Steve Lambert and The Federation of Students and Nominally or Unemployed Artists went to Union Square in NYC and gave away instant grants for al kinds of projects in the $10 to $60 range. Pull up a milkcrate and make your pitch. –>via Urban Prankster.com, Instant Grant Program
Friend from the southland sent me this wonderful milkcrate product from the etsy.com. I reached out to Ms. QuietDoing and she agreed to answer my random interview questions. (MD=Milkcrate Digest, QD=QuietDoing) –>products via esty.com, QuietDoing Shop
MD: Tell me about the milkcrate patterns and images…where did the idea come from, why crates?
QD: Many of my design influences are music inspired. I dip and dabble with records and DJing and to quote Kid Koala, “Some of my best friends are DJ’s”! ;D The turntable/record designs come straight from that part of my life and the milkcrates, to me, go hand in hand with the record culture. I’ve realized two of my favorite things involve playing with needles: records and sewing = destiny!
MD: How do milkcrates enhance or affect your daily life? do you have some around the house? how many?
QD: My last apartment shared a back lot with a grocery store where we acquired dozens of crates for records and patio furniture. I did a lot of planting and outdoor landscaping with them. 
Ah… nostalgia.
Thinking about them now, creates a sort of vibe or energy that I can always connect with. They’re just these plastic things that stack – the same, large, LEGO piece that I felt I could build with or use for anything my creative mind and physical energy would allow. Ask my roommates, I was perpetually re-arranging those crates!
I’ve recently moved, though, and have acquired more legit wooden furniture and record housing, so my crate collection has dwindled to only a few to store art supplies, fabric, music equipment and tools; I don’t think they will ever fully escape me. If I could integrate milkcrates into my interior design, I’d do so in a heartbeat.
I do have a not-so-traditional, but handy-dandy and collapsible plastic crate that I keep in the trunk of my car. It’s nifty.
MD: What is your earliest milkcrate memory?
QD: My earliest milkcrate memories involve my dad getting black ones from the outside lot of the laundromat my parents used to own. They were put out by the bakery next door and he’d a use for them for everything DIY related. I’d use them as chairs, step stools, or stilts; the way bored single-digit-age children do while waiting around for the adults to finish their duties of responsibility.
MD: Anything new in the works?
QD: I’ve been focusing on wallets, but now am starting a line of bags and briefcase-type things for people who like paper.
I’ve written about this duo before and I’ve been saving this project for a sunny day. Winter/Hoerbelt’s 2003 project at the Beaufort Exhibition, in Belgium. This crate tunnel may not be dairy crates, but it’s damn impressive. –> translated article about the piece, and the photos page
Esquire Magazine did a nice little photo shoot with a group of graduating RISD students. In the back of one of these photos, in the ceramics studio shows the love of milkcrates from the school. RISD is where Milkcrate Digest got it’s start by the way. –> Intelligent Design
