Posts Tagged ‘Modernism’
Who needs a car in L.A.? We got the best public transportation system in the world!
May 2, 2013
“Who needs a car in L.A.? We got the best public transportation system in the world!” says private detective Eddie Valiant in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Matt Novak of the Smithsonian Magazine Blog Paleo Future writes about the rise and dominance of the car in Los Angeles. It is a fascinating read [...]
2013 | From the Road, Inspiration | Tags: adventures, art, environment, happiness, Inspiration, ModernismComments (0)
Hot Location, Cool Hotel.
March 25, 2013
It’s not a Kimpton, but we’d stay at the The Saguaro Hotel in Palm Springs. These folks are not afraid of color, and the space seems to celebrate the desert, and Palm Springs Modernism. The Saguaro interior and exterior are a riot of bold color that pays homage to the swinging midcentury vibe of this desert [...]
2013 | Architecture, From the Road | Tags: art, color, design, environment, Inspiration, Lighting Design, Modernism, set designComments (0)
Jaw Dropping Design, perhaps not for the purist
January 9, 2013
Recently discovered a series of posts entitled Jaw Dropping Design. We do not, of course, agree with every opinion. Or each other, from time to time. As designers, that’s our prerogative. I kind of love this, but I often refer Hot Rods to the originals. We have done some vehicle customization, and one day we’ll [...]
2013 | Inspiration | Tags: design, Modernism, research, set designComments (0)
The Master…
October 13, 2012
Yes, Frank Lloyd Wright was a genius, his building Marvel and Inspire. He was also a fashion plate. But the renderings, no matter who actually did them… Tweet
2012 | Architecture, Inspiration | Tags: Architecture, design, elegant, Inspiration, KLAD, Modernism, scenic design, set designComments (0)
A Beau-Arts Masterpiece for the 21st Century
August 27, 2012
When Union Station was designed by Daniel Burnham in 1907, the country was experiencing unprecedented growth in train travel. The elegant Beaux-Arts station quickly gained status as one of the busiest, most important rail stations in the world. After its busiest years during World War II, Union Station fell victim to the passage of time [...]
2012 | Architecture, From the Road, Inspiration | Tags: adventures, Architecture, elegant, environment, green, Modernism, researchComments (0)
Modern, Elegant, and Fun!
August 23, 2012
What is it about Brazil and set design inspiration? Architect Marcio Kogan’s Studio MK27 designed the V4 house in São Paulo and we could move right in. Great horizontal lines, open, airy, elegant. Beautiful woods and pops of fun color. Could be a perfect film location. See more images at The Contemporist. The home has also [...]
2012 | Architecture, Inspiration, VectorWorks | Tags: Architecture, Inspiration, Modernism, scenic design, set designComments (0)
A Tiki Farm
July 13, 2012
Tiki is never tacky. Tweet
2012 | From the Road, Inspiration | Tags: adventures, Modernism, set designComments (0)
Norm’s
July 3, 2012
Our friend Dave Cobb of the Thinkwell Group went to brunch yesterday at Norm’s. Of course, he tweeted a photo of the fabulous Norm’s signage. Brilliant, real-life set design. We wrote a little of Norm’s here and more about roadside architecture here. By ‘we’ I of course mean Kathleen. We both love iconic and original [...]
2012 | Architecture, From the Road, Gastronauting, Restaurant Design | Tags: adventures, Architecture, design, lighting, Modernism, set designComments (0)
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 [...]
2012 | Architecture, Inspiration | Tags: Architecture, art, design, elegant, environment, lighting, Lighting Design, ModernismComments (1)
Jens Risom celebrating nearly a century of iconic design
May 8, 2012
“Comfort vs. function in furniture can be quickly resolved. A well designed sofa settles the question in one sitting” – Jens Risom
2012 | Industrial Design, Inspiration | Tags: art, color, design, designer, Inspiration, Modernism, museumComments (0)
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. [...]
2012 | Television, The Work, VectorWorks | Tags: Architecture, design, green, Happy Hour, KLAD, lighting, Lighting Design, Modernism, scenic design, set design, sets, VectorWorksComments (0)
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 [...]
2012 | Television, The Studio, The Work, Theatre | Tags: Architecture, design, KLAD, Lighting Design, Modernism, scenic design, set design, Television, TheatreComments (0)
I remember when MiMo didn’t have a name…
April 3, 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 [...]
2012 | Architecture, From the Road, Inspiration | Tags: adventures, Architecture, color, colour, design, designer, KLAD, Lighting Design, Modernism, set designComments (0)
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 [...]
2012 | Architecture, Theatre of Games, VectorWorks, VWX Spotlight and Design | Tags: Architecture, art, design, environment, green, KLAD, lighting, Modernism, scenic design, set design, VectorWorksComments (0)
Extremely Cool Architecture Rehab and Reuse
March 7, 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 [...]
2012 | Architecture, Inspiration | Tags: Architecture, Film, Inspiration, Lighting Design, Modernism, set designComments (0)
I only read Playboy for the articles… about design
March 6, 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 [...]
2012 | Architecture, Inspiration | Tags: adventures, design, Inspiration, Modernism, set designComments (1)
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 [...]
2012 | Industrial Design, Inspiration, The Work | Tags: adventures, Architecture, art, design, Inspiration, KLAD, Modernism, scenic design, set designComments (0)
30 ways to say I love you no matter where you roam…
February 6, 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 [...]
2012 | Art for Art's Sake, From the Road | Tags: adventures, Modernism, pens, writingComments (0)
Bubeshko Apartments
February 3, 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 [...]
2012 | Architecture, Inspiration | Tags: Architecture, design, Inspiration, ModernismComments (0)
Cool space, but the photography makes me think the food must suck…
February 2, 2012
It’s grand, it’s elegant, it’s modern, but the photography makes the place look as if it has been designed at Operatic scale and that size operation probably doesn’t work well for elegant food service. Ever had a good meal at a wedding? Likely not. Certainly not a good meal when it is produced at a [...]
2012 | Architecture, Gastronauting | Tags: adventures, Architecture, cocktails, Happy Hour, Lighting Design, Modernism, set designComments (0)
Oh, the door is important? Shocking?
January 20, 2012
Just as a show portal or a proscenium arch are to theatrical set design or the opening bump shot might be to television news set design, doors are critical to the theatre of the home. All too often we see boring doors, or worse, fugly doors. Double doors aren’t really necessary. They can be beautiful, [...]
2012 | Architecture, Theatre | Tags: Architecture, design, Modernism, scenic design, set design, Television, TheatreComments (0)
Houses should be stage sets
January 13, 2012
Well, they should be, they aren’t always theatrical or often theatrical, but they should be. Eero Saarinen’s Miller House in Columbus Indiana, photographed here by Ezra Stoller. © Ezra Stoller / ESTO is certainly a perfect stage setting for an evening performance of glittering personalities, music, cocktails and food. The perfect environment for the perfect mid-century modern [...]
2012 | Architecture, Inspiration | Tags: Architecture, design, Modernism, set designComments (0)
What if there was an Interstate Subway System…
January 9, 2012
…and not an Interstate Highway System? A unique design idea and a great interpretation of a design icon. Cameron Booth is an Australian Graphic Designer based now in Portland Oregon. Not surprisingly, he blogs. And he, like us, likes subway maps. Astonishingly, for fun, he works to improve the look and communications of subway maps. [...]
2012 | From the Road, Industrial Design | Tags: design, drawing, Graphic Design, Modernism, set designComments (0)
Art Director’s Note Book: Modernist Furniture Pieces
December 30, 2011
Here are a few pieces I’ve archived as inspiration research for dressing some of the sets we design at KLAD. These pieces may not yet be available on the general market, they serve as jumping off points for creating a look, mood, feeling and may speak to a character or setting that is essential to [...]
2011 | Inspiration | Tags: design, designer, elegant, environment, Inspiration, lighting, Lighting Design, Modernism, scenic design, set design, setsComments (0)
Set Designer’s Notebook: UnBeige
November 29, 2011
Client: I like it, but um, I think it needs to be more neutral. What do you think? Me: I wouldn’t show you something I didn’t like, and I really think this color palette enhances the product shot. Client: Its too much. Its distracting. Make it all white. And so it goes sometimes in the [...]
2011 | Art for Art's Sake, Design Basics, Inspiration | Tags: art, color, colour, design, Graphic Design, Modernism, Path: p » a » img.aligncenter size-full wp-image-2799 Word count: 187 Draft saved at 1:49:55 pm., researchComments (1)
Living above the store…
November 17, 2011
We actually do this. Our set design studios are in one wing of our home. Although separate from our personal spaces, the commute is terrific. Like the traditional merchant or professional that lived above the store. Craig Steely Architecture designed this home dubbed; The Beaver Street Reprise in San Francisco.This is a modern home of [...]
2011 | Architecture, The Studio | Tags: Architecture, design, Lighting Design, Modernism, set design, VectorWorksComments (0)
1964 Aston Martin DB5
November 16, 2011
Ahhh, the choice of the car, if it is the set designer’s choice, what a wonderful world. Of course, in film, the production designer may not have this choice. hopefully they have a say. In this case, Hopefully a test drive. When Ian Flemming wrote the James Bond stories, he generally had Bond drive a [...]
2011 | Film, From the Road, Industrial Design | Tags: design, Modernism, set designComments (0)
Like the High Line, but Italian
November 2, 2011
It is a living set design and a backdrop for romance. Of course, some of the architect’s in charge of the project also have theatrical backgrounds. A new recreational promenade was opened this past summer, created out of a section of retired railway in between the towns of Albisola Superiore and Celle Ligure on the [...]
2011 | Architecture, Inspiration | Tags: adventures, Architecture, art, design, Modernism, VectorWorksComments (0)
Creating Seamless Set Design Textures for Vectorworks and Renderworks
October 10, 2011
Textures are like magic in the 3D for set designers. In fact they have to be magic in 3D for set designers in order to present accurate renderings of ideas to clients and stage directors. Textures can simplify modeling and rendering times and they are the paint on the walls. The image at left is [...]
2011 | The Work, VectorWorks, VWX Spotlight and Design | Tags: design, Modernism, set design, Television, Theatre, VectorWorksComments (0)
The Dune Buggy Up! is back… maybe.
October 4, 2011
It’s a set designer’s dream. At least if we were remaking some beach party movies. If not, we can always use one for personal transport; at the beach or around the sound stages. In a surprise move, Volkswagen unveiled the Buggy Up! concept car at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Inspired by the Meyers Manx, the [...]
2011 | Film, Industrial Design | Tags: design, Modernism, set design, TheatreComments (2)
Supermarket or Sci-Fi Set Design?
September 22, 2011
Looks more like a set design for a James Bond movie. Or, more likely, an Austin Powers flick. Bond is never this tacky. Alas, neither, this is a supermarket in Moscow. A far cry from the pictures i recall seeing of Moscow supermarkets just a few years ago. OK, it’s more than a supermarket, UK [...]
2011 | Architecture, Restaurant Design | Tags: Architecture, design, Modernism, set design, TheatreComments (0)
Set Designers Should Be Preservationists
September 1, 2011
There, I said it. Flame away haters of building huggers, I have an asbestos suit that I throw on when I get riled up and write about Historic Preservation. Why should set designers, or most designers be preservationists? An important reason is that we rely on a combination of many different tools and techniques to [...]
2011 | Architecture, Inspiration | Tags: Architecture, art, design, environment, Inspiration, Modernism, preservation, research, set designComments (0)
Attack of the Killer Roof
August 9, 2011
Its really hard not to love a beach house. A house! By the beach! What’s not to love, right? Well, I have found a house that, well, since this is a design blog and not a random rant blog, let’s just say I’m not enamored with this design choice and leave it at that. Let’s [...]
2011 | Architecture | Tags: Architecture, design, ModernismComments (0)
Indoor Gardening
July 29, 2011
Even though it is 110 in the Shade here right now. And, it seems, generally across the dust bowl of middle America. It is time to begin to think about how much we use fresh herbs preparing winter meals. We really don’t have a lot of dry herbs, they’re just not the same. Of course, [...]
2011 | Gastronauting, Happy Hour, Industrial Design, Restaurant Design | Tags: Architecture, cocktails, design, drinks, environment, green, ModernismComments (0)
Reason’s to Read Playboy
July 27, 2011
Well, the interview, of course, but beyond that… The Design Aesthetic! I have always been drawn to the designs of the Playboy pads. Particularly those of the 1960′s. The ’70′s weren’t all that bad either. In addition to the interior design, Playboy has always seemed to have a grasp of the cool in clothing and [...]
