This Friday on our Sticks For Kids! we're doing things a little different. I recently found this amazing designer and educational furnishings company for kids called, tambino. I was so impressed by the brand and the product, that I had to profile the brainchild behind the company. Her name is Jessica Cohen and she is making a difference in our children's creative growth. With tambino, Jessica is creating the perfect furnishings for our children to Take On The Creative! She also offers some great advice for the entrepreneur.
Jessica Cohen on "Typographic K" chair
Jessica Cohen is the product designer, innovator and owner of tambino. She has degrees in architecture from U.C. Berkeley and in art and product design from Stanford. She also has her M.F.A, where she studied as a Javitz Fellow. Jessica's experience with alternative learning and teaching styles comes from five years of volunteering with disadvantaged kids, ages 7-10 in Tel Aviv; two years of teaching undergraduate design students in Holon, Israel; and seven years of consulting factories on innovation thinking in Israel.
Tell us about your NOW (Noodle On the Wall)
The metaphor of throwing a noodle on the wall and seeing if it sticks – I really like that metaphor as a product designer. I can really relate to that: the “sticking” part being a market response to a new product. The dividing line between art and product design is that “sticking” part. My Noodle on the Wall is tambino. Tambino is a company that designs, manufactures, and distributes kids furnishings, that are educational and eco-friendly. I really love designing, as an art form, and even consumer observations as art. However, the real challenge is honing the techniques to make sure the pasta sticks – consumer purchasing psychology, shipping rates, safety regulations, etc.
The metaphor of throwing a noodle on the wall and seeing if it sticks – I really like that metaphor as a product designer. I can really relate to that: the “sticking” part being a market response to a new product. The dividing line between art and product design is that “sticking” part. My Noodle on the Wall is tambino. Tambino is a company that designs, manufactures, and distributes kids furnishings, that are educational and eco-friendly. I really love designing, as an art form, and even consumer observations as art. However, the real challenge is honing the techniques to make sure the pasta sticks – consumer purchasing psychology, shipping rates, safety regulations, etc.
What inspires you as a creative person?
What inspires me as a creative person? My grandmother was also an artist and would ‘review’ my drawings when I was a child. She was very concerned that I did not trace anything, and that my work was completely original. So being completely original is a driving force.
As far as inspiration goes, going to museums or design shows, where pure form or image is addressed, is always inspiring to get back in gear.
Kids are a great inspiration; I volunteered with kids for many years in Tel Aviv. Observing where they succeed and stumbled with the educational system provided so many ideas for games, products, and teaching methods.
What inspires me as a creative person? My grandmother was also an artist and would ‘review’ my drawings when I was a child. She was very concerned that I did not trace anything, and that my work was completely original. So being completely original is a driving force.
As far as inspiration goes, going to museums or design shows, where pure form or image is addressed, is always inspiring to get back in gear.
Kids are a great inspiration; I volunteered with kids for many years in Tel Aviv. Observing where they succeed and stumbled with the educational system provided so many ideas for games, products, and teaching methods.
3 Table
What noodles can you offer to Moms who want to nurture their children's creativity?
1) Use your own intuition, and be on the lookout for special skills that can be developed (I think we are past the days of requiring a child to learn for example piano or whatever the Jones' are doing.
2) Nutrition and food allergies deeply affect a child's cognitive abilities.
3) Keep in mind that only 20% of children learn by listening, the rest learn by seeing ( visual learning) or through physical activity (kinesthetic learning).
4) Exposure to as many cultural and scientific worlds as possible (ie friends who speak a foreign language, home science experiments, etc.
5) Encourage children to ponder abstract ideas, like, what do you think god looks like?
6) Have fun! Share your own enthusiasm for being creative!
1) Use your own intuition, and be on the lookout for special skills that can be developed (I think we are past the days of requiring a child to learn for example piano or whatever the Jones' are doing.
2) Nutrition and food allergies deeply affect a child's cognitive abilities.
3) Keep in mind that only 20% of children learn by listening, the rest learn by seeing ( visual learning) or through physical activity (kinesthetic learning).
4) Exposure to as many cultural and scientific worlds as possible (ie friends who speak a foreign language, home science experiments, etc.
5) Encourage children to ponder abstract ideas, like, what do you think god looks like?
6) Have fun! Share your own enthusiasm for being creative!
What message are you putting out into our children's world with your company?
Tambino means "bambino" ('child' in Italian), + "tam" ('innocence', or 'child' in Hebrew ) = Tambino!
Tambino means "bambino" ('child' in Italian), + "tam" ('innocence', or 'child' in Hebrew ) = Tambino!
Pick Up Truck Desk and Toy Chest
Your child's focus and abstract thinking skills can be influenced by his or her built environment. A child is not a miniature adult, a child is a different animal altogether. Would your child naturally sit, or focus their best, while sitting at miniaturized adult chair and desk? (Or would you?) A child's thoughts and environment are three-dimensional, and sometimes non-linear and non-continuous. Many kids learn by moving, or seeing, or doing (not just by sitting and listening). We think that since children see and use their environment differently than adults, their products and spaces should be appropriately designed. Our goal is to develop thinking and making, in an unconventional, safe, designed space.
We've also read that a home free of toxins is better for your child's mind. Our paint is water-based polyurethane, manufactured in the USA. Water-based polyurethane is low -VOC, lead-free, scratch-resistant, and seals wood against moisture. Our plywood has the world's highest ecological rating, California CARB-P2, which means formaldehyde-free. We use extremely strong materials such as solid Russian birch plywood and solid American maple plywood. Plywood, especially of these cold-climate species, is stronger than even solid hardwood, because its method of construction is layered glue and wood. These come from managed forests.
I am still trying to crystallize my "why" into a catchy elevator pitch. I just "know" how children see and feel environment, so I design my furniture to interact with kids as they are.
I am still trying to crystallize my "why" into a catchy elevator pitch. I just "know" how children see and feel environment, so I design my furniture to interact with kids as they are.
What recipes can you give Creative Moms throwing their noodles?
• Don’t quit your day job
• Check shipping rates and restrictions before launching a product.
• Work with a co-founder, such as a fellow mom, or a business student
• Try to make something a little unique and newsworthy, so blogs will spread the word
• Make sure there is a market for the product (in regards to price, or the country you’re selling in, etc.)
• I’ve seen that small improvements on existing successes in the market are generally better than being completely original; better because the market may not be ready for it yet, and then you’ll have the added task of teaching consumers to adapt
• Understand the difference between cooking pasta, and managing a business that cooks pasta (from “The E-myth”) – and hence,
• Make sure it’s something you’ll enjoy doing on a daily basis
• Don’t quit your day job
• Check shipping rates and restrictions before launching a product.
• Work with a co-founder, such as a fellow mom, or a business student
• Try to make something a little unique and newsworthy, so blogs will spread the word
• Make sure there is a market for the product (in regards to price, or the country you’re selling in, etc.)
• I’ve seen that small improvements on existing successes in the market are generally better than being completely original; better because the market may not be ready for it yet, and then you’ll have the added task of teaching consumers to adapt
• Understand the difference between cooking pasta, and managing a business that cooks pasta (from “The E-myth”) – and hence,
• Make sure it’s something you’ll enjoy doing on a daily basis
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