My design work varies from the poetic to the pragmatic. With self-initiated projects, I tend to design for the domestic sphere, at the scale of the individual, and often without a lot of technology. My academic projects involve greater ethnographic research and participatory methods and tend toward systems-, service-, and strategic-design. The images below represents the "making" aspect of my design practice, often in collaboration with Stephanie M. Tharp and our studio, materious.
With the advent and popularity of electronic mail, Ode stands in reverence to the diminishing art of letter writing. The padded drawer allows for the storage and display of writing accoutrements, which are visible through the glass drawer top. A removable wooden writing surface sits within the shelf below, allowing letter composition in a favorite location.