Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Parisian + Scandinavian









minimalist. minimalist. minimalist...

Are you as tired of this adjective as I am? Although I believe that good design uses a minimum amount of materials to achieve maximum impact... sometimes in order to be impactful or different or original you have to step outside the box that, here in Dallas, is referred to as "Zen-like"...

According to the philospher/Buddhist teacher Chogyum Trungpa Rinpoche, Americans really missed the boat on zen. In his book, Meditation in Action, he especially notes that Zen philosophy developed as a way to take you down to your base senses. In order to do this all sense of stimuli is removed so that you can get down to your basic, boring existence. From pure boredom you reach a stepping-off point for true inner development. Zen was never meant to be a microchasm of fascinating design techniques and lifestyle advice.

Now... does pure boredom sound like the tone you want to set for your next event? Do you want your guests to be unimpressed, unengaged and uninterested? I think not.

This is why I am pushing a new design trend that calls for color, form, and sensible taste. I haven't coined a term for this type of design yet, but it draws heavily from the inspiration of Scandinavian lighting design, traditional Parisian floral design, and Asian micro-trends.

Here are a few inspirational pics... that I think could be translated into an event schema or floral installation.

Tell me a captivating, powerful idea lies within this photo collage!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Back on Board


We just moved from the Bishop Arts District to 4028 Lemmon Ave., Ste. 102. We enjoy it. It's not quite the same as having a shop on premise. There is no handy cooler to run to when I want to do an ad-hoc client demo. That is a little frustrating.

However, I am sure that as we get used to the space (find our second lamp shade, etc.) then I will find new tricks. Gotta get some photos up on the wall and finish printing our catalogue from 2008. Then I will feel good about the place. I feel like there is a lot of time available to do that in July as events slow down.

In the meantime, enjoy this photo from pro wedding photographer Heather Waraksa. Couldn't have said it better myself!