Informer DESIGN BUREAU PLUS / frank gehry’s fail: fixing his santa monica MALL / architectural RECORD HOUSE REBOOT / watches, shoes, bags & books01
Special Anniversary Issue
Inside the minds of creative fanatics
Peter Mendelsund Book Designer Kara Mann Interior Designer Christian Weber Photographer & Filmmaker Norman Reedus Actor & Photographer April Daly Ballet Dancer Rad Hourani Fashion Designer Build Graphic Designers
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Contents
INFORMER
CONTENTS
34 36 42
Print You've Got (Weird) Mail Redesign Must-Have Design Books
22 23 27 29 33
Fashion Chau Har Lee Helm Handmade Wristwatch Roundup Bag Man on Campus Earthy Accessories
37 38
Spaces Drink, Shop & Do Design in Weird Places
20 24 26 30 40
Objects Present & Correct 8 Rocking Chairs Toys by Design Refined Style On the Rise
DESIGN BUREAU
44 45 46 49 52 54
Design Dialogue What does the color of your washing machine say about you? “I made a big decision this morning...” Follow Your Fire Be Kind, Design The Family Five Bureau Expert
18 25 28 31 32 35 41
Breakdown 5 Designers / 5 Questions Facts & Figures Design Jobs Around the World Design Diction Design Explained Year in Design Ask the Expert
DESIGN THINKING
57 62 68 72 76 80 84 88
Inspired by Place Historic Hotels James Goettsch: “I Wouldn't Consider Myself Successful” A Mani with Tina Manis An Outdoor Room with a View Rendering the Future Fill in the Blanks Open House
FEATURES
92 96
Museum of Public Fiction Design, Print & Publish
PLUS
104 112 120 128 136 144 152
Inspiring Design Peter Mendelsund Kara Mann Christian Weber Norman Reedus April Daly Rad Hourani Build
10 12 14 16 160 161 162
Contributors Letter from the Editor Letters Vignette Sonnenzimmer Comic Strip This Issue's Best Albums For Hire
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Contents
Design, Print & Publish Rick Valicenti and his partners at Thirst design collective used a bare-bones approach to communicate a plea for peace—a project that typifies the firm’s social awareness and subversive tendencies Page 96
Historic Hotels See how three classic structures have been artfully updated for the modern traveler Page 62
Top: Book cover for Stop the Violence, designed by Thirst, photos by Francois Robert; Hotel image courtesy of Le Royal Monceau
Contents
DESIGN BUREAU
INSIDE
Open House: David Jameson Architect Inc. Navigate a puzzle-like interior and feast your eyes upon an architectural landmark Page 88
Inspiring Design We asked seven multi-talented creatives to share what inspires them. Each went above and beyond, filling more than 50 pages with stunning imagery and thought-provoking text Page 102
Clockwise from top: Norman Reedus, photo by Matthew Williams; Record House by Jameson Architects, photo by Paul Warchol; clothing and photo by Rad Hourani
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Letters & Contributors
Publisher & editor-in-chief
Chris Force chris@alarmpress.com ----MANAGING EDITOR
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
copy editor
SALES EXECUTIVEs
Kristin Lamprecht kristin@alarmpress.com Kyle Gilkeson
editoriAL INTERNs
Ellie Fehd ellie@alarmpress.com
Alberto Hernandez alberto@alarmpress.com
Lauren Del Campo Kathryn Freeman Rathbone
Brittany Lehmann blehmann@alarmpress.com
DigitaL INTERN
Eric Smith
Steve Mulligan steve@alarmpress.com
-----
-----
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Marketing manager
DESIGNER
-----
Lindsey Eden Turner lindsey@alarmpress.com Garrett Karol design INTERN
Christine Lawson -----
contributors
Jason Abbruzzese, Stephanie Bassos, Aryn Beitz, BK Boley, Shawn Brackbill, Jeremy Brautman, Matthew Brewer, David Brooks, Zack Burris, Vicki Crain, April Daly, Wells Dunbar, Kristen Eichenmuller, The Post Family, Steven Fischer, Jane Gaspar, Isaac Gertman, Francesca Giovanelli, Sarah Handelman, Jesse Hora, Rad Hourani, R. Greg Hursley, Lucila Iotti, Ellen Knuti, Eric Laignel, Nic Lehoux, Tom Loughlin, Eric Luc, Bjorg Magnea, Kara Mann, Saundra Marcel, Peter Mendelsund, Esther Michel, Matthew Millman, Christopher Moraff, Scott Morrow, Martha Mulholland, Jim Newberry, William Oliver, Stephanie Orma, Felipe Pagani, Norman Reedus, Drew Reynolds, Jennifer Samuels, Andrew Schroedter, Kristan Serafino, Jenny Seyfried, Jon Shaft, Allison V. Smith, Eric Smith, Lisa Smith, Lesley Stanley, Terry Sutherland, David Swift, Anthony Tahlier, Heather Talbert, Scott Theisen, Jack Thompson, Kaira Townsend, Paul Warchol, Christian Weber, Neal Whittington, Matthew Williams, Sean Yashar
DESIGN BUREAU CONTRIBUTORS
Elise Schmitt elise@alarmpress.com
account managers
Amy Clark amy@alarmpress.com
Tarra Kieckhaefer tarra@alarmpress.com Kiley Netzer kiley@alarmpress.com Reina Patel reina@alarmpress.com Jessica Rimpel jessica@alarmpress.com ----PRODUCTION managers
Cheyenne Eiswald Megan Hamlin -----
Jim Newberry is a Chicagobased freelance photographer. He credits his father— James Newberry, founder of the photography department at Columbia College—with teaching him the craft. Jim frequently works with record labels, and his work has been published in numerous publications, including Esquire, Interview, and The New York Times. www.jimnewberry.com
Jon Shaft is an artist and photographer working in Chicago. His work has been featured in many publications, including ALARM, CS, and New City Magazine. For this issue, Jon photographed Rick Valicenti and his team at Thirst. www.jonshaft.com
Shawn Brackbill is a portrait and fashion photographer living in Brooklyn with his wife and his cat. Clients include Dazed and Confused, MOJO, Sub Pop, Domino, and Matador Records. Shawn took photos of Tina Manis on page 72, but he did not get his nails done. www.shawnbrackbill.com
Drew Reynolds loves to capture people in their moment—that brief second that can tell a story or make you feel what that person is feeling. Drew has captured that moment for ALARM, Time Out Chicago, Warner Bros., Shout! Factory, and many others. You can see his shots of Kara Mann and M. Grace Sielaff in this issue. www.drewreynolds.com
controller
Andrea DeMarte Assistant to Controller
Mokena Trigueros -----
Human resources
Greg Waechter greg@alarmpress.com ----cover image
By Peter Mendelsund
A one-year subscription to Design Bureau is US $48. Visit our website or send a check or money order to: Design Bureau 53 West Jackson Boulevard Suite 315 Chicago, IL 60604 P 312.386.7932 F 312.276.8085 www.WeAreDesignBureau.com General inquiries: info@wearedesignbureau.com
Design Bureau (ISSN 2154-4441) is published bi-monthly by ALARM Press at 53 W Jackson, Suite 315 Chicago, IL, 60604. Periodicals postage is PENDING at Chicago, IL and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to Design Bureau at 53 W Jackson, Suite 315 Chicago, IL 60604 © 2011 Design Bureau. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited. DESIGN BUREAU is a trademark of Design Bureau.
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Letters & Contributors
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
buys. The less the reader thinks, the better. As an editor, I think design dialogue should not follow this format. We should persuade our readers to think, to inspire, and to create, yet this coupon culture is increasingly popular. Are design magazines and blogs becoming nothing more than curated catalogs? Is our creative culture evolving (devolving?) into a catalog culture? Or perhaps a (slightly) more manual approach to the Amazon.com feature “Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed”? Will world-changing design dialogue need to be as easily consumed as cute animal videos?
Designers are often illogically obsessed with originality, yet simultaneously concerned that their work fit into a tradition. They want to be a part of, and yet separate from, their peers and predecessors. Like many other creative professions, designers seek approval from their peers for personal validation, and commercial success for professional validation. So it’s appropriate that the design media, especially the plethora of design blogs, focus on these two points: peer validation (stuff we like) and commercial success (stuff that’s hot). We do it at Design Bureau; it’s simple, fun, and relevant to point out designed objects we love or lucrative projects. We love a clever blog that curates finely designed projects and throws in a line or two of editorial zing. They’re fun to browse second thing in the morning (after the real news) and are as easily digested as they are created. Quickly in, quickly out. These types of blogs are so widely read that many of the corporate design mags have adapted their editorial approach. The writing of coupon mega-site Groupon comes to mind. It’s outrageously successful and popular for deals. But it is, of course, a collection of coupons, with the journalistic authority somewhere below a catalog but above spam. It’s focused around persuading fast impulse Photo by Noah Kalina
Inspiration should not become the design world’s “secret sauce.” There is a reluctance to discuss the ingredients of good design, perhaps because so much bad design is being rapidly consumed and passed along now—cute stuff, for cute places, that will end up in a cute trashcan. It’s easy and, for now, popular. So the accepted editorial approach has become, “Take a quick laugh, a fast purchase, but move on. Maybe leave the first comment that comes to your mind, but please, click out of here; there are impressions to have and unique visits to acquire.” As part of a creative culture (with an emphasis on creating), we need more than that. We need to know why. We need to appreciate design. And to do that, we need to understand it, to discuss it.
When we sat down to plan this anniversary issue of Design Bureau, we chose designers (using the broadest definition of the term) from six different disciplines that we felt were pushing the boundaries of their craft. We asked them to show us what inspired them. We aimed to show what went into making their work, what interested them, and how they interpret the things that they love. The responses take us around the world, from French composers to British post-punk, motorcycles to Russian prisons, San Francisco bakers to New Orleans trombone players, quantum physics to sugar-plum fairies. The results are thrilling (page 102) and reinforced our belief that great design can’t come from only one place, doesn’t serve just one function, and doesn’t end with the design itself. Great design adds to its tradition but also leads it in new directions, sparks inspiration, and continues a dialogue. Seeing what goes into a designer’s practice helps us not only to digest it but also to appreciate it, to understand it. And our hope is to expand on it, to improve it, to continue it. Design can’t be understood from a catalog alone. Coupons play an important role in the economic process, and blogs that expose us to current products and trends are commercially relevant and often fun to browse. But as we celebrate Design Bureau’s anniversary, we do so with a hope to go beyond fleeting trends and support, advance, and discuss design and its community. Designers should be allowed to be unpopular, to fail, to consider themselves unsuccessful. It’s why they struggle with wanting to be a part of, and yet separate from, their peers and predecessors. If we continue to focus exclusively on popular design, where will that lead us?
Designers need to push into the realm of the uncomfortable. That is where great work is created. Price and popularity do not lead to understanding. They lead to trends. It’s the dialogue and practice around any discipline that fuels its advancement, not its passing consumption. When consumption becomes the focus, you end up with products like American Idol and Silly Bandz. Progress comes from failing, experimenting, being different—three - Chris Force, Editor-in-Chief qualities at odds with immediate popularity. chris@alarmpress.com
Contents
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Letters & Contributors
LETTERS TO DESIGN BUREAU September/October 2011
Fan Mail
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DESIGN THINKING
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PRIncIPAl PERSPEcTIvE: Why Graphic Design can Save Architecture
—Michael, via Facebook
DESIGN BUREAU // Informer
DESIGN BUREAU // Informer
A two-hour lunch is ample time for the creative bunch to enjoy neighboring restaurants, including an Irish pub, Aguas Frescas and chocolateries. “We’re very relaxed about breaks,” says Bracho.
Nestled in the trees in San Pedro, Face's office blends rustic brick elements with clean lines and modern finishes.
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Clients are greeted in the small lobby with low, modern seating and a flat-screen television displaying Face projects on a black wall. “It’s very important to have an office that promotes creativity,” says Bracho. “Not only for the people that work here, but also for our clients…they love a cool office.”
SuPER-SIzED PREfAb StRuctuRES: thE OcEAN bREEzE PARK tRAcK AND fIELD hOuSE
Architect Jennifer Sage discusses the vital link between the two disciplines
It might be suprising to learn that Jennifer Sage, principal of NY-based architecture firm Sage and Coombe, believes graphic design plays not just an important role in architectural design, but a necessary one. Design Bureau chats with Sage about why graphic design can be considered an architectural savior. How does implementing graphic design in an architectural project “save it”? We see it as tied into the basic understanding of the building. And in some cases, it’s because you can get a big statement with a tighter budget. Many of your architecture projects involve graphic design. Why is that? Incorporating a graphic message into the architecture of a project can provide a big message with minimal construction and cost. More importantly, it can also reinforce the spatial definition. In the case of the children’s library at Fort Washington, the graphics on the giant lampshades were used to define a series of “rooms” and create distinct environments. We were able to use the New York Public Library image data bank, which was pretty great. The graphics have created an entire little world in each of those lampshades. What can graphics communicate within a building that the building alone can’t? We see it as a tool for bringing a different scale and sometimes a new texture into a project that does not otherwise have the budget or program for a refined materiality.
COSMONAUT GHOST TOWN: A PHOTO ESSAY
Is 'branding' as big of a buzzword in architecture as it is in other forms of design? I don’t believe that it plays as big of a role in architectural work, particularly in institutional or public work, though in our retail projects, the language of the architecture reinforces the personality of the brand.
When Sage and Coombe began conceptulaizing the Ocean Breeze Park Track and Field House project, they knew they wanted it to be wide open without any unsightly columns in view. Although the request seemed harmless, the expansive space made the goal seem daunting. But structural engineering firm Weidlinger Associates was up for the challenge of building the 135,000-square-foot, state-ofthe-art complex, slated to open in 2012.
How are photography and traditional 2-D artwork starting to play a larger role in architecture? As the technology is more accessible to everyone, it is easier to take advantage of it as a medium for architectural expression. Flat artwork has always been integral to the best buildings. The availability of the new technology allows us to take a stronger role in conceptualizing and bringing the two dimensional imagery into architecture.
Jennifer Sage of Sage and Coombe
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We have tried to use signage and environmental graphics to reinforce the character and intentions of the architecture. At all our designs for children’s libraries, we made use of words—in poems, word searches and in different languages—to enliven the experience and reinforce the association with reading. In our retail projects, our signage takes more liberties in message and tone. Whenever possible, we try to take the opportunity to collaborate with graphic designers and artists, expanding the conversation about spatial intentions. a
ZÜRICH’S HIDDEN CULTURAL HOT SPOTS
“This project is really a special one because of its size,” says Tian-Fang Jing, a principal at Weidlinger Associates. “We needed an open interior without any columns, and the structure really is just like an empty space.”
Wayfinding systems, signage, and environmental graphic design have all become examples of how architecture and graphic design work together. Can you elaborate on how you've integrated these mediums into a project your firm has done?
Weidlinger relied upon a long-span prefabricated metal structure in order to accommodate the indoor track and field. The building, which sits on 10 acres of a 110-acre park, features a platform in the center where both amateur and elitelevel events will take place. The platform, elevated to 16 feet in order to provide shoreline views, will contain a 200-meter track, with six lanes that can be hydraulically banked for competition, and high-tech weight and cardio rooms.
Q+A by Nicholas Krause, a freelance writer living in Chicago. Krause recently received his masters in architecture from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Photos by Chuck Choi. 1. The children's reading room at
the Fort Washington Library
2. Graphic images create
unusual lampshade styles
5 ReDeSIGN TIPS fRom PlAN DeSIGN GRoUP Cool kITCheN ITemS To ShARPeN yoUR STyle
Why Graphic Design Can Save Architecture [Mar/Apr] The lampshades are stunning! I can’t even imagine what it would feel like for a child to sit under one of those; they’re a whole world unto themselves! I may just have to take a trip to the library next time I’m in New York.
PlUS! ToP 10 DeSIGN SITeS ARoUND The woRlD To vISIT fRom ThINC DeSIGN
Inspiring Dialogue on Design
As long as you continue to sell it at Borders and Barnes & Noble in Chicago, I’ll opt to not get a subscription, just to keep each issue from getting ravaged in the mail. Honestly one of the best magazines I read, and the layout, typography, paper stock, and photography are all flawlessly perfect. The content is great, too! I’m a real magazinedesign nerd, and yours is just wonderful.
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—AMY, via web FACE STUDIO AT A GLANCE: Location: San Pedro, Mexico Number of Employees: 5 Year Founded: 2006 Website: www.designbyface.com Notable Projects: Skyy Vodka, Hardpop Nightclub
Often in the design industry, the only products shown to the world are the finished ones. But every great design starts somewhere, and for Face Studio, this somewhere is an eclectic building on a busy, tree-lined avenue in San Pedro, Mexico. The headquarters might be modest, but this multidisciplinary design company does not let that stop it from producing a vast array of modern, captivating projects. The studio’s impressive portfolio includes branding for popular Mexican nightclub Hardpop, and packaging design for SKYY vodka. “The main idea was to create a small yet fresh design studio specialized in pure, modernist graphic design,” says Face partner Rik Bracho. a
A daily reminder of simplicity comes in the form of a large neon sign reading “Supermodernism.” Bracho’s love for simple things gives direction to his team throughout its design process. “The best thing about modernism is that it’s made for everybody, forever,” says Bracho. “Its intention is to deliver a universal, timeless message. That’s why it’s so simple. As Dieter Rams would say: ‘Less, but better.’ ”
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mAy/jUNe 2011 $8 USA/CAN
MAY/JUNE 2011
STUDIO TOUR: FACE Design Bureau explores the extraordinary spaces that inspire the world’s leading creatives
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Text by Lauren Del Campo / Photos by Face Studio Exposed brick archways, semi-circle windows and a palette of white, black, pink-orange and red acrylic colors throughout, the spaces gives off an urban feel. “Each room has its own style,” says Bracho. Three employees sit at a large, L-shaped desk made from OSB wood atop a polished concrete floor.
views. Among the American blogs, I always enjoy Design Observer and Change Observer, and it’s great to follow new developments on Core77, Inhabitat and Worldchanging. Collectively, the blogs have created a more open, dynamic and intellectually engaged debate.
A red acrylic conference table pops against white walls, black chairs and window treatments, providing a bold space for collaboration.
What do you think about the lack of American design critics in large publications?
Studio Tour: Face [MaY/JUN] Love it, very fitting, very simple. —TINA, via web
Your articles in the International Herald Tribune are pretty much what we hold as the standard here at our young publication: smart, educated dialogue on design, that is also accessible to people who are not specifically designers, but interested in the topic. Do you write with this in mind? I write for a general readership, and that makes a huge difference. If I were writing for a design publication, I’d write completely differently. The themes might not be dramatically different, but the way I approached them and my style of writing would be. If you’re writing for the mainstream media, you have to be very clear in your writing, and can never resort to code or jargon. Sometimes it’s frustrating because you risk sacrificing subtlety for clarity, and it can become boring to always have to spell everything out, but that’s part of the challenge.
Although I do write about them from time to time, I think there are many richer, more
—SUE, via web
That place looks amazing! Sue, if you’re still looking, those toys are called “Dunny.” www.kidrobot.com —DANIEL, via web
It would be great to think that other papers will follow the IHT’s example. Thankfully the column has been very successful. We’ve had a fantastic response from readers and, on the commercial front, from advertisers. The IHT also syndicates the column to lots of other newspapers and magazines internationally. That said, it is expensive for the IHT to resource, not least because I have to travel widely to research it. And the economic pressure on the news media is now so severe that it is very difficult for major publications to consider expanding into design or any other area.
The world is a design platform and hers to critique. The International Herald Tribune writer on the state of design criticism. Text by Kristin Lamprecht Photos by Chris Moore
complex and dynamic areas of design. There are, of course, lots of chairs, expensive and otherwise, that are also technologically innovative, beautiful, sustainable and comfortable. And no one could deny the chair’s importance in 20 th century design history. But, like lots of design nuts, I find it deeply irritating that public perceptions of design should be dominated by a handful of badly designed, over-priced pieces of furniture. Though, hopefully, that will change over time as public understanding of design becomes more knowledgeable and nuanced. What do you think about the current state of design criticism? The current condition of design criticism is quite healthy, largely thanks to the blogs. If you look back historically, great design magazines have surfaced over the years to champion new design movements and generate debate. Some of my personal favorites are Typographica, the 1960s British graphics magazine, and Domus in Italy, first under Ponti’s editorship in the 1930s. But blogging has democratized design criticism by enabling so many more designers and design commentators to share their
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This isn’t just an American phenomenon, it’s an international problem, which I hope will be redressed over time. I realize that I am very lucky to work for a paper like the International Herald Tribune, which has a large and influential international readership, and senior editors who have given me complete freedom to write about design as I see it. Also, as I’m the IHT’s first design critic, I’ve been able to define the role as I wished, which has been fantastic.
Design Critic Alice Rawsthorn
You have said that you’re not interested in writing about ‘expensive, uncomfortable chairs.’ Has that always been the case, or have you evolved into this place over time in your career?
I agree with Tina! Wish I worked at a fun, creative place. Please forgive this silly question: What are those smaller, similar, funky looking toys called? Thanks!
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That said, as I’ve mentioned, the blogs have livened up design criticism considerably. Another encouraging sign is that art critics are increasingly writing about design, as are commentators from other fields. Some of my favorite design pieces of the last year or so appeared in Artforum (where Sean Keller’s essays have been fantastic), The New Yorker and New York Review of Books.
“Like lots of design nuts, I find it deeply irritating that public perceptions of design should be dominated by a handful of badly designed, over-priced pieces of furniture.”
You said in your story “Engineering a Brighter Future” about social designers: “Rather than using design to produce visible things, such as objects or images, social designers apply the principles of design thinking to address social, political and humanitarian crises. They also use their instinctive flair for identifying the causes of problems and inventing ingenious ways of solving them, as well as their ability to “sell” those solutions clearly and persuasively." From this standpoint, would you say that social design is becoming more inclusive from a consumer forum, with people outside of design getting involved, and less behind-closed-doors and trade-exclusive? Inclusivity is one of the most important elements in any social design project, both in terms of forging cross-disciplinary collabora-
is a full-out hyper-wanky art school. It should be renamed the Hobbyist Craft Academy Eindhoven. Since when do design critics celebrate an art academy that revives medieval crafts and economics?
Alice Rawsthorn [NOV/DEC]
—JUDY, via web
The Design Academy Eindhoven has nothing on MIT, Stanford, or RISD. It’s not even a design school. There are some interesting design projects coming out of the Academy, like in the master’s program: Cedric Flazinski’s MyDesigner (2008) or Agata Jaworska’s Gropak (2007). But the Academy
Design Observer and Change Observer are probably more interesting because commenters show more critical thinking, creativity, and wit than the writers. As for the design writers themselves, they almost exclusively engage in promoting and advertising design; so they’re more like
Bureau Notes: Facts and information about what went on behind the scenes of this issue
CURATE
$5,500
£3.00
This word really bugs us when misused. Blogging is not curating. Making a playlist is not curating. Curating is curating.
Cost of the priciest item featured in this issue—the BR01-92 Ceramic watch by Bell & Ross (p.27)
Cost of the cheapest item featured in this issue—Colored Masking Tape from Present & Correct (p. 20)
"DO NOT GO INTO BATTLE ON AN EMPTY STOMACH" Samurai-inspired words of wisdom from photographer Zack Burris, who took the photos on pages 27 and 33 with stylist Martha Mulholland. After trying settings with animal skulls, sand, soil, lace, and a stuffed peacock, a lunchtime break enabled the perfect idea to strike.
Have a question or comment? We want to hear from you. Give us a shout at letters@wearedesignbureau.com.
Letters & Contributors
TWITTER RANTS
DESIGN BUREAU
DB shout-outs from the Twitterverse Join the conversation at twitter.com/DesignBureauMag
SOUND BITES Got the latest issue of @DesignBureauMag. If you’re a designer, get this magazine, they are gorgeous! @SunSilvestri
design enthusiasts who engage in design appreciation. Rarely do you see a review that explores the more negative or dystopian side of design (which is so much more interesting and exciting—and real!). This is a shame;
they end up delivering a more intellectual version of the “I like” blog phenomenon. I guess there is no Jon Stewart or George Carlin for the design world. —C.L., via web
@SunSilvestri @DesignBureauMag I agree. It’s about the only American design mag I enjoy @Chris Webb #FF @DesignBureauMag Because whomever is behind their tweets is awesome. @24 Seven
READERS RESPOND
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE MORE OF IN THE NEXT ISSUE? Graphic Design Fashion Product/Industrial Interiors Typography Architecture
I just got it in the mail! Love the fashion spreads! RT @DesignBureauMag @Chloe Helland @DesignBureauMag Yes! Of course! Can’t wait to pick up May! If it’s as good as the last issue, you’ll be able to count me as a subscriber @kdigilio New @DesignBureauMag came in today... Always a treat @Peter Perez I love @DesignBureauMag ....it’s a magazine that inspires my photographic work @Peter Doyle
WELL SAID: Some of the best explanations, insights, and rants culled from our first year in print “I just don’t care about things that don’t fit in my suitcase…I guess it’s because I’ve been a vagabond for so long.” KRYSTEN RITTER, ACTRESS Issue 4, MAR/APR 2011
Just saw the article on me in @DesignBureauMag. Check ’em out. Beautiful mag, brilliant content, can’t wait to see hard copy. Thanks guys! @Rachel Freire
About the Cover “Being an architect is 24/7—I never stop thinking about it.”
“I detested dealing with bullshit… This made me entirely unsuitable as a designer.”
JEANNE GANG, ARCHITECT
MARIAN BANTJES, DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR
Issue 2, NOV/DEC 2010
Issue 3, JAN/FEB 2011
After a few rounds of drafts that included spilled pen ink, a take off of St. Sebastian and many, many rainbows, guest cover designer Peter Mendelsund ended up using our guest contributors to inspire his cover image.
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Check out more quotable remarks from Our first year in print throughout the issue, and let us know who you think said it best on our website, www.WeAreDesignBureau.com
5/24/11 4:33 PM
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Informer
Bedroom Vignette by Pitch Design Union & Angela Finney-Hoffman of Post 27
Living Room Vignette by Steven Teichelman & Angela Finney-Hoffman
Vignette In partnership with Post 27, The pages of Design Bureau were brought to life during an evening celebrating fashion, photography, furniture design, and more Live, print-inspired installations incorporated vintage fashions and furniture composed of recycled magazine pages. Factor Women models wearing couture pieces from stylist Evelyn Daitchman completed each scene. The creations were set and photographed prior to the event and then incorporated into the finished vignettes.—ERIC SMITH / PHOTOS
BY HEATHER TALBERT AND STEPHANIE BASSOS
Couture by Evelyn Daitchman; Models provided by Factor Women Models ; Graphic design by Pitch Design Union ; Hair and makeup by Carley Martin ; Vignette photos by Heather Talbert; Vignette event photos by Stephanie Bassos
Informer
Office Vignette by Morlen Sinoway & Angela Finney-Hoffman
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Informer
BREAKDOWN
5 DESIGNERS / 5 QUESTIONS In the name of investigative journalism, we asked five of the industry’s coolest designers five hard-hitting questions. This time, we tap the minds of the judging panel for Chicago’s own Archive11 event.
By Stephanie Orma
STEFAN BUCHER
PAUL SYCH
james goggin
NANCY SKOLOS
ROBERT PETRICK
Are you asking me if Alan Ruck is Helvetica and Mia Sara is Sabon Italic? I really couldn’t tell you. I just know that on my first visit to Chicago, that movie was like the pop culture stations of the cross for me.
Zapf Dingbats
AG Schoolbook
Trixie, because it looks like something Ferris Bueller might use to type a term paper.
Arial. It, like FBDO, is based on a bald-faced (and, at times, bold-faced) lie.
WHO WOULD HAVE MADE THE BEST SCHOOL DANCE DATE: AN X-ACTO KNIFE, CAN OF SPRAY MOUNT, OR ELMER’S GLUE STICK?
First off—school dance? At Art Center? And with a utensil? Good Lord! Let the sadness begin! No, I think I’d want to dance with a person.
Elmer’s Glue Stick. This glue is not as permanent as others.
A sheet of fluorescent orange omnichrom (heatseal foiling system used with transparent stickersheet material called safmat and coloured sheets available in myriad Pantone colours). Why? It’s hot! (If I must stick to the multiple-choice options, then Spray Mount. Smells nice.)
The X-Acto would be the most cutting-edge.
X-Acto knife: a sharp dresser, cuts a mean streak across a dance floor, and a to-the-point conversationalist.
Which DESIGNER IS MOST IN NEED OF A WEDGIE?
You’re asking this question from the perspective of the people who made me want to go to art school in the first place?
Karim Rashid
Too many to mention.
Myself for taking these questions seriously.
The one who answers this question with a real name.
Which CARTOON CHARACTER WOULD MAKE THE BEST TYPE TEACHER?
Foghorn Leghorn—a born mentor. Oh, wait. The best TYPE teacher? Edna Mode. Or Hermes Conrad. But probably Edna.
Mickey Mouse. Need I say more?
Wile E. Coyote. Experienced in working creatively within constraints, strives to solve problems, and doesn’t give up. Good sign-writer.
Lucy from Peanuts because she is brutally critical and likes to give advice.
At first I considered Bugs Bunny because he would have proper respect for the caret (^). But in the end, I have to go with Globi, often referred to as the Mickey Mouse of Switzerland. The Swiss simply make the best typography teachers. And a blue parrot? C’mon!
AN INFOGRAPHIC OF YOUR COLLEGE DRINKING CONSUMPTION WOULD SHOW...?
A stylized version of me at my desk having a Diet Shasta and eating Entenmann’s Coffee Crumb Cake.
Concentric circles that turn into straight lines that become slightly wavy then straight again and then resolve with a small dot.
A disappointingly low, flat line with a brief upsurge during my postgrad years.
Flat line for the whole week with a spike the night before Paul Rand’s class.
A Bell’s Ale Curve
Founder, 344 Design 344design.com
IF TYPEFACES WERE PEOPLE, WHICH ONE WOULD MOST LIKELY PLAY HOOKY WITH FERRIS BUELLER?
THE SOCIETY OF TYPOGRAPHIC ARTS PRESENTS ARCHIVE 11 | Although they enjoyed answering our wacky questionnaire, these designers are actually gathered together for a real reason—they were the judges for this year’s annual Archive competition, conducted by the Society of Typographic Arts.
Founder, Faith faith.ca
Founder, Practise practise.co.uk
Co-founder, Skolos-Wedell skolos-wedell.com
Founder, Petrick Design petrickdesign.com
Bueller
The Archive competition asked all Chicago-area designers a simple question: Does your work measure up to that of Herbert Bayer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Man Ray, Massimo Vignelli, and other masters of Chicago design? Those brave enough to answer “yes” were invited to enter the competition
and duke it out to earn their own spot in the prestigious Chicago Design Archive. The judges' selections will be exhibited during the entire month of October at the Harrington College of Design, with an opening gala on October 7. Visit Sta-Chicago.org for more information. a
Informer
DESIGN BUREAU
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Flavor Papers, Design Bureau March/April 2011 Photo by Noah Kalina
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DESIGN BUREAU
Informer
Neal Whittington is an office supply fanatic that scours the planet to find hip throwback stationery and accessories for his website, Present & Correct. “I’m a sucker for a pop of bright color, anything involving erasers, and I do love a good container,” he says. “It helps if something is useful!” We asked Whittington which single office supply he’d elect to use for the rest of his life. His answer? “It’s a bit of a cliché, but I will say a pencil—but a really super one with loads of extras built in. The Swiss army knife of scribes. Someone please invent this.”—PHOTO BY NEAL WHITTINGTON
OBJECTS
PRESENT & CORRECT RETRO-CHIC OFFICE AND DESK ITEMS 1
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Present & Correct, www.presentandcorrect.com
Informer
1 Vintage Acme Ruler, £12 2 1960s Scheidenegger Training
7 Elastic & Leather Book Band, £5,50 8 Pop Dial Calendar, £42,50 9 Wood Atomic Model, £49,50 10 Geometry Sticky Notes, £4,50 11 1960s German School Math Book, £4,50 12 1970s German Phone Index, £42,50 13 Five-Hole Pencil Sharpener, £7
Typewriter, £175
3 Letterpress Number Clips, £9 4 Eraser Brush, £9 5 Geometry Jotter, £5 6 Wooden Propelling Pencil, £7,75
DESIGN BUREAU
14 Wood Pen Tray, £11,50 15 Colored Masking Tapes, £3 16 Know-it-All Pencil Set, £11,50 17 Pick ’n’ Mix Rubber Stamp, £3,75 18 Old Plotting Paper Roll, £18,50 19 “From the Desk of” Stamp, £7,50 20 Vintage Crayons, £7,50
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FASHION
Chau HAR lee Impossibly angled high heels that turn any sidewalk into a runway—or art exhibit
Our orthopedist is so cute when she’s angry, and that’s why we love Chau Har Lee’s overthe-top high heels. Lee claims that all of her shoes are capable of being worn without excruciating pain, and she even donned a pair of her signature steel-plate heels to an event to prove it. The jury’s out on whether she’s being honest, but our guess is if you’re bold enough to wear a pair, you’re likely not concerned with such mundane real-life issues as comfort and practicality. a
“If my designs had no emotion behind them, they would just be clothes, and that’s when I would stop designing.” EMMA GRIFFITHS, FASHION DESIGNER Issue 5, MAY/JUN 2011
Chau Har Lee, made-to-order at Selfridges in London, prices available upon request, www.chauharlee.com
Above: POH005 Middle: YUK011, LON014, JES010 Below: FRA009
Informer
FASHION
HELM Handmade
DESIGN BUREAU
Helm uses locals like David Lawrence Herrington (a historian, author, and city judge) to model its footwear. Herrington is wearing the Helm Jarmon.
Burly boots from an Austinbased artisan
Founded by coffee-shop entrepreneur Joshua Bingaman, Helm Handmade shoes have a bit of a split personality. On one hand, there’s a small-town, down-home aesthetic apparent in the product shots and the familial names for each style (“Samuel” is the name of Bingaman’s son, while the “Poppy” is named for Samuel’s grandfather). On the other, the shoes are globe-trotting products of globalization: they are designed in Austin and made in Istanbul using leather from Holland and Australia, and soles from Italy and France. a
“Great design starts with who you are and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks.”
Above: The Helm Jarmon Left: The Helm Emi
CINDY GALLOP, BRANDING entrepreneur Issue 5, MAY/JUN 2011
Helm, $295-350, www.helmhandmade.com; photos by Jack Thompson
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OBJECTS
Antelope Rocker by Race Furniture Steel and Bute Turnberry fabric, Price upon request, www.racefurnituremilan.com
8 ROCKing chairs Seats that will rock your pad’s style The world of rocking chairs does, in fact, extend beyond the spindlebacked grandma rockers and the ubiquitous fiberglass Eames. In this collection of swaying seats, we steer clear of those tired, vanilla varieties and introduce a little texture into the mix. Whether coated in fur, shaped like a stingray, or ergonomically designed to tilt ever so slightly, pop one of these rock stars into your life to turn your own lap into one of luxury. a
01 Savannah Rocker III by ODEChair Birch with satin lacquer, Price upon request, www.odechair.com
03 RO-RO Rocking Chair by Tomoko Azumi Steam-bent beech wood and stainless steel, Price upon reqeust, www.zilioaldo.it
04 Stingray Rocking Chair by Thomas Pedersen Upholstered shell and chrome-plated underframe, Price upon request, www.fredericia.com
Informer
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FACTS & FIGURES
Tip Ton Chair by Barber Osgerby Polypropylene, Price upon request, www.vitra.com
DESIGN BUREAU
Taking a closer look at one of design’s most profitable disciplines
FASHION
$20 BILLION The fashion industries’ combined 2010 revenue, making it the secondhighest grossing design discipline behind architecture at $38 billion
15,780
Number of fashion designers permanently employed across the fashion industries in the US
$74,410
06 Teak Rocking Chair by Frank Reenskaug Teak and wool, Vintage, 1958, www.danishmodernla.com
07 Buttercup Rocker by Blu Dot Walnut, $849, www.bludot.com
The average fashion designer's annual wage
NYC
The city that employs most of America’s fashion designers, totaling 6,590
21,000
The projected number of fashion jobs that will be available in 2016
08 Luis-JJ Rocking Arm Chair by B&B Italia Thermo-treated ash, steel, leather, and Mongolian lamb fur, Price upon request, www.bebitalia.it
All data collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
“Blogging has democratized design criticism. Blogs have created a more open, dynamic, and intellectually engaged debate.” ALICE RAWSTHORN, DESIGN CRITIC Issue 2, NOV/DEC 2010
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Informer Informer
Top and right: Potamus Red Anarchy by Frank Kozik & K. Olin Tribu, €160; MC Supersized by Ron English & K. Olin Tribu, €400
TOYS BY DESIGN
K. Olin Tribu TRADITION GIVES WAY TO TREND
By Jeremy Brautman, a Bay Area writer who chronicles the intersection of art and pop culture K. Olin Tribu, www.kolintribu.com
When Matthieu Dutheil, an art toy collector, met Yann Fayaud, a porcelain artist, K. Olin Tribu was born. The duo merges the modern influences of graffiti, comics, and fashion with the classical tradition of Limoges porcelain. Like their peers in past Toys By Design columns, K. Olin Tribu’s figurines pose the rhetorical question: To play or to display? Kaolin, from which K. Olin Tribu derives its name, is a pure, white-clay mineral found in France. Unlike many other designer toys made on assembly lines in Chinese factories, production at K. Olin Tribu is overseen by expert artisans. Each figure is cast by hand and undergoes a dozen detailed procedures.
By looking beyond its historical application as tableware, K. Olin Tribu updates porcelain’s iconography. In its short history, K. Olin Tribu has produced porcelain figures by French graffiti artist Steph Cop, rock-poster legend and toy designer Frank Kozik, and art provocateur Ron English. The company takes pride in the knowledge that an artist touches each piece of porcelain before it arrives on a collector’s shelf. Dutheil and Fayaud continue to expand their range of porcelain objects for collectors and hope to introduce new generations to the charm, prestige, and luxury of fine French craftsmanship. a
Informer
DESIGN BUREAU
FASHION
WRISTWATCH ROUNDUP
photo by zack burris styling by martha mulholland
Wooden Wrist Wear If you’re the type that likes to give and also receive at the same time (hey, get your mind out of the gutter!), WeWood has got the goods. Through a partnership with nonprofit conservation organization American Forests, one tree is planted for every wooden watch purchased. They’re described as “splash-proof,” which means that they’re not ideal for deep-sea diving, but a little vigorous hand washing should be just fine.
Alarmingly Stylish Watches With a square face reminiscent of a bedside clock, An Alarm performs a similar function: vibrating wake-up calls and reminders. Its easy-to-read design and subtlety in social situations means no more whipping out the phone at dinner—just glance at your wrist and politely excuse yourself like a gentleman.
Cool Ceramic Chronometers Get your Chuck Yeager on with two new models from French watchmaker Bell and Ross. Beefy, aeronautical faces with industrial-strength straps will make people think you know your way around a cockpit. And refined details, like the use of ceramic, will have them begging to know how you look so damn fly.
“Objects have to stay desirable for their total physical lifetime.” Leonid Rath, glassware Manufacturer Issue 3, Jan/Feb 2011
WeWood, Date, $119; Crono, $139, www.we-wood.us; Bell & Ross, BR01 Radar, $5,500 and BR01-92 Ceramic Black, $5,200, www.bellross.com; Industrial Facility, An Alarm, £269, www.retailfacility.co.uk
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DESIGN BUREAU
Informer
design jobs around the world
Photographers
Rodion Kovenkin
Nacho Hernandez
DESIGN CAN BE A LONELY TRADE. GET TO KNOW YOUR GLOBAL COMMUNITY IN THESE BRIEF SNAPSHOTS—AND FIND OUT IF YOUR PAYCHECK MEASURES UP
Gabriela Herman
location
location
location
Minsk, Belarus
Manila, Philippines
Brooklyn, New York
Geert Vanden Wijngaert
Thomas Slack
location
Chicago, Illinois
Brussels, Belgium
location
POSITION
POSITION
POSITION
Freelance photographer specializing in people, places, and food
Freelance photographer specializing in documentary, editorial, and travel photography
Portrait, lifestyle, and fineart photographer
POSITION
News agency photographer
Photographer; owner of Slack Photography, LLC
WEBSITE
CLIENTS INCLUDE
WEBSITE
gabrielaherman.com
The Associated Press, Photo News
slackphotography.com
START A PERSONAL PROJECT. It's a great way to learn new skills. WEBSITE
CLIENTS INCLUDE
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Courier International, Asian Geographic WEBSITE
nachohernandez.net
YOU CAN'T PLEASE EVERYONE, SO YOU HAVE TO PLEASE YOURSELF.
kovenkin.com EDUCATION
Self-taught INCOME
$500/project NOTABLE PROJECTS
EDUCATION
Corporate portrait series for MobileTeleSystems, the largest mobile operator in Eastern Europe
Professional photography degree; Master's degree in international relations and development INCOME
$400/day NOTABLE PROJECTS
Exhibit about Sahrawi people for US Congress in Washington, DC; upcoming photography book about the Philippines and another about rugby in New Zealand
Get to know your contemporaries and build community. As a freelancer, you can feel very isolated at times, and it’s comforting to know other people who are going through the same thing. EDUCATION
Degree in psychology INCOME
$800-1200/project NOTABLE PROJECTS
Blogger portrait series; selfportraits from Flash Forward Festival in Toronto; Holding On, still-life series of found objects
WEBSITE
gvw-photos.com
GET INSPIRED BY OTHERS, but stay yourself. EDUCATION
Studied photography at a technical school in Mechelen, Belgium INCOME
POSITION
Never become stagnant; always try to improve yourself, and always keep your artistic voice at the forefront. EDUCATION
$300-700/day
BA in fine arts from University of Michigan
NOTABLE PROJECTS
INCOME
50th Anniversary of the Democratic Republic of Congo; portraits of African dictators including Gaddafi, Ben Ali, and Mugabe at the Africa-EU Summit in Tripoli, Libya; tour of Luxembourg Cycling
$500 average for portraits; $4,000 average for events NOTABLE PROJECTS
Ad campaign for BroadStreet Jewelry; test photographer for modeling agencies; modeling portfolios/comps; weddingdestination photography; New Orleans journal/photo blog coming soon
“We all really love Polaroids. It’s a particular way to see pictures: a little bit dirty, a little bit unprecise, a little bit poetic and artistic, and a little out of control.” GABRIELE CHIAPPARINI, PHOTOGRAPHER Issue 2, NOV/DEC 2010
Informer
DESIGN BUREAU
FASHION
Bag Man on Campus No Jansport here—these packs will set you in a style class all your own PHOTOS BY ANTHONY TAHLIER MODEL: MATTHEW BREWER OF CHOSEN MODELS
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1. Temple Medicine Bag, $595, www.templebags.com; 2. CXXVI Fleet Canvas Bag Blue, $38, www.cxxvi.net; 3. Ally Capellino Archie, £295, www. allycapellino.co.uk; 4. Makr Farm Rucksack, $160, www.makr.com; 5. Filson Rucksack, $260, www.filson.com
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OBJECTS
Refined Style Simple furnishings from Another Country The former publisher of Wallpaper* magazine wasn’t faking it—he really does know a thing or two when it comes to design. Check out Paul de Zwart’s line of sleek and simple furnishings, Another Country. Despite his lack of formal design education, de Zwart’s line of chairs, stools, and other handcrafted oak pieces seamlessly combine fine craftsmanship with functionality. “I am not a designer and have not been trained in design, [but] I work by applying myself to an objec-
tive and then seek inspiration in things I like,” he says. The items are produced with minimum waste (a gentle nod towards sustainability), and are all made in his Dorset, Englandbased workshop. AC’s Series One furnishings are based on four style movements: British country kitchen, Shaker, traditional Scandinavian, and Japanese woodwork. —william oliver
Desk, £895
Stool One, £155
Another Country, www.anothercountry.com; Photos by David Brooks
Informer
DESIGN BUREAU
Day Bed One, £1,640
DESIGN DICTION
The latest industry buzzword, perfect for dropping during your next museum mixer
(adj.) literally meaning "in between" When to use it: When talking about voids that separate primary spaces in any architectural design. Used as a more sophisticated adjective for “gap.” How to use it: “She converted the flat, interstitial space separating the two proposed towers into an elegant communal plaza, diminishing the corporate image of the office park.”
“You know, design is free; the execution is where the money comes in. The whole part where you lay it out—that whole part doesn’t cost a penny. You could do that from a prison cell. It’s, you know, the actual Viking stove in the prison cell that becomes costly.” ADAM CAROLLA, actor/comedian Issue 2, NOV/DEC 2010
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“Wisdom comes in many packages. Yet only the truly wise designer will know how to make wise design. Wisdom is about watching, learning, using, and accepting the pie that’s baked, not the one still in the oven.” STEVEN HELLER, art director & DESIGN professor Issue 3, Jan/Feb 2011 Chain Handcuff
PIVOT Hinges the ratchet to the cheek plates to form the bracelet
RATCHET A bar with inclined teeth designed to engage with a pawl. The ratchet is free to advance past the pawl in one direction of motion only
DOUBLE STRAND CHEEK PLATES Comprise most of the handcuff bracelet, which is made from molten chrome steel poured into a mold
DOUBLE LOCKING MECHANISM Locks a handcuff pawl in an engaged position and prevents the ratchet from advancing farther in the closing direction
DESIGN EXPLAINED
demystifying EVERYDAY GADGETS
Handcuffs
We all know them (some more intimately than others), but how the hell do they work?
In 1862, W.V. Adams patented the first ratcheted handcuff, but it was John T. Tower’s 1879 model that set the standard for the modern design. The Tower cuff, which features circular bracelets and a double-lock mechanism, immobilizes the wearer’s wrists, which drastically reduces the ability to shim the cuff lock and escape. Most handcuffs lock and unlock using universal keys, but certain cities, such as New York, prefer a cuff-and-key system nicknamed the “New York Tuning Fork” because the key fits behind officers’ badges and only unlocks official NYPD cuffs.
KEY HOLE Important if you ever want to free your prisoner
SWIVEL Attaches the bracelet to the chain and allows for wrist movement
Off the Cuff
PAWL A spring-loaded, pivoted bar which engages the teeth of a ratchet, permitting it to advance in the closing direction only
H210
American law enforcement favors three different handcuff models: chain cuffs, hinged cuffs, and zip cuffs Lock Set REPLACEABLE LOCK SET
H210
6.25
Federal mandates insist that each cuff is run through a battery of 16 tests to ensure design integrity and reasonable comfort levels. But no cuff, no matter how rigid or specially designed, can fully prevent escape. Metal bobby pins, found in nearly every hair salon and drug store, make perfect cuff shims because their slight size can maneuver and spring both double-lock bolts. For this very reason, most police forces cuff detainees with their palms facing out. The logic: you can’t pick a lock that you can’t reach. a
MAY 2005
Chain Cuffs
Hinged Cuffs
Chain and hinged varieties are fabricated from high-tensile steel and deploy Tower’s original swing-through ratchet bracelets and double-lock mechanisms.
Zip cuffs are a more makeshift, lightweight option, similar to the plastic zip ties with which the lawabiding layman is familiar.
Zip Cuffs
Informer
DESIGN BUREAU
FASHION
EARTHY ACCESSORIES
PHOTO BY ZACK BURRIS STYLING BY MARTHA MULHOLLAND
Take a page from mother nature's stylebook with these natural pieces Biko Rock Crystal Stone Necklaces $89 Biko Natural Tourmaline Stone Necklace $89
Lauren Wolf Stingray Claw Ring with Druzy Agate $120
Biko Blue Stone Necklace (amazonite jade) $89
Lauren Wolf Sri Lankan Stud Earrings $150-250 Lauren Wolf Anaconda Bone Earrings $340
Biko, www.ilovebiko.com; Lauren Wolf, www.laurenwolfjewelry.com. Photo by Zack Burris / styling by Martha Mulholland
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Informer
you've got (weird) mail What’s better than a love letter? Four random objects a year from The Thing Quarterly 1
A magazine is, quite simply, a “thing with text,” according to artist Will Rogan. In addition to potentially becoming our new tag line, this elastic definition has led to The Thing Quarterly, a subscription-based publication by Rogan and co-creator Jonn Herschend.
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No two issues are the same with The Thing. Released four times a year, each is the brainchild of a special guest editor who guides its overall direction. Similarly, each book embodies its own unique shape, which is usually a far cry from that of a traditional mag. “Our work is to create an interesting and thoughtful pairing of text and object,” Herschend says. “We’re interested in…how [the text] transforms the object.” The Thing’s unusual shapes and sizes have included a T-shirt with a three-foot-long tag, an etched cutting board, and a deck of cards, among others. And each creation is left open to interpretation. Herschend explains: “We try not to offer instruction or education on the issues or the artists. We think this is something that the viewer should take on.”—Kristen Eichenmuller A yearly subscription to The Thing Quarterly is $200; Photos by Lenny Gonzalez
“We believe in our craziness—we don’t want to become Coca-Cola!” Fidel Peugeot, DESIGNER Issue 3, Jan/Feb 2011
Informer
DESIGN BUREAU
YEAR IN DESIGN 3
1891
FOLLOW US ON A JOURNEY OF HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS IN THE DESIGN WORLD
MONADNOCK BUILDING
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Architecture firm Burnham & Root designs and builds the Monadnock Building in Chicago, Illinois. Standing at 16 stories, the Monadnock was the world’s tallest load-bearing masonry structure at the time of its construction
LONDON to PARIS The first London-Paris telephone system opens to the public
BURBERRY in LONDON CORK BOARD By combining waste cork particles under heat and pressure, inventor John T. Smith fabricates the first corkboard made for home insulation purposes
Burberry opens its first London shop in the luxury Haymarket district. The store still operates today in its original location
the KELMSCOTT PRESS
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PENNY-FARTHING Bicycling News coins the term “Penny Farthing” for the popular Hi-Wheel bicycle, originally patented by Frenchman Eugene Meyer in 1869
English design master William Morris founds The Kelmscott Press in Hammersmith, London. The Press used 15th-century printing technologies and typographic styles as a reaction against mechanization and mass-production processes
MAISON PAQUIN
WAINWRIGHT BUILDING 1.
2. 3.
4. 5.
Issue 13, Matthew Higgs & Martin Creed, 12-inch, 120-gram vinyl picture disk with Higgs on one side and Creed on the other, containing one track by Creed entitled “My Advice” Issue 10, Starlee Kine, “Crying Instructions,” a bamboo cutting board designed only for onion cutting, with text that has been seared into its surface Issue 12, Doo.Ri, a custom T-shirt made of sheer fabric with a three-foot-long tag that hangs down the back of the shirt listing every possible fabric, manufacturing location, and washing instruction ever listed on a shirt Issue 12, Doo.Ri, T-shirt detail Issue 14, Jonathan Lethem, “Chaldron Optical System,” a glasses case, a pair of clear glasses with text on each of the arms, and a care and maintenance manual written in both English and French
Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan build the early modern Wainwright Building, one of their first skyscrapers, in downtown St. Louis, Missouri
French fashion designer Jeanne Paquin establishes Maison Paquin as the world’s first female-run fashion house. Maison Paquin became a go-to fashion line for women seeking both tailored day dresses and pastel evening gowns
“Design needs to just be easy, but it’s so difficult to achieve.” BRUCE MAU, DESIGNER Issue 4, MAR/APR 2011
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REDESIGN
Informer
Floating Mountain DANCING WATER VINeyARD AND WINERY, NEW ZEALanD
BEFORE
The Floating Mountain launch label featured a basic, black-andwhite, text-focused design, with a hint of a cloud hovering above the word “floating.” The design was simple and straightforward, if not slightly stale.
Readers Respond:
What do you think of the new Floating Mountain design? Tell us at letters@ wearedesignbureau.com
Floating Mountain, $20–55 NZD, www.floatingmountain.com
Creative Team: Paul Everett,
Concrete Creative
Reason for redesign: Clare Bisso and Ross Trowsdale wanted to expand their brand into new markets and were after a more shelf-savvy look. “We wanted to design a bottle that you want to have on the table, that you want to pick up and touch,” Bisso says.
Design process: After rejecting
several typefaces—including Bodoni, Didot, and Didi—they created an original piece and used National by Kris Sowersby as the supporting type. “Paul ignores boundaries,” Bisso says. “His design work is fresh, eye-catching, gritty, and beautiful.”
AFTER
A slick, textured look featuring a monochromatic color scheme and broken lines of text for the title. Even though now the bottle technically reads “Float-ing Mount-ain,” Bisso and Trowsdale say they are happy with the result, which has spurred an increase in sales for the brand.
Informer
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DESIGN BUREAU
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STORE FRONT
A peek inside the world's Best boutiques
Drink, Shop & Do
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DRINK,SHOP & DO AT A GLANCE
Eat sweets, play games, and get crafty—but leave your laptop at home
A massive skylight illuminates plaid-shirted 20-somethings playing Connect 4 and hattopped grannies lunching on artisanal Scotch eggs and tea. No, it’s not a new coffee shop in Williamsburg, New York; it’s Drink, Shop & Do, a new London hot spot where everything— from the candy fizzes and sherbets to the colorful paper airplanes—is for sale. Drink, Shop & Do is an uncontrived breath of fresh air in drab, commuter-heavy King’s Cross. The shop has a weekly “Knit Night,” fancy-dress parlor games, and it also hosts vintage hairstyle makeovers, where guests can pay what they like to channel their inner Humphrey Bogart or Betty Page. Be forewarned that owners Coralie Sleap and Kristie Bishop actively enforce a “no laptop”
Location: London, UK Year Founded: 2010 Sells: Products from emerging designers, vintage furniture, and homewares, as well as teas, cakes, and cocktails Website: www.drinkshopdo.com
1. Drink, Shop & Do is an expansive, light-filled haven for regulars, first-timers, and tourists. Camera painted by Lindsay Jane Fagan of Faiiint
policy. But before you throw a Wi-Fi hissy fit, know that it’s in your best interest; technology would sabotage the decked-out scene of whimsical eye candy that includes homemade gifts, original art, and a constantly rotating slew of vintage finds. If it all sounds a little too much like Candyland for you, think again. Drink, Shop & Do reflects its owners’ sense of humor—a fact patrons discover when visiting the bathroom shared with the sex shop one floor below.—SARAH HANDELMAN PHOTOS BY TOM LOUGHLIN
2. The small staff of Drink, Shop & Do collaborates on weekly activities and a seasonal menu with original cocktails 3. Colorful jars of sherbets, fizzy candies, and sours line the shop’s shelves 4. Co-owners Sleap and Bishop have mastered the art of the sell-able vignette, with a regular rotation of vintage finds and contemporary art and design 5. With a balance of humor, whimsy, and downright good taste, Sleap and Bishop have carved out a niche in King’s Cross
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DESIGN IN WEIRD PLACES
Informer
discovering the world's wildest structures
Earthen Abodes
Because you don’t have to be a hobbit to live subterraneously
The house uses a geothermal cooling system with a radiant heating system under the rammed clay and concrete floor
EARTH HOUSE Location: Jipyeong-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do,korea Architect: Byoungsoo Cho You can take the name of Earth House literally. The six-room home isn’t just buried underground; it’s actually made of soil excavated from the site. Rammed earth walls divide the home’s interior spaces, and since they’re made of a white concrete/lime mixture, they will degrade as the house ages, giving Earth House a limited life span. In fact, BCHO designed the whole site to decay. Talk about an extreme take on sustainability.
The house has a small kitchen, a study, two resting rooms, and a bathroom with a wooden tub and toilet. Every room opens directly to the earth-filled courtyard.
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PACHACAMAC HOUSE Location: PACHACAMAC, LIMA, PERU Architect: LONGI ARCHITECTS Located south of Lima, near the Peruvian coast, the Pachacamac House disappears into the landscape, save for a prominent glass tower on what would be the ground floor. Two of the three levels are buried in the ground in an attempt to create a “strong sense of protection and appreciation of the dark and the light.” No surprise that such a thoughtful home belongs to two retired philosophers.
Longi Architects explains: “The response to the site was to bury the house inside the hill, trying to create a balanced dialogue between architecture and landscape.”
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OBJECTS
ON THE RISE Masculine, industrial home furnishings from California NAME: Sean Woolsey hometown: Costa Mesa, California occupation: Craftsman Background: A self-taught designer, Woolsey makes one-of-a-kind lighting fixtures, custom furniture, and sheet-metal art. All of his items are “multi-generational” heirlooms with a patinated beauty that grows with age.
A former designer for quintessential SoCal surf brand Hurley, Woolsey has now turned his attention to more tactile design, with an innate desire for a long-term relationship with his consumers. His fashion career revolved around trend, but his crafts are rooted in the eternal mark of true style.
resumÉ builder:
recent projects: A unique series of lamps made from reclaimed parts—including salvaged nautical parts, rusted cans, galvanized pipe, and barn wood—that impart a timeless industrial look. Woolsey is also working on select design/build collaborations, one of which is a masculine pop-up shop in LA this holiday season.—SEAN YASHAR
www.seanwoolsey.com
Woolsey makes lighting and furniture pieces from reclaimed and salvaged materials
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BREAKDOWN
ASK THE EXPERT Still wasting your time on Yahoo! Answers? Let our experts eliminate the guesswork by answering your most puzzling design queries
Q:
A:
How do design shops maintain an original and avant-garde personality and project load, while at the same time having to make actual corporate money?
It can be a real challenge.
E.L.,Baltimore, MD
Scott Theisen, designer
Many firms chase after high-paying corporate work, with its large internal networks of creative buyers and money. This can be a real catch-22 for creative firms whose concepts and methods can be stifled by spending committees, haphazard time frames, and endless revisions. Don’t forget about the legal counsel’s opinion...did they take classes in creative neutering? With some exceptions, the larger the corporation gets, the safer it chooses to be with its visuals and language. Despite their differentiated origins of product or process, most hyper-competitive corporations end up running with the pack in the marathon. True differentiation is sacrificed for slight enhancements. Frequently, creativity is given a lot of lip service, but little bravery exists. How to cope? Some design firms like to do pro-bono projects as a chance to push creative work. It’s a balance to the safe, “paying” jobs, and the clients are generally
Q:
Lucila Iotti, shoe designer
I am a food photographer, but lately I’ve been toying with the thought of shifting my career path to fashion design—specifically shoes. I have no idea how to break into this highly specialized field of design, and I don’t have any real connections to someone on the inside. How do I get my “foot in the door,” so to speak? L.R., Minneapolis, MN
A: I would start looking for a basic shoe course in the fashion university in your town, at least in order to have a general knowledge of the composition of a pair of shoes. Believe me, with all respect towards clothing designers, shoe designing and making is much more complex that it would appear. Then, probably going around the workshops in your area
appreciative. Some never show the corporate work that they don’t feel “fits” their image, despite the fact that such a track record got them the job in the first place. Some choose to fire clients who negate the firm’s ideation process. That’s a tough thing to do in this economy, but trust me, it’s healthy and can be scary good. It’s an infinite game. Staying positive is vital and can lead to good solutions. One trick I like is the “This or That” presentation. Show two concepts: one where the design, size, parameters, or concept are way out, and another that’s a more gentle stretch. You’ll never win them all, but at least you won’t have to suffer the process and hate the final product. Scott Theisen, designer Scott Theisen generates design across all media by deep observation, strategic differentiation, and creating uncommon content. He has an MFA and has been a design director with Froeter Design since the beginning of the century. His work has been honored internationally by Communication Arts, Graphis, the AR100, the American Association of Museums, CASE, Print, Coupe, and the Chicago Design Archive. He is the vice president of the AIGA Chicago chapter and is the only known designer to love Austrian economic theory. www.froeterdesign.com
to see the one that is most suitable to develop your creation. Then start trying, trying, trying. It is a challenging process, but with a few attempts, you can find out the direction you want to take with your style. I personally work directly on the shoe last. Some shoe designers deliver their sketches to the workshop. So it will be a really personal development and learning. Lucila Iotti, shoe designer Argentine designer Lucila Iotti began her own line of shoes—made from brilliantly bright shades of patent leather, suede, satin, and vinyl—as an homage to her mother, who she says “always wore heels and put on lipstick before leaving home.” She now owns her own boutique in the bohemian hub of Palermo in Buenos Aires. Her bright, bold shapes and ability to mix color and silhouettes in a brave, fashionable way make Iotti’s designs unmistakably her own. www.lucilaiotti.com
Have a question that only an expert can answer? Email us: letters@wearedesignbureau.com
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MUST-HAVE DESIGN BOOKS For the design geek by day, rock star by night: Alex Steinweiss, The Inventor of the Modern Album Cover Kevin Reagan & Steven Heller, Taschen Columbia Record’s first art director, Alex Steinweiss, designed close to 2,500 album covers in his career. See these and much more in this sumptuous tome.
For the trend-bucking eccentric: Crazy Design Beatrix Foisil-Penther & Claire Chamot, Vivays Publishing Lamps disguised as full-sized horses, tables that resemble dripping wet paint, pitchfork-shaped coat racks—one flip through this guide will reveal some of the world’s weirdest product designs.
For the design-inclined history buff: Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design Michael Idov, Rizzoli Flip through a collection of 50 groundbreaking, Soviet-era creations—from the LOMO camera to the fishnet shopping bag—and see how they’ve influenced modern design.
DESIGN BUREAU RECOMMENDS
For the designer with a fully stamped passport:
For the typography enthusiast:
Arabesque 2: Graphic Design from the Arab World and Persia Ben Wittner & Sascha Thoma, Taschen
Letter Fountain Joep Pohlen, Taschen
Arab design has entered an age of experimentation. Through the lenses of graphic design, illustration, and street art, this book takes the pulse of present-day design in the Middle East.
It seems lately that typology has been experiencing a renaissance amongst the cool kids of design. Whether you’re a johnny-come-lately or a letter veteran, there’s always something to be learned about the complex history of type.
“It’s all just sweat and inspiration…There’s also procrastination, mind reading, plate spinning, heavy drinking and obscenity-laced diatribes.” JOHN GALL, BOOK DESIGNER Issue 1, AUG/SEP 2010
People & Profiles
DESIGN, DELIVERED
The Intelligencer e-newsletter GET YOUR DESIGN FIX TWICE A MONTH. SUBSCRIBE NOW AT WEAREDESIGNBUREAU.COM
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DESIGN DIALOGUE
What does the color of your washing machine say about you?
How self-image, style, and design factor into our everyday decisions in surprising ways
When Whirlpool came out with its Duet washer-and-dryer system in 2009, it revolutionized the home-appliance industry, and not just because of its energy-saving capabilities and front-load capacity. For the first time, a major brand allowed its consumers to demonstrate that their house is on the cutting edge of style and design via a large home appliance. Rather than the standard plain-white unit, the Duet washer/dryer combo came in five bold color options with sexy names: Aspen Green, Ocean Blue, Tuscan Chestnut, Lunar Silver, and Cranberry. It also featured a distinctly curvy shape and authentic aluminum (not plastic) doors. The daring new design and fashion-forward colors suddenly brought style to the laundry room, and consumers happily paid the price premium to show they were a part of the in-crowd. So why does the color of a washing machine matter? Because the style of the products we select is a direct reflection of our personal style, design tastes, and ultimately, our self-image. Self-image serves as the first layer of interaction with the world around us. It is formed at the visceral level of the brain, consuming 85 percent of its energy. Self-image is highly emotional; logic holds little competition to the visceral. Reinforcing our sense of self-image is the unique style that each of us brings to the world. It is the way we distinguish ourselves from others, and at the same time, it acts as a social glue, holding us together with groups that also identify with a particular style. We are drawn to others who own the products that we do, and we go to venues that attract like-minded people; Harley-Davidson riders travel together in packs on their bikes, and art enthusiasts flock to the Museum of Modern Art. However, if a product, service, or environment doesn’t fit with our sense of style, we are highly unlikely to adopt it and will be quick to move away from it when a better option comes along. Take, for example, Dell computers—in their heyday, these popular PCs were considered a leader in technology, highly functional, and fairly cost-effective as compared to competing products. That is, until Apple came along. It offered unconventional computer design coupled with an alluring story in which computer and monitor were contained in a single, neat package—a bold declaration of minimalism and nonconformity. And with the introduction of its candy-colored iMac computers, consumers could own one in pink, orange, or blue. Apple instantly became, and remains today, a style leader. And although its products continue to co-exist with Dell in a competitive set, consumers continually gravitate toward Apple’s slick style over Dell’s more basic look. Of course design is not just about style, but rather, the Visit www.imagestyledesign.com for more details on Fischer's lectures
“The style of the products we select is a direct reflection of our personal style, design tastes, and ultimately, our self-image.” style of the design is vital in driving consumer adoption. Style needs to be considered up front and as an integral part of the design process; it should not be relegated to being just the finishing touch. People need to connect with the product visually before making a move financially. Whirlpool and Apple understand this, and many other products, services, and environments are jumping on this smartly styled and designed bandwagon, as well. Case in point: Dell now offers laptop covers in a variety of jewel-tone shades. a
By Steven Fischer, Lecturer of Image, Style & Design at Northwestern University and leader of StyleSalon Chicago Illustration by Jesse Hora
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DESIGN DIALOGUE
“I made a big decision this morning...”
Managing Editor Kristin Lamprecht chats with design entrepreneurs getting it done. This issue, we discuss stationery and sage advice with Jessica Murnane of Suitor.
Jessica Murnane, graphic designer and owner of Suitor stationery, makes this bold proclamation about her decision before we've even been seated for lunch. “I decided not to do Twitter the way you’re supposed to do it.” She makes the statement with such conviction that I feel a bit confused as to whether she’s joking, serious, or just mocking the Twitterverse in general. I sort of struggle with a half-laugh, half-smile response and utter, “Oh?” It turns out Murnane is very serious; it’s a decision the designer has been struggling with quite a bit lately. She explains that although everyone will tell you that social media is a necessity (or as she counters, “a necessary evil”) to help small businesses survive these days, she doesn’t think that it suits her brand. And, quite honestly, she just doesn’t feel comfortable giving shout-outs to people she doesn’t really know. “Thanks@ someoneidon’tknow!” Ironically, it was this interview request that sparked the “to tweet or not to tweet” question in Murnane’s head. “Ever since you told me about the interview, it’s had me thinking,” she says. Murnane pondered why, as an independent design entrepreneur doing her own thing, she continued to do something that made her uneasy. After all, she is the one—the only one—at the helm of her company. Why should she let others dictate her formula for success? “So, this morning, I just tweeted the word ‘Rogue.’ And from now on, I’m doing it my own way.” You’ve been doing Suitor for a while now, and it’s actually your second foray into the stationery business. So, tell us, what is the most rewarding part of being an entrepreneurial designer? Managing my own time. I think designers are a little bit emotional and crazy. I really prefer to work alone without any sort of distraction. If that means that I want to work at three o’clock on a Saturday, I can do that. I kinda work on my own weird time schedule instead of feeling the pressure that, “OK, you have to be creative between these hours.” That’s really scary—having to be creative within a time limit. What is the biggest professional mistake a design entrepreneur can make? I think it’s a big mistake to not delegate things. You can spend three hours trying to do something you’re not good at, or pay somebody to do it in 15 minutes. If you think about it, you wouldn’t hire your accountant to design. Letter-pressed long division, anyone? Well, since our goal is to help creative business owners, tell us another design business “don’t.”
“Early on, define your definition of success—if you don’t, you will never know when you get there.” Hmm…to create a business where you’re the only one who understands what’s going on. It makes you stuck, and you’re not ever able to leave because you’re the only one who understands what’s going on. I probably don’t delegate enough, but I’m letting go more because it’s pretty naive to think that nobody else is as good as you.
By Kristin Lamprecht Illustration by Jesse Hora
Finish this sentence: If I could go back in time and give myself some business advice, it would be… ...to chill the fuck out. And to realize that it’s not life or death.
Design is not life or death. And early on, define your definition of success—if you don’t, you will never know when you get there. (And not to be so hard on yourself. But I think even if I had told myself this advice, I would not have followed it, anyway.) a Visit www.suitorlife.com for more details on Murnane's stationery creations
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Advice from an Architect
Follow your fire
Fred Stelle, PRINCIPAL OF NAMESAKE FIRM Stelle Architects, shares ADVICE ON how taking detours, saying no, and learning from his environment CONTINUE TO SHAPE HIS CAREER I don’t think there is a formula for being a good architect. It’s not about being good at math or science—I don’t even think being someone who can draw well by hand is a requirement. It’s hard to buttonhole, but it’s about the fire in your gut that tells you to pursue it. It’s not a nine-to-five job—it’s a job you live. Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed
banks, and he said, “Because that’s where the money is.” I make architecture because that is where the reward is for me. It’s not about money, it’s about doing what you love and having a high degree of satisfaction in the work you do. Take detours. Since there wasn’t a whole lot of modern work going on when I started my firm, I turned my office into a construction company—we designed things and built them. I would be out in the field walking around with a tape measure and hammer. That 10-year detour focusing on managing, budgeting, and building contributed to our ability to get things built well, and it still informs us today. God is in the details, as they say. The details for us are the jewelry making of architecture. It’s like a person getting dressed
Interview by Jenny Seyfried Photos by Francesca Giovanelli/kaymedia Zurich, Switzerland Above: Fred Stelle of namesake firm Stelle Architects
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I dont think there’s a formula for being a good architect... it’s about the fire in your gut that tells you to pursue it.
Flying Point Residence Top: Living room Bottom: Vanishing-edge pool overlooking Mecox Bay Opposite page: North elevation deck and entry
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Flying Point Residence zen garden
ExcEptional WatErspacE DEsign anD installation For DiscErning cliEnts sincE 1997.
up. It’s always a person, but depending on what they are wearing, they can be stunning or look like they’re running out to the chicken coop. There are times an architect should absolutely say no. You have to be prepared to do that. Compensation to do something wrong is no reward. Issues of good planning, sustainability, not over-building a site, and doing things that are environmentally unsound are things we have to walk away from. Renovating is like being a doctor. When a patient comes in and complains of aches and pains, you know what the symptoms are, but not what is causing them. It’s very satisfying in a way because you have a juxtaposition of old and new and what was there and what it is now. They challenge each other and provide a different perspective.
Platinum mEmBER OF GEnEsis 3 DEsiGn GROuP mEmBER OF thE sOciEty OF WatERshaPE DEsiGnERs mEmBER OF aquatEch sOciEty DEnnis lOEBs | DEnnis@lOEBsGORDOn.cOm | 631.725.2700
I don’t worry about the critics too much. I think more in terms of my responsibility to architecture in general—my responsibility as an architect trying to preserve the land. And from a client’s standpoint, it’s always what they have to say that is more important than what critics say. The house is the least important piece of the puzzle. We do a lot of rural sites, and the most important aspects are the topography, the sun, the light, the wind, and natural beauty. Then as you start to understand what the big picture is, you develop a sense of what the right response is. The right response depends not only on all the information you gather, but also what’s the appropriate relationship between the house and the site. You don’t want to put the house on the most beautiful part of the property; rather, the house should sit where you have a view of the most beautiful part of the property. We try to locate a house so it takes most advantage of the site and creates a sense of space and a view. It’s all important. Architects build a reputation with a collection of works, and so you should always do your very best. a
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Advice from an Interior Designer
Be KINd, DESIGN
With more than 20 years of experience under her belt, Chicago-based interior designer M. Grace Sielaff HAS seen it all. So why is she always so damn happy?
Interview by Lesley Stanley Photo by Drew Reynolds
The client isn’t always right, but as designers, we work with our clients and are fully dedicated to our client—protecting, advising, and informing them throughout the stages of the project and development before anything goes wrong.
I believe in myself. There are a lot of great designers, but I know I’m good and talented. If you know you’re gonna be a designer and be successful, you need to know in your heart it’s for you, because it’s not for everyone. My job is fun because I’m passionate about what I do.
Traveling has a lot to do with inspiration. In the mid-’80s, I traveled to Asia, where there’s a lot of things you don’t know about until you take it in and bring it home. I took those colors, patterns, architecture, fabrics, artifacts—anything I found—and incorporated it into my designs.
You have to stay fresh to stay on top of the competition. Every night before I go to bed, I study the trends, fashions, and forecast what’s new and hot in the marketplace as well as sustainability practices. Social media has placed us on top of our fans. We have to be on the cutting edge of design in order for them to like us.
I will hire someone with an engaging personality over a good portfolio, but they must also be talented. You have to have a great personality and an absolute determination to do the work. I prefer someone calling me rather than emailing, because I get about 50 emails a month for potential internships and employment. I don’t have time to read resumés, so I prefer a call.
When you’re happy, happiness comes to you. My industry is very small, and when my peers come up to me they say, “Grace, you are the happiest person I know.” It’s because that’s what keeps me on top—that’s what keeps me successful and young. You’ve got to have a positive outlook in life. a
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WORKING WITH M. GRACE SIELAFF “Grace has a vision that is timeless and classic. She incorporates design, color, and textures in a way that most designers can’t in one go. She sees something and knows how it will incorporate—she has an eye for design. She really emphasizes teamwork in every project; Grace embraces opinions and ideas and sits back and listens because she cares about the overall outcome of each project.” —Milan Shah, Design Consultant, Direct Floors, Woodridge, IL
GRACE AT A GLANCE Milestones in the career of M. Grace Sielaff, M. Grace Designs
1985–86
Travels through Thailand, Southern China, Taiwan, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Philippines, Hong Kong, and Australia
1992
Receives interior architecture degree from Mundelein at Loyola University of Chicago
1999
Begins career as a business development manager for Corporate Business Systems,a preferred Haworth dealership in Chicago
2009–10
Receives Special Recognition Award from the Chicago Conservation Corp (C3) and the Chicago Department of Environment
2010 2010
Receives volunteer award from the Chinese-American Service League
2003 2009
Founds M. Grace Designs, Inc.
2011
Designs luxury condo on 85th floor of the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago
Designs The Living Room at Dream Home at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart Design Center
2011
Starting a number of new projects, including an 18,000-squarefoot transitional style home in Barrington, IL, and a contemporary condominium in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood
2009
Designs Hanamint Showroom on the 17th floor of Chicago’s Merchandise Mart
Receives the Design Excellence Award (Green Design - Contract Category) from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)
Proudly serving the design community with over 25 years experience.
CaRpet, tiles, HaRdwood, laminates, Custom aRea Rugs, window tReatments, gRanite CounteRtops & more
Residential and CommeRCial 10216 Werch Drive | Suite 107 Woodridge | Illinois | 60517 630 | 739 | 7000
www.directfloors.net
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THE FAMILY FIVE: Swiss Miss Get to know Tina Roth Eisenberg—the self-made, NYC-based designer whose popular design blog has dethroned Swiss Miss hot chocolate for the top spot on Google I showed how I could ramp up my income through the blog and become client-less. You see all the steps. One shows how I started my company and had my daughter basically on the same day. On the graphic, where you see where I decided not to have clients, that was the birth of my son.
Above: Is there a little hot cocoa in that cup, Tina? photo by Esther Michel
Do you have something creative you like to do when you’re not on the computer? That’s where the kids come in, like making potato stamps. My daughter is in full-on crafty mode right now, and I kind of dig it. She’s into cooking and making cookies. This is where I get to use my hands. Can you help me to find a replacement for this redundant question: “What inspires you?” It’s the dumbest question ever! There has to be something better. I’ll pay attention to when people ask me interesting questions, and the minute I hear an awesome question to replace that, I will let you know.
Each issue, The Post Family interviews a new designer/studio with the goal that they reveal all of their most secret wisdom so we may learn to be as radical as them. www.thepostfamily.com
How does being a mother inform your career as a designer and blogger? Have you changed the way you do things since you had kids? I should share this slide with you that I showed in a talk I gave at SVA and the Altitude Design Summit, where
What is interesting is that both times, the kids made me rethink where I am in my life, refocus, and push the envelope a little bit and say, “You know what? I can go client-less.” It gave me this deadline of reconsidering how I do things. A lot of people say having kids and a career doesn’t work, but for me it makes me focus so much harder. Have you gotten to that point where you can eliminate client work? I haven’t been very public about it, but I went on a one-year client sabbatical on February 14, 2010. That obviously is up, and I’ve extended it indefinitely. I’ve never been happier in my life. My bank account is not overflowing, but, man, my happiness level is through the roof. Have you thought about moving from this idea of digital curation to a gallery or store? I think I’m going to hold off on that a little longer. I grew up with a mom that had a big clothing store. For a while, when I was younger, I was toying with the idea of taking it over. I think having grown up with a mother who spent all of her working life in that store, the idea of being tied to a physical location every day gives me the shivers. a
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1-3. Views of Studiomates, a collaborative workspace of designers, illustrators, bloggers, writers, and developers in DUMBO, Brooklyn; photos by Sam Rosen 4. Michael Bierut at Creative Mornings, a monthly breakfast lecture series 5. Christoph Niemann at Creative Mornings; photo by Tory Williams 6. Eisenberg’s TeuxDeux list-making app
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DESIGN DIALOGUE
BUREAU EXPERT: LISA VILLARREAL, LILY JACK Lily Jack founder Lisa Villarreal talks about making the move from furniture importing to manufacturing, avoiding cookie-cutter looks, and the importance of sitting in every chair You grew up working with your grandfather, Jack, on his European furniture import company. How did his influence shape your love for high-end furniture manufacturing? It fuels everything; it’s in my blood. I started helping my grandfather when I was in high school; I would fill in for my mom. I still have things of my grandfather’s—sketches, pieces he did 20–30 years ago—that influence everything I do. Lily Jack feels like their legacy. As a furniture importer, do you think your grandfather would approve of your move into manufacturing?
Above: Lisa Villarreal Photos by Terry Sutherland
My mom and I joke about it all the time; I’m sure granddaddy has rolled over in his grave so many times. He was a manufacturer in his twenties and thirties, but it drove him crazy because it was so difficult. He got out of it and started his importing business in his sixties. Every time we launch a new line, it reminds me of how and why he got out of it. I’ve sort of done the opposite with Lily Jack, but it all comes full circle, for sure. What is the most important lesson your grandfather taught you about furniture? What my grandfather instilled in me is that furniture can look beautiful, but it’s got to be comfortable. I am involved in every custom piece to make sure everything’s proportional. I personally sit in every single custom piece, or as many as I possibly can. I’ve worked with so many different developers, and they expect that their vision is going to look beautiful and sit beautifully, and the only way that can be done is to hand-walk it through the process. Where do you turn for inspiration? We always have to ask, “What’s the next thing?” We keep making new things, and I think that’s so important. People love the same chair, but at some point, they get tired of it. It’s so important try to push the envelope a little bit.
How do furniture design trends factor into your designs for hotels? What trends are happening now? I would say designers are using a lot of new materials, a lot of recycled materials. Different types of stones and a lot of metal. When you stay at a hotel, it’s more about the experience, and that experience is changing. I think it’s geared more towards the younger generation—it’s this very new age, and yet it’s a cool and hip atmosphere. How does a hotel stay on the cutting edge of these trends and keep a look that is both true to their brand, and one that will remain in style for years to come? I think, as a hotel owner, you have to be open-minded and allow designers to think outside the box, but within reason. Do a funky chair, but do it in a simple fabric. Do a traditional chair, but funk it up with a cool fabric. Do something new so that when the client comes back, they go, “I love the new look.” a
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You don’t build a career designing hotel furnishings without forming some pretty strong thoughts on hotels themselves. Here's what Lisa loves—and loathes.
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Favorite thing about hotels? That someone else gets to clean to the room, and that every room is different. What one thing drives you nuts about hospitality design? The bed and the bedding can be either my most favorite or my least favorite thing. The carpet is the carpet, but when you go into a hotel room, you go there to sleep. It’s all about the bed. Your dream is to be… …a boutique hotel owner. I would want to make it so that when someone visits my hotel, they get transported to a different place. I’d want it to be really special. In my dream boutique hotel, I would want people to go in and say, “Wow, I would love to do my bathroom like that.” What project would you die to get? Every project I get is a dream. We just got the Bellagio. It’s the second time we’ve done it, and I feel so proud to be a part of that. Maybe for me, to be given the task of designing all the furniture for a five-star hotel. Or to design that dream boutique hotel of your own? Yeah, that would obviously be cool.
1. Lisa Villarreal 2-3. Onyx collection furniture designs by Lily Jack 4. Lily Jack craftsmen put together each piece by hand
15 4 0 1 S o u t h F i g u e r o a S t r e e t I g a r d e n a , C a 9 0 2 4 8 t e l : 310 . 9 6 5 . 19 9 3 I w w w. l i ly j a C k . C o m
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Design Thinking
Design Thinking
DESIGN BUREAU
Inspired by Place The rugged Wyoming landscape is a tough act to follow, yet Carney Logan Burke continues to build on perfection
By Christopher Moraff, a Philadelphia-based freelance writer and photographer www.christophermoraff.com
Mosquito Creek Cabin
Wilson, Wyoming
During a down time in CLB's work load, the team assisted a Minneapolis-based homeowner in a comprehensive renovation of a cabin in Wilson, WY. After finding a suitable site, the cabin was dragged off another piece of property and repurposed to suit the art-collector owners' sophisticated tastes. Refined finishes and fixtures contrast nicely with the texture of rustic barn wood.
Clockwise from top: Mosquito Creek Cabin, photos by David Swift; CLB principal John Carney snapped this photo of an old service station in Daniel, WY
live in or around Jackson Hole and emphasize The architects and staff at Carney Logan that a strong connection to the community is Burke have a pretty nice gig. Headquartered a key element of CLB’s design mission. in the western resort community of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, they design buildings that sit in some of nature’s most pristine locales, “We feel responsible to serve the community,” Logan says. “We regularly do second homes, all while gazing out the window at their own but we balance that by maintaining a workmajestic mountain view. But the catch-22 of architecture—that in order to live some- able presence in the community, meaning we won’t turn down work for the guy across the where beautiful, you risk spoiling what makes it beautiful—is not lost on the firm. street that just needs a remodel.” “There is this lure that this place has, and a power it has over people,” says Eric Logan, Logan and his firm are challenged with facing a rugged traditionalism that requires anyone an architect and partner at the firm. “We are wanting to alter the environment to navigate a given these opportunities to build here and gauntlet of design-approval boards, protected alter the place, and frankly, the responsibility wetlands, and stringent regulations designed weighs heavily on us.” to protect wildlife corridors. As such, CLB’s The firm’s approach, Logan says, is to use ap- residential buildings veer from the archetypical “Western” look to embrace a “less is more” propriate materials and composition to draw reductivism that imparts an almost Zen-like out the natural equilibrium between a project clarity. “One of the basic principles of design and its surroundings. “We feel like we’re doing is to be a sort of editor, trimming the whole our job if the buildings are functional as well until there is not too much and not too little.” as beautiful, and complement, not compete with, the environment.” So if, like Joni Mitchell, you lament the paving Founded in 1992 by Harvard-educated ar- of paradise, rest assured that Carney Logan Burke is taking its job as architect and editor chitect John Carney, CLB has imparted its seriously. Because when all is said and done, vision on community facilities, commercial it’s precisely this formula of thoughtful rebuildings, resorts, and mixed-use complexes straint that results in a structure seamlessly throughout the rural West. Today, Logan and integrated into the breathtaking Wyoming Carney—together with a third partner, Kevin landscape. sda Burke—make up CLB’s core team. All three
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LSR Preserve
Grand Teton National Park, Jackson, Wyoming Comprising some 1,100 acres on the shores of Phelps Lake, the Interpretive Center and its related trails were a gift from Laurance S. Rockefeller to the National Park Service. Because this project tells the story of environmental stewardship and conservation, the client wanted a “quiet� building designed to fit gently into the landscape and encourage a closer understanding of the ecology of place. The LSR Preserve is the first to achieve LEED-Platinum status in the National Park Service and in the state.
Logan Pavilion
Jackson, Wyoming
The Logan Pavilion is a private residence located on a sagebrush plain north of Jackson, WY. The 2,475-square-foot, threebedroom, two-bath home borrows its form from the vernacular hay shed. Exterior materials include cedar shingles, siding, and decking, and rusted sheet steel, each chosen for their ability to weather gracefully and blend with the colors of the landscape.
Above: LSR Preserve, photo by Nic Lehoux Right: Logan Pavilion, photo by R. Greg Hursley Opposite page: CLB staff, photo by David Swift
“There is this lure that Wyoming has, and a power it has over people. We are given these opportunities to build here and alter the place, and frankly, the responsibility weighs heavily on us.”—ERIC LOGAN, PARTNER, CLB ARCHITECTS
Providing excellence, value and performance in sustainable, mountain modern and historic designs. Wilson, Wyoming 307.733.0133 www.demberghjh.com
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Four Seasons Hotel
Denver, Colorado
CLB and interior designer Mauricio Salcedo were charged with designing a space that reflected both the opulence of a five-star establishment and the organic warmth of a mountain retreat. “The challenge was to combine an urban hotel with the locale of Denver and the mountains and to translate that into the character of the hotel,” Salcedo says. “We needed to bring some of those more earthy elements into the design in a luxurious way.” Salcedo's team at Bilkey Llinas installed fireplaces and made ample use of stone and wood. With the help of Denver-based LewisGraham Art Consultants, the team brought in a collection of nearly 1,200 works of art, most of it from Colorado artists. Liz Graham, co-owner of LewisGraham, says the artwork was selected specifically to complement the design, which she calls “sleek and contemporary, with an organic feel.”
Above: Four Seasons, Denver, photo by John Carney Below: Peaks View residence, photo by Matthew Millman
Peaks View
Wilson, Wyoming
CLB needed to create a house that fit into a conservative neighborhood while satisfying the owners' penchant for modern rustic design. “They weren’t looking for the typical Western house with log walls, small windows, and antler details,” Logan says. “It needed to be unique to them, their family needs and desires.” He used two types of cedar siding to create pattern, texture, and depth on the exterior. Inside, he used an heirloom kimono, part of the family collection, to guide the design. “We made a conscious effort to find an appropriate place for it, and that really had a lot of influence on the way the interior detailing came together,” Logan says. The success of the project was due in part to the synergy between the team and the homeowners. “Custom home builders always hope that they will work on a team where the artistic vision is not only well received, but encouraged,” says Don Frank, president of Dembergh Construction. Frank worked with CLB on completing the Peaks View Residence. “These owners had a very clear idea of how the home should serve the family and worked with CLB to come up with an original design that was clean and functional.”
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Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou, China October 2010 An award-winning project for the Best New Hotel Design in China, the Four Seasons Hotel in Hangzhou merges the look of a Sung Dynasty palace with a comfortable and contemporary style. A careful proportion of light stone and warm wood colors blends the exterior and the interior, creating the feeling of oneness, while becoming a natural expression of traditional Chinese culture.
Four Seasons Hotel Denver, USA November 2010 A mixed-use, 45-story tower housing a hotel and condominiums, the Four Seasons Hotel in Denver reflects a contemporary style that is sympathetic to the environment. A crisp, streamlined design and earthy, organic materials reflect both the rugged nature of Colorado and the modern urban landscape.
MASTER PLANNING CONCEPTUAL ARCHITECTURE INTERIOR DESIGN Bilkey Llinas Design is a leading hospitality company with over 20 years of expertise with prestigious projects worldwide. Visit our website at www.bilkeyllinas.com
PALM BEACH 3601 PGA BLVD, SUITE 300 PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL 33410 USA P 561.253.0088 F 561.253.0188 BLD@BILKEYLLINAS.COM
HONG KONG SUITE 2301-02, GRAND MILLENNIUM PLAZA 181 QUEEN’S ROAD CENTRAL HONG KING T 852.2850.8562 F 852.2850.8576 BLDHK@BILKEYLLINAS.COM.HK
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Inspiring
Interiors
Historic Hotels Ever stay in a historic hotel? Then you know that sometimes the antique furnishings, outdated technology, and ancient appliances make for a lessthan-inviting ambience. Take a look at three that manage to balance the grandeur of yesteryear with an interior to fit today’s modern style and needs. —Jennifer Samuels
Hotel St. Cecilia
Location: Austin, Texas / First Opened: 1880 / Architect: Clayton and Little / Interior Design: Liz Lambert
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he Hotel St. Cecilia is named after the patron saint of music and poetry. “I once saw an image of The Rolling Stones standing in front of a grand British estate with a butler washing a Rolls Royce in the background,” says owner Liz Lambert. “The moment when rock and roll overtook formal society—that is the feeling that I wanted to capture.”
Photos by Allison V. Smith
The six-suite Victorian home was redesigned in late 2009 and features the addition of several contemporary poolside bungalows. “The minimalism of the bungalows creates a modern counterpoint to the rich opulence of the suites in the house,” Lambert says. And keeping in tune with the hotel’s namesake musical inspiration, each room is equipped with a turntable.
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Fun Fact: Liz Lambert not only owns the hotel, but she also did all of the interior design work. “The hotel continues to subtly evolve as we go. Hotels have a life and a personality of their own, and it takes time to get the voice exactly right.�
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Le Royal Monceau
Location: Paris, France / First Opened: 1928 / Architect:
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he world’s elite—including Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, Madonna, and Michael Jackson— have come to rest their heads at Le Royal Monceau, so keeping its look on the cutting edge is a matter of necessity.
No element has gone unnoticed or untended to in Philippe Starck’s regal redesign of Le Royal Monceau: paneled mirrors add an element of glitz reminiscent of the great
Images courtesy of Le Royal Monceau
Louis Duhayon
/ Interior Design: Philippe Starck
Paris opera house, and black-and-white striped wall coverings create a dizzying effect in the hallways. “All 149 rooms were designed thinking of the traveler, the poet, the musician, and the comforts needed for their inspiration; a sculpted hand holds a pearl necklace, love letters are abandoned in a desk drawer, and every room is equipped with a guitar,” says Sylvain Ercoli, Le Royal Monceau’s general manager.
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“All 149 rooms were designed thinking of the traveler, the poet, the musician, and the comforts needed for their inspiration.”—Sylvain Ercoli, general manager
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Ames Hotel
Location: Boston, Massachusetts / First Opened: 1893 / Architect: ADD Inc. / Interior Design: Rockwell Group
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f you have a bit of trouble pinpointing the Ames Hotel’s clientele, architect Fred Kramer of ADD Inc. has the answer: “It’s Benjamin Franklin meets supermodel to the max everyday.” A bizarre description, yes, yet strangely appropriate for the Ames. A notable modern feature of the 14-story building is the custom-made, all-glass shower in each room. “The showers are floating glass objects and are completely visible from anywhere in the room,”
says Vickie Alani, who spearheaded the renovation project for ADD Inc. Paranormal enthusiasts and practical jokesters will appreciate the Pepper’s Ghost illusions in the corridors. Created by John Henry Pepper in the 1860s, this optical illusion is seen as guests exit the elevator. Look straight ahead, and you’ll see a chandelier hanging overhead, but when you look up, it disappears. A spooky detail for an old haunt. a
Fun fact: The Pepper’s Ghost illusion is how the Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World frightens young ones, and how a virtual John McEnroe greets tourists at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum in England.
Photos by BK Boley
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. (SGH) is a national engineering firm that designs, investigates, and rehabilitates structures and building enclosures. Our award-winning work encompasses building, nuclear, transportation, water/wastewater, and science/defense projects throughout the United States and in more than thirty other countries.
At the time the original Ames Building was constructed, it was the last of a dying breed. “The building represents the last of its kind as a pinnacle of masonry construction,” Webster says. “The piers on the first story are roughly five feet thick, which is part of what makes the building historically notable. Ten years later, and they were already constructing this type of building very differently. Today, it would be prohibitively expensive to build with this construction approach.” One of the fringe benefits of overhauling an existing structure rather than tearing it down is its limited impact on the environment. “If you tore down the original building and built a new one, you’d not only be losing the historical benefit of the older building, but also the energy and materials that went into construction,” Webster says. “As the concept of sustainability becomes more ingrained in everyone’s way of thinking, this will be seen as an increasingly forward-thinking approach.”
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One of the reasons the original Ames Hotel building has lasted as long as it has is because it doesn’t have steel walls, according to structural engineering firm Simpson Gumpertz & Heger. “The only thing holding up the building is solid masonry— stone and brick,” explains Mark Webster, the project’s lead structural engineer.
REHABILITATE
Sustainable Masonry
DESIGN
For more information, please visit www.sgh.com.
From top to bottom: Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA - building envelope design peer review - photo by Bruce Damonte; Miami Marine Stadium, Miami, ARCHITECHT FL - structural investigation; Milwaukee City Hall, Milwaukee, WI - structural and building envelope rehabilitation - photo by Eric Oxendorf. Robert M. Gurney
LOCATION Lake Anna, Virginia
Boston Los Angeles New York San Francisco Washington, DC www.sgh.com
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James Goettsch:
“I wouldn't consider myself successful� And other surprising revelations from the old-school architect known for designing skyscrapers around the world Interview by Andrew Schroedter Portrait by Jim Newberry
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Known for building monolithic structures both in the US and abroad, veteran Chicago architect James Goettsch has seen a lot—and learned a lot—in his 42-year career. As his massive, mixed-use project in Abu Dhabi nears completion, Goettsch shares his thoughts on Renzo Piano, Frank Lloyd Wright, working overseas, and the mistakes he’s made.
300 East Randolph
I always thought it would be interesting to be an archaeologist. I’m fascinated by the pyramids and the way people lived in ancient cultures. It was pretty dismal when I first went to China. The hotels very often had no hot water, the carpet was half-ripped and dirty. But they’re evolving. Now many of the hotels are better than what we have in the US. At more than 3,000,000 square feet, the Sowwah Square complex in Abu Dhabi is the largest single project I have designed to date. It includes four office towers and the new headquarters for the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. At least we’ve made it through this whole downturn without major layoffs. It’s primarily because we’ve gone where the work is. We’re doing a lot of other work in China and the Middle East. We would like to do more in the US. I know a lot of people are waiting for China to stumble. But I think it’s going to be a long time before their economy slows. There are many people whose lives still need to be enriched. We never had to make the decision: Do we do a good job or do we lose money? I had the good fortune when I started off working with Murphy/Jahn. We always found that by trying to excel, positive financial aspects followed. I was never interested in Frank Lloyd Wright, except to admire what he had done. But I never saw anybody who followed his path who did remarkable things.
111 South Wacker, Chicago
When Goettsch needed to light up Chicago’s Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois Headquarters, he called on lighting guru Stephen Margulies. He charged Margulies and his team at One Lux Studio with designing the lighting, both inside and out, to make the BCBS HQ a prominent Chicago architecture site. Illuminating the building’s interior became the key to this success. Margulies installed the same lighting elements on each floor so as to cast a consistent glow onto the outside streets. He also treated the building’s south façade as an extremely important lighting area. “Blue Cross Blue Shield uses it as a type of billboard,” says the designer. “It’s somewhat low-tech, but through a system of colored lights and shades, they can spell out fun messages like ‘USA’ and ‘Go Bears!’ whenever they want.” Now, 13 years after the original design, Goettsch and Margulies have partnered together again on the BCBS vertical extension. Known as 300 E. Randolph, the building's new tenants have all agreed to maintain the building’s uniform lighting. Margulies admits this will be difficult to seamlessly achieve, but with his lighting design playing throughout the additional 24 stories, 300 E. Randolph will surely maintain its shining place on Chicago’s nighttime skyline.
ONELUX
155 North Wacker, Chicago
is the basis for design.
“The one thing I try not to do is give advice. The world isn't the same as it was when I started out. In some ways, I'm still in that past world and able to get by on momentum.”—JAMES GOETTSCH It’s difficult in our profession to have a sense of accomplishment. I feel good that architecture is so popular, but unfortunately it’s not like the legal profession where there are many more opportunities to excel and achieve success. It’s pretty hard not to be influenced by other buildings. I try not to duplicate something I’ve seen, but instead use it as a menu to draw on at some future point. Renzo Piano sets the stage for a certain type of building: museums. When he’s done high rises, they have not necessarily displayed the same kind of innovation. He did the New York Times Building, which is certainly a good building, but not necessarily innovative. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Certainly in the beginning, I didn’t work hard enough, and I underestimated the value of personal relationships. Top architects share a certain confidence and desire to make something happen in the way that they think it should happen. The one thing I try not to do is give advice. The world isn’t the same as it was when I started out. In some ways, I’m still in that past world and able to get by on momentum.
155 North Wacker Drive (Chicago, Illinois) Recipient: 2011 Award of Merit, Illuminating Engineering Society of North American (IESNA) Architect: Goettsch Partners Photo: Tom Rossiter Photography
I wouldn’t characterize myself as successful. People always say, “Oh, you’re an architect, you must want to design your own home.” But I never had that desire. I don’t know why. a
www.oneluxstudio.com 212.201.5790 39 W 13th Street New York, NY 10011
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A MANI WITH TINA MANIS A trip to the salon with one of New York’s most accomplished designers reveals what architecture and manicures have in common
By Ellen Knuti, a Brooklyn-based freelance writer and photographer Portraits by Shawn Brackbill Brooklyn residence photos by Bjorg Magnea
Opposite page: Tina Manis at Sam Brocato Salon in New York
When I walk into Sam Brocato Salon in SoHo, Tina Manis is already there, perched on a sofa and sipping a cappuccino. The New York-based designer and interior architect has been coming to this salon for 11 years, and it’s obvious she feels at home among its diffuse lighting and din of hairdryers. Even in this posh enclave of Manhattan, the beauty salon is still a place where women come ready to talk. Manis has an appointment to get her nails done—“the best manicure in Manhattan, hands down,” she raves—and to talk shop. But don’t get the wrong idea; midday manicures are not the norm for Manis. As the sole proprietor of her eponymous design firm, Tina Manis Associates, she works tirelessly on residential and commercial projects ranging from home renovations to the TED Conference corporate offices, even Takashi Murakami’s
big-box art studio/gallery/office. She also teaches. Last spring, she taught a design-build studio at Yale, and this fall will be her sixth year teaching a course at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. So why interview an accomplished designer in a beauty salon? Well, for starters, Manis is a big fan of the vegan nail polish offered here. (She chose “Queen Vic” by Butter, a rich purpled pink.) But more importantly, it’s because beauty is entrenched in Manis’ way of thinking. She runs her practice on what she calls “The Economy of Beauty,” an approach that acknowledges how even the smallest details—like fingernails on the human body— contribute to the integrity of a space. What do you consider beautiful? I’ve been trying to define that for 25 or 30
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Tina Manis Associates teamed up with Kleen Construction in the gut renovation of a Brooklyn brownstone where the only hint of the house’s former self was its unassuming façade. “The house had been broken up into sub-rentals for so many years, and had a lot of hack attempts at remodeling,” says Eoin Killeen of Kleen Construction. “We didn’t do any work on the front exterior, stoop, or railing, so it looks like any other house on the block, but once you step inside, it gives a very different impression.” The design’s most notable feature is the vertical space cut throughout, beginning with a 21-foot-high entry and extending to the glazed living room and balcony (made possible by the structure’s southwest-facing back wall of floor-to-ceiling windows). The finishes are the cherry on the cake: herringbone flooring, stunning millwork, and bookshelves from top to bottom. “There was no room for error,” Killeen says. “And in the end, I think it looks great.”
“I think that there are inherent human sensibilities that work with space, and timing is one of them.” —TINA MANIS
years. I think I get closer and closer to it. I’ve always been fascinated by what is beautiful, by what people consider beautiful. It’s hard to put words to, but I think it’s a holistic sense of place, time, and visual aesthetic. So time is beautiful? I think that there are inherent human sensibilities that work with space, and timing is one of them. The idea of beauty is clearly personal, but is there anything you consider universally beautiful? Some people say that you’re either a cave person or you’re a bird, but I think everybody loves light and proportion. It also has to do with referencing the cycle of life. For example, I think the notion of the grotesque is incredibly beautiful, but the grotesque always includes decay or descent or things that are maybe individually considered negative. But when coupled with ornament or shadow or light, [they] become beautiful, because you see them as art. I mean, how do you define the relationship of one to art? You can’t, really. That’s why I think it’s a spatial moment that’s telling—it can be as simple as standing in a particular place in relation to something else that you connect with. a
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Photography courtesy of Macerich and The Jerde Partnership, Inc.
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An outdoor room with a viEw A California shopping mall removes the roof to drive foot traffic and sales
By Aryn Beitz
Stand atop the third-level, open-air dining deck at Santa Monica Place with its stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and Palisades Park, and, for a moment, you might forget you’re in the middle of a shopping mall. Nearly a decade in the making, the new retail oasis is luring consumers with its open-air design and natural, urban layout—something its original architect, Frank Gehry, failed to achieve with his design. Gehry’s original design for the shopping center failed to cultivate steady foot traffic, impressive retailers, and most importantly, shoppers, due to its enclosed, monolithic structure in the center of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The luxe boutiques and brands that should have been setting up shop inside Santa Monica Place were instead opting to open on the Third Street Promenade, a popular tourist area nearby where patrons could stroll along the street and shop amidst the lush Southern California landscape. Aware of the apparent flaw in Gehry’s original design and the massive amounts of revenue that Santa Monica Place was missing out on, shopping-center owner, operator, and developer Macerich purchased the center and began conceptualizing an extensive redevelopment led by The Jerde Partnership, a Los Angeles-based architecture and
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urban planning firm. The goal was to seamlessly integrate it into the existing fabric of the city by using an architectural style from centuries past: a traditional, open-air market. “Santa Monica is best experienced outside in the sunshine and ocean breezes, so removing the roof was a necessary part of tying the new project into the urban experience,” says David Rogers, Jerde partner and principal designer of the project. “This was essential in making Santa Monica Place function like a part of the city.” Removing the roof and opening up the project to the city was Jerde’s first step in creating a fluid, organic shopping experience, along with creating a sense of connectivity between the Third Street Promenade, historic pier, and civic center. “The world’s great cities are living organisms that are constantly changing
Today, Santa Monica Place is one of the first and only redevelopments to convert an existing, enclosed suburban-style mall into a dynamic, open-air urban gathering place in the United States. The defining and pivotal transformation of the shopping experience from one-dimensional to multifaceted has instilled a new sense of hope for both retailers and consumers.
The original, enclosed design by Frank Gehry failed to cultivate retailers and shoppers. Removing the roof made Santa Monica Place function like a part of the city.
“The residents and leaders of Santa Monica take great pride in their city,” Rogers says. “We worked very hard to design this project to reflect the intimate character and lively spirit of the city.” a
Above and right: Santa Monica Place now functions as an outdoor shopping center, boasting beautiful views of the ocean from the food court
and evolving,” Rogers says, “and if you build a project that is not organic or does not flow with a city’s fabric, it will become a stagnated element for the area’s growth and progression.”
Inside the Design: The graphics and interiors of Santa Monica Place Structural changes aside, the shopping center’s public spaces were also in need of a makeover. Multidisciplinary design firm 505Design was commissioned by Macerich to design the environmental graphics and public amenities for the project. “To us, designing the public spaces is really like creating outdoor rooms,” says John Ward, managing principal for 505Design. “Our goal was to create great rooms that people want to spend time in.” Bridging the gap between the city’s beachside setting and its urban environment was 505Design’s primary focus. Custom illuminated glass benches and pots, sculptural seats, and fluted, illuminated floor lamps were brought in to complement indigenous building materials selected to reflect the outdoor California lifestyle. “Many of the pieces were inspired by beach forms: the rocks, sand, beach glass, and wood, weathered and shaped by years of exposure to the marine environment,” says Nick Igel, design principal for 505Design. Now, the surrounding natural landscape coupled with the nature-inspired accents has made for a pleasurable shopping experience befitting the gorgeous Santa Monica scenery.
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Rendering the future
Gauthier’s trippy renderings for 168T Thompson Place and Theater
Douglas Gauthier is masterminding next-level concepts and establishing a new era of architect-developer synergy
By Wells Dunbar
Burst *008 was installed at the Museum of Modern Art, and he’s had write-ups in The New York Times. But Gauthier’s latest pronouncement is something of a doozy. He’s determined to move entirely beyond architecture as a discrete discipline and instead integrate it into real estate and development. “I’m not trying to become a developer, but I want to be able to talk to people about that and be responsible. So if you work with an architect who’s aware of money and has a proven design capacity, isn't that a more interesting project?” Gauthier teaches the class on architecture—and real estate?
Gauthier’s hybrid approach is applied in the real estate and development program where he teaches at Columbia University GSAPP (Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation). Although most real estate programs are housed within the busi“When you feel comfortable that you have ness schools at universities, Gauthier’s is assomething to say in architectural terms, some- sociated with the architectural school. “I am times the hard part is finding places to say it.” a little bit of a round peg in a square hole, but it is incredibly interesting,” Gauthier says. So says Douglas Gauthier, an architect with “I spend the summer with all the real estate no shortage of things to say. Gauthier’s name students, trying to be a good ambassador has become synonymous with innovative from the design world. They’re developers, practices like prefabricated construction and but they have some design experience. So boundary-challenging parametric forms. And if nobody gives them a break on their fihis thought-provoking designs haven’t lacked nancial responsibilities, we shouldn’t give them a break on their design responsibiliin high profile outlets; his pre-fab structure
Gauthier transformed a three-story, multi-family building into a single family home
His original plans called for the basement to be converted into a community theater, but it was shelved for being too costly
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Gauthier's Side Project: Playground Equipment Inspired by post-World War II “adventure playgrounds” and the latest in green-building technology, Gauthier's Folly is made from laminated planks of sustainably harvested timber and covered in photovoltaic panels. “We don’t want to go into the playgroundequipment business,” Gauthier says, “but all current equipment seems to be made out of plastics and rubber and paint and steel. We thought, 'Why don't we make it this sort of heuristic learning device?' You can play on it, and you can understand that it’s returning electricity to the grid.” This parametric playground piece also speaks to a deeper design aesthetic. “When children play together, they always kind of know the rules. When two kids are in a box, pretending it’s an airplane, and one of the children says, ‘That doesn't work, because you'd fall out,’—they know the rules, but it’s all imagination. That sort of hierarchy, where everything can change at any time, and is figured out along the way…that is what this project is trying to capture—a search in which one does not know what one is looking for but recognizes it when found, and individual responsible.”
Above and left: Renderings of Gauthier's parametric playground equipment, Folly
ties. Those responsibilities aren’t esoteric material choices, they’re things like understanding zoning, mapping, urbanism, and how cities work together.” The idea is that providing students with a better working knowledge of design will produce more effective real estate developers. “A good developer is someone who finds opportunities where there seemingly aren’t any—sometimes that’s zoning, sometimes that’s money, sometimes that’s cultural shifts, sometimes that’s just recognizing that a neighborhood is changing,” Gauthier says.
“That's why I'm interested in the real estate program [at Columbia University] and that world—what is the value we can get together?” — DOUGLAS GAUTHIER
From the Classroom to Real-Life Application: 168T Townhouse Project
PINNACLE
CONSTRUCTION
GROUP BERNARD AHING - CONSTRUCTION MANAGER 350 LENOX ROAD - SUITE 4C BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11226 PHONE:718.703.9283 FAX:347.365.7450 BAHING@PINNACLECONSTR.COM
Gauthier’s collaborative real estate and architecture ethics got a vigorous real-world application during his work on the 168T Townhouse and Theater project, a conversion of a three-story, multi-family building into a five-story, single-family home. His initial plans for the Greenwich Village project spared no expense, including what he calls a “supple, voluptuous façade” as well as an adjoining community performance theater in the building’s basement level. After the economic meltdown of 2008, budgetary restrictions forced him to rework his ambitious plans, including turning the façade into a series of balconies and axing the theater completely. “It’s a heartbreaker and a math problem all at the same time,” he says. The final product of 168T represents a hallmark of Gauthier’s Columbia class and working approach: negotiation. “This is a thing that people really have a hard time with about architects: ‘Well, I’m paying you a percentage of the cost of construction, so you’re always going to push the cost up,’ ” he says of the common misconception within his field. “And as architects, you run all the different parameters—sometimes the client decides when the program works, sometimes the structural engineer decides. It’s never like, ‘OK, this is my vision; we have to do it this way.’ Instead, [I explain], ‘If you really want to go that tall, the structure gets that much deeper, that much thicker.’ And people understand that without having to be structural engineers or designers.” It’s something Gauthier continuously tries to relay to the students in his class at Columbia. “That’s why I’m interested in the real estate program and that world—what’s the value we can get together?” a
BERNARD AHING - CONSTRUCTION MANAGER 350 LENOX ROAD - SUITE 4C BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11226 PHONE:718.703.9283 FAX:347.365.7450 BAHING@PINNACLECONSTR.COM
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Sharilyn Olson Rigdon As an interior designer and owner of DesignStudio Ltd, Rigdon has seen some interesting things inside hotel walls. She shares her thoughts on the good, bad, and sometimes ugly aspects of hotel design. By Jenny Seyfried / Photos by Eric Laignel
Hotel comforters: Covers shouldn’t be polyester The fake plant in the corner: Ohh, bad Minibars: necessary, necessary evil, or just plain evil: Necessary evil
Favorite item to take with you when you leave: The stationery The first thing you remove from the minibar: Probably wine Hotel hair dryers: Are just terrible, no good way to store them, cords get tangled Door signs: “Do Not Disturb” or “Shh…”? “Shh…” It’s great to have clever door signs
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GLITZY, GLAMOROUS, BUT NOT GAUDY Five factoids about the W Hollywood’s dazzling chandelier To Brett Shears, Engineering/Project Design Manager at iWorks, a hotel’s lighting can be “the most obvious, visible, and striking design element when done right.” IWorks’ lighting design at the W Hollywood is living proof. “To describe it as ‘understated glamour’ is almost oxymoronic,” Shears says. “But that’s exactly what it is. A lot of Hollywood is full of gilt and gold leaf, but this isn’t that at all. It’s not overboard.” At the center of the W’s lighting is the spectacular chandelier, installed in the lobby and meant to make an impact. Here, Shears shares five revealing details about the eye-catching piece. IT's Big: The chandelier is 20 feet tall and measures seven feet across And High tech: 10 miles of fiber optic cable split into 1,500 individual strands illuminate the chandelier, but… It's Efficient: It only takes three 75-watt illuminators to light up the entire chandelier also, a traffic stopper: The chandelier, which is lit 24/7, projects out all the way to the intersection of Hollywood and Vine Lastly, it's A paparazzi favorite: The chandelier’s drama makes it a go-to backdrop for posing stars
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Room key or room card: Card, for sure Chocolates or mints on the pillow: Chocolates Best wall color for a hotel bedroom: The best color for a guest room has been white. However, we are looking at a new idea for a red room that embodies passion, warmth, sex, and luxury Worst wall color for a hotel bedroom: Beige Perfect thermostat setting: Off Hotel art: Should be new and original and not in a frame. We tend towards art that is more installation art than “pictures on walls”
Hotel art: Should be new and original and not in a frame. Terry-cloth robes: Are too heavy and usually sized for a very large man—should be linen, if possible Towels: Should be large and 100% Egyptian cotton Thread count: 400 is okay, 600 is better A hotel bar should always serve: Fresh cocktails and great wine A hotel bar should never serve: Draft beer A hotel room should always have: Only a couple of decorative pillows on the bed A hotel room should never have: Ten pillows on the bed A hotel room is different than a regular bedroom because: It’s a fantasy of what your room could be and could never be, at once a
A hotel room is: a fantasy of what your room could be and could never be, at once.
W Hollywood Hotel Setting out to revitalize a part of Hollywood that had seen better days, Rigdon’s goal for the W was to create a new place that would have a feeling of old-school Hollywood glamour with an updated, modern spin to it. “Some of the furniture is a little bit retro, with a ’60s vibe. We have lacquered elements countered with fur and started with a pretty, clean, white aesthetic that we warmed up with color—like the bright, orange-red carpet inspired by the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion.” Rigdon says she called on Frank Lloyd Wright’s block houses as well as classic Hollywood dramas like the James Bond films, Barbarella, and even A Clockwork Orange for inspiration. What she ended up with was a concept that seamlessly blends cutting-edge design with a mix of drama and everyday approachability.
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OPen House: David Jameson Architect INC. Explore a residential paradox and see how a classic home has been rebooted for the modern age
Another Piece of the Puzzle location: Bethesda, Maryland Sq FT: 3,200
Standing inside the Jigsaw Residence, there’s some doubt as to exactly what “inside” means. And that’s exactly how architect David Jameson wants it. “Architects talk all the time about blurring the line between the interior and exterior,” Jameson says. “This project explores the notion of reflectivity, where the conditioning of the interior and exterior wall surfaces render this boundary unclear.” Jigsaw features an open-air courtyard carved from the remnants of a single-story suburban house. Jameson considers the project an “implosion villa.” “Spatially, Jigsaw employs a series of interlocked, puzzle-like volumes that rise and fall around the courtyard,” he says. “Our projects tend to have a readable quality from the interior and exterior,” Jameson says. “I’m most interested in the experiential quali-
ties of space. When you’re inside our work, you understand what the structure feels like from the outside and vice versa.”
By Jason Abbruzzese
Redesigning the Record location: Owings Mills, Maryland Sq FT: 3,000
Each year, Architectural Record, one of the world’s preeminent architecture magazines, features a series of houses known as “Record Houses.” One such house, featured in the 1969 issue, started “almost as a stewardship exercise” for Jameson, who was tasked with preserving its original character. “We wanted to be respectful of what this house is and was, but at the same time reposition it in a way that would allow it to be relevant to today’s lifestyle for our clients,” Jameson says. “Lifestyles have changed. We’ve evolved from a very analog and structured society to a digital and organic society. The evolution of this house is emblematic of the paradigm shift in our culture.”
Opposite page: The Jigsaw Residence, photo by Paul Warchol
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“Almost like a cartridge, we wanted to unplug the 1960s lifestyle and plug into the lifestyle of today.” —DAVID JAMESON
Jameson utilized the house’s truss structure, which allowed him to eliminate many of the interior walls. He then installed floor-to-ceiling glass panes that give the house a much more open and fluid feel. The house still retains many of its most notable original elements, including a brick fireplace and skylight. “Almost like a cartridge, we wanted to unplug the 1960s lifestyle and plug into the lifestyle of today,” Jameson says.
About the Architect: David Jameson grew up in Maryland’s eastern shore area and finds inspiration in the “honesty and authenticity” of areas like Alexandria, Virginia, where his studio’s office is now located. By deftly weaving modern materials and concepts into the storied metropolitan landscape of Washington, DC, Jameson manages to pay homage to the past while continually pushing the boundaries of scale. “Today we have the ability to build large-span areas that were not possible 200 years ago.” a
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On working with David Jameson:
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“David is very hands-on. He knows what he wants, and he’s there when you do it. A lot of architects give you a set of plans and say, 'Here you go. Do it,' and rely on the builder. He’s got a great attention for detail. David is one of the best.”—Marc Lefkowitz, owner of Classic Floors, who has worked on many of Jameson's projects, including the Jigsaw Residence and the Record House.
THE FINEST FLOORING AVAILABLE… Classic offers the best selection of luxurious carpeting, rugs, flooring and more, all value priced to fit your budget. Top quality Installation by our team of experts. And, we can refinish your hardwood floors without any airborne dust.
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2120 L Sreet, NW, Washington DC 202.872.9860 • ClassicFloorDesigns.info Opposite page: The Record House This page: The Jigsaw Residence
Free parking at lot next to store Open Mon-Thurs 10-6, Fri 10-5, Sat by apt HARDWOOD WOOL CARPET AREA RUGS EXOTICS
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Features
Museum of Public Fiction
Los Angeles gets real inside this unconventional museum Text by Isaac Gertman
Despite its official-sounding name, you won’t find The Museum of Public Fiction in a guidebook or hear about it in a visitor’s center. Its name is actually a bit of a misnomer. Rather than inhabiting a grand, gothic structure or a modern glass box, this museum occupies an unassuming corner storefront in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It has no identifying sign on its exterior and certainly no grand lion statues or marble steps to greet its guests. Inside, a unique world of oddities is revealed, a place where each exhibit takes on strange shapes—literally—including that of a church and a record shop. The MPF is the brainchild of artist and designer Lauren Mackler, who wanted to establish a contemporary arts space that toyed with the notion of what a gallery can and should be. “The idea is that setting the work in this context reframes its meaning and puts it in a topical relationship with the other works that sur-
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Above: The closing of the Free Church and the unveiling of a sculpture by Jason Manley Left: Signage for the Free Church by Lauren Mackler, photo by Maureen Keaveny
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Clockwise from top: A look inside the Public Records exhibit with work by Anders Johnson, Bobbie Woods, and Public Fiction; Event flyer design by Lauren Mackler; The Public Records exhibit
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"The idea is that setting the work in this context reframes its meaning and puts it in a topical relationship with the other works that surround it." round it,” Mackler says. “By changing the form of the gallery, the space itself becomes the context that frames the work, unlike a white-walled gallery, which attempts invisibility.” The small scale and flexibility of the MPF allows it to engage LA’s vibrant creative community in ways that a traditional museum never could. For example, its Free Church of Public Fiction exhibit explored LA's storied relationship with cults and new religions. The idea came from a conversation that Mackler had which likened the role of the artist to that of a religious leader. Rather than have a group exhibition with all of the artists present at one time, each individual was given a week inside the space to become the “cult figure,” transforming the museum into their own place of worship. And during the Public Records exhibit, the gallery was transformed to resemble a record store, showcasing works that referenced archiving and recording music. Opening in September of 2011 is an exhibition that examines nomads and their habitats, with a focus on manifest destiny, the Gold Rush, and perceptions of California as “the promised land.” Just how Mackler plans on bringing these concepts to life inside the gallery is still unclear; trying to get specific details on what she’s planning for the next show is like trying to crack Fort Knox. Beyond its exhibitions, the MPF puts on public programs, which involve social events that are conceptually tied to each show. These experiential activities have included zine-making workshops, slide lectures, musical performances, dance parties, film screenings, and dinner parties, all of which use the gallery space as the context to engage the audience and extend the implicit dialogue found in the work. This is exactly why Mackler decided to start the MPF. “It's less about one artist's work and more about commonalities between the works and the collective consciousness that is formed when they are displayed together.” Log on to www.PublicFiction.org to learn more about upcoming events and exhibitions. a From top: The devil (the bartender) and infused vodkas for The Source: a secret restaurant based on LA cults, rituals, and religion at the Free Church, photo by Helga Fassonaki; Open Secret: a secret restaurant at Public Fiction
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Thirst Design
HOW RICK VALICENTI’S THIRST DESIGN COLLECTIVE IS POWERED BY PASSION PROJECTS BY LISA SMITH PHOTOS BY JON SHAFT
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“So, what’s the motto today?” ick Valicenti opens with companies own and brand mansions in the this line at the offices of Barrington suburb of Chicago. And there’s InThirst, a Chicago-based telligent Design, a reprint of Genesis in binary graphic design firm run code but with icons of Pepsi One and Coke by himself and partners John Pobojewski Zero standing in for the numerals. For Valiand Bud Rodecker. It’s a confusing question, centi, these projects are as important as combecause for nearly 30 years, Thirst has been missioned work. “Thirst has always tried to be run, without falter, on the principle “Art with present, separate from the binds of service.” Function.” It’s an appropriate ethos, con- Its creative experiments, which mix current sidering that its roster of clients includes events and cultural observations, provide oparchitect Jeanne Gang, designer Ron Arad, portunities to flex this freedom and answer a Herman Miller, the Harvard Graduate School question posed by Higgins in his 1966 essay, of Design, and Wright auctions. Despite what “Statement on Intermedia”: “Having discovit suggests, however, something much more ered tools with an immediate impact, for what subtle is at play: fluidity between creative are we going to use them?” experiments and client work, publisher and printer, books and video. Valicenti’s question These self-published projects are not just hints at this, revealing a dedication to vision, demonstrations of graphic prowess or obbut also an attention to the particularities of servations on the current state of affairs. As Valicenti points out, “They are as much a stunt the current moment. as they are a tool. After each one, the office is In 1965, Fluxus artist Dick Higgins coined more effective and better at working.” These “intermedia” to describe the medium-defying improvements to workflow are often very work that he and many other visual artists direct; lessons learned in one are transferred were undertaking at the time. Pobojewski to the other. For example, Intelligent Design, mentions that this idea is integral to the work- the large-format, saddle-stitched, metallicings of Thirst, where each project is imagined toned Book of Genesis, was automatically genwith a conceptual and material looseness in erated with custom scripts written by Pobosearch of a full impact. The firm does this most jewski and Rodecker. Later, this provided the freely in its long series of self-published work, foundation for a Wright auctions book catalog, such as Suburban Maul, a series of images same size and format, produced with a similar depicting an alternate reality where big-box database-driven workflow.
Bud Rodecker John Pobojewski Barb Valicenti Rick Valicenti
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WRIGHT Thirst's work on Intelligent Design formed the basis for a Wright auctions book catalog. It was produced using a similar database-driven workflow, and reflects the size and format of the Thirst's previous project.
INTELLIGENT DESIGN Thirst’s own version of the Book of Genesis, a metallic-toned tome printed entirely in binary code. As if that wasn’t enough, Pepsi One and Coke Zero icons replace the numerals.
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Thirst’s fluidity is probably best exemplified in its latest self-initiated work. Stop the Violence is a collaboration between Valicenti, photographer Francois Robert, and printer-turnedpublisher Classic Color. Inside, Roberts’ dramatic photos of human bones placed in typographic arrangements are accompanied by a transcript of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, typeset in the style of a field journal. The piece was punched out, line by line, by Barb Valicenti (Rick’s sister, Thirst office manager, and former court stenographer) on Rodecker’s old typewriter. The publication would not have been possible without Classic Color, who printed and distributed 1,300 copies of the small-run publication for free. Due in large part to the generosity of Ray Bell, owner of Classic Color and close collaborator of Valicenti, the project benefits both parties. In recent years, Valicenti and Bell have redirected Classic Color’s promotional budgets towards publishing material that ought to be printed, regardless of profitability. Instead of making thousands of mundane brochures about the capabilities of its high-tech presses, Classic Color has elected to use these presses to produce stunning books that double as thoughtful marketing materials for both businesses. The project’s real ingenuity lies here; instead of transcending media, Thirst is questioning traditional roles set up by the graphic design industry, turning printers into publishers and graphic designers into editors, publishing art while maintaining palpable function. Keep your eyes peeled this summer for Thirst’s next big project, The Culture Coast, appearing on the lakefront from Bronzeville to Hyde Park in Chicago. a Above: Valicenti, Pobojewski, and Rodecker hard at work in the office
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Left and Below: Pages from Stop the Violence, and the original typewriter used for the text
Stop the Violence by Francois Robert Stop the Violence is a product of the bad economy. Without it, photographer Francois Robert never would have spent six months on his hands and knees arranging and rearranging human bones into iconic symbols of war, violence, and religion. With commissions down, he was able to focus his energy on a memorial and a message. The series honors the anonymous individuals tallied in body counts in the wars across history and sends a confrontational call for peace. The process was as much a technical one as an emotional one, if not more so. Robert’s primary criterion was that the formations be legible as iconic images and letterforms. In pursuit of this, he exhaustively searched the Internet for the appropriate shape—what is the most familiar form of a fighter jet, exactly? Once selected, the form was projected, large-scale, onto a wall, so that a stencil could be traced and cut. This template was then laid down on the ground, where the bones were painstakingly laid piece by piece until the right arrangement emerged. He began with the swastika. “It is one of the world’s most powerful images, and I knew that if I couldn't make this image, I wouldn't be satisfied with any of them,” Robert says. In this initial exploration, he developed the scale and language that defined the rest of the project. The letterforms were, in some ways, the most difficult to construct. As a former graphic designer, Robert was rightfully concerned with getting just the right proportions so that, when the bones were arranged into words like OIL, WAR, and 911, they would feel cohesive without question. “If I redid one letter, I'd have to redo the entire alphabet,” he says. To get the right effect, he bought an extra, disarticulated hand to add to the 206 pieces of the human skeleton that he already had, allowing him to make more precise adjustments. Robert explains that in the Victorian era, the relationship between body and memory was much more direct than it is now. People kept the hair of the deceased, often arranging it into imagery. Stop the Violence references this tendency, acting as a sort of collective memento mori, a reminder that peace does not come without cost.
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INSPIRING PETER KARA CHRISTIAN NORMAN APRIL guest Editors RAD
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What was your inspiration? It’s a question frequently posed to creatives that rarely begets a worthwhile answer. It is amorphous by nature, difficult to pinpoint, and even harder to describe. Inside, we've gathered seven guest editors from a variety of practices to share their intense drive, obsessive fanaticism, and unbridled devotion in an attempt at an explanation for that nettlesome question. This is how it should be: unfiltered, unified, inspired.
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PETER MENDELSUND Book Cover Designer For Peter Mendelsund, creativity is driven by voracious consumption: an open-eyed and conscious sucking in of visual material to be later recalled for creation. Clippings are ripped and nuggets are saved; little pieces of inspiration are meticulously found, gathered, and squirreled away. Anything and everything is noticed. He is a self-professed magpie of design. His release is music, a celestial two hours a day where he plays the ivories for the whole audience of one (himself ) and part audience of a neighbor, who reads the morning paper while appreciating a muted version of the score through the walls. Mendelsund is a tremendous pianist, having received a Master of Music degree at Mannes College—The New School for Music, plus a lifetime of hard work and patient training. He calls his time together with the keys “pure joy.” A first love and unabating source of stimulation, Mendelsund is a gluttonous reader of books. Fiction and non-fiction, for pleasure and for work, for reprieve and for challenge, by choice and by necessity; he is always reading. Words are devoured at a quantity that exceeds average human capacity. He is a devout patron of literature. Design and books come together as a career for Mendelsund. For the past nine years he’s been charged with translating story into cover design. So go ahead, judge a book by its cover. If Mendelsund designed it, he knows it. He has imbibed the narrative and paraphrased it into a digestible work of art, on display at bookstores everywhere. Mendelsund enjoys a success that is a testament to a unique combination of justright instincts, a vast knowledge of the material, and a living, breathing dedication to the profession. Peter Mendelsund is an award-winning art director for New York publishing house Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. His past works include cover design for authors such as Franz Kafka, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Stieg Larsson, and more. He also designed the cover of this issue of Design Bureau.
>>>>>>>>>>>> Q&A by Saundra Marcel Photo by Eric Luc
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Before I was a designer, I was a musician. I was a musician for as far back as I can remember. My childhood fantasies revolved around being a musician, and the largest portion of my life has been spent, thus far, in being a musician and/or in attempting to become a better musician. I’ve spent months learning single measures of complex piano writing and years in memorizing large chunks of the classical repertoire. I’ve spent days obsessing over fingerings and orchestrations, and have lost more sleep to performance-anxiety nightmares than I ever have to monsters in my childhood closet. My heroes have been, almost all, composers and pianists rather than ball players; and historically, when I’ve imagined my personal encounter with the genie in the lamp, he hasn’t granted me infinite wealth, but rather the ability to perform Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit note-perfectly.
Then, nine years ago, and with little transition but much inner turmoil, I became a full-time designer (and a happier person—though that is a story for another time). In the intervening years, I’ve thought a lot about music, and I’ve thought scads about design—but I’ve given little or no thought at all to the relation between the two forms. I’ve noticed recently that this subject (the relationship between design and music) is starting to draw my serious attention. Music and Design: The Design of Music, the Music of Design. I haven’t reached any grand conclusions yet, and whatever I have gleaned would take more space to convey than this piece allows, but suffice it to say that successfully integrating my twin obsessions would be beyond satisfying. So herein: some recent fruit of this attempt of mine to allow music and design to illustrate one another, whether through choreographing animated sequences to music, designing graphic analogies to music, or merely designing the packaging. It is only the tip of the iceberg. —Peter Mendelsund
This page, above: A still from Der Zauberlehring, an animated graphical project I am working on with a programmer and music professor at UCSD set to the music of György Ligeti Right: Pour Les Agréments by Claude Debussy © Editions Durand
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As I was learning to play Debussy’s Études, it occured to me that my experience of playing these pieces—laden as they are with harmonic complexity and technical difficulty—is quite far removed from the liquid, glinting world of Debussy as he is heard by the listener. I started to diagram my pianistic POV. The above chart represents my mental gymnastics as I play this particular Étude (Pour Les Agréments).
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Above: The first of many record sleeves I designed for the French music label RotoRelief; Below: CD packaging for Innova Records; Opposite page: More Rotorelief packaging
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This page: Reords sleeves I designed for the re-release of music by the sound artist Vivenza. Facing page: Various RotoRelief packages I designed and a page from my Sonata for Violin and Piano, a work I composed in 2000.
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KARA MANN Interior Designer I worked as a stylist for about five years. There wasn’t a lot of fashion in Chicago at the time, so I was doing a lot of print work. I became disenchanted with that world, because I felt that, as a stylist, you didn’t always get to be super creative. You were carrying out the vision of others. I realized that I love interiors. And that’s what I wanted to be doing. So I ended up going back to school at Harrington. We started with about 41 students, and when we all graduated, there were about nine left. I was working five jobs. I was working as a stylist. I was waiting tables. I was working at the Double Door so I could get my fill of music. I was working at a brunch place so I could eat. I grew up in a beautiful house. My mom and my dad were very into art. Whereas other families would go skiing, we’d jump in the car and end up antiquing our way through to somewhere. I’m not a foodie, but I’m starting to understand the beauty behind food. I like the idea of beautiful meals. I think it goes back to my family; my mom always had to have green on the plate. It was like a visual thing. And when making food now, I want it to look beautiful. I love throwing a fabulous dinner party. You wanna look good, you wanna feel good. I always say when I’m with a client, “Pick the palette that you look the best in.” You wanna feel good in the space. I love Trombone Shorty. I love Broken Bells, Dr. Dog, The National. I also love the old-school shit, like the old Aretha. The most exciting residential project I’ve worked on was in Mexico. The clients were a little hands-off, which was amazing. I got to work with artisans there. I designed a fabulous headboard made of pebbles. And to see these two artisans actually creating this headboard, molding the plaster, and filling in the pebbles by hand was fantastic to me. That was the best part. I wanna go to Argentina. I hear there are amazing finds to be had down there. I like quiet things, but then I like to add a little toughness to it. I dress like that. I love a very architectural piece next to something very feminine and pretty and soft. I think I’m exactly where I should be for right now. Who knows where it will lead. Interior designer Kara Mann’s gutsy interiors re-imagine the possibilities of mixing the modern and traditional. Since opening her namesake firm, Kara Mann Design (KMD), in November 2005, Mann has collaborated with clients to achieve a balance of edgy yet attainable design, producing interior landscapes that are both timeless and unexpected.
>>>>>>>>>>>> Q&A by Kaira Townsend Photo by Drew Reynolds
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Ten Cabinet by Christophe Come Jewel Box by Christophe Come High Rods Cabinet by Christophe Come
Small Crow Skull Necklace in Sterling Silver and Bronze by Pamela Love
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Garland No. 3 Confetti System www.confettisystem.com Gold Wall Confetti System www.confettisystem.com
NOMA, Copenhagen 116 GUEST CURATOR 1, 3, 5, 6 & 8 photos by Ditte Isager Tartine Bakery, san francisco 2, 4, 7, 9 photos by C. Robertson
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Above and below: Varaschin Loop Armchair and Pointers Noce by Nigel Coates
From Top: Celestial Dragon, Flower of Love, and Fishnet wallpaper designs by Flavor Paper
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Bike by Lagomorph Design; Thruxton by Triumph Motorcycles
Trombone Shorty photo by Kirk Edwards
Poster for Herb & Dorothy Book Cover for Blood, Bones & Butter
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Hotel de Roxie Interior Design by Kravitz Design Inc. photos by Vincent Leroux
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CHRISTIAN WEBER Filmmaker and Photographer It’s fitting that Christian Weber’s latest work, a short film for luxury designer Bottega Veneta, is a meditation on travel. The photographer and filmmaker is constantly careening around the world, often unsure of where he’ll be from day to day, mentally ping pong-ing from project to project. “There’s a lot of artists that have one subject they want to explore—they’ll do studies, some of them their whole life,” Weber says. “I’m interested in a lot of different things…I can’t stick to one thing for too long.” You’d think that a restlessly creative spirit like Weber might bristle at boundaries, but he welcomes them, dividing his time between commissioned work and personal projects. “I think boundaries are great. I find it challenging to actually just be with myself.” In addition to strict parameters, Weber is inspired by more esoteric concepts; a look at his body of work shows unblinking portraits, obsessive religious iconography, panoptic landscapes, and dreamlike films. Still, he has no problem pinpointing a through-line of inspiration, especially in his more recent works. “It has to do with science and quantum physics and molecular structure, really dealing with the fact that all the broad, diverse subjects in my work are all matter. It’s all the same matter—how does this matter change form?” It’s that transmogrification, from shoot to finished work—“What happens as you take in and put it back out as another creative form?”—that drives Weber. “The whole process is perception. Whether it’s film or photography or painting, or just moving through your day, it’s all based on perception. That’s one of the biggest elements I try to acknowledge in my work.” Christian Weber is a New York-based photographer and filmmaker renowned for both boundary-pushing photos and video installations, and work for clients including IBM and Showtime, among others.
>>>>>>>>>>>> Q&A by Wells Dunbar Photo by Christian Weber
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"The physical and emotional characteristics of the human condition, portrayed in paper, light, flesh, and bone." Pictures Of Testament, “Untitled 1:6�
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“Look In The Mirror Long Enough And You Will See Yourself,” self-portrait
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“Bullet Holes Through Skin”
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Pictures Of Testament, “Untitled 1:2”
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Pictures Of Testament, ”Untitled 1:4“
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“The Ear”
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NORMAN REEDUS Actor I like people that push the envelope, and I think that is sort of the point of art: to do things that make people talk. All my favorite artists have done that. You know, when you have Will Smith rapping about making your bed and brushing your teeth, that doesn’t really do much. I always wanted the quiet life of a painter, and just live in a house somewhere with a bunch of old trees and cats running around. That’s kind of my goal. I’ve done artwork my whole life. I’ve done shows of video installation. I’ve done shows as a photographer and painter. I’ve cut rock, wood, and done sculptures in lots of different media. I made an eight-pound, polyurethane-foam, life-size statue of myself, put it in a Plexiglas box, and filled it with rats. To be in front of the camera is a different sort of criticism. You can do a show as a painter, and you can put paintings up on the wall and blend in with the crowd. If someone takes a picture of you, they’ll say “Oh, it’s a beautiful picture,” but the first thing that comes to mind is, “His haircut is fucked up,” or “Why is he wearing that outfit?,” or “I remember him back four years ago, he had hair like…” It’s the nature of the game. I’m sure when Salvador Dalí came out, people probably threw rocks at his house. Some of my favorite photos are taken on sets and on location of people that I’m working with. You get to go into a world that is beautifully lit, with strange circumstances and people who are hired for what they look like. You get all these opportunities that you wouldn’t always get if you were just walking home from the corner store. I am inspired by laughter, mistakes, laughing at mistakes, animals, Sonic Youth, boobs, and almost everybody. Norman Reedus is an actor currently starring in the AMC drama The Walking Dead. He is well known for a variety of film roles, including The Boondock Saints and Blade II. Off screen, Reedus is a voracious photographer and has captured a wide variety of subjects, from his colleagues on set, to Russian prisoners, to his family and his cats.
>>>>>>>>>>>> Q&A by Kyle Gilkeson Photo by Matthew Williams Styling by Kristan Serafino for www.serafinosays.com using SalonTech
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APRIL DALY Ballet Dancer Dancers are creatures of habit. The pursuit of perfection requires it. That’s why you’ll find April Daly in the same place doing the same things every morning: honing her physique and technique in ballet class. Dutifully forcing her body to repeat difficult movements that she’s done a million times before, Daly is ready for whatever role she is given next. She could be an abused Shakespearean wife, a flirtatious adulteress, a classical Balanchine ballerina, or a Sugar Plum Fairy. The life of an elite Joffrey Ballet dancer means living in a chameleonic state of constant evolution. Part athlete, part angel, all artist. The words “inspiration” and “fear” aren’t frequently paired together, yet, for Daly, the two go hand in hand. She doesn’t want to disappoint her director, her fellow dancers, her audience, or most of all, herself. Nerves are inevitable, so she uses them to her advantage, keeping the adrenaline and leaving the rest offstage, in the darkness. A little private time before a performance helps her focus and block everything else out, as she gets lost in the character. On stage, Daly transforms, and when the curtain finally comes down, the applause is deafening. It’s an overwhelming reception that validates her hard work and inspires her to forge ahead. Before it starts all over again tomorrow, Daly will take a step back and indulge, strapping on some heels to head out for a nice, relaxing dinner. April Daly is a classically trained ballet dancer and performs with the Joffrey Ballet Company in Chicago, Illinois
>>>>>>>>>>>> By Vicki Crain Photo by Jane Gaspar
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RAD HOURANI Fashion Designer I don’t see why we need to divide things by gender, seasons, rules, religion, race, nationality, age. I think that as a society, we’ve been extremely programmed. Even the most advanced societies are very limited in the way they define themselves. The way I do things without gender or season, it applies to everything in life. It’s about defying those limitations that are so often self-imposed. And maybe that’s what gives me drive... I’m inspired by the idea of creating something that can’t be defined by a limited category. Things that have no reference from the past. I believe the only way you can attend to this kind of inspiration is by observing everything around you. I also love crisp and clean lines, I am preoccupied by the dialogue between form and function, and I want to establish something perennial. I’m very interested in architecture. It allows me to focus on the strength of a sharp black line, and it’s what you find in everything I do. It’s important to believe in what you do and to put all of your energy and passion into it, as the challenge is the same challenge of any language: to get understood and make people react to what you say. You can’t always please everyone, but you can at least please yourself. I also think that you need a good balance to achieve real success in this industry: a sense of fashion and sense of business. Once you have a signature full of quality in what you do and a complete vision, you’ll always be fine. After years of scouting models and working as a magazine stylist, Rad Hourani launched his namesake fashion line in 2007. He prefers to work only in black and is known worldwide for his futuristic, monochromatic, unisex collections.
>>>>>>>>>>>> Q&A by Kristin Lamprecht Photo by Rad Hourani
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BUILD Graphic Designers “I’ve always thought that it’s easy to design something that looks beautiful, but I find that type of work uninspiring, dull even. I like work that throws a spanner in the works—work that is awkward, not quite right. I read an interview with Andrew Weatherall, who once said of his musical partner Keith Tenniswood: [He] could easily write a top-ten record, but his job in the process was to ‘fuck it up,’ add or distort something that didn’t quite sit right. And that struck a chord with me. The idea of making something slightly off, to an otherwise beautiful thing.”—Michael Place, Build “I love the fact that an answer to a problem can be really obscure, but somewhere there is a thread that connects it to the brief or the main purpose of what we’re doing. I never feel comfortable with the obvious, and that often means we find a way to do things we didn’t even think about at the outset. I’m drawn to pictures of places that are devoid of people; if people are in them, it ruins the magic for me. More everyday, it might be a bright plastic chair against the grass, or a badly written sign. Inspiration can be anywhere. It’s not necessarily something that inspires to create in a style, but something that just resonates with me in a big or a small way. Sometimes I don’t even know why.”—Nicola Place, Build Build is a London-based graphic design studio run by husband-and-wife team Michael and Nicola Place. They’ve done creative campaigns for brands large and small, including Nike and Getty Images. This year marks their 10th anniversary with Build.
>>>>>>>>>>>> Q&A by William Oliver Photo by Felipe Pagani
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Comic
Music
This issue's best Albums
Presented by
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DESIGN BUREAU
ALARM PRESS
Hella
Tripper (Sargent House) In 2002, a wild math-rock duo named Hella released a much-ballyhooed debut that sounded impossible to perform with just two members. From there, guitarist Spencer Seim and drummer Zach Hill expanded their sound (and level of complexity) with synthesizers and additional members, eventually recording as a five-piece for their 2007 release, There’s No 666 in Outer Space. Hella_VINYL_Gate_v01.indd 1
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Now, following a few years off to pursue other projects, Seim and Hill are back as Hella’s core, releasing an album that’s most sonically similar to Hold Your Horse Is, the band’s 2002 debut. It’s a welcome return to original form, one that is both “accessible” and melodic despite being highly technical. Old-school fans should love it, and those unfamiliar should use it as a starting point. /01
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Brian Eno and the words of Rick Holland
Drums Between the Bells (Warp) Ambient/electronic luminary Brian Eno has been on a collaborative kick in recent years, and that streak continues with his latest album, Drums Between the Bells. Using the words of poet Rick Holland, Eno offers an eclectic mix of timbres and moods as the foundations for metered metaphors and tales, as recited by a range of guests. The album’s varying musical styles are striking, ranging from celestial to funky, down-tempo, cinematic, and even slightly aggressive. Eno’s trademarks tie it all together, giving the album a necessary cohesion, but between the assorted sounds and vocalists, Drums Between the Bells achieves a diversity and quality that few spoken-word albums do. /02
World’s End Girlfriend
Seven Idiots (Erased Tapes) World’s End Girlfriend is the wild, hyper-melodic project of Japanese composer Katsuhiko Maeda, whose vivid arrangements are a dense blend of post-rock, classical music, and electronica. Originally released last year in Japan, Seven Idiots is his tenth studio album and only recently was released in the US. In just the first minute, the listener is hit by a beautiful union of Battles-esque guitar lines, funky bass slaps, classical melodies, glitch beats, and squiggly synth sounds. As the album progresses, it delves into polyrhythms, improvisation, and other noisy complexities—particularly from the “Bohemian Purgatory” triptych onward—but a robust sense of melody and an opportunity for head-nodding usually are at its core. /05
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Retox
Ugly Animals (Ipecac) Featuring Justin Pearson and Gabe Serbian of The Locust and Holy Molar, Michael Crain of Kill the Capulets and The Festival of Dead Deer, and solo artist Thor Dickey, Retox has roots in some of the most challenging bands to come out of West Coast DIY punk and hardcore over the past few decades. On this debut LP, 11 furious tracks blaze past in just 13 minutes. It’s noisy and angry but has plenty of hooks, balancing speed and intricacy with easily digestible riffs. According to the band, its existence is owed, in part, to stagnant counterculture, and that’s reflected with titles such as “Boredom is Counter-Revolutionary.” Retox’s sound matches that message, and hopefully, future releases will provide more of it. /03
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Serengeti
Family and Friends (Anticon) Chicago rapper Serengeti has built a small but rabid audience thanks to an unorthodox “indie” style. His 2009 album with frequent collaborator and producer Polyphonic, named Terradactyl, helped introduce him to a wider audience, and now his newest solo album, Family and Friends, should help garner more deserved attention thanks to its big-name producers. Half of Serengeti’s appeal is how well he mixes with other musicians and other styles, and this album—produced by Yoni Wolf of Why? and Owen Ashworth of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone—is no exception. The music is a quirky confluence of organic and electronic sounds and beats, but the real stars—as usual—are Serengeti’s disparate narratives and unpredictable rhymes. /04
Sole & The Skyrider Band
William Elliott Whitmore
Hello, Cruel World, his third album with the group, is another reinvention. Sole’s rhymes remain enlightened and outside the box, but his delivery is slowed a bit and surrounded by pop-infused and often vocoded vocal choruses. There’s a strange mixture of synthesizers, club sounds, stuttering beats, and orchestral flourishes, but it’s skillfully executed, offering high-minded qualities to a radio-friendly style. /06
Whitmore uses Field Songs to conjure images of rural life, with literal field sounds often in the background. Musically, it emphasizes acoustic guitar as much as or more than the banjo that has become synonymous with his name, and it goes further back to basics, cutting the few instrumental accompaniments that were present on his last album. /07
Hello, Cruel World (Fake Four Inc.) As one of the co-founders of the Anticon rap collective, Tim Holland (better known as Sole) has spent his career pushing the boundaries of alternative hip hop. Now, after two albums of expanded instrumentation with The Skyrider Band, he has parted with Anticon and gone further afield.
Field Songs (Anti-) Inspired by his roots in the American Midwest, singer/songwriter William Elliott Whitmore has helped spark a renewed interest in blues and folk music over the past decade. Now with more than half a dozen records to his name, Whitmore’s raspy voice is as recognized as ever, and his new album, Field Songs, accentuates it with another sparse, minimalist backdrop.
Scott Morrow is the music editor at ALARM and author of This Week’s Best Albums, an eclectic weekly column and podcast presenting exceptional music Visit www.alarmpress.com for more
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For Hire
FOR HIRE DESIGN TALENT FRESH ON THE MARKET
FOR HIREKyle Letendre FOR HIRE For Hire: DESIGN TALENT FRESH ON THE MARKET
DESIGN TALENT FRESH ON THE MARKET
FOR HIRE Design Talent Fresh On the Market
This dapper graduate designs like he dresses: adventurously
How did you pick graphic design as your area of expertise? I’ve been fascinated by ty- FOR HIRE TALENT FOR HIRE FOR HIRE pography since DESIGN FRESH ON THE DESIGN TALENT Design Talent I was a kid. My MARKET FRESH ON THE Fresh On MARKET the Market h a n d w r i t i n g wa s a l wa y s my pride and joy, and in art classes, I was more likely to be found lettering than painting landscapes. I think my attraction to design was that it was an applied art, one that could be both attracDESIGN TALENT FRESH tive and informative. I’ve also never been too good at sewing, ON THE MARKET so this was a medium that I could tackle and wouldn’t involve pricking my finger with a needle.
FOR HIRE
FOR HIRE DESIGN TALENT FRESH ON THE MARKET
FOR HIRE: Laura Allcorn DESIGN TALENT FRESH ON THE MARKET
FORFORHIRE HIRE
DESIGN TALENT FRESH DESIGN TALENT FRESH How would you describe your aesthetic? ON THE MARKET ON THE MARKET
Generally speaking, my work is similar to the clothes I wear. In both cases, they’re a little loud, generally intricate, and vintage-inspired. Graphic prints and stripes, clean lines, and a good pair of shoes work wonders. I like to think that I’m adventurous. Is there a particular style of design or object that you absolutely despise? For some reason, the words “organic” and “earthy” really skeeve me out. It’s not that they’re inherently bad reference points or invalid ideas for design, because they’re not. I just feel like it often lends itself to bland design and cheesy type treatments. That, and Crocs.
What are your post-graduation career goals? The goal is to work somewhere that allows me to pursue several avenues of design. I’m a type designer, but I also want to work in branding, illustration, and motion graphics. Why should somebody hire you? My dedication to handcrafted design sets me apart as someone who’s able to conceptualize and execute unusual ideas. I’m not the type of person who blends in, and my design doesn’t either. I’m eager and hard-working, curious and sharp. a
Kyle likes... Avocados, Ffffound.com, bow ties, Clue (the movie), Stefan Sagmeister, 89.3 “The Current” out of the Twin Cities Kyle dislikes… Handwriting fonts, Perez Hilton, poor public transportation etiquette, socks and shorts (see also: socks and sandals)
RESUME SNAPSHOT: KYLE LETENDRE EDUCATION Columbia College Chicago BFA, Graphic Design January 2008-May 2011
Work Experience Columbia College Chicago Portfolio Center January 2011-May 2011
Skills Advanced knowledge in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign CS5
Windy City Rollers, Graphic Design Ad layouts and web banners Photo retouching, formatting, and resizing
Working knowledge of typeface authoring in ScanFont, TypeTool, and Fontographer 5
Interested in being featured in For Hire? Email us at forhire@wearedesignbureau.com
Effective team player and efficient worker
Wanna hire Kyle? Check out his website: www.heykyle.net
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Outpost United States
De Nieuwe Liefde Amsterdam, Netherlands
Calabar International Center Calabar, Nigeria
The Factory Rives de Seine, France
Pedestrian Footbridge Evry, France
Debowa Housing Estate BPA Katowice
Bene Flagship Store Vienna, Austria
House in Vandans Vandans, Austria
Heathdale House Toronto, Canada
Bamboo Forest House Taiwan, China
Tokyo French Embassy Tokyo, Japan
Boa Nova Church Estoril, Portugal
Das Aigner Ybbsitz, Austria
Zeidler House Aptos, United States
architizer.com
Lucke Orozco House Guadalajara, Mexico
Fukoku Tower Osaka, Japan
THE SOURCE FOR TODAY’S ARCHITECTURE.
Marché Lier Lier, Norway