William Warren » Giftware

Where have all the rabbits gone?

William — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 11:19:18 +0000

This will be a free downloadable gift developed for a research project with Brighton University. Link to ‘Bitrwapped’, an online giftshop.

The brief was to design gifts that could be sold and delivered online without the need for manufactured goods. The project is an attempt to help people select and give more relevant personal gifts and to eliminate some of the environmental impact of producing, transporting and disposing of short life gifts that often only exist in order to satisfy the act of giving.

My design is a single A4 colour printout which can be read to a child and folded up simultaneously, culminating in a suprise end to the activity.

I wrote the poem for my daughter a few years ago but never managed to produce it as the book I had planned. The story line is about a girl who spends all winter looking for the missing rabbits, only to discover them again in spring. There are many dark insinuations that suggest the rabbits may have met a number of sticky endings. This is an attempt to engage all ages in the story.

The origami I have used is an existing pattern. It’s much easier to follow somebody else doing it than to read the instructions.For help with the folding, take a look at this very calm Japanese man on You Tube.

Where have all the rabbits gone?

For Miss M.T. Warren.

Where have all the rabbits gone? I can not see them anywhere.They used to hop upon the lawn, and jump about just over there, so where have all the rabbits gone?

I went to look upon the road, to see if they had been squashed flat, but all I found was a travelling man with a lucky charm and a grey fur hat, so where have all the rabbits gone?

I tried to ask the farmer why, there were no rabbits on the run. He would not speak, he was eating pie, and I did not like his hunting gun, so where have all the rabbits gone?

I went to the vet for a diagnosis, to check for a rash of miximatosis. But the surgery was now a butchers, and a pet shop full of empty hutches. So where have all the rabbits gone?

I went to ask the scientists, but they’re too busy running tests. Too busy testing chemicals to help me track down animals. So where have all the rabbits gone?

I approached the dog, spoke to the cat, I asked the fox and I questioned rats, but none of them could talk to me, they are all animals you see and human vocal cords they lack. So where have all the rabbits gone?

I went to look for rabbit poo. I kept my eyes pinned to the ground in search of somthing dark and round and showed my dad what I had found. He said “Rabbit poo that is not, I think it might be shotgun shot.” So where have all the rabbits gone?

In the spring I took a walk, to stretch my legs and take the air, and as I rambled through the fields I spotted rabbits everywhere. Bunnies large and bunnies small, there was a carpet wall to wall. At last their secret I had found. They had been busy underground.

Urn

William — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:37:55 +0000

This urn was first drawn when William Warren was designing the Shelves for Life.

The lid of the urn can be used as a functional ashtray and the pot as storage for all your smoking paraphernalia. It is meant to remind the smoker of the probable/possible results to smoking. See also the No Smoking ashtray.

It has the potential to be used as an urn for somebodies ashes, but realistically, after the suffering of watching somebody die slowly and painfully from lung cancer, families are likely to have lost their sense of humor.

The urn is produced by Suck UK

Skull Biker Stickers

William — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:34:37 +0000

A patch made from self adhesive ‘shotchlite’ reflective material. The graphic both protects the rider and expresses the dangers of cycling through the established message of skulls on biker jackets. The stickers are manufactured and distributed through Suck UK who sell them in packs of three. One large 20cm one and 10cm versions. The design work was done in 2009.

Link to Stickers on Suck UK’s website

New York Street Art Colouring Book

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:25:49 +0000

This is the second Street Art Colouring Book. The newer book is based in New York, the birthplace of modern Graffiti, and it covers the development of the art-form. There are pieces from well known New York writers featured, as well as more pieces from the Vop crew who generated the artwork for the first book.

Both books are printed and distributed by Worldwide Co. They have sold upwards of 25,000 copies to date.

Buy the New York Street Art colouring book on Amazon

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Street Art Colouring Book

William — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:00:21 +0000

The first colouring book is based in south London and teaches Graffiti students the basic principles and styles of Street Art, through a number of photographs of iconic but scruffy London scenes that can be coloured in. The pieces in the book were created by the infamous South London crew, the Vopstars.

Buy the Street Art colouring book on Amazon

3D Doodle Kit

William — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:37:36 +0000

A drawing kit that contains a red and blue coloured pencil and a pair of 3D glasses. By holding the pencils at a set distance apart whilst wearing the glasses, it is possible to produce images that jump from the page.

The science museum have ordered so many sets that they now have their own packaging for the product. Product manufactured and distributed by Worldwide Co. Original concept from 2004.

Click here to go to the 3Ddoodle kit on Worldwide Co.’s website

Hair of the Dog Keyring

William — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:39:42 +0000

I recognised this little dogface in a penknife bottle opener when I was young. Faces are useful devices to give personality to objects.

I like the way the key ring becomes the dogs collar.

The keyring was first prototyped in 1998.

Link to keyring on Trico’s website

No Smoking

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:24:03 +0000

One of my first products and an example of inventive use of materials and contrary narrative. The first series of ashtrays were produced using no smoking signs from the sign shop near my workshop. The aluminium signs were pressed on a simple wooden tool.

I originally produced the ashtrays myself in batches of fifty and at one point I was personally selling them to nine countries around the word. This of course ended up being a beyond me and I stopped, selling most of my range of products onto different manufacturers. The No Smoking ashtray however was not taken up by anyone and they were left on the shelf for six years before Suck UK asked if they might start to produce them again. They have now been selling well for the last five years.

Today the ashtrays are produced by Suck UK.

Fob Off Keyrings

William — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:23:10 +0000

Part of the ‘Negative’ range of products I produced shortly after graduating from a silversmithing MA in 1997. The larger chubb keyring is also able to open beer bottles.

The keyrings are now manufactured by Trico in Japan.

To link to the keyrings on Trico’s website click here

Lampshadow

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:44:33 +0000

The atmosphere in a home changes through the day and for different activities. This is a simple device that transforms a room from minimal to cozy by turning on the light.

Lampshadows are photo-etched in stainless steel. This is a process of screen printing in stop out varnish and etching which is normally used in electronics. A a process it is able to create relatively fine detail at low cost in small production runs.

The Lampshadow was developed for the exhibition ‘Them Indoors’ at the Geffrye Museum. 2005.