Portland’s “Cozy Village” of Design

More of Portland’s design community is rolling out the welcome wagon to IDSA — in this case, it’s local design and lifestyle mag Portland Monthly, with a half-glowing, half-cautionary article about the city’s fledgling attempts to morph into a global center of ID. For readers unfamiliar with the creative community here, it’s a nice primer, both in the diversity of design-oriented business that’s started up, and the uniquely supportive creative community. Ken Tomita who cofounded a local company called Grove, that makes bamboo iPhone cases, sums it up nicely: “Half of my friends here are my competitors, technically.” An accompanying slide show also does a nice job of showcasing the local design scene’s impressive output, some of which populates the illustration above.

The article’s cautionary portion has to do with obstacles that no amount of civic boosterism or DIY fervor can dismantle: a dearth of local design schools, a meager venture capital market, and little in the way of major industry nearby. When you get down to it, this is still a former logging town of barely two million souls.

The conclusion gets it just right though. While Portland’s not yet a design powerhouse, it’s got some powerful design talent. More importantly, it’s a relatively easy place for that talent to find other talent and start making things, providing, at least for now, “a warm nest for a community that’s tight-knit and artisan-minded.”

Portland Monthly Editor in Chief Randy Gragg will be moderating a panel at IDSA2010 with John Hoke, John Jay and Jay Rogers.