is display a dying art?

Recently while in New York City, I had the chance to wonder around the beautiful Macy's Herald Square Store. I thought back to my days of working with hugely talented men-boys at the downtown Union Square Macy's in San Francisco. I was one of two women in the team of fifteen wildly creative display staff. A typical day would start, us all gathered along a counter at a little diner out the back of the store. A ma and pa little establishment with the best fried egg sandwiches to be found. We would sling ideas in the air like pancakes off the grill and whoever caught them, would throw them back, coloring each idea. Many union square windows developed in this manner. Most ideas were a wonderful mix of everyone working together. Bob Hartman was a tall man, very sexy in nature. He would put his hand on my shoulder and say "Get back to work girl. You're not done yet!" in the most assuring way, to say I would someday become a star, if only I would simplify simplify simlify.

Everything I know about design today started from the skills I learned from those marvelous folks.

And I knew I was lucky to be flanked by such gorgeously glorious artistic men every day. The idea of a great display, they taught me, in the simplest terms: is to have the utmost elegant approach to the work, and freak your audience out whenever possible, with over the top ideas. They love it!

Example: We set up acrylic cubes on top of 4' high pedestals in the main floor isles. The base under the cube was an acrylic 2" high pan filled with water and real cut lily pads. Then we placed jewelry on the pads. We hadn't counted on the cube fogging up once the overhead lighting hit them. The water beaded up at the top and a long trail of water ran down the sides, on the interior of the cubes, thus giving the curious passerby a chance to peek in and see a private world of jeweled flowers in a watery pond. It was a wonderful accident and marvelously accepted by management, when they saw the ladies hunched over in amazement.

We were artists in our trade and we reveled in the wildest effect we could produce for the public eye.

In the last twenty years display has taken a hard hit. From loosing the most important advocates at the management top level, one by one display folk were replaced by corporate systems. These now are knockout crates to hold bedding in the isles, or punch out backdrops, no longer allowing space for creative display to emphasis the architecture of the building. It's a crying shame in my opinion.

The New York Macy's store as you can see from these pictures, is a beautiful preservation of Robert D. Kohn's Art Deco style of architecture. The lighting and interior facades are beautiful to this day. And best of all, the new additions of display props, are in keeping with the existing architectural embellishments. Notice the acrylic colorful panels over the lighting soffet, allowing for changes throughout the years, as themes and patterns change. Notice the lit base on the platforms in perfect keeping with the interior.

wooden escalator

If art sincerely becomes part of our everyday lives, then pointing these details out to our children, stopping in the middle of a rushed day, to admire the coordination retailers choose to implement, opens eyes. It stirs the pot of glorious visual stew for years of enjoyment and cultural fortification.

Carolyn

time out for tea and ideas

A friend of mine asked me to help him with his little house. I sent him a questionnaire, so that I can get to know him. Still, I wonder, do most people want different, personal ideas, or common ones? I fuss a lot because I want the public to crack open like a new chic and see the world anew. I am always looking for more expansive connections. I've seen exploration open lives up. When considering options of construction, first consider who you are, what you know and as many new ideas you can entertain. When you do, a wonderful synergy builds, and the momentum of those around you, kick starts your project!

One of the most frustrating elements of living in this world, for me, is to witness how seldom people understand what possibilities exist. As if there isn't the time in our everyday lives to explore. So we cruise the isles of Home Depot for ideas, instead of using our imagination. Why not take the time to play with ideas.

Take for instance, the roof of a house and the ceiling(s) under it. We might ask, "How is a roof constructed?" and we get up close and look. How can you see the underside if you rip a ceiling out? It can have an attic under it, or have skylights, or allow for structure to show like open rafters, or recessed light boxes could be built, or steeples put on top, or clad outside with clay tiles or corrugated tin with a weather vane, or a whirly-gig at the tip of the peak, spinning in the wind in the shape of shooting star. The skies the limit. And if you take each element in a house this way , you open up ideas to come gathering at your doorstep. Every cabinet knob you want to replace, you ask yourself, "Can it be changed to look better?" If its a metal of some kind, can a chemical effect its color? Or could you devise a cord with a knot and a nail to work as a handle instead? To think of each choice carefully, as if you really open your mind, is my kind of grace. This is being alive. It's not about when it gets done, or that it costs this and that. The real deal is the time sufficiently given, in all the possibilities, or, at least a good few!
Carolyn

ritual or not, seeds come

I've had this small bowl of walnuts moving around my living space since the holidays. No shell was ever cracked because I couldn't find a nutcracker...yet, I knew I had one. Just couldn't put my hands on it. The little ceramic bowl sat in different arrangements on top of it's wooden pedestal. I appreciated the pile of nuts, as a thing of beauty which is quite enough really, unless of course you want to crack open a shell and eat the fruit.

I became annoyed and started looking for the nutcracker. After a short hunt, I found it stored neatly in the back of a cabinet, in what I'll call, my 'accessories seldom used' container. The cracker I found was my dad's. Most of the things I have of his, are well made and thoughtful. This object is a piece of art in the detail of how it is made. It's made of a hard dark wood, not sure of the name and consists of two pieces. One is the male 'screw' element with a carved twist handle at one end. Two is the bowl element that contains the female channel for the screw. The threads of the screw squeak in a wonderful sound when they enter the female channel of the bowl piece. The wooden bowl is just big enough for the nut and requires you thread the wooden screw all the way out before inserting a nut. When turning the handle there are some threads that grab the wood and produce a higher pitch squeak and a bit more pressure.

I was delighted to put my hands on this object again. I could crack a nut and smile at my dad, in that place of everlasting memories.

It wasn't simply the smooth feel of this new found toy, nor the nut crunching in my mouth, nor the remembrance of my father's hands cranking the fine cracker, coming to mind. Performing the ceremony of cracking a nut, made me grateful for finding the old machine. I thought of the male and female connection, the times of smoothness and the times of tightness. I thought of the sounds in relationships, like the change in the cracker, like voices between each other. There are damp days where movement is more difficult and warm days where less pressure's required for happiness.

I believe there is a purpose in rituals, of handling objects of beauty and knowing where they hide. Using them and remembering what they say to me. Remembering that which I might forget, exists on the other side of the drawer face. Appreciating the abundance of this earth's food with each chew and each swallow. How a seed can plant an idea and an idea can save this planet. One conscious step at a time. All with the turn of a screw.

Han-Yu's influence

Sometimes when I first initiate a project, I imagine myself as an actor getting ready to take on a new role. I attempt to think like my client, watching every step they take. I imitate them. How do they live after work, when the night is young? What do they do when they get up in the morning? Where do they keep things? I look around. I check out the interior of their car, the color of their suits or ties. Maybe they have a habit of throwing their keys and things down when they come into the house. Does this pile pile up, or is it cleared away? How often?

My friends often remark that I ask a lot of questions. I suppose this is true. But it's not from a tendency to be snoopy. It's because without finding out particulars, I am at a loss for something to design. And I'm always designing even if those around me don't know it.

Recently, I have designed some long narrow rectangular shoji screens, that will mount into the bottom of a bank of windows to prevent the viewer from seeing an unsightly montage of roofs. Beyond the roof lines, is a beautiful view of the bay area from high in the Berkeley Hills...and that's what I want the viewer (my clients) to see! I started with the premise of building traditional grid screens, with a design layout combining squares and rectangular divisions inside each frame, as is the case with most Japanese designs. But, as I was designing I thought of Han-Yu. She is one of my clients and a bit less linear than her husband Lyle. Something about the screens, like the house, had to be organic.....yet, without compromising a certain aspect of symmetry that is assumably more comfortable in Lyle's linear world.

I thought about how a branch grows out from a tree. Having worked on my own bonsai trees, I appreciate the design of a perpendicular branch. Yet, in the bonsai world, a 'bar branch' is not particularly attractive. These are branches directly across from each other off the main trunk. It is better to have a sort of zig zag ladder effect of branches. I thought about the small secondary branches and how they form angles overlapping other branches to form beautiful pads of foliage. Then why shouldn't the wild branch, the unformed branch, work in conjunction with a perpendicular design of trunk and branch?

I decided in the case of designing the bedroom screens, Han-Yu's sense of organic whimsy had to prevail. It was time to mix the traditional cubist design of shoji screens with the feel of fallen sticks...like pick up sticks.....remember those? And the project unfolded. Stay tuned for some photos I'll post when the results are installed.

Feeling for a client often brings about a change in my world. In this case, Han-Yu's story of her childhood in nature reminded me of my own, growing up in the redwood trees of Mil Valley, California. I remember the tall straight redwoods. I also remember that when lying on my back, in the soft needles under my head and gazing up into the branches, the crisscrossing of the branches created a canopy of protection from the drizzling rain.

I play with symmetrical grids adding 'wild hair' mullions here and there, yet without the parallel and perpendicular, a constructed screen would not fit into a window nor support itself. Perhaps the creative needs the linear for support and the linear needs the organic haphazard for fun!

Thank you Han-Yu.

Carolyn

a time for change

An often heard comment from new clients is: "I just want a change. What do you suggest?" No wonder we've elected our new democratic candidate based on this immediate message. This premise is rampant in most industries feeling the pinch right now, as well as those of us remembering easier times. I am asked to consult with business owners looking for new ways of amplifying their image, as they feel the tone of ambivalence in the marketplace. In my field of design; the desire for change is often heard as a request for new color on a wall or new upholstery fabric for furniture. Very few candidates for design change, ask for something 'really different' as I would put it, but simply want a face lift to make life happier looking.

My math tutor Stacey had a bit of a problem with her cozy one bedroom apartment. Given the fact she had purchased some fairly large counter stools and a good sized chaise lounge, there was barely enough room for a nice seating group and a most needed desk area in her living area. She didn't want to loose her furniture yet she wanted it to all work together. The bedroom was her sanctuary, and it was inconceivable to imagine it as an office space. The dilemma was apparent. Then Stacey met Dave, and things became more complicated. Dave didn't have a corner in her little place, and this made it harder for them to spend time there. They ended up at Dave's house and the travel of thirty miles a trip, plus the lack of sharing time in Stacey's world felt out of sync to her.

One day while contemplating her situation, I spoke as I thought, about a series of choices she had. One of them was creating a small curtained area upon entering her apartment and setting her bed into the middle of her living room, thus leaving her 'now bedroom' as an office for two desks; one for Stacey and one for Dave. It was the room she needed for her work area. There were very few visitors, usually friends and young clients....why not?

I watched Stacey's face change instantly. She had never thought of such an idea. I mulled it over in my mind for the next few days.

I thought about how to make a bed a comfortable front room piece. I thought about how guests could relax on a bed, and yet converse with others. Would this make them feel comfortable or not? I thought about how to make a bed look less like a bed. But most of all, I thought about why I wouldn't make that change myself. The idea has made me contemplate my own preconceived notions about furnishings and 'designated rooms'.

Next up: a culmination of thoughts on my own plan for change and especially furniture placement. How can I suggest an idea, without considering the most daring of proposals....as the answer lies ahead.......

Carolyn

design, deadlines and diet

It's been awhile since I had the desire to post on my blog. It might be my schoolwork is extensive right now, barely leaving me time for leisure activities. I find myself content with quiet most often, after years of raising two teen girls. This is a new time for me, as it is, for many people I meet. It's a time for making a difference. What can I give the world, in this next phase of my life?

After the dust settled from my youngest daughter's move, the start of a new semester in math, client projects that include the everyday contractor checking and purchasing....I rarely have time for cutting on my bonsai trees. Which brings me to my post theme: coming back to base central.

Don't you find that once in awhile you just have to review the whole scheme of things? I do. It is 'design' in the ultimate sense.

Let's say I have had books stacked in the corner, having not been opened in eons. If the books bother me, then it's time to move them. In doing so, I find some old letter inside a cover, or the title on a book: will spark a memory or act like a reminder to jot something down; that I may want to complete. I think whenever I organize myself, I enjoy the feeling of rememebering where I've been...and sometimes where I am going. I make my own deadlines, not just because of homework or my client projects.

I haven't been outside as much as I would like to, so I tear a tree out of a magazine and zap it, with a magnet on the front of my refrigerator. I love big pictures where you can't help but see it. I used to have a red chair on the top of my refrigerator, balancing on a stack of books where the top spindle was wedged into the ceiling just enough to hold it at a slant. My kids would always comment to their friends, not to look at'that' and then a little story about how weird their mom is. I don't mind. I've always been a bit of an odd bird. The chair was a reminder of how my kitchen was for my family and friends, and to invite them over. Clues for making life better...visual clues, for me; works.

With a balance of my own accomplishments, taking clues from what comes, I feel a freedom to discover the whole world again, like a child. It doesn't matter if my mom snubs me, or a hot shot young thing cuts me off on the road. My kids may call and forget to ask "how are you mom?", and it's really ok. I get my math test and the grade may be the lowest in the class...but guess what? I learned something. What better grade can you get for that? Maybe I'll start a diet that only lasts five days.....but who the jack-o-lantern cares? It's only me, and the best design I can muster.
Carolyn

the art of a good question

Recently I had the good fortune to meet a potential client who had all the right questions. I was thrilled...at last I meet a person, who. although might not have the answers, knows how to find them. This led me to consider the years of being in business as a designr and the few good questions that come my way.

What is an appropriate question,is very subjective. Some people need very few answers, and others need you to read their minds. How could we judge what questions get to the heart of the matter? My advise is: give it a try, so you'll get the most from your initial consultation.

"How much money is it going to cost?" is a good question but only after the criteria of what space, and the quality of the work proposed is laid out. Occasionally I will pull figures from the air (experience helps) because people feel better when I do. In actuality nothing can truly be estimated until the plans are drawn....so as an initial question...it is usually unanswerable.

"What can you do for $50,000.?, is a better question, because it clarifies in my mind, as your designer, what you would like to spend. Sometimes this is not in relation to the desires you might have in construction and design needs. It really doesn't matter. It is my job to tell you what you can, or can't have, for this amount of money. I can start somewhere.

"Can you show us what you've done before so that we can have an idea of what you can do?" There are two questions wrapped into this one, and for this reason I am careful to answer both. First can I show a client what I've done? Of course, although if you browse my portfolio on line at your leisure, this might be more time efficient for the both of us. Then, after you see something you like, you may want to ask me about it. What I can do for you, you most probably won't find, because it will be very individual and quite unique than anything I've designed before. Just as you see from my portfolio, various completed projects have little in common. So will yours be different than any other.

"How will you find out my particular taste?" is a very good question and seldom asked. I believe one of the reasons for this is that we have, in this country especially, a habit of following a certain style trend. We wait to see the magazines, the catalogs and the showrooms before we will state what we like. In the course of a lifetime you will probably be exposed to many styles. It is up to your designer to find out your particular colors, and textures, your preferrances for what you've liked before, and where you are right now. This takes some time and is usually found in the things you already have. You might think your Swiss army watch, the interior of your car, or your flower shed won't say something about you....but they do.

It's always a good idea to write down your questions and tear out a clipping from a magazine here and there. Most of all, listen to your concerns no matter how they come to mind. Form good questions before you meet with me, or any other designer. These questions will help distinguish you, as the unique person you are.
No matter what the content, your questions will set the stage for your designer to know you better, and the path ahead will be defined better, because of them.
Carolyn