Monday 31 August 2009

In Conversation with JC Scott

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JC Scott


As seen in SNAP Victoria, September 2009

JC Scott is one of the most distinctive designers in Victoria and has been for over twenty-five years. His studio in Fan Tan Alley is home to a range of design concepts from hospitality and commercial design to high-end residential, JC Scott Design Associates tackles them and guides their clients through the entire process. JC Scott’s aesthetics are true to the Vancouver Island look – moments from of all of the best styles throughout history with an emphasis on West-Coast design. His interiors are always warm and comfortable and his exteriors are consistently well-done; embracing their surroundings while maintaining a unique presence in the community. The more I read about JC Scott, I learned how many common interests we share.

Please read on to learn more about this local talent.


Iván Meade - What is your favourite design find?

JC Scott Today it is Eco-Lux, I am seeking and finding sustainable luxury. For me that luxury is stylish raw food restaurants like Pure, in NYC & Grezzo, in Boston. and products like Judson Beaumont’s use of pine beetle lumber which we are now featuring as trim wood for a beach home.


image Bon Rouge Bistro


Iván Meade - Why is it important to you?

JC Scott Beauty and the environment are what matter most. Beauty has the power to transform; the environment is our greatest challenge.


image Pescatores Restaurant


Iván Meade - How does this item reflect upon your personal design philosophy?

JC Scott . I feel designers have a dual responsibility to our clients and to the planet through our manipulations of the built environment.


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image Bon Rouge Bistro [Photograph by Owainski ]


Iván Meade – What was your first experience with design?

JC Scott – I designed my way through university starting with simple crafts and evolving to silver jewellery and graphic design. My brother and I were two of the first hippie craftsmen to sell our work in a public market in Canada. I left university debt free and committed to design with a degree in architectural history.


image The Point


Iván Meade – Who or what has influenced your style?

JC Scott – Everyone who mattered in design influenced me including but not limited to; Pericles, Bernini, Borromini, Vasari, Soane, Webb, MacIntosh, Sullivan, Wright, Corbusier, Lautner, Erickson, Calatrava, Stark, Hadid and Rashid. The Futurists and Surrealists also mattered as did all the Taoists.


image The Marina Restaurant


Iván Meade – How would you describe your style?

JC Scott – My style is totally personal and constantly evolving, the only thread is that I always bring some element from the last project to the next, but only I know what it is. I am a facilitator rather than a didactic; I listen, I process and then I produce works specifically tailored to the site, to my clients and to the required design solution. My only constants are quality, personal comfort, holistic wellness and dedication to the planet.


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The Point – Residence


Iván Meade – What designers of past and present do you admire most?

JC Scott – The designers I admire most are based on my motto “Redefining Tradition” so it includes the classicists; Sir John Soane for being the first classical modernist, Michael Graves for rebranding it as Post Modernism and Renzo Piano and Carlo Scarpa for keeping the knowledge of classical proportion alive. I admire classical form and try to follow it in my own work, however on the West Coast, organic architectural forms have a natural predominance.


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image Cape Santa Maria, Beach House - Bahamas


Iván Meade – What do you consider to be your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?

JC Scott – My greatest design strength is my ability, learned through focused and determined Zen studies to adopt the discipline of becoming the empty vessel, ready to listen, to experience and to be filled by my clients needs and desires with an absence of self; my greatest weakness is that I like to fill that vessel with champagne and good wine when we are finished.


imageShoal Point Residence


Iván Meade – I read that you began your career in Victoria as an artist and graphic designer. Do you still partake in these types of job opportunities?

JC Scott – I still draw, make collages and encourage the arts whenever I can. I always get involved in the graphics for all our commercial projects and still design the odd sign, logo or graphic. Harmony and design integrity are key to success and I see no difference in fundamental principles when I am designing a ring or a resort, a sign or a spa. Form follows function, needs analysis precedes concept development, good planning makes much better results. Quality rules, details matter and proper finish is the only finish allowed to leave through the doors of my studio.


image The Edge – In Home Spa


Iván Meade – Where can my readers and I see some of your artwork?

JC Scott – At my home if you are invited. It is my poetry, my personal solitude. I also show at my Annual Erotic Art For Fools Exhibition in Chinatown in the spring.


image Painters Lodge


Iván Meade – What is/was your favourite medium to work with?

JC Scott – Graphite on paper, I find it to be a pure, simple and perfect medium.


imageThe Point Residence


Iván Meade – What is/was your favourite subject matter?

JC Scott – Landscape and dreamscape; both are my solace.


image The Point Residence


Iván Meade – What aspects of graphic design do/did you take part in? (Stationery design, signage, websites, branding, packaging etc. or strictly logo work)

JC Scott – Every graphic form has caught my attention; my most famous work was the second Greenpeace poster ‘Stop the Slaughter’ depicting a seal pup in a blue circle with that text below the image. Brigitte Bardot wore the graphic on a T shirt, Paul Watson wore the graphic as a protest button and celebrity environmentalism was born.


image Pescatores Restaurant


Iván Meade – What books are currently on your bedside or coffee table?

JC Scott – I am featured in Spectacular Homes of the West Coast but I am reading Good to Great by Jim Collins and The Presence Process by Michael Brown.


image Shoal Point Residence


Iván Meade – What are you excited about right now in the world of design?

JC Scott – Transforming furnishings excite me, I have just researched the latest available furniture that moves with you. It is what I will feature in our new showroom. As a society I feel that we all have too much stuff so anything that can perform more than one task or aid in our ergonomics gets my attention.


image Shoal Point Residence


Iván Meade – I saw on your website that you are involved in Arte de Loreto which appears to be a retailer of original Mexican furniture and art. As you may know, I am from Mexico myself; could you tell me more about Arte de Loreto and your involvement?

JC Scott – Loreto Bay on the shore of the Baja Peninsula is planned as the world’s largest eco resort community, and I was honoured to be a founding designer and we are building a vacation home and gallery there for myself and my partner, the artist Anita Rydygier. It has been stalled by the recent economic downturn but remains close to my heart as a model project. We promote and sell environmental furnishings and fine art on line plus offering custom vacation home design services. We are very pleased with our most recent completed vacation home at Loreto with a swimming pool shaped like a whale and funky furnishings by Straight Line Designs which have no straight lines at all!


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Arte de Loreto - México


Iván Meade – What project has given you the most satisfaction?

JC Scott – The Point, an all glass house at Ten Mile Point for the well remembered Michael Williams’ and Painter’s Lodge, a total retooling and rebuild of a venerable lodge for Bob Wright in Campbell River are tied as being two great projects for stimulating and challenging clients, located in fabulous settings. This is where I find the most satisfaction, by taking on seemingly impossible mandates, like “I want you to design for me an all glass house, with no visible structure, in a seismic zone, which is able to withstand hurricane force winds, which will be ultra modern in style and where I want to furnish the home with only my antiques.” Working with challenges like this at fabulous sites and producing results which meet the demands and result in personal comfort give me great satisfaction. I also enjoy the challenge of creating successful restaurants because 4 of 5 do not last past five years, yet we have a perfect track record which I intend to maintain.


image Shoal Point Residence


Iván Meade – What would be your dream project?

JC Scott – An entertainment complex at the space station, because I retired from nightclub design after doing both the Commodore Ballroom, Western Canada’s largest club and the Sticky Wicket, Canada’s most successful pub but one can always dream of new frontiers. Short of the weightless atmosphere of the space station I would love to do a Euro-style hospitality complex here in Canada if the laws allowed me. This would be a facility which would run 24 hours a day; first as a small artists’ café, then from noon to midnight as a pub, bistro and restaurant, then from six to two as an adult lounge and finally from midnight to closing as a full-on dance club. I have experienced these places in Italy and Germany, and people of all ages and financial means attend them so why are we so hung-up that we will welcome the world to our Olympics with all the fun of Puritans at a witch burning? It is often frustrating for me to compare my imagination with what we are actually allowed to do as designers here in North America. I don’t want to hurt anyone, I simply want to have fun!


image Shoal Point Residence


Iván Meade – What is your next design venture?

JC Scott – We have just begun planning a heritage Oak Bay coach house renovation and swimming pool complex addition for a famous mansion with fabulous views for delightful clients, for the public we are opening a new Fan Tan Alley Design Gallery showroom and a webstore.


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Shoal Point


Iván Meade – Lastly, you have already created a stunning body of work in your own signature style. What would you like your legacy to be?

JC Scott – Happy, satisfied clients, living in comfort on a healthy planet.

I invite you to discover JC Scott work at his website


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JC SCOTT BLOG


Ivan Meade is a local designer and principal of Meade Design Group, a multidisciplinary interior and graphic design studio in the heart of downtown Victoria – www.themeadegroup.com




MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Friday 28 August 2009

Eye Candy of the Week – Gisele & Lamar Feeders

 

imageGisele Feeder

 

image Lamar Feeder

 

 

PRODUCT
Gisele Feeder & Lamar Feeder

 

DISTRIBUTOR

KevyK Designs

 

DESIGNER

KevyK Designs

 

MATERIAL

+ Red Travertine

+ Honey Onyx

+ Mystical Marble

+ Carrara Marble [ Our Favourite ]

+ Black Rock

 

SIZE

Gisele Feeder

X-Small - 8" D x 3" H; holds 2½ cups
Small - 9" D x 4" H; holds 5 cups
Medium - 9" D x 7" H; holds 5 cups
Large - 12" D x 12" H; holds 10 cups

 

Lamar Feeder

Small - 7" W x 7" L x 4" H; holds 2 ½ cups

 

DESCRIPTION

Everyday the power of Twitter surprises me more.  A couple of days ago KevyK Designs started following me and I had to check them out.  To  my surprise I found cool, stylish and unique products.  Thanks to the TP – Twitter Power.

 

“Each stone feeder is exquisitely hand carved and polished to a smooth and seamless finish by highly skilled craftsman. Each feeder has its own unique characteristics, warmth and rich colors which no two are alike.

The end result is a collection of the most exclusive and artistic pet dinnerware available.

A removable stainless steel water/ food bowl finished in satin is used to compliment the beautiful marble, onyx and travertine. Durable 0.7mm thick stainless bowls are dishwasher safe and easy to clean.”  - KevyK Designs

 

YUMMY FACTOR
Your dog will say they are as good as a T-Bone!

 

WHO WILL ENJOY THESE DISHES AT YOUR HOME?  TELL US ABOUT YOUR PETS.

 

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MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Tuesday 25 August 2009

In Conversation with Tocar Interior Design

imageSusan Bednar Long & Christina Sullivan

 

Tocar Interior Design was founded by Susan Bednar Long and Christina Sullivan in New York in 1998 and have since become a very successful firm, including being named one of “America’s Top Young Designers” by House Beautiful magazine and Traditional Home. These talented ladies focus on touching the lives of their high-end residential and commercial clients, just as their name implies (Tocar means “to touch” in Spanish). Both Susan and Christina have a history in the field of fashion which is quite evident in their designs; they enjoy the finer things and pay close attention to the details.

Tocar Interior Design produces spaces that are consistently elegant with a well-thought-out approach to combining different styles of furnishings. This methodology has been successfully applied to a vast range of client tastes and applications throughout the Tocar Interior Design portfolio.

Please read on to learn more about this talented design team…

 

Iván Meade – What was your first experience with design?

Susan Bednar Long – As a child of about 7 years old, I would draw elaborate floor plans on paper and do pen and ink sketches of elevations of homes that I imagined.

Christina Sullivan - My first experience with design was grade school.  My sister and I would put on neighbourhood variety shows during summer break while channelling “Captain & Tennille” for multiple performances of “Shop Around”.  We would design the costumes and sets by using old patio furniture, kitchen utensils and our mother’s drapes.  The entire neighbourhood would be involved in this Sullivan production.

My favorite "home" was an underground space accessed through a giant round pine bush in my backyard.

 

image Interior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – Who or what has influenced your style?

Susan Bednar Long – Bliss Blass's interiors and his masculine, tailored style. More specifically, how he mixed formal American antiques in a modern, graphic way at his former country home in Connecticut.

Christina Sullivan -  Travel, Music, fashion and old Hollywood have all influenced my style a great deal.  From the designs of Edith Head to the streets of Paris anything that was visual appealing was always attractive. All of the above influences the way I design today.

 

image Interior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – How would you describe your style?

Susan Bednar Long – Modern traditional. It's definitely a push and pull between both depending on the project and the inspiration.

Christina Sullivan - My style is modern traditional, depending on the project I gravitate towards one or the other.  I constantly find inspiration in TH Robsjohn Gibbings and mid century modern design. Every time I view furniture pieces from that time period,  it appears that the furniture was created through a combination of modern design while extracting elements from a more traditional past. This is the way I design when completing interiors.

 

image Interior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – What designers of past and present do you admire most?

Susan Bednar  Long – I love Stephen Gambrel's work now - it's so classic American and I love the complex, neutral hues of his beautiful rooms. Also, Dorothy Draper was one of the main reasons I entered the field of Interior Design. My dad gave me a book about her when I was younger because I loved interiors and design so much. Her work was so graphic and bold and fantasy-like. It was so inspiring to me at a young age.

Christina Sullivan - I admire Billy Baldwin, David Hicks, Dorothy Draper, Chanel and Yves St.Laurent.

 

imageInterior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – What do you consider to be your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?

Susan Bednar Long – Greatest strength is my ability to be both highly creative and highly organized. It's a rare thing to have both. Greatest weakness is that I hold everyone else to the same standard.

Christina Sullivan - My greatest strength is the ability to create a vision for our clients and complete the project in a reasonable time line through a series or organized installations and follow-ups.   My greatest weakness is the disappointment when others do not follow-through with the same ideology.

 

imageInterior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – What books are currently on your bedside or coffee table?

Susan Bednar Long – Coffee table: Weekend Retreats by Susanna Salk; Passion for Parties by Carolyn Roehm. Bedside: God in the White House by Randall Balmer; What to Expect Your 1st Year (baby book).

Christina Sullivan - I must edit because there are so many, “The Russian Concubine” by Kate Furnvall, “Edward Wormley, The Other Faces of Modernism”, a vintage copy of House Beautiful, July 1936 and a vintage 1962 edition of “House & Gardens, Interior Decoration”.

 

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Interior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – What are you excited about right now in the world of design?

Susan Bednar Long – That the world's design is more accessible to us with the internet, international publications, blogs, etc. It's great to see what is happening all over the world and be able to actually incorporate it in our design work here.

Christina Sullivan - Great photography mixed with art and the ability to research new artist via the web.  Also design blogs are a wonderful source of inspiration as well.

 

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Interior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – You both have a strong background with the fashion industry; what design cues do you take from the runway to incorporate into your interiors?

Susan Bednar Long – I don’t have much runway experience, more retail store and showroom design experience. There I learned the importance of visual merchandising and creating "moments" as the Ralph Lauren Creative Services group would call them. It's these tricks of the trade to make spaces complete, layered and give it that personality that sets it apart from most interiors.

Christina Sullivan - When viewing what’s on the runway, classically tailored looks that are modern and fresh like Ralph Lauren collections are always an inspiration to our interiors.  The overall feel of a look can influence the interiors through color and texture.

 

imageInterior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – What would be your dream project?

Susan Bednar Long – Doing a modern interior within an old Venetian Palazzo. I think the most exciting interiors have that mix of old/new, modern/traditional. It would allow us to shop in Europe, travel frequently to Venice (where I got married 5 years ago) and use wonderful craftsman from Italy to restore the space. I can't thing of anything better!

Christina Sullivan - To design the interiors of a Mega Yacht and Private Jet and give the clients the “Tocar” stamp.  How exciting to create interiors that literally will travel all of over the world.   That’s Amazing! and of course Extremely FUN!

 

imageInterior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – What project has given you the most satisfaction?

Susan Bednar Long – Our recently completed London townhouse. We had to do it really fast within 6 months from start of design to installation. It was designed for existing Clients - a family of 7 that were moving from the US to London. The townhouse is beautifully formal, about 6000 square feet on 5 levels. It was a great challenge - not only for the timeline but to give the formal English space an American sensibility while maintaining its existing level of elegance.

Christina Sullivan - We recently completed a 1910 limestone townhouse on the upper eastside, NYC.   The architecture alone was extremely beautiful and our clients art collection extraordinary.  We completed this in two phases are per our clients request and the end result was superb.  Each room had a purpose and we not only created beautiful interiors but they were functional for a young family of 6 as well.

 

imageInterior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – What is your next design venture?

Susan Bednar Long – The interiors of a beautiful Georgian style stone mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut and a French brick estate also in Greenwich.

Christina Sullivan - We have just started a wonderful Georgian style stone house in Greenwich CT.  The interiors are going to be chic, sophisticated and friendly.

 

imageInterior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

Iván Meade – Lastly, you have already created a stunning body of work with many mediums and styles. What would you like your legacy to be?

Susan Bednar  Long – A Designer that consistently created beautifully classic, understatedly elegant interiors specific to her Client’s individual style.

Christina Sullivan - I would like my legacy to be that I designed sophisticated, elegant modern traditional interiors that are timeless.

 

imageInterior by Tocar - Interior Design

 

I invite you to visit Tocar – Interior Design site and enjoy their stunning work.

 

Tocar



MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Friday 21 August 2009

Koo and Poppet Invades The Studio

On Wednesday we had a very pleasant visit from our Sarita and the Little Sadie the youngest member of Meade Design Group. Sarita surprised us with a bag full of treats.


koo and poppet 001 Sarita, Little Sadie and Echito


The packages were moving by themselves so we were wondering what they could be…


koo and poppet 002Koo and Poppet Packages


Echito could not wait to open her package she was tugging the ribbon right away…


koo and poppet 005 Echito opening her package


Surprise! Designer Poppet “Echito Pepito” was inside!


koo and poppet 007 Echito with Echito Pepito


Iván, as always, was the patient one (lol) posing for a picture with his package…


koo and poppet 010 Iván holding one of the packages


And here are all the fierce creatures sitting in a row in their new digs. Sarita used the studio fabrics to give life to her creations for the studio. (So they will coordinate –lol)


koo and poppet 012Mies, Nilly, Willy, Echito Pepito


They even have little personalities…

MIES likes CMYK and dislikes Times New Roman Font

WILLY likes piña coladas and dislikes paper jams

NILLY likes little cakes and dislikes diets

ECHITO PEPITO likes puuuuuuumpkins and dislikes 70’s shake carpet

Willy and Mies where having so much fun creating mischeif at the studio that they decided to stay. Echito Pepito wanted to go shopping so she went with Echito to Lululemon. Meanwhile, Nilly was craving some little cakes and went home with Ivan and ate a nice marzipan cake for dinner. (After all, they both dislike diets and love love naps!)


photoAwwwwwwwwwwww! Ivancito having nappies with Nilly


We invite you to visit Koo & Poppet on:


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KOO & POPPET BLOG

ETSY





MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Thursday 20 August 2009

Best Bedroom Decorating Contest


This morning I received a press release from ALL THE BEST about a great contest which is going to be lots of fun. I just had to share it with my readers. Usually people complain in Vancouver Island, British Columbia that we don’t have opportunities to showcase our work internationally. Well, here is a great opportunity to appear in one of the most successful blogs in the blogosphere.

I already have a couple of rooms in mind that I am going to submit to participate in the contest. Please read the details below for your chance to win a very luxurious prize.

ALL THE BEST BLOG and SFERRA are hosting a ‘Best Bedroom Decorating Contest’ on www.allthebestblog.com.


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Judges include: Ronda Carman, Michael Devine, Amanda Nesbit, Vicente Wolf, Todd Romano, Amanda Nesbit, Kelly Wreastler & Nathan Turner.


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The grand prize winner will receive a complete set of Celeste Sheets by SFERRA, spun from the finest Egyptian cotton ($550 value). The second place winner will receive a pure cashmere Dorsey Throw by SFERRA ($400 value). The third place winner will receive a Marquetry Throw by Kelly Wearstler for SFERRA ($255 value).


First, Second and Third place winners, as well as three honourable mentions, will be published on ALL THE BEST BLOG.

Log on to www.allthebestblog.com every week to
see a selection of entries and check out the competition. You can read all the rules at


www.allthebestbedrooms.blogspot.com


image Interior by Kelly Wreastler


WHO IS ELIGIBLE:

Both interior designers and design enthusiasts have an opportunity to enter the ALL THE BEST BLOG 'Best Bedroom Contest'.

HOW TO ENTER:
Submit clear, unpublished photographs (up to a maximum of five photos) of one bedroom designed by you to (allthebestcontest@gmail.com). It can be your own personal bedroom or a bedroom designed by you for a client, just as long as it is your OWN work.


Photograph every angle of the room, including close-ups of the bed and special details.

Images should be no larger than 1MB and in jpg format. Provide your full name and address.

Contest entry period begins on August 21, 2009, and ends at 11:59 p.m., E.T. on September 25, 2009. Winners will be announced on October 5, 2009.





MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011