Eye Candy of the Week – FYN Bridge Chair

 

 

 

PRODUCT

FYN Bridge Chair

 

MANUFACTURE

Roche Bobois

 

COLLECTION

Les Contemporains

 

DESIGNER

Design Studio GioFra

 

MATERIALS

Chrome steel frame upholstered in split leather. Available in 34 colours.

 

DIMENSIONS

L.56 X H.75 X D.61 cm

 

DESCRIPTION

I love the lines and the personality of this chair by french maker Roche Bobois.

 

The visual weight of the piece is very comfortable to the eyes and you cannot beat the fact that you can get this chair in 34 different colours.   

 

This chair is what I call a truly transitional piece.  You can use this chair in a contemporary setting or mixed with antiques.

 

YUMMY FACTOR

C'est Fantastique !!!!

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MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

In Conversation with Jason Martin

Jason Martin

 
Jason Martin is a new and innovative designer based in Los Angeles, California with his firm, Jason Martin Design. I greatly value his work and believe that we share many of the same philosophies/priorities at the onset of the project; such as respecting the architecture of the space, creating something timeless that can evolve over time with elements of the unexpected and sophisticated combinations. Clean lines, ornate details, bold graphic patterns and an array of materials coexist harmoniously to create comfortable and beautiful interiors and furniture.

Jason also has a brilliant mind for marketing; his program, DIY+ is an affordable solution for clients who cannot afford his full range of services. For a predetermined price, Jason will create a concept for the space including a plan book showing suggestions for furnishings, layouts and materials. In addition to the clever DIY+ program, Jason is also a fellow blogger and maintains a great blog at http://jasonmartindesign.blogspot.com/ which is savvy not only to design but current events and local issues as well.

 

Vignette by Jason Martin

Originally a co-owner of Silho Furniture, Jason has a rich background in design experience and has changed his focus to designing interiors and furniture for private clients.

Jason is sure to be going places and has already been featured on several blogs and was even named one of House Beautiful Magazine's list of the next 20 designers to watch.

Keep your eyes and ears open for this one, and read on to learn more about this promising newcomer (you will surely intrigue and impress any fellow design aficionados when you direct them to his website and blog!).

Iván Meade - What was your first experience with design?

Jason Martin – At 16 my first real job was assisting a husband and wife design team in my hometown of Amarillo, TX. They had a retail store too. It was very old school and traditional-  we did everything for the clients. Even during the holidays I would string lights for the clients’ Christmas trees. That job started my appreciation for the rules of classic design.  I was well versed in the ways of Mark Hampton, Parish Hadley and the like at an early age.

  Interior by Jason Martin

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Iván Meade – Did you always want to be an interior designer?

Jason Martin – Yes, and it’s a good thing because I am really not qualified to do anything else.

  Interior by Jason Martin

 

Iván Meade - Do you consider being young in the business as advantage or a disadvantage?

 

Jason Martin – Definitely an advantage.  I think I am very lucky to have figured out what I wanted to do at an early age. I can’t remember ever seriously wanting to work anywhere other than around furniture and design. From my first job on, I pretty much took any position that was even remotely related to either. So by the time I went out on my own I had done just about every job you could in retail or design. And from that, I know how hard you have to work at every level. 

  Interior by Jason Martin

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Iván Meade – How would you describe your style?

Jason Martin – I really have no idea but I hope that it can’t be summed up in a tight little phrase.  I think that is the death knell of any style.  My aesthetic is modern, certainly not a minimalist modern but it is tailored and clean. I always try to achieve a classic sense of balance and proportion. And I like spaces that have tension in the materials and furnishings. Oddly enough, I think that tension goes a long way to making the room feel warm, relaxed and happy.

  Interior by Jason Martin

Iván Meade – Who or what has influenced your style?

Jason Martin – I have always played this game in my head - I try to figure out what something or someone would translate to in design. Like what is the spatial equivalent of a Nick Drake song; how would you pull off that spare but warm feeling he achieves in Cello Song. Or what would a Thom Browne suit look like if it were a room.  It is easy to be too literal and rigid with inspiration. Sometimes it’s better if the back-story of a design is harder to figure out.

 

Interior by Jason Martin

 

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

Jason Martin – The possibilities. When do we ever take the time to stop and reflect on how our industry is progressing? If we don’t take the opportunity to do that now, in this slowed down economy, we never will. I think we should take our cue from what is happening in food- let’s move on from big, cheap and quick and focus on slow, sustainable and quality.

 

Interior by Jason Martin

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Iván Meade – What does it feel like to be announced as one of Top 20 Young Designers in America by House Beautiful?

Jason Martin – It is a great feeling to be recognized by a publication like House Beautiful. They are one of my favorites and it is definitely encouraging to hear that a top magazine expects you will be at the top of your field. For them to make a list of designers to watch, especially when so many design magazines are struggling, is a very positive thing. It shows they too are looking forward and are excited about what is to come.

 

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

Jason Martin – There isn’t one specific project but there is always a point in each design where the space starts to reflect the client’s personality. That is the most satisfying part of my work.

  Interior by Jason Martin

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Iván Meade – What would be your dream project?

Jason Martin – I would love to be able to design a whole neighbourhood. Not like a new development but maybe a block or two in a “down on its luck” section of town.  Every city has them - those streets you can tell were once really charming but now you drive down them and think, “What happened here?” I love the idea of reviving places that others have written off as too far gone. I think good design can spread just as quickly as neglect can.  I am a sucker for a stray dog too!

 

Interior by Jason Martin

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Iván Meade – You have a very interesting new service called DIY + Do It Yourself Plus – Services like this are new in what some people call the democratization of design or making the design affordable to everybody – What is your view on this?

Jason Martin – I am all for the democratization of design. I hate the idea that design is only for the privileged.  The better design gets at every level the more society understands its importance. I think good design should be available as long as you are willing to take the time to do the work. What I am doing with DIY+ is taking the guesswork out of hiring a designer. I tried to make it as black and white as possible so a client knows the price, the plan and the process before they sign on.  I think putting the client at ease with the method has a strong positive influence on the design.  The trade off with DIY+ is that my job is creating the master plan. The actual work of carrying out the plan is up to the client.

  Interior by Jason Martin

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Iván Meade – I believe one of your strengths is in furniture design. All your pieces are always exquisitely well done – Where do you get your inspiration?

 
Jason Martin – My first venture into furniture design was with my former business partner, Michelle Wayson (we owned Silho Furniture together). We really tried to design pieces that we felt were missing from the market. The idea was to build what we each were looking for to furnish our own homes- something with better quality and design than you get at chain stores but more affordable than at designer showrooms.  For the most part that is how I still design for my clients. I think they appreciate having furniture that they won’t see in a friends house or on sale in a catalogue next month.

 

  Interior by Jason Martin

Iván Meade – What is your next design venture?

Jason Martin – Lately I have been so focused on designing for private clients that its been too long since I just sat down to design out of inspiration rather than specification. If the opportunity came along I would love to create a line of furniture to sell in a showroom again. I also want to branch out into fabric, wallpaper and accessories. What designer wouldn’t?

 

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MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Viceroy - Mayakoba

If you want to enjoy a breathtaking view like the one below, paired with beautiful architecture and stunning design.  The new Viceroy Mayakoba is doing  just that in the Mexican Caribbean. 

 

 

The sophisticated and contemporary interior design of Viceroy Riviera Maya will be created by Kelly Wearstler, while featuring contemporary Mexican architecture  envisioned by Legorreta + Legorreta, OHL investors group and  the ultra famous The Kor Group  are proud to unveil Viceroy Mayakoba, Riviera Maya.

 

 Architecture by Legorreta + Legorreta

 

The Residences at Viceroy Mayakoba are beyond stunning.  The Architecture showcases incredible high ceilings  with coves that reflect light in unexpected ways, the large windows create an open feel playing with the ocean on one side and the jungle on the other.

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The patio is one of my favourite moments  – the architecture becomes the frame of its surroundings and the table part of the architecture.  The rustic bench has a modern feel bringing a textural quality while the sphere seats bring a sculptural sense to the space while serving like furniture.

 

Interior Design by Kelly Wearstler

 

Step into a distinctly elegant vision that interprets classic Mexican moods in a modern context. Custom furnishings, exotic finishes and a very natural colour scheme inspired in the Mayan culture.

 

 

This place is also a historic opportunity to discover the wonders of my homeland.  Many of the most notable Mayan sites are an easy day trip from Viceroy Mayakoba. Among them are Coba, one of the largest Mayan cities, Chichen Itzá, famous for the 91-step Kukulcan pyramid, and Tulúm, a walled Mayan port city perched above scenic beaches.

 

“The true beauty in nature, as in human beings, cannot be discovered at once.  The same is true for buildings.  We enjoy the challenge of discovering them little by little, each time in a slightly different way. To us architecture without touch of mystery is not genuine”

Legorreta + Legorreta

 

 

 VICEROY – MAYAKOBA

 

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MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Eye Candy of the Week – Michael Aram Jaipur China

Jaipur Dinnerware

  Accent Plate

 

Rim Soup Bowl

 

Bread & Butter Plate

 

 

PRODUCT

Jaipur Dinnerware Collection

 

MANUFACTURE

Waterford

 

DESIGNER

Michael Aram

 

MATERIALS

Bone China

 

DESCRIPTION

I am a big fan of white china, but sometimes I get bored of only using white, so I started collecting interesting salad or accent plates that I can layer in my table settings.  Depends on my mood sometimes I go for colour, others I go for clear glass or for pattern like in this eye candy.

 

“Inspired by the rich metalworking traditions of India, American metalware designer Michael Aram turns his creative energies and age-old traditions to Waterford with the Michael Aram for Waterford Collection.

The Jaipur Collection derives its inspiration from the traditional Indian architecture during the British Colonial period in India. Featuring open, cut-through patterns, the Jaipur Collection is immediately recognizable for its Indian influences.”      - Waterford.

 

YUMMY FACTOR

Delectable !!!

 

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MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

In Conversation with David Easton

David Easton

 

As designers ourselves, we know Mr.David Easton best as a master of wallpaper and fabric design. However, Mr.Easton is also an architect and interior designer, known for much more. He is one of the leaders in neoclassical design and architecture but can tackle any style. His architectural work is stunning and looks like it could fit right in with a heritage town, or stand out on its own in a modern city. His use of materials, proportions, balance and detail is impeccable. David’s residential and hospitality interiors range from classical, to comfortable contemporary. He is a master of layering patterns, textures, colours and forms to create rooms that are beautiful but completely liveable; they can be traditional without being stuffy, and comfortable without being too casual. Never too masculine or too feminine. He has a way of always bringing a sense of sophisticated elegance into everything he does.

 

David Easton’s lines of fabrics and trim (with Lee Jofa) and wallpapers (with Cole & Son) are not only stunning, but extremely versatile. He has a paper or fabric to match every design period or, create a fabulous juxtaposition with different styles. He also has brilliant collections with Walter’s Wickers (wicker furniture) and Robert Abbey (light fixtures), that are certainly worth looking through.

 

Mr.Easton received his degree in architecture from Pratt Institute in 1963 and had the opportunity to study with several influential mentors such as Sibyl Moholy-Nagy (the widow of one of the founders of the Bauhaus) and Edward Wormley (whose Dunbar line of furniture now holds a permanent place in the Museum of Modern Art). After working for firms, (including Parish-Hadley, where he discovered a love for decorating) he was able to open his own firm in 1972, propelling himself into celebrity status in the 1980’s with his English-style interiors. More recently, David has become enamoured with a more streamlined, contemporary style.

 

  Architecture by David Easton

 

Mr. Easton has had many honours bestowed upon him. In addition to his enlightening lectures, he has also been awarded the Classical America’s Arthur Ross Award (twice), the Lifetime Achievement award at London’s Design & Decoration Awards, and was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1992. He has also graced the pages of Architectural Digest, Elle Décor and House and Garden, among others.

 

Please read on to learn more about this talented designer…

 

Iván Meade - What was your first experience with design?

David Easton - This is a strange answer – but the first impact I had of the “design world” was spending summers at my grandmother’s house outside of Chicago and going to Marshall Fields & Company’s 8^th floor where, as a child, I could get off the escalator look across a small garden into a house beyond and walk into that house with a Living Room, Dining Room, Bedroom etc. which was a fantasy for me and still remains what I feel a direct impact – and part fantasy obviously.

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

Iván Meade - Who or what has influenced your style?

David Easton - I’ve had an architectural and decorating education and there are many threads woven into that but I would say in a very general way, A) the history of the past and B) the exciting new world of the future and its technology and incremental change which is going to affect design beyond anything history has ever provided before.

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

Iván Meade - Once I read that you have always been attracted to neoclassical in its purest, almost modern, form – How would you describe your style?

David Easton - Yes I have been influenced by neo-classicism, the neo-classicism of especially Schinkel in Germany has always been a strong influence in my design and I feel that because neo-classicism while it had two feet in the past also had a foot in the future and Schinkel and Sohn certainly developed a cleanness of line and a purity of design in a traditional way that gave it a new step forward.

 

Architecture by David Easton

 

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

David Easton - Albert Hadley, whom I’ve had the honor of working with many years ago.  He is a gentleman, and a true artist.  He successfully bridges the gap between the past and the future. 

  Interiors by David Easton

 

Iván Meade - What inspires your fabric and wallpaper designs? 

David Easton - I think there are 3 issues that are involved 1) involved in the practice of architecture and decorating and so I’m constantly in contact with needs and comments 2) my longstanding relationship with Lee Jofa in designing textiles and 3) travel – I have an insatiable desire to travel I have been over most of this globe as high up as Bhutan to as low down as the Archipelago and am now planning another trip to Turkey, Australia and New Zealand and next summer back to Turkey, India and – these three have all been enormous influences in my interest in textile design

 

Wallpaper Design by David Easton

Fabric Design by David Easton

 

Iván Meade - Do you have a favorite technique or printing process that you like to use for your fabric and wallpapers?

David Easton - I love woven textures. In the printing process I particularly prefer fabric with a slight texture and am amazed at the richness of the process of metallic colors in these fabrics.

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

Iván Meade - Do you think technology has affected the creative process of your product lines?

David Easton - Absolutely – the issue of doing carpets in Hungary traveling two hours to watch people manufacture carpets is a world that’s in the past and the future is the technology of everything.  From the very instance of a sketch or design idea thru computer technology, computer rendering etc. is given a cleaner more critically defined design to product all over the world and that is true of the things I’m doing today.

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

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

David Easton.-

Strength: the ability to envision and draw both architecture interiors and a live product of furniture, lighting and textiles. To be able to sit down, sketch out a house, place it’s furniture, organize it’s general landscaping and then to be able to go beyond that to be able to detail millwork, place electrical plans etc. is a blessing both by hand and not in my case by computer – I assure that I have a strong feeling that computer technology and CAD systems covers a multitude of sins in terms of the fact that the line by computer makes everything look perfect when it takes the eye and the movement of a pencil across a piece of paper!

Weakness: trying to accomplish more than I am able – as time goes on I’ve learned how to edit and I’ve learned how to deal with more than an 8 hour 5 day a week life – but I’m excited by what I do and I am enticed by the creative process that’s involved.

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

Iván Meade - What is your guilty pleasure?

David Easton - I know that I sound like an early puritan – but I can’t think of very much that I feel guilty about – if there was one thing it would be trying to balance together too much – trying to manage my life, my design office, travel and many friends it becomes a full time ballet.

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

Iván Meade - What are 5 things you can’t live without?

David Easton - Friends, travel, challenge, a glass of red wine, books

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

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

David Easton - Challenge!! The exciting changes that are taking place in our new global world is something that bring attention and excitement to everything we’ve ever done in the past as we proceed to do it in the future whatever our professions may be.

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

Iván Meade - Do you have a piece from any of your collections that is your favorite?

David Easton.-

Lee Jofa – a new fabric line which is a global line of design which was inspired by traveling to Asia and Africa.

 

Lee Jofa Products by David Easton

 

Visual Comfort – a new star fixture

Guy Chaddock – a curved “Scaparelli” sofa

Safavieh – a new line of very flat woven textured carpets in asymmetrical and sometimes ethnic patterns, softer color and more modern.

 

 SAFAVIEH - David Easton Collection

 

Iván Meade - What would be your dream project?

David Easton - The next project that includes a piece of land with a house to be built, interiors to be completed and the interior furnishings to be designed and working with a marvelous landscape architect to put it all together – we’re now working on a project somewhat like that in Mexico.

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

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

David Easton - Any project that has involved the house, it’s gardens and landscape – we’ve had many wonderful projects and I can look back on one project in Virginia where it involves a house, stables, a chapel, a log cabin and other buildings on the estate – peripherally a project in Scotland and a boat – those are exciting. That’s the kind of totality that takes up your life and gives you a big canvas to work with and an exciting and enticing goal to complete.

  Interiors by David Easton

 

Iván Meade - What is your next design venture?

David Easton - We are working on a boat that is being built outside of Amsterdam, as well as several projects in New York City.  There are also several projects in Chicago and a lovely development in Malibu, CA.

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

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?

David Easton - I have a very long view of past, present and future.  I think the era of a Palladio, a Schinkel, or a Robert Adam is a period of time that is over and in this global world there will be much work but it will be simpler and less complicated.

If there was a legacy I think it would be the legacy, simply felt of having done what I consider created beautiful homes for people and the issue of people I’ve met and worked with - both young architects and designers in the office - the craftspeople I’ve met and worked with across this globe and all of this would be a legacy that I left with the people I’ve encountered on this wonderful journey.

 

Interiors by David Easton

 

I invite you to visit David Easton’s website to enjoy his outstanding body of work.

 

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MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011