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The Chilson Design Collaborative is our way of putting a name to the work we've been doing for several years. By creating a community of connected individuals from a plethora of backgrounds, we use our "Knights of The Round Table" approach to manage tasks, develop better products, and solve problems. We believe that the best way to create successful products and ideas is to collaborate with those outside the scope of a design or technology background, but rather utilize the skills and abilities of people with varying specialties. By on-boarding an accomplished group of diverse professionals from medical, artistic, or scientific backgrounds, we strive to provide a full circle solution to the challenges at hand.
The Chilson Design Collaborative acts as the parent company for our products and designs. In doing so, we continue to stay directly connected without losing sight of our goal to collaborate, create, and inspire the future of technology.
CommixDevices is focused around the concern that technology in its current form i.e. smartphones, tablets, watches and more, tend to lead us in the direction of technological dependency and distraction. Slowly and often unwillingly removing us from our inherent connection to the physical world and the objects within it.
Technology of today is focused around the idea of becoming the universal tool for all daily tasks. Whether it be reading the news or checking the weather, your handheld devices can do it all. While these devices work, they steal our attention and appreciation for nature.
While it may seem easier to create an all in one universal tool, it takes away the magic and personality of objects we've built relationships with throughout our entire lives. By seamlessly dissolving technology into that which we know and love, our interaction is not only more biologically synergistic, but less harmful.
This doesn't mean you'll have to carry around any more objects than you already do in order to do any specific action, but rather have features be integrated into that which we're already using i.e. water bottles, pens, and other "essentials".
At Commix, not only do we strive to holistically change our experience and interaction with technology by seamlessly integrating into objects we interact with on a daily basis. We consider the studies of biomimicry and human rhythm when creating an avenue for how we use technology, all in an effort to continue moving forward without losing our connection to the physical world.
For the best example of ideas and products we envision, check out "Enchanted Objects" a book and product design philosophy written and created by MIT Media Lab Researcher and serial entrepreneur David Rose. Rose is the leading figure in embedded technology as well as human-centered design, and is the inspiration for creative thinkers and innovators alike.
In 2015 I had done some research into the history and evolution of bicycles from their conception, to the ever-changing models of today. During my research I came across an organization known as HERO (Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organization) in Greensboro, AL.
A roughly 90-minute drive from Birmingham, Ala., and four hours from Atlanta, Greensboro lies in the so-called Black Belt, a former cotton-producing region now known for catfish farms and rural poverty.
Pam Dorr, and innovator and creative thinker whom I spoke with long before my plan to visit HERO, is the powerhouse for the nonprofit community development group that helps get those in poverty into low-cost, small, but genuinely nice homes which they can eventually own over time. She's received national attention for her efforts to revitalize this Hale County seat of 1,700 through initiatives like HERO.
Many may not know it, but Greensboro and a plethora of other places all over the U.S. view bamboo as an relentlessly invasive species which takes over their backyards. Yet, bamboo is lightweight, incredibly strong, and an ideal material for construction of many kinds...even bikes.
However, no living person can take the credit for that idea. Bamboo bikes had been built back in the late 1850's, but were quickly erased by the streamlining steel industry of the time. However, The forgotten art was making a comeback for those who needed it most when I made my trek.
By using a material which is sustainable, rigid, and historically recognized for its functionality, Pam inspired me to begin my journey of building bamboo bikes. In a place where having enough food on the table is an issue, buying a car is one of the lasts things on the mind for many Greensboro residents and others in similar situations all across the world. By allowing a space where residents can come in a build a bike using readily available sources and a little bit of elbow grease, they eventually have transportation to move from place to place in their lovely little city.
Bambu has been focused on bringing this idea to the Northeastern USA, in an effort to reduce the use of wasteful materials and provide low income families with a viable source of transportation.
Thomas Addaquay, Founder & CEO of the the Non-Profit Green X Prize, Inc. wrote in an article about Bambu "Miles proves that not only is what’s old new again, it’s sustainable, too." To read the full article, click here
For more information on HERO or the Bambu bike project, check out their website or contact ME.