us, now.
what is carbon based?
carbon based design technologies is… many things, all of which revolve around design. in its simplest form, it is the business space and showcase for projects created or started by me, carlos benjamin walker. but there have been many projects, many contributors (some of which here), and many uses of this space; some projects never got off the ground, some projects were just for our own edification, and some projects even helped us pay the bills (periodically). the projects shown here are sort of our idea of ‘what makes the pick’ so to speak. not necessarily the best, but usually fun and always relative.
the history
carbon based design technologies was founded in january of 2000, which doesn’t seem like a decade ago, but hot damn, it is. essentially it was intended to be my design firm (and in some form, it is) but really, its mostly always been a design collective or perhaps even a semi-shared design space with a small but fluctuant roster of anyone i can con into helping. over (what still doesn’t seem like) the decade we have done projects covering (but not limited to): amplifier, bicycle, carpentry, computer, home building, home improvement, furniture, metal, plastic, print, product, speaker, vehicle, and web design. to name a few.
in september 2005, i up and left san francisco for london, to do my masters of arts at Brunel University, focusing on design theory and the intersection of design with sustainability. seeing as how i instigated all the projects shown here, and i was off studying how pubs worked, carbon based really came to a halt. a few projects got finished – including this websites ninth revision – and a few even got started, but mostly things sort of stopped because that damned thesis really took up all my creative abilities. it wasn’t until april 2009 when i had moved back stateside (to baltimore, maryland) that i got back into the old habits of tools, tool boxes, dirty trousers, no one project finished but thirteen on the go, better tools, a closet dedicated to random things “that might come in handy someday! really!”, etc. .
since then, i’ve actually completed a few projects, however i also almost immediately got a job as head of design at Fastsigns of Baltimore-Dundalk, so the vast amount of my ‘since moving back to the states’ creative energy has manifested there through large format print, signage of all sorts, ‘three-dimensional lettering’ as its called, and endless amounts of banner and coroplast jobs. to give you an idea of what i now do, since working there (~1.5 years) ive done MAYBE 3 business cards, but countless – literally almost impossible to count – banners for every bank, festival, YMCA, party, private event, special offer, birthday, 2-for1 sale, and any other random thing some one person can think of advertising.
- carlos, october 2010