the dharma door
Based in Queensland, The Dharma Door is a fair trade and sustainable homewares and gifts company, stocking handcrafted products made by artisans in developing countries.
Long time admirers of their work, we were naturally excited when they asked us to design their stall at the recent Design:Made:Trade exhibition, at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne.
As with all trade fairs, we were given a semi-contained blank wall to work with, which we promptly painted white. Once again, we used the zero VOC ecosheen paint from Queensland-based company, Rockcote.
Working with a tight budget and a short bump-in time, our brief was to create a natural-looking, cohesive display that reflected the sustainability and hand-crafted principles that define the products at The Dharma Door. We also needed to provide a significant amount of storage to house the duplicates of each item on display.
Our solution was to create a series of reclaimed timber boxes that would provide a tiered shelving system for displaying the beautiful jute baskets whilst creating storage for all of the extra stock. The timber boxes were made by our friend and builder, Steve, using reclaimed fence palings which we then whitewashed. The tree motif doubled as shelving and created a framework for our floor-based display. This was partly built off-site and then fine-tuned in-situ.
Bespoke elements of their stall design included a laser-cut logo in eco-ply and a custom-made ink stamp. Both of which they were able to then keep for future use.
A simple, sustainable and effective outcome that we were all very happy with and a great weekend of new trade for The Dharma Door. Yay!
Photos by Mardiana Sani.
And some more detail shots. Click to enlarge.
Steve also makes beautiful reclaimed timber planter boxes for balconies and other small spaces. Contact us if you would like any more information.
