Inside the Studio of Black Crate
Adam is a builder and designer based in San Francisco, where he runs his furniture studio, Black Crate. His work is rooted in the material qualities of wood and a combination of the natural and built environments of Northern California. His practice focuses on structure, proportion, and the quiet presence of wellmade objects. Through a restrained approach to form and construction, his pieces emphasize the inherent character of the material—grain, tone, and variation—while maintaining a strong sense of order and intention.
Photography by Danica Taylor
Describe what you make:Furniture and objects, primarily in wood. Things that are meant to be used and lived with rather than just looked at - so a mix of form and function is always important.
“It's a simple material that's easy to trace yet sometimes hard to fully fathom.”
What draws you to this material or process?It's hard to say exactly because I think I've been drawn to wood for as long as I can remember. Early exposure to woodworking through family is probably where it began, but I'm really drawn to the raw natural beauty of wood on its own. Even in it's most raw form, I find it beautiful, tactile, and visually interesting. It's a simple material that's easy to trace yet sometimes hard to fully fathom - from seed to tree to refined product and then eventually back to where it all began.
What does your work explore or return to again and again?Proportion, visual and physical weight, material honesty - I'm drawn to simple clean forms that are unfussy and I think that comes through again and again in my work at Black Crate.
Where do you find your references or starting points?I'm always inspired by Architecture. Japanese, brutalist, prairie, midcentury. It can be interesting to pull inspiration from certain architectural elements and reinterpret them through a Northern California vernacular - use of local materials, the filtered lighting in this area, etc.
What does a typical day in your studio look like?Most days start with an informal team briefing and discussion over coffee. While every day is different, there is almost always a mix of fabricating, designing, problem solving and emailing happening.
What part of the process feels most important to you?The people we get to work with. So much of what we create is the result of the minds and hands of several people all culminating into a final product. Small design tweaks, the overall look and feel of a piece, joinery ideas, material selection, and technical design details are all human-driven aspects of a project that evolve over the course of a project and dictate the final outcome.
What place or environment most influences your work?
Northern California. There's inspiration everywhere you turn - the huge variety of natural landscapes, interesting projects and work that people here are putting out, the architecture, the natural filtered lighting.
What do you want people to feel when they live with your work?
I want people to feel the human touch that created the piece, hopefully allowing that feeling to give them permission to embrace imperfection. I'm always telling people, "Nothing is too precious". Some of my favorite pieces of furniture are the ones that tell a story - nicks, scratches, dents, patina are all inevitable and, I think, make a piece of furniture better over time. This is why we build with wood!
What pieces are you showing in Grain + Clay?A series of locally salvaged redwood pedestals.
How do they connect to your broader practice?I think a pedestal is one of the simplest examples of form meeting function. A pedestal is a blank canvas for form and inherently have function. They can sometimes be defined by what they hold, but should also be able to exist independently. The use of locally salvaged redwood is a Black Crate signature as well.
What are you interested in exploring next?Seating - we're in the process of developing a collection of seating to offer as a product line, starting with a dining chair. Something simple and classic that maintains that Black Crate look and feel.
A texture you’re drawn to right now? Grids! I'm always drawn toward repetition and symmetry and have been really drawn to grids of all sorts lately - plaid, check, Japanese screens. There's something about the tension between the rigid geometry of a grid and the natural irregularity of wood grain that feels really visually stimulating to me.
Light or shadow?Shadows make everything more interesting.
Something worn or something new?Always something worn but cared for.
Ongoing Artist Profiles
Grain + Clay is the current exhibition at The Strand Gallery in San Anselmo, curated by The Strand Design alongside Logan Link, bringing together artists whose practices explore material, process, and the dialogue between form and hand.
This feature with Adam Alspaugh is in an ongoing series of artist profiles and studio visits — conversations intended to document the people, spaces, and material practices that continue to inspire our work.
A selection of Adam’s pieces are currently available through The Strand Gallery and may be viewed by appointment at our San Anselmo studio alongside works from Grain + Clay through June.