SHAWN KRAMER | FORTISSIMO CUSTOM WORKS

I grew up in southern California, and I like to think I’ve retained a bit of that laid-back style, although I’m not sure. What I know I took away is a nostalgia for a culture I never really experienced, but lust for anyway. Perennial warmth, the ocean, rusty old trucks and burnouts in the desert. I seem to always be verging back to that feeling.

I’m a bit of a garage dweller, some of my earliest memories were made in my grandad’s garage. It smelled like gas and burnt oil – Budweiser and Marlboros. It was joyful, and ever since, I’ve found myself overstaying my welcome in some poor saps garage, drinking Tecate, carryin’ on,  and collecting whatever wisdom I can from these sub-professional purveyors of ingenuity.

I’d love to say that I went to design school, worked with some bad ass big-namer out there, but the truth is, I just love building things. I’ve learned from friends, from books, from youtube, but mostly by getting out there and trying shit. I’ve got a compulsion to do things right and do them well.

I work as a geologist and have an overvalued degree in the subject. It’s done me good, brought me closer to the rock we stand on, but mostly, it bought me cool tools and the garage I now dwell in. Having worked an electronic career for over a decade, the transient and intangible nature of the products is pretty uninspiring. I’ve found incredible pride and peace in building things that will persist in time, long after the building burns down around them.

My partner in the Collective is Stu Henderson, a dear friend, mentor and master metalsmith. He’s taught me A TON. He showed me that you can make steel do things that seem totally infeasible, it can be soft and smooth, yet heavy and industrial. It might be rough and imposing, yet perfectly designed and elegant. I truly love the medium, and love the inevitable “holy shit” moment I get when I drop off a piece. I strive to create something that you can stare at for hours, pick up a new little detail from time to time, a conversation starter, something you can feel good about investing in. But more so than that, I strive to make cool things for cool people.