Jonathan Adler on Happy Chic and following your heart in design

UPDATE!! I came across this video of Jonathan Adler (one of my former bosses) speaking at Behance’s 99% Conference. In his lecture, Jonathan talks about the importance of following your heart, staying true to your vision and saying “fuck it,” in regards to other people’s opinions of your work. This comes in great contrast to what one learns in school and the world of marketing, but I believe there’s a lot of heart and truth in what he’s saying here. As someone that was in a similar situation in grad school (Jonathan tells his story about an oppressively unsupportive teacher in design school), his message resonates with me. Ultimately, you’ll be the most happy making the work you want to make, instead of the work you have to make, and if you’re lucky, and work hard, success is the best revenge.

Get into it and feel the joy.

Speaking of joy, this past Thursday I headed to the 92Y Tribeca to catch Jonathan and Simon’s talk, Style, Craft, Joy. The hour long program covered stories about Jonathan’s upbringing, the story behind building his brand, and the house that Jonathan & Simon built together on Shelter Island. Pictures of their dream house are found in his new book, 100 Ways to Happy Chic Your Life. My favorite part of the lecture was the Q&A session that followed. One person asked about criticism he receives for creating work that isn’t particularly “serious,”  … work that is happy, joyful and quirky. Jonathan said that many people don’t view him as a legitimate “designer” because he creates this type of work, and his work is somehow less-designed because it isn’t overtly serious and conceptual. I can easily relate to this idea as my thesis studied the importance of Joy in design and process. In an academically-based MFA program, I spent a majority of my time making the case for this area of study, of its merit for an MFA thesis. In the end, I finished my thesis and couldn’t be happier with my results. And Jonathan continues to expand his brand from interiors, to fashion and just about everything else that can be housed in your home or office. So cheers to joy and happy chic!

And to help bring more happy chic into your home, this weekend only enjoy 20% off in stores and online at Jonathan Adler!

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Let’s be Frank.

 

Photos: William Waldron, courtesy of Elle Décor.

Today I’m giving you a glimpse into the home life of Frank Muytjens, head menswear designer at J.Crew. I’ve seen editorial features on Frank for a while, popping up in magazines and online, but I particularly enjoyed this profile at Elle Decor giving readers a tour inside his country home 2 hours outside of NYC. Not only does Frank have excellent taste when it comes to designing menswear (at least half of my wardrobe is J.Crew these days), but he’s equally adept at designing beautiful interiors. When in the city, Frank calls Williamsburg, Brooklyn home (we’re neighbors – I must meet him!), and he’s created an equally beautiful space there. So happy Friday, and get into these beautiful interiors by Frank Muytjens, the man behind the men at J.Crew.

 

Living room – looooove the light and flowers.

Simple kitchen.

In front every great designer, is a great desk. It all starts with a desk.

Love the painting on the wall, and the fan/stack of National Geographics.

How amazing is this closet? SUCH ENVY.

Frank at home in the country (above). Frank and his two-year old Dutch.

These spreads are featured in the Dec 2012 issue of Lonnymag.com

Love the bed. Neutrals forever.

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The internet lives … in NC

 

For the first time, Google released photos of one of it’s data centers showing the complex networks of pipes, servers and technology the technology giant uses to power the internet. The facility, located in Lenoir, NC, is part of a complex of buildings recently built in North Carolina. Apple also recently broke ground a data center in Maiden, North Carolina – so the internet is alive in NC! I love how Google color-coded their infrastructure to match their iconic logo – what a great idea. Playful, and very organized. It’s mind blowing to think of the level of organization needed to design and build one of these centers. See more photos below.

 

To see more photos, visit 8 places your computer has already been.

Technology is beautiful!

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Brooklyn’s Wythe Hotel

Today as I was enjoying my morning coffee and browsing Tumblr, I stumbled across the image above from the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg Brooklyn. As coincidence would have it, I visited the Wythe Hotel last week for dinner + drinks and fell in love with the place, but I’d only seen the lobby and restaurant. Freshome, a design and architecture blog, recently featured the hotel on their website showing a bunch of beautiful photos. I love that the building was a textile mill in its former life and was renovated into a beautiful modern day hotel with much of its original character intact. After spending so long designing for a hotel company, I can really appreciate all the design and details that go into these projects.

The Hotel’s press release states, “Built in 1901, this former textile factory has been meticulously converted into a 72-room hotel offering service and amenities yet to be seen in the borough, while the building’s industrial character – like its concave corner entrance, original pine beams, masonry, arched windows and cast-iron columns – has been beautifully preserved.  Renowned Brooklyn restaurateur Andrew Tarlow, of Marlow & Sons, Diner, and Roman’s, manages the hotel’s expansive food and beverage program. Venues include Reynards – a ground floor restaurant and bar with a wood-fired oven and grill, courtyard seating, and a daily menu featuring market-driven American fare and seasonal cocktails, and Ides – a 6th floor bar and terrace with stunning Manhattan and Brooklyn views.”

Beautiful view right?

Library.

Lobby.

Guestroom.

Love the headboard wall detail.

Beautiful pattern.

Bathroom.

Really like their logo and the design of their website, beautiful really.

These simply line drawings of the room layouts are really quite nice.

They have a custom-made neon sign outside. Absolutely STUNNING at night.

The map.

For more information, visit their website here.

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Weaving Community at Herman Miller

The fine folks at Herman Miller created a great page on their site for anyone looking a new desktop, ipad or iphone wallpaper. On their Weaving Community page, Herman Miller asks, “As people work more together—much of it digitally—they place increasing value on interacting with others face to face. How do we define community?”

The enormous changes in how, where, and with whom people work necessitate a nuanced approach to workplace design. Community spaces for social and knowledge sharing are balanced with those that enable concentrative individual work. A variety of space types allows choice, helping people engage more deeply. Sixty years ago, designer George Nelson said the ultimate office should be like a daytime living room. We embrace his blurring of work and life in the Herman Miller Collection, authentic modern design for how we live and work today. – Herman Miller

On the site are 10 responses about the importance of community and working together in well-designed spaces hidden behind beautiful pattern designs by the likes of Alexander Girard and other Herman Miller artists. So get into the inspiration and down free pattern here on on their site.

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Architectura Inspiration

It’s been a crazy week since I last posted. I recently moved from one Brooklyn apartment to another and have been preoccupied with settling in, unpacking and adjusting to a new neighborhood. And since I’m been examining and planning for my new space, I’ve had interior design and architecture on the brain a lot this week. A few days ago I found this awesome blog, Architectura. This blog is curated by 4 design students/graduates Paula Gonzalez (Ireland), Samuel Zeller (Switzerland), Tiago Leal (Portugal) and Timothy Hyde (Austria). I’m not really sure how these four got together and started their blog, but I love the variety of images they collect showcasing industrial design, interior design, and modern + historic architecture. While I’m planning to start a schedule of more frequent posts next week, sit back and enjoy a few of my favorites from Architectura, and check out their archive of images here.

One of my favorite buildings in NYC, near the High Line Park.

Love this interior.

Cool stairway design (above and below).

Another great interior.

Lastly, someone buy this place for me. Pretty sweet beach house no?

Their June 2012 archives. Pretty awesome!

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Michael Freimuth & the Glass Shop

Today I’m sharing a beautiful project by Michael Freimuth. The Glass Shop is a coffee shop in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood and in 2009, Michael created a new visual identify for the place. I’ve seen this project on several design blogs and have always been curious about the project and his work. Here is a little about the project:

Glass Shop sought to establish itself by communicating its local, neighborhood commitment as well as its dedication to classically prepared espresso drinks. Catering to a younger demographic in this new and emerging area of the city, it was important for the venture to not appear overly polished or pristine – the antithesis to a Starbucks or conventional chain coffee house. A dual-sided poster distributed guerilla-style throughout all of the New York City boroughs helped launch Glass Shop – and once on the premises, clientele are discretely greeted with collateral, messaging and environmental design that strive to represent the retailer’s perspective and values. -September Industry

Back side of poster.

Detail (above and below

).

The Glass Shop itself, at 766 Classon Ave.

So if you find yourself in Crown Heights looking for some great coffee, hit up the Glass Shop. And if you’re looking for some great design work, check out Michael Freimuth’s portfolio site here.

 

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Enjoy Summer on Shelter Island with Adler & Doonan

Photography by Joshua McHugh

Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan grace the pages of July’s Architectural Digest where they invite readers for a sneak peak of their Shelter Island home. As someone lucky enough to work for JA, I’d always been curious about this storied summer retreat. So hot off the presses, here are a few of my favorite shots. Be sure to pick up the July issue on newsstands now, and check out  Jonathan’s 10 Essentials for Summer Fun. Enjoy and happy summer!

How great are these tiles for outdoors?

I always smile at portraits of the married couple. So much personality.

Living room.

Again, how great are these tiles? The dark blue looks great with the orange.

Happy paddling and happy summer!

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DCW Design for Jonathan Adler

As most of you know, last spring I was given the extraordinary opportunity to intern for the one and only Jonathan Adler, purveyor of all things happy and chic. Now is an exciting time because most of the things I’ve designed for JA are finally hitting stores and online. One of the items I’m most excited about is the Peace & Love coasters I designed. For this project, I had just a few hours to design two sets of coasters for Saks Off 5th. One design was to use a British Flag motif while the other should use art from the existing Peace & Love pillows. To make a long story short, Jonathan liked the coasters above so much, he decided to sell them in our stores and I created another simplified version of the Peave & Love artwork for Saks Off 5th.

I designed 4 different patterns using British Flag design motifs. I really likes the ones with the strips – very nautical right?

Final Design – available now at Saks Off 5th !!

Another big project was the packaging for the 2011 holiday ornaments. In the middle of March we designed these. Who knew Christmas came in the spring?

Mr + Mrs. Muse ornament packaging.

I created the pattern on the box, which is made of the iconic lips and mustache used in the Jonathan Adler Muse collection.

Another project that was super exciting is this line of typographic needlepoint pillows we designed for an upcoming Jonathan Adler book. The chapters of the book are divided into the following sections: dwell, embrace, explore, twist, and ponder. I love to play around with type, so this was the perfect project for me. I had the idea to limit each pillow to a few typefaces and colors. One pillow would have type in shades of green (dwell, see above), another red (twist) and another blue (ponder). One of the things I LOVED about working for Jonathan Adler was the ability to work on fun projects like this with crazy typefaces. In the design work I do for most clients, I’d never dream of using these typefaces, but somehow all together they’re fun and chic. Something about this style really works for Jonathan Adler and isn’t seen anywhere else.

One last project I was super excited about was a line or prints JA was developing for a big picture frame & art company. I’m not sure what happened to this project, but I spend several days coming up with really cool type prints based on Jonathan Adler’s “Alderisms” or words and phrases JA uses a lot in their stores. Sadly this is the only one I have a copy of. How cute would this be in your apartment right?

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Day seven: Svenskt Tenn

Today brings us to the final 7 designers in 7 days post – though don’t be surprised if a few other designers pop up on my blog in the coming weeks. Today’s post is about Svenskt Tenn – an ANAZING furniture/interior design store in Sweden – and the home of Josef Frank’s textiles. According to their website, “Svenskt Tenn is an interior design shop located on Strandvägen in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded in 1924 by Estrid Ericson, who recruited Josef Frank to the company 10 years later. Together they created the elegant and boldly patterned personal interior design style that continues to pervade the collection to this day” Josef Frank is the designer I talked about in my first “7 designers” post, so it’s fitting we start and end with him.

 

On their website, Svenskt Tenn talks about their design Philosophy, which I think is great and applicable to all types of designers:

Josef Frank’s vision of humane, soft modernism and Estrid Ericsson’s artistry are the foundations of Svenskt Tenn’s interior design philosophy. Together, the duo created a highly personal style with a combination of Viennese elegance and Swedish functionalism. Brightly coloured patterns went completely against the ideals of the day, as did unabashed borrowing from both high and low cultures and eras.

They called it “Accidentism” or “The Happy Chances Philosophy.” In 1958, Josef Frank wrote in the magazine Form: “There’s nothing wrong with mixing old and new, with combining different furniture styles, colours and patterns. Anything that is in your taste will automatically fuse to form an entire relaxing environment. A home does not need to be planned down to the smallest detail or contrived; it should be an amalgamation of the things that the owner loves and feels at home with.”

Always current.

That such a way of thinking is applicable even today is something that many can attest to. Josef Frank is held in great repute, not the least among today’s young designers. His National Museum Cabinet has received a number of design accolades and his textiles are a source of inspiration for many young textile designers today.  

Estrid Ericson and Josef Frank have succeeded in creating that timelessness which so many strive for but few manage to achieve.

While touring the store we saw all the beautiful Josef Frank couches, many were oversized (see above) and looked so comfortable, but we were afraid to sit on anything. Our tour guide told us to not be silly, and that anything they made was to be used and enjoyed. How great is that? And how untypical for a design store. I especially love how they mix all the different textiles together and don’t try to be matchy-matchy. Many of the combinations I would never dream of, but somehow they work together. One their website there is a great Inspiration section with decorating and design ideas. After printing textiles by hand and mixing colors for the last two weeks, I have a new found respect for all the work that goes into creating these textiles. It baffles my mind how beautiful and vivid their colors come out on such thick upholstery furniture.

Took this in their showroom – they’re building a new one, so their temporary space is an old movie theater.

Great example of how their patterns look together – applied on lampshades.

I’m obsessed with these plates!

Great right?

Love the green, glass, and golds in this picture, from their Inspiration page.

Pewter oddities.

I want to live in this world! One day I’ll have a Josef Frank chair to read in.

 

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