Meade Design Group - The Blog - Interior Design Victoria BC

Monday 17 November 2014

WE HAVE MOVED!!!

Saturday 31 May 2014

DO SOMETHING ORIGINAL FOR DAD!

Get JUNE-14 marked in your calendars for a special Tintype Portrait session on location at CITIZEN CLOTHING to celebrate the rugged handsomeness of your father.

A tintype portrait is a true heirloom gift and on Father’s Day weekend we are hosting a Saturday Tintype Portrait event with a difference as we strive to raise awareness and funds to support the fight against testicular cancer.

So bring dad to Citizen Clothing for a unique, fun experience and a one of a
kind portrait 4X5 Tintype $ 60 and we’ll donate $15 from each portrait to

- TESTICULAR CANCER CANADA -

Each tintype is a unique image made on blackened metal using LUZ studios vintage cameras and brass lenses, using traditional wet plate collodion methods developed back in 1851. It takes approx. 30 minutes to receive your wonderful varnished & beautifully smelling plate (we use lavender oil, as part of the varnish!) While you wait for your tintype you can explore Citizen & shop more for Dad....

Here are some excellent examples of good fellas who have exposed their natural handsomeness to tintype plates

Patrick Tier by Quinton Gordon/Luz Studios

Ivan Meade by Quinton Gordon/Luz Studios

Jeff Michaud by Quinton Gordon/Luz Studios

Quinton Gordon by Quinton Gordon/Luz Studios

CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE EVENT?

You can still support the cause!
If you are unable to make it to the Tintype Photo Booth on location at Citizen Clothing; June-14 2014, you can purchase a $60 Gift Certificate for a 4x5 Tintype Portrait to support Testicular Cancer Canada. Remember $15 from each tintype will be donated to TESTICULAR CANCER CANADA.

*Portraits will be done later at LUZ studio; 569b Hillside Ave. Victoria BC...we just ask that you book your portrait by July-14, 2014

Follow the link to purchase your gift certificate online & we will contact you with more details on booking your portrait.

This unique portrait will be something that you & your Dad will cherish forever...
+ SAVE THOSE NUTS -

Gift certificates will be available to purchase until Jun-15, 2014

Wednesday 26 March 2014

SAVE THOSE NUTS

"April is Testicular Cancer awareness month, and as many of our readers know, I was diagnosed with stage III-B testicular cancer in the summer of 2011 at the age of 37. Although there were many sources of information on Cancer available, I struggled to find information on my particular condition. Furthermore, I was shocked to hear that none of my peers were educated about regular check-up procedures to prevent this from happening to them. Had I known more about preventive measures and the early signs of detection, I would have acted on my symptoms sooner and could have avoided the spread of the disease within my own body.

My prognosis is much better now, and although I am still fighting, I am confident that the great team at the BC Cancer agency are keeping me healthy and looking out for my best interests.

I wanted to put a positive spin on my experience, and use the resources at my disposal (the graphic and web design side of Meade Design Group) to encourage men to give themselves regular checkups, and spread the word about this disease. I am pleased to be partnering with Testicular Cancer Canada in the hope that this campaign proves to be informative and encouraging for anyone who finds themselves up against testicular cancer.

So far, our campaign is focusing on outreach, via information cards and posters (which can be found at local storefronts such as Citizen, Habit, Still Life, Mango, Flavour, Outlooks, and many other locations – contact us if you are interested in any of these items to help spread the word!) and our website: www.savethosenuts.com.

The information cards (shown here), boast a lot of information for their small size. Outside is a bold graphic, aimed to catch the eye of those at the highest risk, with the URL for the website; inside, a step-by-step guide on how to check yourself for signs of early detection.

If you see one of these posters (below), that means you can find our information cards inside – and that the business is awesome, because they are supporting our cause! We hope to see more and more of these around town!

The most comprehensive facet we have introduced so far is our website, where visitors can get all of the information about regular self-checks and how to do them, along with the signs and symptoms. A valuable asset for me, is the stories of testicular cancer survivors – which we have dubbed 'testi-monials', it's encouraging to know that there are others fighting alongside you. If you are a survivor, or have a story you would like to share, there is a link to add your very own 'testimonial' to the campaign. We hope the website will be a great resource and connect the community of those affected by the disease.

Another great feature of the website is the donation link, where you can make your own donation to Testicular Cancer Canada, which was where I turned to when I was diagnosed. Since Testicular Cancer Canada is based out East, we have partnered with them with our campaign to spread all of their good works to the West Coast. Our goal is to increase awareness and raise enough money to purchase an ad campaign with BC Transit.

Let's make this happen, readers!

Thank you so much for all of your efforts and support so far, monetary donations are wonderful, but if it is not something you can do right now, please contact us about our awareness materials – after all, spreading the word is our goal, if you've got a window, you can help!"

Thursday 23 January 2014

ALWAYS AUTHENTIC!

Last autumn, I had the opportunity to spend some time in Europe. One of my favourite memories was a visit to my cousin Inés Benavides’ home in Madrid and spending some time with her. Inés is not only one of my favourite cousins, but she is also considered to be one of the top interior designers in Spain, so you can imagine how excited I was to share some time with her.

Other than securing the position as favourite cousin while enjoying my time with her, I also learned a couple of things. Inés is not just well regarded as an interior designer in Spain; she is also an accomplished furniture designer. She has been designing pieces for the last 10 years with her cousin, Phil, under their firm Benavides y Camino.

One of Inés pieces “The Prensa” (Spanish for pressed, or squished) has become a signature piece for her and is rapidly becoming a staple in Spanish and European design. Many of her design colleagues are supporting her in her venture, using the piece to inject fun and colour into their designs.

One of the conversations we had was about something that is becoming a real problem across several industries – plagiarism. Sadly, as a result of her notoriety, people are now copying her work and taking advantage of her creativity. With her piece, “The Prensa”, rising in popularity, it has subsequently had a tremendous rise of knock-offs hitting the market – so much so, in fact, that she had to go to great lengths to copyright the piece.

When someone steals another’s idea, they are completely ignoring the process that it takes to conceive an original piece. For example, the time spent sketching, sculpting and planning the conceptual stages, the cost of making prototypes in addition to supporting the artisans that make these pieces.

In our conversation, we discovered that we shared a similar theory that there are 3 kinds of designers out there: (1) The designer who creates a signature piece/style and deserves the recognition for their efforts, (2) the designer that supports and admires original pieces of works – that takes them as inspiration and re- invents them in their own way, or uses the original pieces in their work supporting the original creators, and lastly (3) the designer who takes advantage and literally copies the work without any respect or ethics.

Ross Taylor owner of Gabriel Ross has the best tag line for his business, and has been a big supporter of this movement – Gabriel Ross tag line really encompasses the real value of design “Always Authentic” – As creatives we have the obligation to be “Always Authentic” and overall original. This is the core of any creative business.

We have all seen this tragedy happen - particularly with mid-century modern classics by Eames, Saarinen and the like – but I wanted to bring awareness to Ines’s talent and spread the word about her original pieces. Like all good design, beware of knock-offs, you get what you pay for!

Support original talent, do your research and invest wisely!

Tuesday 7 January 2014

IN CONVERSATION WITH NAM DANG-MITCHELL

Nam Dang-Mitchell

I am currently enamoured with the work of Calgary-based interior designer, Nam Dang-Mitchell. She is a master of layering in every way possible: style eras, textures, the glamorous with the casual and the classic with the whimsical. She has also excelled at the art of creating a neutral palette that is luxurious and not boring. Infusing artifacts, architectural details and fine pieces into the space is a common thread in her designs, they are a definite 'wow factor', but do not appear off limits - they are tactile and every bit intertwined into the space as the floral arrangement next to them. Her thoughtfully assembled spaces are not only beautiful, they are also entirely liveable; a mother of two herself, Nam's spaces maintain an air of sophistication whilst being totally family–friendly. Although, I love the anecdote on her blog where she lovingly chastises her french bulldog for destroying her sofa (…three times) while debating the practicality of reupholstering it in an ecru toned mohair (ecru being her recent obsession at the time); she eludes to going for it with her favourite quote: "Those who sacrifice beauty for practicality get what they deserve."

And that is the beauty of a blog, you get a feel for one's sense of humour, lifestyle, loves and inspiration. Nam's stunningly minimal blog is all about just that, inspiration. Each post boasts a mélange of images, quotes, thoughts and video for what is currently inspiring her. Art, fashion and music is often injected amongst furnishings and completed spaces. It is a definite must-read to add to your blog roll – this woman's taste is impeccable. You may have also seen Mrs. Dang-Mitchell's work in the pages of Style at Home or House & Home magazine (where she was included in their 25th anniversary issue as a top designer to watch), she has also been all over the blogosphere (I am not the only admirer of her work, clearly!) .

I can't wait to get Nam's input on design, please read on to join the conversation…

Iván Meade - What is your design philosophy?

Nam Dang-Mitchell - I'm not really a 'form follows function' kind of girl. Function is easy. What's harder is to create a room that makes you feel something. That's where I start; what is the mood, the emotion I want to convey in this room?