Bob Dinetz

After discovering pottery while traveling in Japan, graphic designer, Bob Dinetz took to the pottery wheel and never looked back.  Today, some 6 years later, Bob is an accomplished potter known for crafting simple, functional, effortless looking ceramics in natural, nuanced glazes. Bob recently hand-threw a collection of pieces for Bloomist.

Trained as a graphic designer, Bob Dinetz has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world: Apple, The New York Times, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Reviewing his portfolio, it’s easy to see some similarities with his six-year-old pottery practice, a sense of visual economy perhaps chief among them. “The link between design and pottery for me is simplicity and functionality — hopefully without being boring,” says Dinetz, who is based in the Bay Area. “My goal in both disciplines is to use only as much design as necessary in hopes of achieving an effortlessness look.” The differences, though, may be what matter most: “With the graphic design work, it’s necessary to combine a brand’s voice, or a client’s requirements, with what feel's right for the assignment,” he says. “With the pottery, I have an opportunity to be the author of the content — I’m not responding to an assignment. I get to create an object and then see if there’s any kind of audience for it.” He’s found that audience in rather short order.