Blog

Designing from Life’s Lessons Learned



Our designer in residence, Andre Sandifer has a fantastic article, Designing from Life’s Lessons Learned here : https://medium.com/ageofhumility/designing-from-life-lessons-learned-b2648e01238b

Meet the Makers: Andre Sandifer



Furniture designer Andre Sandifer has been working as a Michele Schara Artist and Designer in Residence with us at the Brightmoor Maker Space since January 2020. Andre, can you tell us a little about your background…how did you go from being a college football player to a furniture designer? I graduated from Ferris State University … Continued

Brightmoor Dog House



Learning valuable trade skills in carpentry begins with the Brightmoor Doghouse – the first project in the Brightmoor Builders program.  These little gems – small but perfectly formed – are framed, insulated, lined, sheathed and roofed just like a proper house. Brightmoor Builders are introduced to the basic skills required in any trade beginning with … Continued

Magic Bus



Bart Eddy found this great blue bus on Craigslist. It came to us from Luddington, Michigan where it’s previous owner had outfitted it as a woodshed. After an incredible transformation led by Mike Reed from blue to Road Dragon, we started to work on the interior with students from University of Michigan. The front steps … Continued

critical vehicles: mobility



How do you get around now? Literally and metaphorically? How did you get around as a child? An adolescent? How do your parents get around? Grandparents? Will you do the same? Mobility and Transportation share problems and solutions of transporting goods, services and populations. Access to mobility and transportation carry assumptions, privileges and opportunities that, … Continued

From Vacancy to Vibrancy



This was the pitch we sent to the organizers of INCLUDE 2019: “We will collectively transform an outdoor ground of broken concrete, weeds and trash into an outdoor gathering space for hands on work and relaxation through furniture designed and built on site.Attendees will work with their hands with both inside and outside work options … Continued

Brightmoor Maker Space @ Include 2019



We are really excited and honored to be part of Include 2019. Include is a biennial international conference that focuses on issues central to inclusive and people-centered design. Include will be hosted for the first time in America, by College for Creative Studies and Design Core Detroit and is produced by the Helen Hamlyn Centre … Continued

CommonShip + Genki Ichiba



In May 2017, 2018, 2019, the Brightmoor Maker Space has had the great fortune of being able to partner with Ishinomaki Lab in Miyagi Prefecture in the northeast of Japan. First thing on setting foot in the lab workspace after coming from Detroit is “it looks sort of like the maker space.” Our Brightmoor Makers … Continued

Night Festival



For a few years we have been talking about night. Sometimes our discussions veer towards safety, sometimes towards seasons, and often towards sociability. We wonder at the Maker Space if we had a cookout or a street party at night if people would come and hang out. Alongside the wooden lamps we designed at Ishinomaki … Continued

Ishino_lamps



After a few months of rough prototypes and workshops in Detroit, a small group travelled to Ishinomaki, Japan where our host was Ishinomaki Lab. Over three weeks in May, we refined our wooden lamps, designing a flat pack set of 4 reconfigurable components powered by a small LED light (we are working on a solar … Continued