US was linear and limited. You could only design what you could make.  But, with the disengagement of manufacturing and distribution, the playing field has changed. There are opportunities out there, space for collaboration across borders, across countries. Design is global again.

East Coast vs West Coast

New York doesn’t make things. New York makes ads for things. There is real opportunity in San Francisco. The scope of what you can achieve is phenomenal because of the culture and the community here. What three to four people can achieve here in San Francisco, it would take 20 to 30 people to do in New York. San Francisco is very permissive, less structured and traditional. It is an incredible place with highly collaborative people and advanced technology. Having that at your fingertips is fantastic. There is also a sense of trust here that is unique—people take bigger leaps.

The JOBY | Peter Stathis Venture Collaboration is a perfect example of  this permissive business culture, this collaborative spirit. The way we worked together was not traditional. It was very dynamic. The products we created in just 18 months could not have be possible without collaboration.

On the Trapeze and Obus

The Trapeze and Obus are simple in appearance, but made with very sophisticated technology. They are designed from the inside out. The LED light panels are remarkably efficient, but the design is also playful and self-evident. We wanted to take light and put it anywhere, similar to what JOBY offers with its GorillaPod line.

On His Design Philosophy

I’m into aesthetics. I spend a lot of time making my products as simple looking as possible. There is not a lot of shenanigans going on. My products are built for efficiency, durability and to be intuitive—like a tool. But, I also understand that there is a level of engagement beyond sheer function. There is an emotional engagement, and the outward appearance of the product taps into that. It is magic—hiding very useful and sophisticated technology in a simple appearance. I want to offer a new experience to the people that purchase my designs.

On Green Design

Being green is not first in my mind when I design, but the objects that I design are green. I design as simply as possible — there is nothing superfluous to remove from my designs. I am also designing to last. My products are durable. They are meant to be around for 15 to 20 years, not just a few seasons. I also use recyclable materials; the LEDs in my products are extremely efficient in terms of energy use. For example, the Trapeze is made of  90% recyclable materials, the LED light panel has a life span of 20 years.

A special thank you to Peter and Phillip from JOBY for such an interesting discussion! If you are in the Bay Area and would like to attend other Architecture and The City events similar to this one, the festival guide is available here.

I’m sure you all remember GIFs—the animated clip art or photos that made their debut on every late 90s/early 2000s webpage? Oh, you forgot how cool those were?!? Let me share a favorite with you!

Awesome, right? Well, artists Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck have transformed the world of animated photos from tacky and mildly obnoxious to subtle and rather beautiful. Their “cinemagraphs”, named for the cinematic quality their process lends to the traditional photographic image, are more than a photo, but not quite a video. The artists say that “a cinemagraph is an image that contains within itself a living moment that allows a glimpse of time to be experienced and preserved endlessly”. Often, the movement in the scene is just perceptible, unlike the superhero-cat scene above. Burg and Beck have only been working with this process for the past few months, but have already created some really incredible images. Their subtle touch seems to lend itself to pretty much any subject matter, ranging from fashion to food, from cityscapes to beer brewing. Here are a few of my favorite cinemagraphs, and you can view the rest of their portfolio on their website.

Just gorgeous!

Our friends at Photojojo have caught onto this new trend of making animated GIFs that aren’t atrocious, and they’ve written a tutorial that explains how to use multiple exposures to make still photos that look like movies. A word of warning, this step by step tutorial is not for the faint of heart. Like most art forms, making a cinemagraph is a rather intensive process. I haven’t gotten up the courage to try to make one myself yet—hopefully inspiration will strike soon!

Enjoy your long weekend! And, if you end up throwing together a cinemagraph on your day off, send it our way!

Readers of CA Home + Design nominated 2011′s most stunning and innovative products, places, websites and design. The nominees were then narrowed to 21 finalists by the editors. Our Trapeze is among those top 21.  And now, it’s time to vote for your favorite! (We’re secretly hoping your favorite is us). Voting is open until September 10th and you can vote once per day.

The winners will be featured in our November/December 2011 issue and we’re aiming to see our Trapeze printed on those glossy pages!