by kevin, on February 10th, 2010
Are you a radish or a carrot? I recently saw a presentation by a representative of InterfaceFLOR where she showed the distinction between solution-dyed carpet fiber and non-solution-dyed fiber. She used a radish and a carrot to demonstrate that difference. The color of a carrot goes all the way through. Cut into one, or take a slice out of one, and the color doesn’t change. That’s the same as solution-dyed fiber. The radish has a red skin but a bright white core. Cut into one and you can easily see that the color does goes no deeper than the skin. That’s the same as non-solution-dyed fiber. When I saw this graphic, it somehow brought be back to a recent conversation with AoSA – the Art of Sports and Apparel – co-owner Mike Hill. I can’t tell you how many young green company owners I’ve interviewed over the past eight months who are part of surf or skateboard culture. I’ve been trying to figure out if there’s some underlying relationship between green and surfing.
At first I though maybe it was something about them being anti-establishment, or anti-corporate, or their free spirit attitudes. But it was the radish and carrot analogy that helped me see the deeper connection. In skateboard and surf culture, they can spot a poser or an interloper from a mile away. And they are quick to point it out to everyone in the community. It’s very difficult for large multinational corporations to break in because of that. Any company pretending to have skate or surf credentials will quickly get exposed. If you’re an outsider, you’re a radish, your interest in the culture only goes skin deep. If you’re an authentic member of the culture with genuine credentials, you’re a carrot, and your interest is part of who you are.
Similar circumstances are beginning to play out in the green space. Is a company with a long history of environmentally unfriendly product production who begins manufacturing green lines received the same as one that’s been producing green products from its founding? Typically not. Companies looking to take advantage of growing consumer interest in products are often viewed as a radishes, outsiders, or profiteers. It’s a dilemma we’ll all have to face since the solution will not come exclusively from new start-ups but will more likely be driven by existing corporations who either see the business potential or who have had an honest change in direction. Few of us currently designing sustainably have been doing so our entire careers. Ultimately, few of us are really carrots.
Mike Hill, however, is. He, his father, and a partner started AoSA in 2006 primarily as a reaction to what Mike saw happening in the skateboard product world. Too many companies were paying artists too little for their work and were sourcing their manufacturing offshore. He thought there had to be a different way to operate and still be profitable. Typical printing processes for skateboard graphics employ fairly caustic materials – part of the reason why they moved offshore. Southern California, primarily the coastline from Los Angeles to San Diego, has always been one of the dominant homes for surf and skateboard culture. And at one time, most of the design and manufacturing of the products which serve that community were also produced there. But today, little of it is. Many production processes don’t pass stringent state environmental regulations. With his company, Mike is showing how there’s an alternative that’s better for both environment and community.
Images courtesy of AoSA web site
Most of projects AoSA works on are connected to action sport products or retailers. They offer a number of environmentally favorable printing services that are water-based, non-toxic, and are applied to all sorts of unique substrates. Some of those substrates are products that Mike and his partners have helped bring to market, such as a woven fabric made from recycled PET. AoSA have developed a UV stable process to print on this material rather than virgin polyester or vinyl. Mike is constantly looking for ways to help his clients utilize scrap or waste as raw material for new displays or signage. For one client he developed a hat rack composed of scrap material sourced from the local Bentley Prince Street (an Interface Inc. division) carpet factory. But projects like that, although very exciting and fun to work on, are difficult to monetize. Because as Mike told me, “it’s hard to get good consistent trash as raw material.” The first two versions could barely stand and fell apart too easily. There’s was no way to produce them in quantity, maintain consistency, and ensure high quality. The third version, after many hours of redesign, finally worked to everyone’s satisfaction. As you can imagine, it’s difficult to make money on such a time consuming process unless there’s significant quantity. And if the order is large enough it taxes their ability to source the scrap consistently, therefore changing the design. It’s a catch 22, but that persistence and drive to solve problems despite the long odds appears to be a common theme among our recent interviews.
Images courtesy of AoSA web site
Even though Mike has clients to please, he’s also aware that his clients have clients, or customers, to please. So he’s always thinking about their reactions to, perception of, and interaction with all the designs his company produces. Connected to that is a technology they’ve been working on from the beginning but are just now getting close to launch called Product DnA. It’s a technology created by his father, a retiree from the Jet Propulsion Lab, that uses the web and cloud computing to offer customers a way to visualize customized products rendered three dimensionally in real time and in real context. Mike showed me a demonstration and I have to say I was blown away by how fast it could render 3D objects. It has incredible potential for much of his clientele.
One thing that really grabbed my attention during my visit was how straight forward Mike’s approach is to everything – want to develop a way to apply graphics to dimensional objects, design and build your own multi-ton press – want to know how UV rays will impact certain materials and finishes, set up your own UV testing equipment – and so on. He showed me unique equipment and processes as if it they were no big deal. He doesn’t seem to allow anything to become a hurdle he can’t clear.
Thank you, Mike, for your time, and energy.
Hi, I’m really glad I found you. I have two websites, earthdivas.com and hemp-sisters.com. With both of these sites, we make items that can be printed. For hemp-sisters.com, it’s mainly hemp and organic cotton t-shirts and some hemp bags. For earthdivas.com we have grocery bags, baseball caps, wallets, and backpacks that can all be printed on. We’ve had a few clients in the past who’ve asked us if we can screen print and we’ve not had a good supplier who could do this for us. I’m hoping u can email me at info@hemp-sisters.com and I will save ur url in my bookmarks, but the next time i get a request, would love to hook up. pls email me when u get a chance and if u find anyone who is looking for sustainable, fair trade handbags, hats, bags, etc… pls call me. thank you. ed–
Hi Ed,
Thanks for the info. I’ve checked out both sites and will add them to our blogroll. Mike Hill and AoSA would be a great alternative to screen printing. I used to operate a screen printing studio years ago, but got out of it because of all the toxic solvents used. I was printing with safe ink, but all the other processes were heavily dependent on solvent based substances. But I’ve always loved the look of something screen printed. I’ll pass anyone looking for cool handbags your way. Good luck.
[...] of substrates (often only one). The receptor is typically much more complicated (larger) than …stories of sustainability: AoSA threadpostSome of those substrates are products that Mike and his partners have … beginning but are just now [...]