Rocket Glass Works just launched a Kickstarter to build out their line of hand-blown tableware, lighting and decorative objects made in a cooperative studio in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using innovative fuel-reduction technology, and a cooperative manufacturing model, Rocket Glass Works is raising money to prototype and develop their full line of glassware and take it to market.

“These are all free-blown, handmade objects, each one is a little different. That gives these pieces a certain power that you just can’t find in a factory-made object.” Says Sam Schumacher, RGW Founder. Schumacher is joining a burgeoning scene of California makers, bringing their handcrafted designs to a national audience through platforms like Kickstarter.

The crowdfunding model, although unconventional, is still growing in popularity among up & coming designers and makers. It’s a testing ground for ideas and concepts, and builds strong communities invested in the projects. “I’ve been amazed at the outpouring of support, even just a couple days in, from people around the world” Says Schumacher. “Backers aren’t simply purchasing my glass, they’re engaging me in the design and marketing process in a way I could never have imagined.”

After starting to work with glass in 2009, Schumacher says he became obsessed, and began to see its connection & use in everyday life. “Look around you; at the windows in your room, at the glass screen you’re reading this from, and the lenses in your glasses. This material has changed the world.” Now, Schumacher is trying to change the face of glass; holding strong to the roots of the craft, while simultaneously looking forward, and bringing new technologies and modern design to the millennia-old tradition.

Find the Kickstarter here: www.kickstarter.com
Find Rocket Glass Works here: ​www.rocketglassworks.com

More: G​lassblowing is an inherently energy-intensive process, but through innovative heat recuperation technologies, the cooperative glassblowing studio, which Schumacher helps run has reduced their energy consumption by 40% over the past 2 years. Advocating for these technologies is a big part of the co-op’s mission, and they have done so by hosting workshops and events showcasing the technology.