Friday Five: Base Modern

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Designer profile Q+A: Base Modern

Today’s Friday Five comes from Scott Cummings, the founder of Base Modern, a design and fabrication studio based in Portland, OR.

1. Daily ritual?

My daily ritual is waking up before anyone and weighing out freshly ground coffee and filtered water for the perfect pour-over. I love to quietly have my coffee while reading until my kiddos wake up. The longer I prevent myself from looking at my phone the longer the morning peace lasts. 

2. Best creative (or business) advice?

Collaboration! Offering your unique skill sets to others and benefiting from theirs is a win-win. Also; I think it is really important to clearly define what success means to you and work towards what that looks like for you. You can't achieve a goal if it isn't clear. 

3. Current inspiration sources?

The Mcmaster-Carr website! 

Also, I have been really thinking about an objects usefulness recently and drawing inspiration from that. While I love indulging in form and beautiful shapes it can ultimately alienate a potential user just as it draws in others. Form is really useful to a person as a means for projecting how they identify and want to be seen both by themselves and the outside world. I love thinking about what makes an object meaningful and going from there. The work I am staring to design is nothing like the work I have designed in the past and I think that is good! I want my work to be helpful and bring some sort of ease to a persons life. 

4. Favorite podcast(s)?

I love the Dollop for comedy and "history" and on the other side of things I listen to Ram Dass Here and Now for old Ram Dass Lectures.

5. How does your city influence your work? 

Portland is so full of amazingly talented designers, craftspeople, artists etc. I love being here and being able to connect and collaborate.