William Cottiss

I design experiences.

I design experiences, which means shaping the environments people move through, the physical ones and the mental ones alike: materials and light, structure and form, movement and the negative space around it, the systems running underneath and the stories laid over the top.

Index 07

Index of work

  1. Access Café

    The Access Café counter and floor in use on opening day.

    A member-owned café and public commons in Montpelier, owned by five. I built the brand, ran the coffee program, did the buildout, and coordinated an opening meal with more than thirty local vendors.

    • placemaking
    • brand
    • hospitality
    • buildout

  2. resiliencetoolkit.org Live site

    The resiliencetoolkit.org homepage: Build a Community Resilience Hub, with the phase navigation and module explorer.

    An offline-first web toolkit that keeps a Vermont coalition’s resilience-hub knowledge on-device, so it still works when the connection drops. I designed and built it.

    • UI/UX
    • information architecture
    • web

  3. Marshfield Inn & Motel signs

    One of the two remade signs for the Marshfield Inn & Motel, installed on the roadside.

    Two weathered roadside signs for the Marshfield Inn & Motel, remade from the originals. I traced the lettering, cut every letter by hand with a jigsaw, and set the signs back on the roadside.

    • typography
    • design-to-built-object
    • fabrication

  4. Photography & Performance

    A performance ensemble caught in a shaft of light on a dark floor.

    I photographed performance and dance across Vermont’s creative scene, from White Noise Now: Heat to the Karma Bird House studios, the Festival of Fools, and product work for Maglianero café.

    • photography
    • performance
    • festival
    • product

  5. ESM Studio

    The AUTO-BIOGRAPHY installation, the car drawn onto the gallery wall beside a mounted car door.

    I made films and built sculptures with artist Erika Senft Miller, including AUTO-BIOGRAPHY, her car opera in five parts.

    • film
    • fabrication
    • installation

  6. VYCC design-build

    A finished trail bridge over a backcountry brook.

    With the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps I hand-built trail bridges, boardwalks, stairs, cabins, and privies on remote backcountry sites.

    • carpentry
    • framing
    • trail infrastructure

  7. Permaculture / site design

    A hand-drawn site design plan showing property, water, zones, and plantings.

    Whole-site permaculture design, drawn by hand. I laid out property, water, zones, and plantings on paper. Yestermorrow Permaculture Design Certification, 2021.

    • permaculture
    • site design
    • land planning