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The Uncommon Life

Uncommon Personalities: Meet Sarah Stenseng

March 8, 2013
Sarah Stenseng, UncommonGoods Senior Product Development Associate

My hometown is…
Harlingen, TX.

My favorite product that I helped develop is…
The Pancake Plates designed by Jon Wye.

I’m inspired by…
People’s behavioral quirks.

My guilty pleasure is…
Pizza.

An uncommon fact about me…
Hmm. I’ve broken my left wrist twice.

My favorite place to eat (and drink!) in New York City is…
Thistle Hill Tavern in Park Slope, Brooklyn. They have a great veggie burger and cocktails!

My style is…
Simple, minimal.

Working at UncommonGoods, I’ve learned…
A lot! My background before joining UncommonGoods was in design, so working here has given me the opportunity to learn about the business side of the industry.

With a pile of stuff in front of me I would make…
(You’re given straw, a balloon, string, tape, a silver pipe cleaner, and a set of googly eyes. What do you make and who is it for?)

The first thing that comes to mind would be to make a toy for a cat. I would put the googly eyes on the balloon (of course), tape the straw to a table, thread the string through the straw and tie it to the balloon in a make-shift pulley system that would let me manipulate the position of the balloon by pulling the string (thereby provoking the interest of the cat). Unfortunately, I have a hunch the balloon would not last long in this design.

Design

How to Make a Seatbelt Chair

August 20, 2010

Every product has a story. Rarely, however, do we get to hear about the people, materials, and processes involved in the product’s manufacturing. As part of Inventor’s Month, we thought we’d give you the unheard product story behind the Seatbelt Chair. Here’s how it went from an entry in theYouGoods design contest to the focal point of your living room:

On April 30th, 2010, Adam Barron’s Seatbelt Chair had just won the YouGoods Vintage Vehicle Challenge. Everyone here in the offices at UncommonGoods was in love with the chair, but one question was on our minds: Continue Reading…