Kevin Lee Allen to Speak at Broadway Lighting Master Classes
May 17, 2012
Kevin Lee Allen is a multiple-award-winning scenic and lighting designer who works in theatre, film, television, museums, and corporate environments, including architainment, exhibits, fashion, and special events. Notable projects include work for Fox News, the United States Government, CNN and CNN International, a virtual interview with Benjamin Franklin and productions of Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, and the Chase Bank Flagship Signage in Times Square. His design sketches are held in private collections and in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.
Allen is the author of Entertainment and Lighting Design with Vectorworks Spotlightand has sought to exploit the program’s 3D capabilities for design and visualization. He has taught Vectorworks on the university level, given webinars, and has given Vectorworks lectures and demonstrations at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 2 Festivals.
Allen’s work can be seen on his website. He blogs at http://klad.com/blog. Sometimes he blogs about Vectorworks. Blog posts that specifically deal with Entertainment and Lighting Design with Vectorworks Spotlight can be found in the category VWX Spotlight and Design.
Comments (0) | More: Teaching, VectorWorks, VWX Spotlight and Design
Sneaky, Kinda Brilliant Moonshine Runners
May 16, 2012
From Boing Boing – my favorite culture surfing site, an interesting slice of Americana. And Shoes
The May 27, 1922 issue of The Evening Independent carried a story about moonshiners wearing “cow shoes” to trick revenuers — rather than leaving suspicious footprints leading up to their secret stills, they’d leave innocent-looking hoofprints in the dirt and grass. The New Yorker‘s “Photo Booth” had a good snap of one of the shoes (above).
Shiners Wear “Cow Shoes” (via Kottke)
Comments (0) | Tags: adventures, art, design, Inspiration, research | More: Industrial Design, Inspiration
KLAD’s Latest Pop up – It’s all Set Design
May 15, 2012
We’re really excited about one of our latest projects - a pop-up in Times Square. Its happening very soon, so keep checking back, I’ll be posting photos of the process and progress. Here’s the shot of the raw space, taken during our first meeting and initial site survey.
Comments (0) | Tags: adventures, Architecture, color, design, designer, drawing, KLAD, Lighting Design, scenic design, set design, sets, Theatre | More: Architecture, The Studio, The Work, Theatre, VectorWorks
Light Dancing – Natural Light Plays on Modern
May 10, 2012
Here at KLAD we often use specific lighting instruments, gobos, and gels to design lighting for our set design projects. Here, a series of cantilevers and recesses create a rhythm for nature’s lights to show off pattern shadows on a modern home designed by architect David Jameson. The series of cubes, with frameless windows and edges of the flat roof that are flush with the facade gives the home a lush softness that disguises the number of floors, and shows a gracious, minimal massing.
The interior is light, spacious and airy, with open staircases and lovely peeks through well placed windows of the forest like surroundings.
While I’m often quick to criticize the architecture of our current era, I’m also gratified to find a project that really works. The architect has created a smartly designed, gorgeous home that fits the surroundings and takes advantage of the amazing light that nature creates. This home shines at night, as the interior lighting softly illuminates the smart very livable interior.
Daylight dancing over cantilevers and recesses
Light loves the interior
Interior lighting takes center stage as day softens into evening light
Source: Dezeen
Comments (1) | Tags: Architecture, art, design, elegant, environment, lighting, Lighting Design, Modernism | More: Architecture, Inspiration
Jens Risom celebrating nearly a century of iconic design
May 08, 2012
Jens Risom
One of the first designers to bring Scandinavian design to America, furniture designer Jens Risom celebrates his 96th birthday today. Mr. Risom came to New York in 1939 after years of study in Copenhagen, including business college. At first Risom found it difficult to find work as a furniture designer, so he turned to textiles. His freelance work landed in the pages of Collier’s “House of Ideas” designed by Edward Durell Stone during the 1939 World’s Fair.
Risom’s journey to iconic designer status began in 1941, when he partnered with Hans Knoll, starting the Hans Knoll Furniture Company in 1942. Fifteen of the first 20 designs in the inaugural catalog were designed by Risom. Some of these designs are still in production today, his chairs of cedar and what was once surplus military webbing are much sought after iconic designs of the mid- 20th century.
Risom Arm Chair 1941
After serving in the US Army during World War II, Risom briefly returned to Knoll before launching his own studio, Jens Risom Design (JRD) in May of 1946.
His work was popular, he was one of six furniture designers featured in Playboy, and one of Risom’s office chairs was used by Lyndon Johnson in the Oval Office
His work is on display at the Museum of Modern Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Brooklyn Museum, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum and the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
1961 Playboy photo featuring left to right - George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames and Jens Risom.
Sources: DWR, Wikipedia
Comments (0) | Tags: art, color, design, designer, Inspiration, Modernism, museum | More: Industrial Design, Inspiration
Pantone Chocolate Please
May 06, 2012
It has been way too long since I’ve indulged in my love of food and drink here on the blog. We’ve been so busy here in the KLAD studio that I haven’t had time to cook, bake or mix up classic cocktails in forever. I do find minutes here and there to read food blogs, and one of my favorites is Griottes, a fun French food blog. I struggle through the text with my very rusty ability to read and speak French, but, as in my world, visuals speak in every language.
So what does a French food blog have to do with Set Design? Here I don’t have to go through a myriad of word contortions to get there, as Emilie has combined two of my passions, food and color. Pantone color. Pantone is the color language I use to speak with my clients, especially creative directors who’s roots are in graphic design.
Enough text, let’s get to the pictures. Using tart shells and various fruits, Emilie has created dimensional pantone color swatches that really are good enough to eat. If I can find a full day or two to spend in the kitchen, I’m going to work on edible pantone swatches in chocolate and frites.
Comments (0) | Tags: adventures, art, color, colour, design, designer, Inspiration | More: Gastronauting, Happy Hour, Inspiration
Art Director’s Notebook: Vintage carpenter’s tool re-imagined
May 03, 2012
Courtesy of Inhabitant, here’s a wonderfully fun little lamp made from found folding rulers. These folding rulers were once part of every carpenter’s tool kit. I have a few because I love small hand sized vintage tools. I clean them up, right down to polishing the brass fittings. The folds in the rulers allow the light that shines through to cast lively shadows, creating a beautiful patterns on the surfaces the lamp illuminates. This lamp has an international pedigree, it was made by Sicilian artist Archangelo Favata with rulers he found on the streets of Turin, Italy.
Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, as the writer of the original blog post refers to these rulers as “rubbish”. I disagree. These are craftsmen’s tools, once a necessary component of a successful project. Remember: Measure twice, cut once, and last one out the door please turn off the lights.
Comments (0) | Tags: design, Inspiration, lighting, Lighting Design, research | More: Art for Art's Sake, Inspiration
What ever happened to Futurtecture?
April 30, 2012
We’re set, lighting and costume designers. That means we dream, but we also know how to bring the dreams back to reality. We tell stories and we create illusions. But mostly we dream of things that never were or were never really the way we build them. No that doesn’t mean paper maché and flimsy construction. We think big, whether for the stage or the small screen.
So where is the big thinking in the “real” world? As a society, we seem to have lost enthusiasm for the future. It was cool to see the space shuttles flying over DC and New York. It’s cool that those vehicles will be in museums, but where are the new spacecraft? Where is our shared spirit of adventure and exploration?
Where is the Playboy Club in space?
Why are we not looking to colonize space? Or the deep sea?
Web Urbanist had some thoughts here. In the meantime, we should all dream big.
We will, of course, use Vectorworks to design our future.
Comments (0) | More: Architecture, Inspiration, Television, Theatre, VectorWorks
Backstage with the Set Designers
April 25, 2012
Lights! Camera! Action! Commercial production is not for the faint of heart. We ride roller coasters on a sea of constant change, sometimes remixing, reinventing and re-imagining sets and scenes as we’re shooting. Since we can’t promote our work until well after it airs, we don’t always post about our day to day work. As I’m wrapping up our first shoot this week and prepping for the next three, I thought I’d post a few of our production candids so you can get a feel for what goes on behind the magic making scene.
Unpacking the set for TSA. Designed by KLAD, built by Gotham Scenic. Pro Tip: Don't wear a metal belt to a load in at the Department of Homeland Security.
Multi level runway - and we're covering it with high gloss flaming pink glitter. Perfect for lingerie models in stilettos.
Grip Stands in formation ready for the production battle.
We're ready to start shooting "Living Well with Montel" if only the Art Director would stop tweaking.
Tele-Prompter up. Waiting for Montel to enter stage left. And we're live in 5-4-3...
Comments (0) | Tags: art direction, commercials, design, Inspiration, KLAD, live, Living well, Montell, production design, scenic design, set design, sets, Television, tommie copper | More: Events, Film, Television, The Studio, The Work, Uncategorized
Pre-Visulization is Key. Vectorworks and Cinema 4D announce 2nd annual Rendering Competition
April 20, 2012
It has always been critical communication and story telling for set and lighting designers to communicate there ideas visually to directors, producers and other collaborators. When this communication was done fully or primarily in traditional media; sketches and physical models, that need was still critical. Now, we have new, and constantly evolving computer based tools that can very accurately represent physical materials and the properties of light. Like watercolor and colored pencils, programs like Vectorworks and C4D must be learned and mastered.
The need for pre-visualization will only grow over time. Pre-visualization saves time, and money, in preparing productions. It is now possible to cue an entire show off-site with just a few people. The cueing can be brought to the venue and quickly tweaked. There are no surprises, no crew calls and more time for rehearsals or other work.
It’s all about knowing the software and using the tools.
Beginning April 18th, professional and student designers can submit entries to the 2012 Inspired Visions Global Rendering Competition. This annual competition, which is sponsored by Nemetschek Vectorworks, and MAXON Computer, recognizes today’s top architects and designers from around the world, and their abilities to visually render Vectorworks models with Renderworks or CINEMA 4D. Submissions will be accepted until 16 August 2012, in the following categories:
· Rendering with Renderworks 2012
· Rendering with CINEMA 4D
· Monochromatic model (rendered in Renderworks or CINEMA 4D) continue…
Comments (0) | Tags: design, KLAD, lighting, NYC, set design, sets, Television, Theatre, tools, TV, VectorWorks | More: Teaching, Television, The Studio, The Work, Theatre, VectorWorks, VWX Spotlight and Design
Kitchen Design is always Set Design, but this one, or these, especially…
April 17, 2012
Well, of course, every kitchen is a set, and every kitchen requires great lighting, ideally real and artificial. In this case, just artificial. Like most all of our projects, we can’t discuss the client or the use until long after the work has been built, filmed, edited, and aired. At least for film and television. For live events, the cat is out of the bag at the first public performance.
Forget the rule of the triangle here, this kitchens or kitchens (keep reading) has many more rules to be considered. This kitchen has to last at least five years, that’s not really long in kitchen years, but most kitchens don’t ave to be assembled, disassembled, stored, reassembled, etc. etc. on a regular basis. Most real kitchens have one arrangement. The stove will be where the stove all be and the plumbing is fixed in one location. This one needs to have many different floor plans and finishes. So, this kitchen will have one set of cabinet cores and several different sets of doors and drawer fronts. Not to mention counter tops, set dressing, and paint treatments.
Obviously, this kitchen will be used in commercial advertising for many different products. What products? We don’t know. Many haven’t been developed or even invented. We have to anticipate the many possible uses.
Of course, like a real kitchen, everything has to work. That’s not always true in a set kitchen. Unlike a real kitchen,we don’t know where the sink will be from show to show. This has to be a modular design combining stock and custom pieces with almost infinite flexibility.
Lighting and electric has to be configured into each piece. The under cabinet lighting will likely bean RGB LED system for different looks and to allow for compete color balance. There will need to be the ability to light the interior of the cabinets, whether they has glass fronted does or not. All of the lighting will need to be concealed and controlled from a, somewhat, remote location.
whew!
Obviously these drawings are the very first quick schematics and studies. And obviously, we’ll post as many details as we can, when we can. Right now, back to the drawing board.
But, if you’d like to se some nice, real kitchens, that don’t come apart, click here.
Comments (0) | Tags: Architecture, design, green, Happy Hour, KLAD, lighting, Lighting Design, Modernism, scenic design, set design, sets, VectorWorks | More: Television, The Work, VectorWorks
Line, Form, Mass, we love dramatic design
April 13, 2012
As set designers and modernists, we love the dramatic use of the elements of design. We love to force or fool the eye. It’s part of the job, making a space feel differently than it really is to the eye, or the camera, or both. Unlike architects who HAVE to deal with the sun we also have the use of lighting design, at all times of the day, to accent our choices.
Sometime back, Cruzine had an interesting post that inspired today’s thought, and several designs. The brilliant designs and lofty photography can set the mind to dreaming and the hand to drawing. Just because these are buildings doesn’t mean they can’t inspire kitchens, interviews sets or the movement of actors or consumers within a space.
Check out the link for some great images and links to even larger images for greater impact.
And color, let’s not forget color, but our regular readers know we love color.
Comments (0) | Tags: Architecture, design, KLAD, Lighting Design, Modernism, scenic design, set design, Television, Theatre | More: Television, The Studio, The Work, Theatre
Someone else took my Spring Break vacation!?!
April 10, 2012
The other day, I posted about Miami Modern and how my Spring Break trips to Florida with my family had helped to shape my aesthetic as a set and lighting designers, as well as a person.
Well, nice weather and great minds reminiscing alike, Retronaut and Vintage Everyday both posted photographer Tom Reavis‘ great images from the same time and place.
Enjoy. It’s not MiMo, but…
Comments (0) | Tags: adventures, design, KLAD, lighting, research, scenic design, set design, Theatre | More: Architecture, From the Road, Inspiration
I remember when MiMo didn’t have a name…
April 03, 2012
…it was just architecture, or more directly, and simply, the buildings. Not even that really, as I didn’t yet have a set designer’s vocabulary or a lighting designer’s appreciation for the way the sun, and neon lit the sculpted facades. Well, maybe the neon, who doesn’t love neon. These are the things that make up the theatre of life.
It was always this time, of year; Spring Break from school. My parents would take me out of school for an extra week and we would make the annual trek to Florida in the camper. The first stop was always Flagler Beach State Park, and then we would work our way down the Space Coast through Daytona, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami towards my Aunt Jean and Uncle Jack in South Dade, really still part of Greater Miami. I think Dadeland was the first Mall I ever visited, beginning when it was open air.
Little did I know then how the visits to Miami Seaquarium, and Miami Beach would influence my future taste in architecture and styling. Everything was generally new and modern. Even the supermarkets, gas stations, and motels represented progress. Like the Space Program. Optimism was in the air, the future was bright, and technology was the key. Science ruled and education was of paramount importance.
Now, MiMo or Miami Modern is a preservation movement. This is much like the efforts it took to preserve South Beach Deco in the early 1980′s. Why do we never learn?
Last year, Modern Capital took a trip down my personal memory lane.
Always looking for another opportunity to get back to Miami. It hasn’t been 40 years, but it has been too long.
Comments (0) | Tags: adventures, Architecture, color, colour, design, designer, KLAD, Lighting Design, Modernism, set design | More: Architecture, From the Road, Inspiration
Times Square at Night 1957
March 30, 2012
As usual, Kirsten Hively, of Project Neon fame, posts a link to feed my signage fetish. This silent 16mm home movie footage of Times Square at Night was shot in 1957. JohnMeyer77 posted this on his You Tube channel. From his description:
I used motion stabilization software to remove the shake from the hand-held footage. This makes it look more professional, but I assure you it simply home movie footage, although it was taken with a very good 16mm camera, and was perfectly exposed, something that was tough to do back in those days before auto exposure.
This is a quick little time capsule of space, dimension and movement from a time of the golden age of electric signs. As I watched this movie, I thought about how much of the Times Square signage of today is just burn your retinas bright flat panels.
I spend many nights walking through Times Square and often, if I pause for a moment and put my tourist goggles on, I see a visual cacophony. Huge flat screen after huge flat screen, super bright images flailing about, one after another coming together into advertising soup.
Except of course for the whirring, flashing multi layered Chase sign with its twinkling jewel like logo, jutting out from the facade of 3 Times Square. Full disclosure, I chose as a contrast this newer, hand crafted sign, by the very talented craftspeople at Spectrum Sign, because KLAD designed it. This is all the shameless self promotion you’ll have to endure in this post.
I wanted to share this with my fellow sign affectionados, I think you’ll appreciate how much easier it is for your eye to differentate the messages from each other, because great design and exquisite craft is a connector for all our senses, and these signs leave impressions on us. Perhaps the huge white digital flat screens do the same for some people, I cannot really visually remember any particular flat panel that stands out. (terrible attempt at a bad pun). It’s easy to see for yourself, watch this movie and make a mental note of any of the signs that left an impression. The next time you’re in Times Square, stand in the bowtie and see what leaves an impression. Is it a giant, super bright flat screen?
Comments (1) | Tags: adventures, Architecture, art, color, design, Inspiration, neon, signs | More: Architecture, Film, Inspiration
What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us, by Guy Kawasaki
March 29, 2012
We’ve been a bit confounded by Google+ even though we have begun to explore and experiment with the newish social media service. There are things we like and things we don’t like. It has remained a bit of a mystery, at least until Guy Kawasaki reached out to see if we would review his new book What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us. Sure, we can +1 and Share set design posts we like via the Google Reader, but what else? How do we find like minded people and friends?
Most of our readers will likely be familiar with Kawasaki as the Apple Evangelist Officer. or from our review of his last book Enchantment, which we reviewed last year. Guy is prolific, but this is only the second book he has written about a specific product. The first was, of course, The Macintosh Way.
The man does know how to write and how to share enthusiasm. He also walks the walk using Google+ several hours a day, in addition to his other postings and Tweets.
What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us is a brief, yet thorough overview of the ins and outs of Google+. Reading, What the Plus! and, as I like to put it, Playing the Home Game, that is working Google+ as one reads, the text provides a clear comparison with Facebook and Twitter, making the new, familiar. What the Plus! is a valuable manual in social media. It’s just $2.99 or less and available as an eBook in your favorite flavors.
All that and nary a mention of Vectorworks. Oooops.
Comments (0) | Tags: design, KLAD, set design | More: Book Review
Vectorworks Creative Minds Monthly Design Competition
March 28, 2012
Nemetschek Vectorworks has announced their Creative Minds competition that challenges designers, including and especially set designers and lighting designers, to explore multiple options for documenting and presenting your response to a design concept. Each month’s concept can be answered with ANY kind of design response – architectural design, product design, landscape design, entertainment design, or any creative response. This really is the perfect place for entertainment designers to explore a metaphor in a wide context, the freedom to design without the constraints of a physical structure, budget, or a script. Well, you may want to write your own script.. continue…
Comments (0) | Tags: Architecture, art, design, environment, green, KLAD, lighting, Modernism, scenic design, set design, VectorWorks | More: Architecture, Theatre of Games, VectorWorks, VWX Spotlight and Design
Creating Textures for a Vectorworks Easter Egg
March 23, 2012
This is the third of three posts describing creating a scene and lighting design for an Easter Egg using Vectorworks. I guess it’s more a prop design, but it’s just an excuse to have some fun and maybe learn a few things along the way. This is also a great illustration of how easy it is to model seemingly complex objects using Vectorworks and how to readily make a great presentation using Renderworks.
First let’s look at the floor texture I described in the last post. This is really simple. It is a simple Color Shader, with the color set to White and the Brightness set to 100%. The Reflectivity Shader is reflecting white and set to 35%, we don’t want this to be just a mirror, it’s a cool glossy surface. Finally there is a blurriness setting set to 15% so the reflections are just a little bit soft.
The floor is huge and the floor is positioned, as is the camera, (manipulated through the camera view settings) so that we never see off of the floor.
Another option would be to model something like a television/film studio cyc with curved corners and sweeps that meet the floor. The lights would then have to be Spotlights rater than the Directional lights as no matter where they are placed, the Directional light would cast a shadow of the cyc walls in to the rendering.
So, I like things a bit extreme. In general, in our work, we have to be a bit conservative, so this is an opportunity to go over the top. A Pink Cheetah Easter Egg sounds about right. The Pink Cheetah is an image file that I’ve had (and used) for a long time. I brought that in as a texture. Set it to a 20% Mirror Reflectivity Shader.
It’s not quite right, so I added a decal of the shield and a gem. I’ve also bumped up the Ambient Light and added a spotlight to accent the front of the egg.Now, this is an appropriately over the top celebratory egg. Of course, I want to add more, colored lights on and around the egg, but I also want to keep the lesson simple. Dilemmas.
Read about the building of the model here and creating the Lighting Design for the Easter Egg here.
Of course, there are many other tips and techniques like this described in my new book Entertainment and Lighting Design with Vectorworks Spotlight available from Nemetschek Vectorworks.
Entertainment and Lighting Design with Vectorworks Spotlight takes the reader from simple techniques like this through the process of designing the sets and lights for a Broadway show.
Need Help? Post any Vectorworks related question in the comments section. Kevin will post his answers here.
Comments (0) | Tags: design, KLAD, lighting, Lighting Design, scenic design, set design, sets, Television, Theatre, tools, TV, VectorWorks, writing | More: The Studio, The Work, VectorWorks, VWX Spotlight and Design
Lighting Design for a Vectorworks Easter Egg
March 21, 2012
This is the second installment of a lesson in scenic design and lighting design around creating, modeling, and rendering an Easter Egg using Vectorworks. If you are playing along at home, you need the first post in order to do this lesson.
First, I have deleted the guides and selected the Egg object. I then rotated the Egg twice using the Modify>Rotate>Rotate 3D Command. In each case, I rotated -15° Along the Active Layer Plane. I rotated once along the Y axis and once along the Z axis. That should make a more interesting composition than the straight on view. In the front view, I ‘nudged’ the object up to zero. Nudge isn’t really an accurate way to move objects, but this is an illustration, not a technical drawing. I added a large white reflective floor under the egg, a white Renderworks background, and a Camera Object to look at the egg on the floor in perspective.
Any basic lighting set-up requires three–point lighting – a Key, a Fill, and a Back Light. This is true on stage, or in film, television, photography, or Vectorworks.
Go to the Top/Plan View. From the Visualization tool set, select the Light tool and the first option on the Tool Bar-–Directional Light Mode also select the Set Direction Mode (the sixth option in the Tool Bar).
Your first light should be 45° from the straight on angle of your perspective view. Click on your object and drag to place the light. This is the Key Light and can be named in the Data Tab of the OIP. In the Shape tab of the OIP, set the elevation to 60° and the brightness to 60%.
The Fill Light comes in lower and fills in places missed by the Key. Typically this is a softer light, so click and drag this light to be 45° from the Key Light. In the OIP, set the elevation to 20° and the brightness to 40% for this light, turn shadows off in the OIP.
For the Back Light, select the Mirror tool from the Basic tool set and Mirror the Fill Light using the Mirror and Duplicate Mode. Set the elevation of the Back Light to 45° and the brightness to 30%.
For more dramatic lighting you can use the Spotlight Option for the Light Tool Objects. NOTE; proper heights have to be set for Spotlights. Directional Light Objects do not need a Z elevation.
Go to View>Lighting>Lighting Options and set the Indirect Lighting Options (via the drop down menu) to Normal-2 bounces. I also have the Key and Back light set to soft shadows. I’ve added a lavender color to the Back light and bumped it to 35% brightness.
Next up, we will make textures and do a final render. Read about the building of the model here.
Of course, there are many other tips and techniques like this described in my new book Entertainment and Lighting Design with Vectorworks Spotlight available from Nemetschek Vectorworks.
Entertainment and Lighting Design with Vectorworks Spotlight takes the reader from simple techniques like this through the process of designing the sets and lights for a Broadway show.
Need Help? Post any Vectorworks related question in the comments section. Kevin will post his answers here.
Comments (0) | Tags: design, KLAD, learn, lighting, Lighting Design, scenic design, set design, sets, Television, Theatre, tools, TV, VectorWorks | More: The Studio, The Work, Theatre, VectorWorks, VWX Spotlight and Design
Simplified Geometry of a Vectorworks Easter Egg
March 19, 2012
Whats a set designer to do to celebrate the Spring Mating Ritual? What will the lighting design look like for the same? These are the questions that we ponder as the weather turns warm, even if warmer than usual and foggy as we write this. Well, Easter Eggs can be fun, and decorated to the hilt.
This might take a few posts. The first question is “What is the shape of an egg?” It is not an oval, ellipse, or a circle. Yes they are all different and an egg is not an oval, even if they have the derivation. It is close enough to a circle in plan view that we won’t model with Revolve with Rail. To model an egg, we’ll use a simple Sweep command. But first the profile. We only need one side of the egg to make it 3D. We could use a full egg, but the model would be a mess.
Warning, this is pretty nerdy. continue…
Comments (2) | Tags: drawing, KLAD, Lighting Design, scenic design, set design, sets, Television, Theatre, TV, VectorWorks | More: The Studio, The Work, VectorWorks, VWX Spotlight and Design
Jane by Design – Hip Fashion House? Sadly, No.
March 14, 2012
You know how much I love to critique craptastic design. Today, I’m just going to give it up JUST FOR TODAY and turn you on to Raina Cox’s blog, If the Lampshade Fits. Her critique is full of snarky goodness. here’s a SFW snippet.
The show’s creator April Blair gave set decorator Richard C. Walker a simple brief: “Make it look like Domino.” The man who created one of the worst-looking domiciles ever to grace the small screen delivered to Blair “interiors [that] are an eyeful: orange mohair-topped footstools, Moroccan lamps, bright lacquered armoires, zebra print chairs and elegant wall treatments.” Oh my.
I’ll be back. The internet is a big place, and there’s lots and lots of ugly to talk about.
Comments (0) | Tags: design, research, set design, sets, Television | More: set design critique
It’s always design time….
March 09, 2012
Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead 1 hour Saturday night – or you’ll miss that 5am art department call. Of course, the DP will still complain that the light’s just not right and ask the art department to move the industrial site a few yards camera left.
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It’s a Vectorworks St. Patrick’s Day!
March 08, 2012
It’s a Vectorworks Set Design! It’s Vectorworks Lighting Design! It’s shamrock, actually six shamrocks. Perhaps I should have included a beer? Green Beer? Nah, I’ve never really cared for food coloring in my alcohol. Usually means cheap alcohol.
There are only six of the shamrock symbol instances in the illustration. The rest are reflections. The shamrocks are within a mirrored room created using the Curved Wall Tool and two extruded rectangles as ceiling and floor. The space is incidental beyond the texture. The elevation, rotation, and scale of the shamrock symbol instances are all different. continue…
Comments (0) | Tags: design, drawing, drinks, lighting, set design, Theatre, VectorWorks | More: Industrial Design, VectorWorks
Extremely Cool Architecture Rehab and Reuse
March 07, 2012
Perfect as film Production Design, great spaces and a beautiful mix of textures.
London architects Project Orange have added two stories to the roof of a Victorian brick warehouse in Sheffield, London, UK, that looks like another building, contemporary, stacked on top. The vertical expansion replaces a pitched roof, and creates three duplex studio offices within a powder-coated steel volume that overlaps, and intersects the original brick structure.
Photography is by Jack Hobhouse. Dezeen has the full story, more pictures and plans. Bravo! Nicely done.
Comments (0) | Tags: Architecture, Film, Inspiration, Lighting Design, Modernism, set design | More: Architecture, Inspiration
I only read Playboy for the articles… about design
March 06, 2012
Seriously, what Set Designer wouldn’t. Especially the modern design of the Playboy Pads of the 60′s and the 70′s? I preferred the pads to the clubs, but the Playboy Club in Space is too cool.
No reason to reinvent the wheel here, go to Playboy for the full scoop. Obviously, great ideas continue to be developed right in tot he 21st century.
And, also obviously, the eye candy in the illustrations never hurt either.
Comments (1) | Tags: adventures, design, Inspiration, Modernism, set design | More: Architecture, Inspiration
Feels Like a Dangerous Place to Eat
February 28, 2012
Not very good set design, terrible Feng Shui.
The Cornerstone Restaurant designed by Studio Ramoprimo os located in Beijing. Someone should know about Feng Shui there.
To me, it seems like sitting there I would be waiting for one of those stalactites to split my skull open in the midst of the meal. Not appetizing at all.
Comments (0) | Tags: Lighting Design, set design, Theatre | More: Architecture, From the Road, Gastronauting, Restaurant Design
The High Line–it wasn’t always a park…
February 27, 2012
…and Paul McCartney was with another band before he was with Wings. If I had been born earlier, I might have liked to have been the set designer for The Ed Sullivan Show, and had the opportunity to work with that band. Of course Ed, had many great guests for whom it would have been a pleasure to design.
Vintage Everyday reminds us that the High Line Park in New York City wasn’t always a cool urban oasis. It was once a working rail line in what was also once an industrial area of the city. It’s cool now, it was less cool then, but functional in both cases.
The evolution of cities is fascinating. Cities are dependent on transportation. Most cities are located by the water, generally a sea, as that was the first means of transportation. Atlanta is landlocked, but originally dependent on the intersection of rail lines. When I first came to New York, the coast was generally abandoned. The piers were empty, abandoned, wasting away. But the waterfront was industrial and the area near the waterfront mostly industrial. Easy to receive the raw materials, make the goods, and ship the goods.
Now it is very different. In New York, the transformation began with the South Street Seaport. Now most of the waterfront is alive with recreational activities. And that transportation has moved inland, to places like the High Line. With change, there is always controversy. The High Line is changing the adjacent neighborhoods, it is changing the character of those neighborhoods; the residents, and the businesses.
Adaptive Reuse has transformed the waterfront, but the city still needs some of the services that must move as their real estate becomes more valuable. The debate and the search for balance moves on.
We recently shot at Pier 59 Studios. A perfect location on the edge, but still in the heart of the city. Attached to Chelsea Piers, so there is ready access to transportation and entertainment. A completely different kind of commerce, but the piers and the waterfront again bring jobs and commerce tot he city.
Comments (0) | Tags: Architecture, design, lighting, Lighting Design, set design | More: Architecture, From the Road
A Beach House for a February day that feels like Spring.
February 22, 2012
At first glance, this looks like the perfect location to use as a beach house location for a film. Or certainly the perfect inspiration for a brach house set design. Maybe even the perfect beach house. The lighting design of the photo could be better, but we’ll let that pass for the moment.
It gets worse. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Click the link, there are many more pix there.
Architect designed for his own personal residence. Or weekend escape. I guess neither the architect or anyone in his family is a cook. Or they unlimited time/staff to clean the kitchen.
Sure, the corrugated steel vertical siding is cool. If it is galvanized, it is likely a good choice int he salt air. However, the same look, this time horizontal (worse) as the hood over the stove and then the bambooesque kitchen window shades? WTF?
Our first rule of a beach or weekend escape is that the space must be easily maintained. Who wants to spend down time cleaning? Or worse, hiring additional staff.
Also, Mr. Wilson, two story spaces, just for the sake of additional vertical height are out. If you want to use this house in the winter, you’ll be burning fuel, even if the space isn’t a LEED space, the new trends are boards greener spaces.
And while the exterior seems nicely composed many of the interior spaces feel oddly shaped and awkwardly proportioned. Consider the stubby looking fireplace…
Enough of our thoughts, what do you think?
Comments (0) | Tags: Architecture, design, set design, TV | More: Architecture, From the Road, Inspiration
Art Director’s Notebook: Playful Lighting
February 17, 2012
They are all over ebay, at flea markets and garage sales – toys! Sometimes dented, chipped, die cast metal cars missing wheels or windshields, robots that no longer wind up, action figures that lost a scuffle or two. What happens to these cast aside remnants of childhood? Do they somehow make their way to the island of misfit toys? In my head they used too, as the thought of these tiny imagination makers tossed into a trash can is is boring and a little sad.
Thanks to New Zealand based BGWorld, these toys are given a new lease on life in the forms of wonderful upcycled lamps. These lamps are made from little discarded toys, each piece renewed, painted and carefully reworked into lamp shades.
Perfect for a child’s room, a collector’s den, or a drab cubicle.
via Inhabitant
KAMIKARZE Lamp - Gold
Come and Get Me - Lamp Detail
Comments (0) | Tags: art, design, green, Inspiration, lighting, red | More: Inspiration
Another Vectorworks Valentine, this time with Heart
February 14, 2012
This is a Quickie for Valentine’s Day. A simple 3D heart.
First I drew some simple 2D primitives, which I then converted to NURBS (Modify>Convert>Convert to NURBS). The vertical line is a simple line. The curved profile was drawn with the Polyline tool. The heart was drawn as one half and mirrored for symmetry. I then used the Fillet Tool to often the point.
The basic rules of creating a NURBS surface with profile and rail are begin with making the axis, rail and profile out of NURBS curves. They do not have to be drawn with the NURBS Tools, as I said, simple primitives can be converted to NURBS.
I drew the half heart in a right isometric view, working off of the 0-0 point on the page. I mirrored off of the 0-0 point and converted to NURBS.
I rotated the working plane to draw the vertical line and converted.
I drew the curved Profile in a Front View and converted.
So, NOTE the rules:
● The axis must be a linear NURBS curve
● The profile must be a planar NURBS curve
● The profile cannot intersect the axis, though it can touch
● The axis must lie on the same plane as the profile
● The rail must be a planar NURBS curve that lies on a plane perpendicular to the plane containing the axis and profile Just like the illustration below.
I am going to use the Model>3D Power Pack>Revolve with Rail Command, so I have the heart shaped rail line, a vertical line, the axis, to determine height and the curved line for the profile. Invoking the command displays instructions in the Tool Bar near the top of the window. Three clicks, in the right order and voila!
Clicking the vertical line, it turns red, then the profile curve and it will turn red. Finally. clicking the heart shaped rail completes the model.
In the rendering, I’ve duplicated the heart so it is fully dimensional, given it a reflective, slightly transparent colored texture and added a couple of lights.
Of course, this is Vectorworks, this is one of many ways to reach a similar form. Maybe next year, we’ll do another. There is, a longer explanation of Revolve with Rail in Entertainment and Lighting Design with Vectorworks Spotlight.
Comments (0) | Tags: design, scenic design, Theatre, VectorWorks | More: VectorWorks, VWX Spotlight and Design
A Vectorworks Valentine—Designing Scenery in 3D
What follows is an excerpt from my new book; Entertainment and Lighting Design with Vectorworks Spotlight.
Any production of Romeo and Juliet actually requires very little in the way of scenery and staging. It does require some pretty good acting, but that’s not our focus here. Basically for the action of the play..
- a Balcony
- a Wall
- a Slab
…are all that is required. There are many ways to build or paint these locations, For our production, we’re basically going to allude to them.
Scene changes often slow the pace of the production. In order to accommodate these specific needs and to swiftly move between locations, we’re going to design a simple unit. In this case the movement would be controlled by winches, and there will be tracks in the Show Deck to control the movement and placement of the unit. Without the mechanics, the same unit could be moved by hand. continue…
Comments (0) | Tags: scenic design, set design, Television, Theatre, VectorWorks, writing | More: VectorWorks, VWX Spotlight and Design
Set Designer’s Notebook: Heavenly Stairways
February 13, 2012
Thanks to the amazing people at Design Milk, I’ve found a treasure trove of set design inspiration in a single post. Behold the soaring wonderfulness of staircases, they say and do so many things. Of course, they get us from one level of a structure to another, and that is important. When we put our design heads in pure imagination mode, staircases take us on flights of fancy. Where do those stairs lead? Perhaps to a secret lair, or a subterranean stash, or the ultimate prize. As the Architects of Dreams, staircases do anything and everything we want. They can be metaphors for desires and fears, soaring to heights unimaginable, descending into depths of fear and loathing.
Here’s some juicy eye candy to get you started. Head over to Design Milk for more.
Comments (0) | Tags: adventures, Architecture, art, design, Inspiration, KLAD, Modernism, scenic design, set design | More: Industrial Design, Inspiration, The Work
Energy of Design
February 08, 2012
Ministry of Design has unveiled the Vanke Triple V Gallery in Tianjin, China. The soaring triangles remind me of the uplifting energy of parabolic roof lines prevalent in Mid Century Modern architecture, like this Union 76 gas station roof I wrote about in my post on UltraModern Roadside Architecture of the mid 20th century. 
Design is energy expressed in ways that work for the project. Needs dictate, to a certain extent, the amount and type of energy that is expressed in a design. Energy can be futuristic and hopeful – Modernist or subtle and grounding – Craftsman.
This structure suits its purpose, as a gallery and visitor’s center for a developer, because it expresses the energy of creation. Now, I don’t know what this architect’s client creates, I’m usually cautious when I hear the word developer, as I think of junk like Hovnanian enclaves that appear like mold on our environmental landscape. I almost posted an example, but the sheer unadulterated ugly gave me the vapors – if I had pearls, I’d be clutching them right about now.
Enjoy this bit of architecture porn - Brilliant, super sexy lighting is the awesome sauce on this plate of win.
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30 ways to say I love you no matter where you roam…
February 06, 2012
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day
- Ana behibek (to woman) (änä hĕ bēk) / Ana behibak (to man) (änä hĕ bĕk) – Arabic
- Obicham te (ō bē′ cham tā) – Bulgarian
- Soro lahn nhee ah (sir län nē rock) – Cambodian (Khmer)
- Wo ai ni (wō ī nē) – Chinese (Mandarin)
- Volim te (vau leem tĕ) – Croatian
- Miluji te (mē lū sēē chā) – Czech
- Jeg elsker dig (yī el sker dī) – Danish
- Ik hou van jou (ĭk how von yow) – Dutch
- Au lomani iko (au dō mä nē ēkō) – Fijian
- Mahal kita (mä häl kē tä) – Filipino (Tagalog)
- Je t’aime (jĕ tĕm) – French
- Ich liebe dich (ēsh lē-bĕ dēsh) – German
- Ani ohev otach (to woman) (ä-nē ōhĕv ōtäk) / Ani ohevet otcha (to man) (ä-nē ōhĕ-vĕt ōt-kä) – Hebrew
- Mein tumse pyar karta hoon (to woman) (mĕ äp-sē pē-är kär-tä hūn) / Mein tumse pyar karti hoon (to man) (mĕ äp-sē pē-är kär-tē hūn) – Hindi
- Gráim thú (graw-im hoo) – Irish Gaelic
- Ti amo (tē ämō) – Italian
- Aishiteru (ī shē tā ē rū) – Japanese
- Sarang hae (sä-räng hĕ) – Korean
- Saya cinta pada mu (sä-yä cheen-tä pä-dä mū) – Malay
- Doset daram (dū sät dä räm) – Persian (Farsi)
- Eu te amo (eh-oo tē ämō) – Portuguese
- Te iubesc (tĕ yū bā-sk) – Romanian
- Ya tebya liubliu (yä tĭb-yä lū-blū) – Russian
- Waan ku jecelahay (ooh wan koo chet lä hī) – Somali
- Te amo (tā ämō) – Spanish
- Nakupenda (nä kū pĕn dä) – Swahili
- Jag älskar dig (yä ĕlsker dā) – Swedish
- Phom rak khun (to woman) (pŏm läk kūn) / Chan rak khun (to man) (chän läk kūn) – Thai
- Seni seviyorum (sĕn-yē sā vē your rŭm) – Turkish
- ‘Rwy’n dy garu di (roo-in dū garry dee) – Welsh
courtesy of EcoSalon
Comments (0) | Tags: adventures, Modernism, pens, writing | More: Art for Art's Sake, From the Road
Bubeshko Apartments
February 03, 2012
Dwell brings the Bubeshko Apartments to our attention. I suppose if we lived in LA, we would either live here or know the building. Either way, we would have happily observed a recent restoration and necessary updating of this Rudolph Schindler building by DSH Architects.
In the late 1930s, Anastasia Bubeshko and her daughter Luby commissioned modernist master R. M. Schindler to design two apartment buildings in the Silver Lake section of LA. The Bubeshko family wanted a home that would also provide income, and living spaces that were flexible enough to be modified as needed in the future. The apartments remained in the Bubeshko family, and home to Luby, for sixty-five years. In 2005, the time had come for Luby to sell the property. Many potential buyers/developers considered extensive remodeling. Ultimately, Luby entrusted the property to a young family who would live in, and sensitively rehabilitate the buildings.
