Posted on January 19th, 2010 by ali // 1 Comment »
Not too long ago Twitter follower emilyabbs sent us a TwitPic of her upper playground Dora Drimalas Bike Love Tee. Not only do we love that Emily tweeted her photo to us, but we love that she loves bikes and we love that she has a three legged dog named Hopalong Dixie…
Name: Emily
Where do you live? Phoenix, Arizona
What do you do? Co-owner & graphic designer at Two Birds Creative, Inc.
DP Purchase/s: upper playground Dora Drimalas Bike Love Women’s Tee
What’s your favorite DP product and why? My “Bike Love” tee! I recently wore the shirt when I visited some friends in Portland, and to New Belgium’s Tour de Fat in Tempe, AZ. Basically, I love anything bicycle. It fascinates me that the bike is the only mode of transportation that improves with use.
Four sites/blogs you visit daily: I’m a graphic designer, but I love interior design and revamped old furniture.I feed that side of my Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 9th, 2008 by ali // 1 Comment »
Last week I was thinking about a project I wanted to make with wool felt (yes, I spend a good amount of time thinking about textiles, don’t you?!) when James announced that Josh Jakus was the newest addition to our site. What a sign of inspiration! Josh is known for his felt pieces made from factory excess fibers and rubber designs made from recycled tires. When people use one of Josh’s products they naturally encounter the way it was conceived and developed. Amazing stuff. Enjoy the Q&A!
I’ve read that you have a background in both architecture and furniture design. What was the turning point that led you from architecture and furniture to soft goods?
I started doing furniture design in architecture school because they had a woodshop and I’ve always enjoyed manual work. As a design process I liked the simplicity and perfection of furniture as a counterpoint to architecture, which is so complicated and messy (sometimes in a good way). After I finished school I continued making furniture while I did freelance architectural work. My intent was to turn the furniture into a business that would go along side my architecture, but it proved to be very difficult to come up with commercially viable pieces. So I decided to experiment with Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on November 4th, 2008 by ali // 1 Comment »
I never thought I would say this, but thanks to designers like Susie Mendive of SUM I am actually ecstatic wallpaper has made such a solid comeback. This is gen-u-ine excitement. My parents coated our home with wallpaper in the early 80’s, and it wasn’t pretty. It was so bad I remember as a little girl trying to peel it off to hint to my parents that they needed to do something with the walls. Now, times are different and I want to paper my walls myself!
Wallpaper actually gets me all riled up so I apologize in advice for my lengthy list of questions with Susie Mendive. Enjoy!
I know a bit about your background…a graphic designer with a graduate degree from North Carolina then to LA then to NY as art director with stila cosmetics…but I think there are some holes, especially in how you transitioned from branding cosmetics to designing modern wallpaper. Tell us more! How did SUM come together?
It happened very organically. I very much wanted to design and produce my own product and call all the shots. It just made sense at that point in my career. There is a lot of hard work involved and it can be consuming but I like taking it one step at the time.
Tell us about the name, SUM. How did you come up with this?
My husband and I were in Tokyo and it just hit me, Su is from Susie and M from Mendive but more than that it was the idea of a total home concept…SUM of all parts. A total approach to design and living.
The female silhouettes of your Floral Femme Fatale prints are an amazing graphic. They have a significant presence let alone bring Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on October 7th, 2008 by ali // 1 Comment »
I suppose I have to join in the staff profile fun…
Where are you from? I am a Boulder, CO mountain girl at heart, but I lived in a small town in Illinois for a few years during my formative years where, like Joe, I learned to appreciate the taste of Midwestern cuisine (meatloaf, corn, frozen peas, Jell-O with marshmallows, etc.). I also lived in Saudi Arabia and Alaska shortly after I was born, but I don’t really remember either spot so I guess they don’t count.
Where do you live now? I have been a bit of a nomad during my 9 years in Nor Cal. Currently I have nestled myself into a corner in Oakland and love it but I have to continue my nomadic ways…as of next week I’ll be moving into a loft space in Emeryville. Expect lots of photos oh-so-soon!
How did you get interested in design? I have always had a passion for crafts, design, and art in general. As a child I would make intricate dioramas for book projects and they would typically be scenes in a home (and no, my parents didn’t make my school projects for me). In college one of my majors was in art with a focus on mixed media painting. I took a couple photography classes and while other students did their final projects taking pictures of people or landscapes, I was off photographing chairs.
What’s your favorite DP product and why? I have major love for the Blu Dot Nick Table. The character of the woodgrain and the rounded edges make me melt. Some may call me a “DP addict” since Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on October 2nd, 2008 by ali // 1 Comment »
We’ve introduced the ladies of our Three’s Company customer service team, Melissa and Kerstin. Now it is time to meet the ringleader aka Jack Tripper aka John Ritter aka…Joe!
Where are you from? Nebraska! The great land of beef, corn, and Football – with a capital F.
Where do you live now? Last year I moved from a fabulous sprawling penthouse in Oakland to an equally lovely shoebox in SF. It’s all about location, baby!
How did you get interested in design? I worked at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for years and found myself attending as many architecture and design lectures I could get into. It is fascinating for me to learn about the process a designer goes through in order to realize their ideas. It is also interesting for me to see how people can interpret the same object in so many different ways. I think that’s where the line often blurs between art and function.
What’s your favorite DP product and why? Love my Area Jewel duvet and Area Theo coverlet. I always tell people its my ‘fancy’ bedding.
What do you like most about our company? I mostly work here for the free food. People say we have a Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on September 30th, 2008 by ali // No Comments »
To piggyback off of Melissa’s staff profile, let me now introduce another one of our Three’s Company (aka Customer Service Team) characters: Kerstin!
Where are you from? Clearwater, FL
Where do you live now? San Francisco, CA
How did you get interested in design? I started cutting up clothes and sewing them, painting, doing ceramics, changing the way I “decorated” my rooms and other creative shenanigans when I was younger and throughout growing up. As I got older, I discovered new arenas of more sophisticated design regarding furniture and sustainable art, how loose the term “design” is, and how the kiddie painting and grown-up furniture design can work together… Did that make sense?
What’s your favorite DP product and why? umm… I don’t have a favorite, but I really love jefdesigns pieces, and I really need the Area Bruno Bed and some Graham & Brown Mode Enchant Wallpaper, please.
If you weren’t doing this what would you do? Probably be miserable while Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on September 25th, 2008 by ali // No Comments »
Upon the event that you’ve ever been lucky enough to communicate with our customer service team…this is who is on the other end:
“The adventures of two women and one man
working together in one department.”
Since quality customer service is so important to us, these guys are very important to us. Luckily, we’ve got a great tight group with amazing karate chopping (aka customer service) skills.
We’ve shared a number of staff profiles in the past but there has been a major lapse in updating our team info. Now’s as good a time as any to get this going again and who better to start with than the Three’s Company (i.e. customer service) team. First up: Melissa!
Where are you from? Where do you live now? I am from the East Bay. I lived there forever until Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on September 19th, 2008 by Becky // 2 Comments »
Thanks to Elements of Style for this post about how to live a Hollywood Regency dream by renting from Room Service.
Oh My God! THE LIZA ROOM TAKES THE CAKE! If you missed SF20, you can lament your loss by perusing these fabulous images Leah posted at More Ways to Waste Time.
Oh My God Part II: Oh Patricia Gray, thank you for this. At first I thought it was a Chelsea Lately sketch, but it really is Sarah Palin’s office
Home Rejuvenation’s posts blow my mind all the time. I’m giddy over the The Next Generation House by Sou Fujimoto Architects.
I’m just nuts about Mrs. Blandings. I don’t know how I missed this charming Kansas City-based blogger’s writing for so long.
I don’t know how it took me ten days to find fellow, the new online design magazine from decor fellow blogger James Saavedra. Thanks to Habitually Chic for the tipoff.
Check out the list of the most inspiring design books of all time from O At Home magazine. I’m such a dork; I circled the ones I already have, which added up to ten. I was really excited to see Luis Barragan, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown and J.B. Jackson included on the list, but was disappointed that landscape architecture was not represented more.
Bummer! The Farnsworth House, in spite of the plinth it sits on above the ground, is majorly flooded. To make a donation towards repairs, click here. (via AT: Chicago).
Design Bloggers in Print! The New York Times did a huge feature on design bloggers yesterday, and included some of my favorites, like Jennifer Dwyer from The Peak of Chic. Congratulations! Hey, you know what’s weird? Wordpress has the word “bloggers” underlined right now like it’s not a word. It has Wordpress underlined as well. What’s up with that?
- image from fellow by James Saavedra
Posted on August 4th, 2008 by ali // 1 Comment »
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 by ali // 3 Comments »
It may not come as any surprise to learn that at Design Public we LOVE bedding. We treasure bedding pieces that make it a joy to go to bed at night as well as hard to want to leave in the morning…not to mention look sharp all along the way.
With the introduction of Sanford Burrows we knew right away that we found something amazing. Take a look at the embroidery, the Italian crafted textiles, and the attention to detail Jill Sanford Burrows puts into her work and you’ll see what we mean. Enjoy the Q&A!
I’d love to learn a little bit about your background…how did you get into working with linens and designing for the home? How did Sanford Burrows come together and get off the ground?
I had a long career as a graphic designer. Years ago, I was living and working in London and found myself wanting to design something more tangible—something that people would have an immediate, emotional reaction to that didn’t carry a marketing message— so I decided to take a few fashion design classes. But, my interest kept being drawn Read the rest of this entry »
