We released our first product: the Cal Bookend with the Brooklyn based design brand, Craighill.  Nate actually started his career working with Hunter Craighill and was Craighill's first employee. There he worked on much of their early portfolio, notably the Jack Puzzle, The Venn Puzzle, and the Trophy bottle opener. So it was a very obvious choice to approach the Craighill team. We showed them 3 of our first designs and they decided to snatch up the Cal Bookends.

Zach Fried at Craighill interviewed Nate about the story behind the product:

"What was the jumping off point for the Cal Bookend, and how long did it take from initial idea to finalized form?

The Cal Bookend was conceived as a simple construction detail. Normally, a single bolt isn’t enough to secure two rods together, but bend the two rods across one another and a single bolt can lock them up into a distinct tripod form. We played with this caltrop form for a while before finding the right function as a bookend. It has a unique character and the assembly that takes place at home lets you appreciate the construction that gave inspiration to the whole design.

All told, we tossed the Cal Bookend back and forth between us for about six months before we approached Craighill with the design. Even as we located manufacturers and defined the details it never strayed far from the initial form.

Why did Craighill seem like the right home for the Cal Bookend?

I began my career working alongside Hunter in the early days of Craighill, working on the Jack Puzzle, Venn Puzzle, and Trophy bottle opener. This experience informed how I design, so approaching Hunter with our first ideas and launching our inaugural product with Craighill was a natural fit. There is some shared DNA between the two brands and there are a lot of design elements in the Cal Bookend that link to the rest of the Craighill collection.

This is the first product launch for Revision. How did you form your partnership and what do you hope to achieve as a design studio?

Damein and I stayed in touch after graduating from Appalachian State University together, and then we formed Revision in 2018. Our very different skillsets compliment each other, so we’re a small and effective design team. Owning and operating our own independent design studio gives us satisfying control over our own success.

As we see the first product from our studio enter the market, we want to build more high-quality pieces that are both elegant and affordable. Our goal is to build a strong body of work at a steady pace, bringing those designs into reality by partnering with great design brands like Craighill."

Images courtesy of Craighill