The Design Factory: by guest Angela Hardison

SeeSaw Designs is located near OldTown Scottsdale, Arizona, minutes away from Fashion Square. We’re in an old building that’s currently undergoing some renovation. Rumor has it the students from Frank LLoyd Wright’s Taliesin West school worked on the building, but I’m not sure how to verify that information. Regardless, we love our space for it’s tall exposed ceilings and huge windows that let in so much light.

This is where I sit all day. Sometimes my desk is that clean, but usually it has papers, notes, and sketches strewn across. Our 2009 letterpress calendar is hanging up on the wall to keep track of our client meetings and deadlines.

People seem surprised that all four of our desks are in one of the rooms. For us, working so close is important to the creative process - all day, we’re solving problems and creating together. It also means we have to really like each other... luckily Lindsay, Raquel, and Trent are some of the greatest people I’ve ever known. We have a lot of fun. (Notice Trent's face in the left photo; he was probably making fun of me taking the pictures. Poor guy is outnumbered, but we love the dynamic he brings into an otherwise estrogen-filled studio).

We just moved to this location a couple months ago, so there’s still much to be done to the office. But for now, we have the essentials: our computers, inspiration board, and a fully-stocked candy jar (we’ve all got a serious sweet tooth).

Unfortunately, our letterpresses remain a few miles away from us in a garage. (We’re on the second story of the office building and I’m pretty sure the 5,000+ pounds of equipment might crash through the floor.) We have a 12x18” Kluge, a 10x15” OldStyle Chandler & Price, a huge Challenge guillotine paper cutter, and a little 6x10” tabletop Kelsey which is currently at our design studio as a showpiece.

Next, I'll share a little bit about the type of work we do along with some examples of our design and letterpress pieces.

For more info, visit me at the following:

- my personal blog (http://angelahardison.blogspot.com)

- SeeSaw blog (http://seesawdesigns.blogspot.com)