Yes, the use of resources by the industry is a big issue today. When they are collected or fabricated in order to be manufactured into products, and when those same products are disposed. A lot of attention is being dedicated to the problem of plastics. And by all means let us all dedicate our attention to that! But let’s step back a little, and think for a moment about the amount of goods each one of us uses daily, and about the lifespan of those goods before we replace them with newer ones. Now, imagine that on a planetary scale. You see the point, right? Synthetic or natural, no material is immune to being a threat to environmental stability.

The root of the problem is easy to establish but rather complex to address effectively. A World’s population that keeps on growing and the fact that our lives depend on a number of products that cause an impact is definitely a problematic combination. But hey, let’s keep on having children, and having a life so comfortable that allows us to live happily for many years! So, what should we do then? Of course we can choose to use materials that are lower on (environmental) impact. Let’s all do that! But there is another matter that requires urgent attention – global trends. If we think that any product is used times 7.5 billion people, and that many of those products have a rather short lifespan, to think global seems to be the real root of the problem. To develop a product to be used globally will necessarily put too much pressure on resources. Being that product an avocado, an electric car or a hemp shirt.

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Any steps towards making a business transparent are worth taking, right? But better make those steps real and not another marketing tool to make a business prosper. This is arguable of course. But what’s the point on a business making public the costs of its product development – raw materials; production; logistics; etc. if the final user has no way to verify if the info is real? The same goes for the measures taken to reduce environmental impact or fight for human rights. If one cannot confirm, it takes a leap of faith to accept it or, as in most cases, very good designers, marketeers and lawyers.

We are living interesting times. We are all very aware of the impact of consumption, as we are aware of the abuses many businesses perform on the planet, and yet we support those same businesses buying their products on a regular basis. You might sense some irony here, but make no mistake, this is serious! Too serious.

Transparency is a returning topic of internal debate at Ghome. For some time now, the idea of making public who Ghome suppliers are and publish their contacts on the brand’s website, has been debated. Our instinct leaves very little room for doubt, but it takes not much effort to understand the risks of it in terms of business. Many say that “the secret is the soul of business” but we prefer saying “sharing is caring”.

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Ghome made the choice of selling its products directly to you. This is a strong decision for a brand giving its first steps in a time where the market is so full of options. The start of any business is slow, and many tell us that this choice will not make things easier for Ghome. We see the point! Being Ghome the exclusive seller of its products, the building of an audience will come slowly. If to this we add: the fact that we only sell online a product range that people normally like to touch before deciding buying or not; a nano-budget to allocate to marketing and communication strategies; no sales department…  well, yes, it sounds difficult, right?

But now try to see things from our point of view. We knew all that in advance, so we put up a business structure that (we hope) takes that into account. So far so good. Social media is our marketing department, and everyone buying from us and getting happy about it, will eventually become our very high performing “sales team”. The fact that we sell directly to you puts us in full control of the operation, allowing us to measure our impact with great accuracy. 

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The impact of the growing human population on the Planet still remains to be accurately explained. However, the problem’s real anyway! This much everyone can accept. But what exactly is the cause and which could be the solutions, somehow seems to be hard to make consensual. One thing comes with very little margin for debate though: World’s population reached 7.5billion, expected to be 10bilion by 2055, and this puts a lot of stress in Nature where space and resources are finite. Adding up to this, comes the fact that most of us live in cities, with living habits more and more alike no matter the city we live in. In such scenario, it comes (almost) without saying that the consequence of individual actions are definitely not personal, they are hardly local, but are most surely global.

At Ghome we don’t like to cover our eyes to this problem. It doesn’t necessarily make life more difficult, but it definitely makes life real Our lives depend on a wide range of products that will make the planet hurt somehow. This is a given fact and it doesn’t seem likely to end anytime soon. Ghome’s business is to sell some of those products. This is a position of great responsibility that Ghome takes very seriously. It determines the way product development is undertaken, but not only. Ghome aims at creating a well grounded opportunity for evolution. As a brand it claims to itself the right to intervene on the very basis of the pyramid – together with others on the level of decision making, actively contributing to responsible forms of production and consequently be of help towards a more responsible consumption.

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Aço Stool vs. Anglepoise 1227

Lamp Anglepoise 1227, George Carwardine (1887-1947), 1935

Aço Stool, Ghome, 2016

(Photo: Ivo Oliveira Rodrigues | Graphic Design: Joana Prudêncio)

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Ghome invited Ivo Oliveira Rodrigues in for a meeting. Our aim being to entice him to spend some time looking at our product catalogue with the technical skills of a designer, the knowledge of a collector, and the acute eye of a photographer. Ivo is all that – product designer, collector and photographer!

The idea was to have Ivo spend some days surrounded by Ghome’s products and document them through a series of images that would depict his view of Ghome. The result is a set of photos in which Ivo tries to frame what he reckons is the strongest feature present in Ghome’s products.

The post It always feels Ghome. appeared first on Ghome.

To be in the business of producing and selling goods today is to be in constant conflict – how to do so in order to not harm the planet? Consumption is seen as a big menace, but our lives depend on a wide range of products manufactured in ways that will make the planet hurt somehow. This is a given fact and it doesn’t seem likely to end anytime soon. But the act of buying in itself is not the real issue here. It is the way we buy, as well as the how and the why goods are made, that is the problem. At Ghome, we believe that any good solution for this problem will require a shared responsibility between companies that produce things, and customers who buy them. But companies have to kick start the change!

The widespread idea that we live in a culture where replacement rules – where it’s easier and cheaper to buy new when something breaks, doesn’t really makes sense to us at Ghome. Well, it is indeed like that in most of the world, but mainly because a good alternative still remains to be shown to the market.

The post Owning instead of using. appeared first on Ghome.

At Ghome, we like to eat well! We put a lot of effort on our daily lunch, and we even keep a small vegetables garden! Our biggest (not-so-secret) wish is to one day, the sooner the better, have someone knowledgeable who takes full responsibility for the food in our office. But so far it’s only us doing it here.

Lisbon gastronomic scene is booming though. New places open almost weekly, and it’s hard to keep up these days. It looks like food is a good business at the moment… It’s the tourism some say. Despite the reason behind it, the fact is that Lisbon is being introduced with a new level of gastronomic experiences. Modern food and spatial concepts, are making Lisbon (food scene) very contemporary. Really???

In our opinion, this contemporaneity of Lisbon is arriving at a steep price – the City is turning generic! Even if all these new restaurants are good, some excellent even!, they could be in Lisbon, Berlin or Buenos Aires.

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In the beginning it is only an idea. Then the design process, hopefully well performed, will translate that idea into a functional product. In parallel, a communication strategy will be defined throughout the design process, in order to bring knowledge of that product to the community it might serve. This can be done in many ways but, and no matter what, good product photos will always be a must! So in the end, there will be the product itself, as well as the images of that product that will help communicating it, and both should be consonant.

As logical as this might sound, it must be easier said then done. If not, what other reasons could explain the amount of bad product photos around! At Ghome we have as one of our priorities, to find ways that make us capable of succeeding on this challenge of making the right photos of the products we develop. We know we need THE photographer, and not just any photographer. A good one for sure! But one that can also be available and patient enough to get close to us in order to learn why we do what we do. António has been all that with the added value that he is also from Sintra!

Although young, António has a high level professional experience of over 20 years. Despite that he is still very open minded, technically he is spotless, and he is equipped with photo apparel that would allow him to set up a studio wherever needed.  

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Our Ghomies Davide and Zé Carlos are the ones producing Aço! Even if their workshop is rather spacious, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that it is a quite modest one in terms of technology available – all the basic blacksmith tools are there, but not more than that really. What one cannot see while entering their workshop is the creativity of those two as well as their inventiveness and perfectionism.

Aço doesn’t present big challenges in production. Although, it has a couple of details that require a level of attention that most blacksmiths we came across before wouldn’t understand. We knew that, and we were out looking for someone up to the task. A friend recommended us Davide and Zé Carlos, and when we first talked on the phone about Aço, Davide told us that they could do almost anything in steel. He sounded convincing and we made an appointment to show him our full-metal-stool.

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