Magno comes from the word “magnify.” Like a magnifying glass, the Magno wooden radio draws attention to beautiful details and high quality craftsmanship in a simple form. The texture and grain of each Magno wooden radio tells a unique story, one of sophistication in simplicity, and beauty in sustainability.
Cut Less - Plant More
Indonesian designer Singgih Susilo Kartono is the creator of Magno. With a team of 35 young craftsmen, he produces individual radios in his home village in Temanggung, a remote area in Central Java. Singgih’s philosophy for the company focuses on long-term-oriented ecological goals and the involvement of locals. For this reason, every year, Singgih’s team cuts only 80 trees and plants 10,000 in plantations. His tag line is “less wood, more work; cut less, plant more.”
Singgih not only replaces the trees he cuts but also adds many more trees and provides jobs for his community.
Due to the recent acontextual development imposed on his village, many farmers lost their farms and were forced to either find new jobs in the city or to stay in the village with the bare minimum for survival. Singgih introduced craft as an alternative economic activity, appropriate for a village dynamic the surrounding environment.
In the Singgih's workshop the former farmers are being taught craftsmanship skills, and this new set of knowledge along with jobs that Singgih provides, enables them to continue their life in their native village and to sustain the community.
Each wooden radio takes up to 16 hours from the time of first customization, and more than a hundred different steps until the cautious wrapping of the radio in wrapping paper. Thus, only a small number of radios are built per month.
Source: http://www.designwithbenefits.com/stories/5
Images : magno-designs.com
