The Armchair-designed book comes free with your purchase of Home Tour tickets.

We hope to see you at tonight’s launch party!

Part Heaven’s Gate, part Twin Peaks, and completely Adult Swim, the subliminal messaging and hypnotic owl heads make us laugh every time.

Join the cult.

After reorganizing the content, bookings, and site architecture, we gave customers a window into the One&Only experience with “moving stills”—video clips with motion so subtle that at first they seemed like photographs.

Look for yourself…

From Stefan Sagmeisters diary of “What I Have Learned in My Life So Far”, the famous designer shares the truths he has discovered:

“Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid,
I have to live now.
Being not truthful works against me.
Helping other people helps me.
Everybody who is honest is interesting.
Organizing a charity group is surprisingly easy.
Everything I do always comes back to me.
Over time I get used to everything and start taking
it for granted.
Money does not make me happy.
Traveling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life.
Assuming is stifling.
Keeping a diary supports my personal development.
Trying to look good limits my life.
Worrying solves nothing.
Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
Having guts always works out for me.”

Making lists help us feel in control of our daily lives. They give us something to dream so that one day we can look back on what we achieved, put down the pen, and finally breathe deep. The value in making lists is so we can cross them off.

View a photo of Sagmeister’s list here

Building Sambo’s Legacy

Visit the Samuel Mockbee site.
Visit the Citizen Architect site.

Challenge:

Great Southern Wood has partnered for years with Auburn University’s Rural Studio, providing YellaWood® materials to student architects building beautiful, innovative structures in impoverished communities.

Anticipating GSW’s sponsorship of a film about the Rural Studio and its legendary cofounder, Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee, Armchair set out to design two websites. The first would promote the Citizen Architect film, and the other would honor Mockbee and his legacy.

Solution:

We were inspired to build the sites in the same way the Rural Studio builds homes—by using existing materials. We took publishing platforms like Flickr, WordPress, and Vimeo and exploited them to create a beautiful and cohesive platform on which people could discover Mockbee and his work.

The sites are architectural in form, stripped down in design, and subdued in tone—echoing both the beauty and humanity of Mockbee’s Rural Studio.

Results:

Armchair considered the sites a success before they even launched, when Mockbee’s family responded with pleasure and pride.

The websites are also an example of how Armchair delights to work: as brand stewards developing relationships of trust over time, rather than innovators-for-hire.

Through collaboration with Great Southern Wood and the Mockbee family, we were able to tell Sambo’s story in a manner that was delicate, respectful, and deserving of his contribution.

Special thanks to our friends at People of Resource for the hardware work. Photos by Jason Travis.

Visit the Geographic North site.