We were lucky to catch up with Tippy Tippens recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tippy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
When the BP Oil Spill happened in 2010, as a longtime environmentalist, I couldn’t let it go – I felt compelled to find a way that I, as a designer could do something to help with this massive environmental/wildlife disaster. I then developed BirdProject Soap: a stylized black bird-shaped soap that contains a smaller white ceramic bird at it’s center – as you wash your hands you reveal the bird inside – symbolic of going oiled to clean as you wash your hands. These soaps donate 10% (for the first few years, 50%) to oil spill cleanup & wildlife recovery. I launched the product on Kickstarter to raise funding for the first batches of soap & it really took off from there. So many people connected with the idea & the project became much larger than me. This project significantly changed my life. I moved to New Orleans from Brooklyn & started my company Goods that Matter, creating products that follow the same template: eco friendly design goods that raise funds for partner social and environmental causes. I’m proud that GTM has donated 64K to date & is the first B-Corp in the state of LA.
Tippy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I started by designing & building furniture for 10-ish years, then went to grad school at Pratt for Industrial design. From there, I worked for Kohler for a few years designing faucets, then I freelanced for a bit doing various product, graphic, and architectural designs. I love to be hands-on in my process & prefer not to spend all of my time on the computer. Exploring new materials is fun for me and I do limit myself to those that are eco-friendly (felt, bamboo, paper, hemp, wax, etc.) I find inspiration from the important topics of our day as well as in modern art & architecture. I’m a minimalist and am driven by finding ways to help our society’s toughest problems: climate change, racial equity, women’s healthcare.. they are never ending and I aim to help make them less overwhelming by making it easy for people to make small steps in moving things forward. I also love collaborating and new partnerships are exciting for me to develop.
Looking back, the first project that directed me on towards my current path, was a knitting installation that I started with a group of friends, Gandhiwarmer. When I lived in NYC & would pass by the Gandhi statue in Union Square in winter, he looked so cold covered head to barefoot toe in snow. I wanted to knit him a hat and scarf! I didn’t know how to knit & was in grad school at the time, but the idea stuck with me & in 2009 I learned how to knit so that I could finally make him his woolens. I knit his larger-than-life hat (the hat went down to my shoulders) & the massive scarf. My knit group & I also knit hats & scarves to give away as well as crocheted flowers to lay at his feet. We performed the installation on the anniversary of his death in 2010, Jan. 30 – complete with burning diwa candles, a sitar player, rose petals surrounding the statue, and all of the woolen gifts.
We didn’t anticipate how cold it would be that day, or how joyous passers-by would be in receiving the gifted scarves & hats, or the pure joy on the faces of the crowd that gathered. We all had a buzz for months, feeling so good in doing a little good for strangers and creating a happy occasion on that bleak and coldest day of the year. That first installation set my path for combining design with giving and when I first heard the term ‘social entrepreneur’ I knew that I found the way that I wanted to start a business.
https://tippytippens.com/
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
After 10+ years in business, I’m working to have more creative time – time that isn’t monetized. I’m carving out time to paint, to draw freely, and to take landscape photographs again. Eventually, I will include some of them as items for sale (not sure what form yet), but currently I’m exploring developing my own style and enjoying the quiet, pensive time.
I am always driven by protecting the environment and it’s wild spaces. It’s devastating to me how many species of wildlife have been lost in my lifetime (70%) & our industrial lifestyles continually infringe on their natural ways and habitats. I would love to make a real difference in protecting wild spaces and slowing down the effects of climate change.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Creating my own path, connecting with people on difficult subjects, feeling inspired, feeling hopeful, working to move difficult problems forward, the excitement that comes with a great idea or when a project clicks into place, talking/working with fellow creatives, and collaborating with my community to make it better.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.goodsthatmatter.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodsthatmatter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodsthatmatter
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tippytippens/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/goodsthatmatter
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXjEvUVPC78
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-good-shop-new-orleans-4
- Other: https://tippytippens.com/
Image Credits
Product photos Randy Krause Schmidt, all others Tippy Tippens