DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT Adrienne Moumin - inventive photo collages

Time Warner Center

Appropriately named, Architextures photo collages by Artist Adrienne Moumin's  are very exciting....the architectural lines, shapes, reflections, and play with transparency and solidity.  I was mesmerized by her work because she forces you to look at things differently. She uses a hand-cut and assembled 3D Gelatin Silver photo collage process where the result can never be predicted until the composition is complete. Like fractals, the process and the collages themselves have several similarities.....the work has a spatial dimension and contains a repetition of patterns, which are isolated from a larger image. Her mathematical eye draws you into her work. 

I am so happy to share an interview with Adrienne Moumin today...

SIGNATURE STYLE 
Modern Monochromatic

Kaleidoscope

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY 
Cool and elegant

Snippetree

BIGGEST DESIGN IMPACT
The sheer ingenuity of architects and designers, and fellow photographers and collage artists, throughout the ages. The ability to create something where there was nothing, and to perceive visual and functional relationships where none existed before, is endlessly inspiring.

The Future

Hand-Cut-and-Assembled Gelatin Silver Photo Collage

25-3/4" x 19"

GOALS YOU SET TO BECOME AN EXPERT AT PHOTOGRAPHIC DESIGN

Over more than ten years, I have experimented with my materials to find those which hold up under a variety of environmental conditions. I continue to work in the darkroom, and learn new things all the time about processing of photographic materials.

Aztek

LESSONS LEARNED

Never be afraid to make a mistake, admit failure, and throw away things which didn't work out. More importantly, always visualize BIG, and figure out a way to make it happen!

Counterpoints

MOST IMPACTFUL SPACE THAT INSPIRES YOU: 

My home

Fans of the Hirschhorn

BEST DESIGN ADVICE YOU FOLLOW WHEN YOU ARE UNDER THE GUN
Go with my gut

Fans of the Hirschhorn

MANTRA YOU HAVE BEEN LIVING BY: 

Go with my gut

Snippeetree

MANY THANKS, Adrienne!!

You can connect with Adrienne Moumin on her WEBSITE.

Image credits: With thanks to Adrienne Moumin

To get a daily dose of design, find MoD Design Guru on
 Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter |Instagram| Tumblr

DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT: Fractals in 3D Printed Textiles, Bradley Rothenberg

Fractals exist all around us and are now emerging in décor, and fashion. From nature to air bubbles, fractals are self-similar patterns formed from complex equations that repeat itself at different scales from the microscopic to the cosmic. Their complex and repetitive geometric shapes make us want to gaze for hours...

Architect Bradley Rothenberg has become an authority on fractals and its application in fashion using 3D printing. Rothenberg added, "We started using fractals because we wanted to create a new way of making interlocking textiles. Fractal's seemed to have a lot of potential because the same geometry could repeat & interlock with itself, while changing scale creating a textile that could have different performance characteristics throughout." 

 LINDSAY IN OUTFIT, INSTAGRAM

The fractal nature of a snowflake was realized in Victoria Secret's Fashion show. Victoria Secret and Swarovski went to Rothenberg with 3D printing Specialist Shapeways to create the Snow Queen's fractal snowflake-inspired corset. 

SNOWFLAKE "FABRIC SWATCH" 
PROTOTYPE, BRADLEY ROTHENBERG STUDIO

The end result was a textile that grew out of an organization of small textile-like snowflakes to larger structural snowflakes. The 3D printed lingerie was made out of nylon and coated with thousands of gorgeous light catching Swarovski crystals.

Rothenberg added, "The biggest challenge was coming up with the joint that allowed the snowflakes to interlock with one-another -- we didn't want to add an additional piece that was external to the snowflake to allow them to connect to each other, rather, we wanted the connection to happen from one snowflake arm to the next -- We went through several iterations of this joint to really get it to work & not look like an add-on to the snowflake."

I am so happy to share an interview with Bradley Rothenberg today...

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE

I wouldn't necessarily say we have a signature style--We try & develop a specific methodology unique to each project we do.  With that said, however, we are focused on pushing the boundaries on what is possible.  To do this, we are trying to develop innovative  uses for existing materials & techniques --such as 3D printing textiles.

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Collaboration & a good idea can come from any person & in any place.

CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING ACCOMPLISHMENT
In nearly every project, there are unforeseeable & unpredictable challenges that force us to come up with creative solutions quickly & they have to work. In my opinion, this is the most interesting part of being a designer.

LESSONS LEARNED ON ANY OF YOUR PROJECTS

On every project we evolve as a studio.  Each project provides knowledge that helps the next.

BIGGEST DESIGN IMPACT

I hope it hasnt happened yet.  So far, to date some of the 3D printed textiles have had the largest impact.

MOST IMPACTFUL SPACE THAT INSPIRES YOU

The space inside a 3D printer / Outer Space

BEST DESIGN ADVICE YOU FOLLOW WHEN YOU ARE UNDER THE GUN

Duck.

MANTRA YOU HAVE BEEN LIVING BY LATELY

Coffee.  Coffee.  Coffee.  By Aram Saroyan.

MANY THANKS, Bradley!!

You can connect with Bradley Rothenberg on his WEBSITE

Image credits: With thanks to Bradley Rothenberg 

To get a daily dose of design, find MoD Design Guru on
 Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter |Instagram| Tumblr

Strengths Sessions for Interior Designers

Lisa Ferguson

For my interior design friends, I wanted to share a wonderful workshop coming up on learning to #leadwithstrengths - it will be at High Point Market this coming April!  My friend Lisa Ferguson, founder of @DecorMentor and a trained strengths coach, is hosting "Strengths Sessions for Interior Designers." 

Lisa will discuss how to assess our strengths, and redirect our business practices, essentially collaborating with complementary peers teams and learning to lead with our strengths. Click details to get more info! If you sign up and several of YOUR friends attend, you will get a #freebie phone strategy session with Lisa!  Lisa adds, "Friend by friend, designer by designer, we collaborate and we grow." So inspiring! 

You can connect with Lisa on her website, facebook, twitter.

To get a daily dose of design, find MoD design Guru on

 Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter |Instagram| Tumblr

Happy Valentines + 2ND Blogiversary GIVEAWAY

Sending LOVE to you on Valentines day! Besides scribbling hearts and feeling loved, there is something else to celebrate! Happy 2ND Blogiversary MoD Design Guru! My beloved blog or I like to call it a "design tank," has opened my world and connected me in so many great ways......I have traveled and mingled with incredible voices in the design industry. Big Valentine hugs to all who I have met along the way and to you who comes back every week to read my posts! To thank thank thank you, lets giveaway a PRIZE!! 

Yes, prizes... clé tilevera, one of my fave tile companies, has generously donated an i-phone case with their Watermark for Clé print called indigo watermark to celebrate! The design is by Deborah Osburn...her innovative thinking led her to discoveries with indigo dye - Each dip creates waves of color, each lighter than the first. The tiles are painterly and ethereal. Absolutely gorgeous! See my latest post which showcases Deborah Osburn's array of designs from their unique tile collection. 

 

indigo watermark i-phone case

Enter to Win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Are you lovin' it as much as I do? Good luck on the GIVEAWAY, great gift for someone special or just a little somethin' just for you! (United States residents only can enter) 

MANY THANKS, Deborah!!

You can connect with Tilevera Clé on their Facebook , Pinterest and Twitter.

Image credits: With thanks to JoAnn Locktuv

To get a daily dose of design, find MoD Design Guru on
 Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter |Instagram| Tumblr

Deborah Osburn DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT: Indigo dye Innovation in Tiles

photo credit: Penni Gladstone

At the helm of her company Tilevera, Sculptor Deborah Osburn has been designing and manufucturing tile for the past twenty five years. She is impassioned by remarkable surfaces and in 2012 started clé, the international artisan e-boutique and artist’s forum for discovery and conversation about tiles. Deborah calls clé a "modern shopping experience for tiles."

Osburn’s innovative thinking led her to new tile discoveries with indigo dye - launching a beautiful and painterly handcrafted porcelain tile collection called Watermark for Clé.  The collection was inspired by Japanese textile dying techniques. The method is a combination of art and science. Several pools of indigo dye are created and each and every unglazed tile is hand dipped into one of the indigo pools. After days of sitting inside these pools, the tiles take on their own personality absorbing the dye in its own unique way. Osburn adds,"It's really indigo magic - something like tea leaves but with indigo and tile not brewed water and leaves.  A method that reveals each tile’s individual DNA." 

I am so happy to share an interview with Deborah Osburn today...

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE

Funky/minimalist, high/low artist/fashionista

clé indigo installation 

BIGGEST DESIGN IMPACT

I get completely bowled over by genius - Rauschenberg, Balenciaga, Radiohead, Mozart, Melville, the Psalms, Dylan, Shakespeare, etc. Just the knowledge that someone found the grace to "go there,"  it's great soil for the mind.

Watermark Gold verdagris dip

GOALS YOU SET TO BECOME AN EXPERT AT HANDCRAFTED TILE DESIGN

Is this a tile I would want to own?

Watermark indigo dip

LESSONS LEARNED ON THE WATERMARK COLLECTION

If I weren't attempting to run a fast-paced wild hare of a tile e-boutique, I would spend all my time making watermark tiles.

Watermark Gold verdagris iphone case

MOST IMPACTFUL SPACE THAT INSPIRES YOU

Any structure by the space poet- Carlo Scarpa, but I also love the impossible austerity of John Pawson. 

Watermark indigo stroke

BEST DESIGN ADVICE YOU FOLLOW WHEN YOU ARE UNDER THE GUN

This advice has become easier (or should I say, less difficult) as I've grown older- "trust your initial instincts". If it zaps you from the start- it's worth a deeper look.

Watermark Gold verdagris wash

MANTRA YOU HAVE BEEN LIVING BY

I change it up often, because there are so many goodies! but for 2014 my mantra is FUN NOT FEAR!

Watermark indigo dip and stain

MANY THANKS, Deborah!!
You can connect with cle tile on their Facebook , Pinterest and Twitter.



Image credits: With thanks to JoAnn Locktov

To get a daily dose of design, find MoD Design Guru on
 Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter |Instagram| Tumblr

RiverMarket: Contemporary Reclaimed Chic restaurant design

Farm food follows function over at RiverMarket Bar & Kitchen. A thoughtfully detailed interior design reflects the raised and grown organically and sustainably Mediterranean style cooking by Chef John Holzworth, formerly of the Boathouse at Saugatuck. The eco-modern restaurant offers a crafted menu with natural food all coming from Hudson Valley area's best local farms. The waterfront over in Tarrytown, N.Y. has been getting a facelift with new buildings and RiverMarket is nestled  right in the heart of this new jewel area holding a housing development, a park and Riverwalk trail along the water. Its quite charming and beautiful. Owners John Crabtree and Glenn Vogt, also managing director, hired Connecticut designer Christian Arkay Leliever to design the interiors. Stocked with history, you would never know that this was a newly designed space....its chic design reuses wood, stone and brick in clever and inviting ways. 

Enter RiverMarket and you are embraced with cheeses, preserves and a bakery counter with breads, muffins and scones.   Great for the local community who just want to grab a quick bite or go on a picnic near the water.

Walk deeper into the diningroom and your eye moves up, down and all around. ....its a space that tells multiple stories. The herringbone maple flooring came from a two hundred year old factory upstate. Mushroom marks are evident on the repetitive wood slatted ceiling because it came from local mushroom growing crates. Tall folding antique doors from Belgium separate the dining space for more intimate dining. 

Love the mix of brick, wood and concrete for the flooring as it visually breaks up the dining space into multipe zones.

On one of the walls, reused apple crates artistically showcases the bottles in the wine store. The collection is curated by co-owner Glenn Vogt and highlights biodynamic/agricultural production. I had the full farm to table experience for brunch and hope to come back to taste some of the gorgeous wines from Mr. Vogt's collection!!!  

To get a daily dose of design, follow MoD Design Guru on Facebook.