I love when I’m able to merge business and creative objectives in a meaningful way that moves design beyond just aesthetics… like the one time I built a bike out of bamboo to promote a new industry in the South
(Psst. Or you can just jump to: The Alabamboo Make & Ride, FPX:Iceland, NADA Bike, (blank)LAB… or just scroll down.)
The Alabamboo Make & Ride
A not-so-typical cross-country bike ride. We partnered with Alabamboo, an initiative to build up and promote a new, sustainable, bamboo industry in hopes of building up a local Southern economy.
I spearheaded the project, strategized our approach and story while also designing various collateral and social media outreach. I also collaborated with a number of partner organizations to ensure that the main goal of the project was reached.
ridealabamboo.com
Alabama–California
Spring 2011–Summer 2011
Team Alabamboo: Nicole Lavelle, Rose Lavelle, Jason Dilworth, Marc O’Brien
Press & Publications
Alabamboo Cross-Country Bike Ride, The Gear Junkie
Alabama: The New Bamboo (And Bike) State?, Treehugger
Alabamboo bikes from COMMON, Bicycle Design
Can Bamboo Bikes Take On Capitalism?, Motherboard
Sponsors included
Adventure Cycling Association, Bamboo Bike Studio, Boo Shoot (Now Provitro Bio), Central, Fearless Cottage, Goodhew, HDX Hydration Mix, HERO Housing, Orontas, PROBAR, Solio, Strava, and Swrve.
The summer after that, I led a mobile workshop in Iceland, riding bikes 1/3 around the island
FPX: Iceland
A project that combined extreme physical challenges with the creation of a social enterprise.
I designed a number of the FPX collateral along with creating a social media strategy. During the project, I led the team to develop a new business concept for the city of Reykjavik called Share Cycle (see below).
FPX: Iceland on Vimeo
Iceland
June 2012
Share Cycle
After returning to Reykjavik, the team came up with the concept of Share Cycle, an international community driven, eco-conscious laundromat and business incubator space that fosters conversation and cultural exchange among locals and travelers in downtown Reykjavik.
The FPX: Iceland team shared this idea to locals and travelers during a public event in Reykjavik’s downtown area. Conversations and feedback about the potential of Share Cycle were documented and presented to city officials.
Sponsors included
The Bike Company, Cowbird, HDX Hydration Mix, KuKu Campers, Goodhew, Track My Tour, and Wenger.
But, before all of that, I co-founded a bike company with friends
NADA Bike
An open source bike project that empowered NADA Bike members to make their own decisions and learn ways they can take full control of their transportation needs.
I co-designed promotional collateral and ran social media. I also worked on various business models for the project.
Sadly, no more website :(
Half Moon Bay, CA
Fall 2009–Summer 2010
Press & Publications
– Presented at Ignite Bay Area / GIW Edition in March of 2010 in San Francisco, CA
– Competed in the Pepsi Refresh Project – $25K in March & April, 2010
– Featured in I.D. Magazine’s “40 Transformative Design Projects”, Jan./Feb. 2010
– Featured in Mohawk’s Superfine “Mode of Transformation” Promotion 2010 paper sample
– Campaigned for Nau Clothing’s 2nd annual $10,000 Grant for Change
Blog Coverage
Tree Hugger
Thinking for a Living
The San Franista
And just before NADA Bike, I converted a shipping container into a mobile design studio and drove it around the country before the truck broke down in the middle of Missouri
[BLANK)LAB
We brought people together within their own communities to learn and share skills with their neighbors.
During the fall of 2009, we toured through three cities and engaged with over 200 people, creating a national database of change-makers through the ENGAGE/TRANSFORM project.
I developed various design assets, manned (blank)LAB’s social media, and facilitated gatherings.
I called myself a truck driver for three months along w/ Joseph Shipp and Brian W. Jones
Photos of Fall Tour 2009
Kickstarter campaign
Providence, RI > Memphis, TN > St. Louis, MO.
September–November 2009
Our Kickstarter video to get the truck back up and running. Sadly, the truck never got back on the road.
During all of this, I called about 20 places “home” while living out of a bag for about three years
I couch surfed, basement hopped, and empty-bedroom squatted all over the US, jumping on opportunities and working on projects that started my career in social impact.
Experiencing all of this (and more) has informed my work immensely; being resourceful, developing a better understanding of people and their needs, learning how to facilitate groups, the right and wrong ways of collaborating, asking better questions, connecting disparate ideas, the importance of prototyping, using the power of community both online and offline, and being bold in the work I do.
Get in touch for a more detailed portfolio, talk shop,
or discuss full-time or contract opportunities