Michael S. Smith | White House Decorator

California native, Michael S. Smith has been chosen by Michelle Obama to redecorate the private quarters of the White House. Click below to learn more about Michael and check out images of Smith's previous work.







I especially enjoy Smith's use of pattern and texture. It adds effortless depth to a room without making it look too busy. His style is both traditional and modern which creates more of an eclectic room.

Michael has his own line of rugs and carpeting...


lighting...




furniture...




and home fragrances. As well as bathroom fixtures and tile.


It seems as though the Obama's have chosen a very well rounded designer for the job. Michael has won many awards such as Designer of the Year by Elle Decor (2003) and Architectural Digest's "The AD 100" in both 2002 and 2004. Some of his celebrity clients consist of Michele Pfeiffer, Steven Spielberg, and Cindy Crawford.

"I am delighted to work with the Obamas as they bring their own energy and style to the residence at The White House," said decorator Michael Smith. "The family's casual style, their interest in bringing 20th Century American artists to the forefront and utilizing affordable brands and products will serve as our guiding principles as we make the residence feel like their home." reported by Lynn Sweet Washington Bureau Chief for The Chicago Sun-Times.

Can't wait to see what he has in store for the White House.

To be continued...

www.michaelssmith.com
www.suntimes.com


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Sharp Thinking

Recenty Sharpie has released an ad campaign that has allowed passers-by a chance to very publicly take part in an act of “vandalism”. These interactive billboards allow a viewer to pick colors and leave their mark all over cities’ ads, sort of taking the opinion: “Its going to happen anyway, why not facilitate it.”


There are a couple reasons why something like this is/can be so successful, especially in the techno-savvy world we are living in:

One, it allows any ordinary person to feed their inner-desire to vandalize. Honestly, we all know it feels great to do something risky and get away with it. It’s human nature.

Secondly, and more smartly, Sharpie has caught on to this “touch-screen” lifestyle everyone is starting to live. With iPhones and Blackberrys offering the Internet and so many other apps literally at the consumers’ fingertips, touch screens and interactivity have become commonplace. Therefore the interface / framework is more familiar to the average viewer and usability becomes almost natural.

This expands Sharpie’s audience as well as changing advertising and guerrilla type campaigns for competitors, both in the permanent marker business as well as those just competing for the attention of the daily commuter on the city streets.

Source: the cool hunter
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Movie Title Screens R' Us

This guy, Steven Hill, has collected a countless amount of movie title screens on his website that are really pretty fantastic. From a design and typographic standpoint, the site really highlights what I feel has been an overlooked part of the movie-going experience.

Steven has mainly pulled from his collection, but also takes submissions from faithful viewers. He has collated from all forms of media: dvd, vhs, laserdisc (who knew?). The result is a stunning collection of movies old and new. Scrolling through, its pretty interesting to see where movies have come and gone, sort of the trends of older westerns like this:



To the latest movies that have relied on minimalism:


Either way this site portrays the strength of typography to carry an emotion. Not only what that title is but how it is displayed, what the typeface(s) is/are, can set the mood of the entire movie. In this way the type becomes more than just words. This realization leads to some of the more successful movies because the director is able to create a completely cohesive experience for the audience in which they can immerse themselves entirely into the emotion of the film right from the start. Now, these are the thoughts of a major typophile but if it isn't this deep to you, at least its a fantastic way to spend an hour.
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Designing The Dress by Nicole, Part I: The Identity

For the better part of a year, my wife has been working on opening up a bridal boutique. It just so happens that she is married to a retail designer (yes, that would be me), so naturally I’ve been working on everything from the business’s identity to the website to the store’s interior. This is Part I of my story, entitled The Identity.

When most people think of a corporate identity, they think of a logo, perhaps a business card, and maybe even custom stationary. In truth, it goes much deeper than that. For starters, you need a name. Buying a wedding dress is an exciting and emotional time for a bride, so we wanted a name that would reflect that, as well as one that would stand out amongst a list of similar-sounding bridal shop names. Many brides say that they are looking for THE dress, implying both that it is the most important dress she’ll ever wear and that there is just one dress that’s perfect for her. We eventually agreed on The Dress by Nicole because it captures that feeling, and at the same time denotes a friendly, personal touch that you don’t get from big box bridal retailers.

Of course, I began working on the logo before we’d settled on The Dress by Nicole, so as the logo evolved it helped us make a decision. I came up with the idea of including the silhouette of a dress form because Nicole wanted something more “feminine” than simple text, and a dress form fit the bill without being too specific to a single style of dress. Plus, it has a personal significance because it recalls my wife’s background in fashion design.

For the logo’s font, I chose a variation of Goudy Old Style for its graceful lines and good readability. The use of small caps and custom kerning for “The Dress” lends visual weight to the shortened name of the boutique, while the smaller, lower-case lettering in “by Nicole” allows supporting text in the same font to tie back to the logo.

The logo is combined with a tone-on-tone damask pattern in black or white, to create a look that is vintage with a modern twist. In printed materials, wherever possible, the damask pattern is created using clear gloss ink over matte-finished paper. In electronic uses and some printed pieces, the pattern is acheived through the use of a subtle gradient over a black or white background. The pattern is also used on its own to reinforce the brand identity without an overuse of the logo.

Putting it all together... the business card.


Check back soon for Part II of Designing The Dress by Nicole, The Shop!
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Holiday Store Design: ANTHROPOLOGIE

I am always impressed with the way Anthropologie re-invents their store every season/holiday. They are especially creative with their use of materials; such as ribbon, colored rope, paper chains, nuts, painted wood chunks. Click below to see some of their ideas for holiday store design from coast to coast. (store images taken from NYC and Southern California)

Each display is very detail oriented. The pictures below show a frosted window that was made personal with the use of a pencil eraser.



Paper chains were also put to use. Perhaps something that you would have made in grade school to bring home to Mom, but works rather well in this imaginative store.



Below is a fun use of cardboard with colored ornaments nested in the loops to perfectly accent the clothing displayed underneath.


And last, but not least, the holiday garland.





Now maybe you’ll be inspired to create fun holiday decorations for your home. Anthropologie’s website claims that they have “a love for making things that inspire the imagination”. I believe they achieve their goal each and every time there is a new display.

www.designspongeonline.com
http://ruthiauda.com/blog/
www.anthropologie.com
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Modern Kitchens from the 40's, 50's, and 60's

I came across these images of ‘kitchens of tomorrow’ through various websites. It’s interesting to see what was considered modern in the 40’s, and where we thought we were going to be in the next 100 years.


When one is designing for today it isn’t always a bad idea to take a look at what was classic/modern in the past. In fact, it is how most design is done -- to take design cues from an existing item, and recreate them to make something else that is unique, interesting, and exciting.





Check out the built-in foot pedals for the faucet.



See the video below for a modern kitchen from the 60's.



Thanks to:
www.treehugger.com
www.dwell.com
www.images.google.com

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Architectural Elegance.

It is interesting to see when famous architects try to translate their signature aesthetics to product design. Case in point is this Wyborowa vodka and its gift case designed by well known architect Frank Gehry. Mr. Gehry is well known for his ground breaking designs of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao Spain and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angles. With twisting forms and angles, the bottle and gift case mimics Gehry’s style. Looking at both pieces, I am more drawn to the gift case than the bottle. Maybe it is due to twisting forms of the wood and its handmade quality, also it just looks different then what I normally see in packaging design. I would like to see both pieces in person but I haven’t had any luck finding it. I have checked out a couple of big liquor stores by me but no luck.

Image courtesy of Wyborowa vodka

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New Concept Glasses from Nike

Nike has come up with a pair of concept glasses intended for cyclists.




The fresnel lenses are curved around the frame to extend a biker’s peripheral vision. The lense detects motion rather than still objects. Hopefully the added 25% of view won't be too distracting.



The intention of the glasses is to prevent accidents on the road. The good thing is the simplicity of the design makes these glasses a much cooler safety option than a helmet; even though a helmet is still needed.



Since I am really clumsy and am almost always running into people in the office maybe I should start wearing them all the time...

sources:
gizmodo

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Herman Miller Embody

This past week, Herman Miller unveiled it’s latest office chair, called Embody. Though the Mirra and Celle chairs before it could also be considered successors to the famous Aeron chair, Embody is the first to come from the Aeron’s designer, the late Bill Stumpf.

sweet.

The chair, which is said to have been inspired by a comfortable pair of shoes, supports the body with multiple layers of suspension systems, while a mesh fabric cover allows air circulation. The really cool stuff, though, is in the back. Designed to mimic the shape of the human spine, the backrest maintains proper posture at all times, while an array of H-shaped supports eliminates pressure points. The narrow top of the backrest allows for a better range of motion than wide-backed chairs.

Chris C. Hill, senior project engineer. nice.

All this technology equates to a healthier chair, which anyone who has spent considerable time in an Aeron chair (or one of its many respectable competitors) will tell you is well worth the money. It also gives the chair a high-tech look that is sure to be more polarizing than the somewhat understated, by comparision, Aeron. By only showing Embody in bright colors like orange, lime green, and light blue, it seems Herman Miller is trying to encourage people to be a bit more adventurous in their office decor. There will be 13 fabrics and 3 finishes to choose from when it goes on sale in early 2009.

Of course, the chair befits Herman Miller’s commitment to sustainability by being 96% recyclable. Furthermore, it will be manufactured in green facilities in Michigan, China, and the UK to minimize shipping distances.

I, for one, can’t wait to take Embody for a test-sit as soon as it hits showrooms later this month. With a list-price of $1,595 and a perfectly good Mirra chair waiting for me at home, hopefully I won’t fall in love.

sources:
CNN Money
Luxist
Gizmodo
MLive
Apartment Therapy Chicago
SlashGear


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Kinetic Energy!!!

I am excited about Ford adopting its new design language called "Kinetic Design". "Kinetic Design" means energy in motion. The concept appeared at Frankfurt Motor Show with the debut of the iosis Concept, a four-door sedan that featured clean angles, a sharply sloped windscreen and large wheels. Many of its design themes are now on the S-MAX and Galaxy MPV’s and the 2007 Mondeo. It is very hard to design something that evokes certain emotions and is aesthetically pleasing at the same time. If you have both combination working then you have a winning design. As far as I can see, Ford translating kinetic design DNA into their other model lines is working quite well. Unfortunately, a lot of these cool designs won’t be making it to the States. Which begs the question; how come Europe always gets cool designs?? Especially when it comes to small hatchbacks..... Read More......

FUSION OF MATERIALS

Alexander Pelikan has come up with a new technique that fuses wood and plastic together. This is an exciting step for furniture design. The composition of the furniture is unique with the random placement of plastic combined with the rigid nature of wood; creating an effect that looks as though the wood is painted.

Check out the video to see Pelikan demonstrate his technique!


Alexander was born in Germany and completed his bachelor’s degree at the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2006. He also opened up his own studio, PeLidesign www.pelidesign.com.

Hunn Wai is another designer that demonstrates an interesting fusion of materials. In the pictures below it looks as though the wood is melting into the plastic.




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fun with COLORS

Color can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. There are tons of websites out there that let you have fun with color, if you know where to find them. Here are a few that I’ve found...


Multicolr Search Lab - Idée Inc.


This nifty tool lets you search Flickr’s images by color. Choose up to 10 colors from the palette on the right and be amazed at the results. (clicking the same color more than once increases its presence in the search results)

I used it to create this homage to PANTONE® 143 C.




COLOURlovers.com


Keep your finger on the pulse of the colour community with the help of this awesome site. Browse and download the latest palettes and patterns created by people just like yourself, or submit your own for judging. Be sure to check out their blog as well for loads of inspiration.


Color Palette Generator


Need to create a color palette from an image? Are you too lazy to do it yourself? Would you rather have your computer do it for you mathematically, using calculus or something? Then check out the Color Palette Generator on DeGraeve.com. Who knows? It might come in handy some day for you graphic designers out there.

That’s all I have right now. Post your favorite color sites in the comments!
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