Here is a nice installation of our wallpaper "Dead Trees" in the home of Rebecca of RST Design. A really nice house and we love how she used our paper.
Actually we swear to you... her house looked a real dump before our paper went up....

Just kidding. Thanks Rebecca.

At Pottok we are excited about a new design that just went into production.

Geoff McFetridge designed the "Make Something Workshop" which is in the Montalban Theater on Vine St. in Hollywood. Nike took over the theater for the next three months. Aaron Rose is using the Workshop space to conduct art classes for youths.

Part of the design of the interiors was an expansion of the All of Us design. The design now has five different panels or parts that can be puzzled together. It is a little confusing to describe.

There are three levels of "crowded-ness" and 2 transitional panels that go from crowded to sparse. It is a modular system like "Dead Trees" but insterd of two panels there are 5. Offering much more possibility for variation. A mural using the same design is going up today at the RVCA gallery in San Francisco. Hopefully anyone in the Los Angeles or San Francisco area can go check it out in person.

Better (not iphone) pictures soon:





its hot in here

blurry photo showing the transitional panel into the sparse design

New cards hand printed by Cloverfield press and designed by Geoff McFetridge.
We have them now, but not in the shop yet, email if you want some right away. Four cards and envelopes in a pack.
$24

Beginning March 29, 2008 the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park’s PACCAR Pavilion contains a large installation I created. Entitled: the (in) Mind (or in the Mind) the installation is part of an annual series in which a guest artist creates site-specific project for the pavilion.



Part of the installation is a large wall covered in the "All of Us" wallpaper print. This design was created specifically for this installation. It is nice that Pottok can make this design available while the show is still up.




detail

There are two other pieces in the show that use this crowd type image. The originals I paint with black cel vinyl used for animation. I am drawing a lot of crowds lately.

Here is an interview with Geoff in Loftlife talking about Pottok, our influences and our approach to making and selling wallpaper.


You have had a broad career as a designer working with skateboards, toys, textiles, and even a shoe for Nike.  How has designing for all of these varied products influenced your most recent venture with wallpaper?

Most of the papers are designs I created to use within art installations I have done over the years. Other designs came out of the varied activity of my studio. As a designer you usually do 50 designs for every 1 that is used, and often the 1 that is used is only used for a short time. I put the energy that spins off of my art projects and commercial projects into things like the wallpaper, or my skateboard company Solitary Arts.
I don't like waste, and I like to feel like I have control over my work. So it is really important to be able to produce things on my own without having some stranger tell me it is ok to do so.

When looking at your prints, I was able to see some narrative aspects in your designs.  Do you see these narrative qualities in each of your prints, and if so, do the narratives reveal themselves at the end of the design process or as you go along?  How conscious or subconscious are these stories while you design?

The reason I began creating patterns and repeats was to do image-based designs. I started with variations on camoflage. I tried to make posters and narratives "disappear" within the patterns. The patterns are meant to be continuous posters that recede into space visually but the story or content of the images draw you in.
I imagine a kid, or adult (I grew up with wallpaper) laying in bed as discovering images and stories in the paper, maybe years after hanging it.

What are some of the stories you hope that your prints convey or hint at?

I would love the prints be a sort of a window into a stoner daydream. Many of the prints sort of play with trying to make the feeling of "imagining" tangible, illustrated.

How do you decide what color will work best for the print, the story and the conveyed emotion of the print?

I am learning over time what works both graphic-ly and within some ones living space. I Have been designing and hanging wallpaper for 8 years, I have been able to see what works on a large scale, and what fails as well.
The art shows are a great proving ground for how I want the designs to work. I don't just look at them on a computer monitor or as a sample. All of the designs have gone into production 2 or 3 times so I can fine tune how they work on the wall. It is not a cost effective way to do it, but I find it is the only way.

Do you attribute any specific style or influences to your wallpaper designs?  If so, what are some?

I love Alexander Girard and Josef Frank. Seeing Girard's work was a life changer. 

Most people don't think of wallpaper being recyclable (I sure didn't before doing my research!).  But you have taken the effort to work with a manufacturer that runs a non-toxic operation, and you personally see every roll, sample, and print that leaves your studio. Plus, each pattern is hand-silkscreened using water-based inks and no preservatives.  All of these are unique to wallpaper production, I feel, and these days eco-centric and personal details seem more popular with the crazes of organic apparel, repurposed furniture, etc. Needless to say, it seems details are important to you in a finished product.  Why do you think these types of details and attention also matter to the wallpaper consumer?  

All those things that you mention are the only reason we produce the paper. I have no passion for mass produced or wasteful products, and I don't know many people who do. We create designs that we would have in our home. The businesses I admire and products I like are all the product of some ones personal passion. When we get the samples back from our printer we are so stoked, and if things are not done right we have no hesitation to make it right. If we did not have a passion for the product all of this would be a chore.

The advantage of being a small company is being able to produce things in an ecosensitive, and thoughtful way. It is nice that we can make a product locally, well, by hand at a time when everything is being made overseas toxic-ly. Of course it is not cheap, but for our customers it is worth it.

I find most of your patterns to appeal to an adult mentality as well as a child's playfulness.  What are some of the patterns' elements that create the cross-over between both adults and children?

I think that a lot of the narrative in the patterns may be more clear to adults right away, where for a child it may take a few years of living with the design to find all the details. 

On your website, you say the patterns don't "...just look like art--it looks like something a more daring person might want to use in their home."  How can people who aren't necessarily "daring" but maybe more eclectic still find appeal in your wallpaper? 

Well, I am not sure. Old houses look great with wallpaper. Small bathrooms look great too. I have friends that have taken small pieces and framed it as well. I have found that people are often surprised how normal paper looks once it is installed. I would say it is generally 40% less bizarre than you think it will be. (yes, that is an absolutely accurate bit of data)

Right now, your wall paper is only available in LA and on-line. Is there any hope that we can soon see your line in some East Coast design stores?

We would love to have our paper in more shops, particularly on the east coast and the midwest. That is where a lot of the great older homes are that look great with wallpaper. We are mainly interested in wallpaper specific shops. We have not done the legwork yet to find some great retailers. I am sure they are out there. hello?



-Eindhoven Netherlands at an amazing printshop where I printed some paper for a show in 2007 Photo: Rop



-Old photo of a stoner-fort type installation I did in Japan. This shows earlier versions of Shadows of the Paranormal and Tree Shadows. Each design has changed a lot over the years. These papers were also not printed in an eco-friendly way (speaking of stoner-forts; they made you high when you pulled them out of the box actually) This was the very first show where I did wallpaper. It was sold by the foot. Parco Gallery 2000



-All Whales Have Teeth

For the month of April Colette in Paris will be featuring Pottok in their store.
If you are in France and want to buy wallpaper go check it out. They will be taking orders for the entire month and then we will ship directly to the store at the end of April.

http://www.colette.fr/




adaptations by Kuntzel + Deygas

be there!