Bathroom Remodels

Here is an article by LX.TV regarding redoing your bathroom featuring Boone's Hooks. The site is loaded with other helpful articles on decorating and design.

http://lxtv.com/helpme/article/10027

Cheers,
Smyth

Boone's Hooks on the Today Show

Here is the video clip of Boone's Hooks from today's Today Show on msnbc...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

TODAY show featuring Boone's Hooks!

Hello,

I am excited to announce that Boone's Hooks will be featured in a piece on the TODAY show tomorrow, Thursday, June 25th! Here is the information that I received...

Thanks so much for speaking with me just now about the the leaf towel bar and ring to showcase on The Today Show!

I work for LXTV, which produces a real estate / home design show called Open House, which airs on NBC stations across the country. You can see clips of the show on our website: http://lxtv.com/openhouse/.

Our home improvement host, George Oliphant, is scheduled to be on Today, Thursday June 25th in the 8 AM hour, showcasing some great DIY weekend projects to upgrade your bathroom, and we would love to include the bar and ring!
The segment is scheduled to air on Thursday LIVE during the 8 AM hour, EST. It would be the 2nd hour of the Today Show (I’m not sure what time that airs in Colorado), barring any breaking news...

I will send you the web link after the program airs. You can also check it out at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/

Special thanks go out to Tynan and Jamie at Rancho Del Arte!

Thank you for supporting fine, hand-forged ironwork!

Cheers,
Smyth Boone

Blog Feature

Here is a link to a nice site and a feature on my work. Enjoy

http://ellecustomjewelry.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
Smyth Boone

"Prosumer" Economy

Here is an encouraging article from the San Francisco Gate. My comments are below...

Get ready: Here comes the 'prosumer economy'

Hunkering down, cutting and conserving, snapping up opportunities that others may miss. All the standard nostrums for surviving the Great Recession make sense, but they're not sufficient to cope with the new economic order that's coming.

That's what Eamonn Kelly, CEO of San Francisco's Global Business Network ( www.gbn.com), is telling CEOs of the Fortune 100 companies he advises. At a recent gathering of the Alliance of Chief Executives ( www.allianceofceos.com), an organization of Bay Area CEOs headquartered in Walnut Creek, Kelly outlined some of the coming challenges:

-- The era of Western-led innovation and globalization is finished, as China and India lead the shift to the East and begin to make their own rules. Henceforth, businesses will be operating in a world of "multiple models of government-private sector relations."

-- In the United States, "government is back," ending the private sector's "untrammeled permission to play." In addition to the state, the nonprofit civic sector - environmental organizations, for example - will become increasingly visible stakeholders in private enterprises.

-- Western consumption patterns are unsustainable. In fact, they are "structurally broken."

What does all this mean? Kelly believes - and this is a Fortune 100 adviser, mind you - that material consumption is being replaced by, for want of a better word, spiritual consumption. In a nutshell, quality supersedes quantity, a trend I believe we are already starting to see. For companies, that implies "a massive emphasis on co-creation with consumers," evolving into what Kelly calls the "prosumer economy."

It also presages, he believes, a transition from traditional models of competition to shared "webs" of innovation. "Companies are going to have to be more agile, more collaborative." Which, he acknowledged, "puts corporate executives in a very hard place. How do you manage that tension between dealing with the current recession and needing to adapt to these fundamental changes?"

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I feel this trend is very encouraging to the craftsperson and anyone that deals with quality items. If you are an artist, please keep up the great craftsmanship and as a consumer, which we all are, please purchase high quality.

I am glad to see the consumer finally get some power back over the corporations and I look forward to the new products that will surface and the older ones that will stay in demand.

Cheers,
Smyth Boone

Time to Re-model!

During an economic slump(or full-on melt down) people generally tend to start using their money differently. This puts the functional artist and anyone with 'real' value goods in a position to benefit.

When the economy has been riding high, people tend to spend more lavishly on vacations, large purchases and items that they can get with easy to get credit. When economic times are uncertain, people pull back on their spending, start saving and investing in projects at home and buy things that they can get the most value from. Luckily, people still have their money, they just tend to spend it on more concrete items, items that a person can see the benefits of, like a re-model project.

For example, instead of a large vacation to Hawaii a lot of people will choose to stay closer home for their vacations and re-model the bathroom or take on another house project that has been on the back burner for a while. Still spending money, but on "real" items with a real value that lasts.

Good quality lasts forever! Good luck to the "Functional Artists!" and anyone making things of quality with real value. A trend that may help us all.

Cheers,
Smyth Boone

Prototypes

I am in the habit of forging a prototype for most architectural commissions that I create. Not only does the prototype help me to figure out the pricing of a project, it also allows me to learn if the ideas and drawings are to scale and the right choices. The prototype comes after the drawings and the design concepts are realized.

Here is a close-up photo of a 3 foot prototype section for a balcony that I learned a lot about the joinery, sizes and textures...


For example... if I am commissioned to forge a railing...

First is the drawings and concepts for the piece. Then once the drawings are accepted by the builder/owner, I will build a measured section(usually 3 feet long) full scale. Railings are generally priced by the linear foot, therefore, I make a measured section( 3' for this example) and the amount of time it takes to create the prototype divided by 3 for this sample multiplied by my hourly shop rate gives me the price per foot to share with the builder/owner.

I also learn if I selected the right material sizes and techniques to see the project to its completion and on schedule. If there are things that need to be changed to make the project smoother or easier, the prototype is a great way to learn the project from the inside out. It also removes any mis-guided or unrealistic design concepts. This is also the time to make adjustments and corrections to make the project as quickly, professionally and efficiently.

While I create the prototype, I also figure out ways to make jigs and other helpful tools to hopefully speed up production once the design/prototype is accepted by the client. This means that hopefully the actual project will go faster than the prototype which can equal profit or simply allow for unforeseen delays in construction that can sometimes make one loose money on a project.

Cheers,
Smyth Boone