Stacking Things

What began two years ago as a casual design experiment between Andrew Zuckerman, Eddie Cohen, and myself (CW), unexpectedly evolved into a unique design process. We began meeting every few weeks with the shared goal of designing a simple organizational container we call Silo. Over time, these sessions became a blend of group therapy, story hour, and design critique.

Designers (like us) think of ourselves as meticulous and uncompromising. The reality is, design is filled with negotiations. Budget, physics, ego, and patience all exert influence, and every detail involves trade-offs. With Silo, we set out to make something remarkably simple so we could take our time and obsess over details that are typically overlooked.

Every dimension down to the width of the diamond chamfer is a result of our generously slow design process. The results might only register subconsciously, if at all. But they matter because Silo isn’t just a container. It’s a modular system designed to stack precisely.

The idea of a stacking storage system isn’t new. You’ve likely seen it in plastic, wood, or ceramic. But with metal, we can achieve a level of precision you can feel.

We made Silo because we believe in tools that function well and feel good to use. Tools that are designed with care and made to last. Tools that don’t scream for attention but quietly elevate the way you live.

The result is a stack that stacks like no other stack. We hope you enjoy it.

Silo

Last night.

I was coming off a night of very bad sleep, and CW was about to get on a plane to China (flight cancelled because of volcano). Our day was very long, but we had to power through and get ourselves unstuck. We've been working with some lovely + talented graphic designers for a few months on revamping our packaging. It seems simple and not a big deal. But it's a harder challenge than it looks for reasons I'll go into another time. To be fair we didn't know. But it appears we are the worst clients ever. In any case. Late last night, we had to figure out and unstick ourselves in this process. CW was about to leave and packaging has turned into a thing that is stopping us from doing anything else. Last night the process was painful and frustrating. CW urged me to commit to decisions and I pushed back because I know he doesn't like when I change my mind later. But we powered through. Gave grace when we wanted to bite each other's heads off. Broke the problem into manageable pieces. Slowly started committing to things we both like. And found our way. The people who chatted with us in open office hours yesterday heard more than they need to about this. All the people who we've roped into this, you know who you are and thank you. That image above is our compass.