Gregory Buntain and Ian Collings founded their Brooklyn based design and fabrication studio, Fort Standard, in 2011. The two met while attending Pratt Institute. Here, they were selected to study abroad at Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany, where they became close friends and collaborators. Buntain and Collings’ work relies on structural simplicity and honesty of materials. Terming their aesthetic “warm contemporary,” they merge craft tradition with progressive design.

The duo creates “objects that are unique enough to refresh and simple enough to live forever,” explains Collings. Fort Standard boasts an impressive range of products, including home goods, toys, jewelry and furniture.