Hey, this is another special episode of Convo By Design, a Friday show which can only mean one thing. It’s another edition ofDrinking About Design. Patrick Ediger and I share thoughts about our love for Los Angeles architecture over a few pops.We talk about nostalgia for the unique architectural landmarks of Los Angeles, such as Norms and the La Coliseum.
Architecture and Design in the Age of Social Media
Discussing Mid-Century Modernism and Googie Architecture
Los Angeles Traffic, Nostalgia, and Architecture
Speaking ofGoogies and Resurgence of Experimentation
Exploring Frank Lloyd Wright’s Architecture and Human Ego
Architecture, Nostalgia, and Revitalization Discussion
You listen to the show so you know this about me, I love LA. But it’s not the LA of my youth and I’m not crazy about what has become of my City of Angels. That said, I still have faith. Faith in the creatives to reimagine her to reclaim her former glory. An I will be there to share the stories of that reinvention. That’s my hope. And it starts now…
PE
Thank you Patrick. Loved our chat. Thank you for drinking and talking about architecture and design. We need to do this again soon. Thank you to my partner sponsors; ThermaSol, Design Hardware, Pacific Sales, Monogram and TimberTech. They support this show because they have a passion for the design industry. They each have remarkable companies built to serve and my hope is that you will give them a chance to earn your business. Check the show notes for links. And, I have personally vetted each of them so if you have questions, ask me, email me convobydesign at Outlook dot com or @ Convo X Design with an “X”. Thank again for taking the time to listen and subscribe. Cheers. -CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with a conversation about integrated and spectacular kitchen design. This conversation was recorded live from the Monogram kitchen inside the Pacific Sales showroom in Torrance, California. An absolutely gorgeous day inside and out.
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Without steam, it’s just a bathroom.
Design Hardware – A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home!
– Where service meets excellence
On a beautiful Spring day in May, I was in Southern California to meet an extraordinary group of design creatives to talk about the revolutionary changes taking place in American kitchens from coast to coast, but specifically in California, where the dreamers have always come to explore, dream, and try new things.It’s really extraordinary to think about the circular creative vision that begins with designers trying new things which in turn motivates manufacturers to innovate and provide those designers with was to push boundaries. We met at the Pacific Sales showroom in Torrance, a beautiful showroom with established vignettes where designers, architects and their clients can put their hands on the latest technology and appliance advancements.
Pacific Sales and Monogram are partner sponsors of Convo By Design. I am absolutely thrilled with this partnership and I’ll tell you why. I speak with designers and architects from coast to coast and beyond and one of the issues that keeps creatives up at night is finding and maintaining strong relationships with industry partners. And it’s getting more challenging to find good partners. Pacific Sales has been supporting the design trade for decades. Their trade partner program is robust with amazing incentives and their staff isnon-commissioned. That means you direct the process. Combine that with Monogram, another partner sponsor and you have quite the team. Monogram is built on performance and innovation. Exceptional products allowing designers to create exceptional spaces inside and out. All with the one goal of making your clients happy. Because that is what designers desire.
So, what are some of the most talented creatives doing with their kitchens? This is why we gathered, and you get to hear it all. This conversation features;
And you are going to hear all about it, right after this.
Thank you Cory, Anne, Pam and Joe. Amazing. Thank you to my partner sponsors, ThermaSol, Pacific Sales, TimberTech, Monogram and Design Hardware. These partners are amazing companies all who have made a concerted effort to support the design community through education, incentives, events, media and exposure, not to mention a collection of extraordinary products and service to match. Check the show notes for links to each of them so you can see first hand how they can make your design business thrive and your projects exceed expectations. Thank you for listening, downloading, subscribing and sharing the show with your friends and colleagues. Thank you for your emails, show and guest suggestions. Please keep them coming, convobydesign at Outlook dot com and on Instagram @ConvXdesign, with an “x”.Until the next episode, be well and take today first. -CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is another installment of the CXD Icon Registry. A gentleman and creative legend, Dakota Jackson is the June 2024 Icon Register inductee. Jackson was my guest on episode 241. That episode aired back in October of 2019. While much of the actual recording of conversations tends to blur, this session remains crystal clear in my mind. Dakota and I met in person at a gallery on La Cienega Blvd in West Hollywood.
What I remember most vividly is the manner in which the conversation took place. I have long held a fascination with artistically designed furniture and I recall this sense of wonder as Jackson shared his upbringing in a family of magicians. How this background in magic and performance shaped his ideas about furniture and how that same sense of showmanship could be applied. We spoke about the desk commissioned by Yoko for John Lennon. This idea that a piece of furniture could be commissioned upon which love letters and music were written, but that it also possessed a secret known only to the designer and recipient. That type of connection far exceeds the typical design relationship. Therein lies another remarkable lesson about how design talent can elicit the same type of trust that a magician can. Suspending logic in order to truly believe the performance taking place in front of you. That same type of magic is what great designers do. Their clients suspend logic in order to believe the story the design is telling. That type of trust does not come easily.
And not every piece must contain secret compartments, the work is beautiful, elegant and of superior workmanship. This is also evident in the pianos he has crafted for Steinway & Sons. Instruments, to me are similar to the tools used by magicians. The ability to pull sound from an instrument is a gift, as is creating art through furniture. Enjoy this re-airing of my conversation with designer and creator of furniture, Dakota Jackson.
Thank you, Dakota for making this world a more magical place than you found it. Congratulations on your addition to the Convo By Design Icon Registry. Thank you for listening and subscribing to the show. Thank you to my partner sponsors Design Hardware, ThermaSol, TimberTech and Pacific Sales. these are amazing partners all, they support the trade and I love sharing these amazing resources with you. Thanks again for listening, until next week, be well and take today first. – CXD
Crafting Exquisite Outdoor Spaces Designed to Withstand the Harshest and Taxing Environments and Looking Great As They Do and Developing them for the Greatest Possible Value. Social, Restorative Retreats and Blending them Seamlessly with Indoor Design.
The days of treating indoors and outdoors separately are over because clients have experienced a new level of performance through travel and hospitality. These higher demands are creating demand for material innovation, groundbreaking creative thought and thinking differently about design and architecture. From outdoor kitchens, ADU’s, transitional spaces that bridge one space to the next. How have these new demands changed the way creatives think about the work, reworked site plans, innovative expansion of ideas. This discussion will cover these ideas and more as they are explored in real time. Thank you Ganahl Lumber for your generous donation of space for this group to meet!
Sam Toole, Chief marketing Officer | The Azek Company: This is TimberTech, a composite product that takes the best characteristics from natural wood and uses technological advancements in manufacturing to incorporate recycled plastics to form and inner core that not only provides a superior performance compared to wood but also provides a use for these are recycled plastics and keeps them out of oceans and landfills.
Gemma Hartigan, Pro Channel Marketing Specialist | TimberTech: Using the research, manufacturing and best practices to assist professionals in the trade specify TimberTech products to create amazing spaces for their clients. Amazing spaces that utilize TimberTech in was that increase performance space while being sustainably responsible. Doing well and doing good while crafting stunning and performative spaces is the new meaning of luxury.
Pam Barthold | Pazzam Designs: Inside out can best describe Pam’s philosophical approach to interior and exterior spaces. Gone are the days when interior designers could afford to ignore the outside spaces as they have now become inextricable tied to the overall residential design approach. @PazzamDesigns
Juan Ospina | Hoffman Ospina Landscape Architects: How international exposure at a young age informs his creative approach to outdoor spaces. Using that exposure to art, culture and history to create a meaningful outdoor experience. Using those memories to craft and create complex site evaluation and drawing out best use of spaces. @HoffmanOspina
Stephen F Jones | SF Jones Architects: Bringing Outside In and specifying the appropriate materials to accommodate changes in environmental behavior. Social spaces are now one of the most highly sought out spaces and the design community is addressing this demand in new and unique ways through application of specialized spaces using modern materials designed to perform and protect against environmental destructive forces. @SFJonesArchitects
John Fledman | Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture: Exceptionalism in Exterior Landscape Projects. The roles have changed in much the same way tastes for indoor outdoor living have. Creatives are providing clients with exceptional spaces inside and out to speak to not only client desires but by pushing the boundaries of deign and landscape architecture. @Ecocentrix.Landscape
Anna Hoffman | Hoffman Ospina Landscape Architects: Taming the Wild Outdoors. Anna shares her thoughts regarding taming the outdoor spaces while still allowing for living on the edge in a well design and individually crafted space. That ‘touch of wild’ puts an extra level of demand on products and materials used. It has become more important than ever to focus on materiality suited for more extreme conditions. @HoffmanOspina
Anthony Laney | Laney LA: Passion and emotion are key principles applied to the firms work. It is a part of the company culture, owned and applied to all the firm’s projects. That passion and emotion provide clients with unique outdoor spaces that rival the indoor design regardless of size. Because many of the firm’s projects are on the coast, this requires matching that emotion with materials that can stand up to and thrive in adverse conditions. @LaneyLAInc
Lauire Haefele | Haefele Design: An outdoor space requires thoughtful consideration regarding both form and function. The ideas of how outdoor spaces are being used also requires a more thoughtful approach considering that the level of use and application has changed due to a significantly higher level of functionality and purpose. This purpose is expanding the homes from living spaces indoors to that of the outdoors in much the same way. All while requiring a lasting approach to materiality. Laurie share some of her ideas and projects that utilize this approach masterfully.
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design. The episode today features, Susanne Csonger of SLC Interiors. Susanne has spent decades honing her craft and taking the lessons learned and reinvesting that knowledge back into her design company. Usually, only discussions talk about the capital reinvested into the company. Susanne has adopted a unique approach that takes from personal experiences and lessons learned along the way to personalize her approach both personally and professionally. So, you might ask, what’s so unique about that?
I’ll tell you. First, great question, one that I pondered myself. The answer is simple, but not easy. Susanne has taken lessons from personal experience to self-reflect, understand what is important to her and apply that philosophy to the work product and design ethos. From this conversation, I took away an understanding that Suzanne doesn’t just read the trades, go to shows and look online to capture tends and adapt them to her firm’s stylistic approach to design. Many successful designers do just that. And that works for them. But Suzanne is more of an artisan in her approach. One whose focus is on the shared experience of well-designed spaces. We discuss a number of other issues as well affecting design firms today like AI, social media, media attribution and regional differentiation. By the way, that last one is going to be a very big issue in the coming years as designers who expended from their traditional areas of work.
Thank you Susanne for a wonderful chat. Thank you to my partner sponsors ThermaSol, TimberTech, Pacific Sale and Monogram for you constant and consistent support of both Convo By Design and the industry. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to listen to the show. This thing of ours is amazing. 11 years strong and I could not do this without you. Please keep those emails coming, Convo By Design at Outlook.com. Reach out on Instagram as well. Tell me if there is a designer you would like to learn more about and we’ll see if we can make that happen. Thank you for listening, downloading and subscribing. Until the next episode, be well, and take today first. -CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with a return to one of my favorite design house destinations, the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. Pasadena Showcase is an institution going on 60 years with a reputation for exquisite design, playful and fun ideas in fun and unexpected spaces and some of the best design talent around. Competing and collaborating to see who can be the showstopper but always for the betterment of the whole project.
This was so much fun. I haven’t had the opportunity to reconnect with the organization since 2020. I remember heading out to Pasadena and meeting with the designers outside by the pool instead of in their spaces. What a weird time. But this year, we gathered at Design Hardware in Los Angeles for a round table discussion about the project house this year. I was joined by:
Margaret Lalikian | Margaret Lalikian Design and Decor
If you’ve been listening for a while, you know how I feel about design houses and showcases. They are the equivalent to the auto show for gear heads. You get the chance to see what can be done with the right creative force and opportunity to showcase it without the usual boundaries of ownership. I am a fan of Pasadena because I am very familiar with them, I appreciate how they operate and I feel like the designers do as well. Again, this is a round table conversation and you are jumping right into the deep end of design house creations from the 2024 Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. We’ll get to that, right after this.
What an amazing group! Loved this, hopefully you did as well. Thank you to all of the amazing creatives who shared of themselves and their work. Check the show notes to see their work and this remarkable house. Thank you to everyone at the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts for being so wonderful to work with! Thank you to my incredible partner sponsors, ThermaSol, Design Hardware, TimberTech, Pacific Sales and Monogram for your partnership and support for the design trade. Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to listen, download and share this show. It means the world to me. Thank you for your email guest submissions and show ideas. Thank you for following and interacting on Instagram. This support and engagement inspires me to work even harder to find amazing voices and stories behind design. Until next week, be well, and take today first. – CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design. Today, you are going to hear from Daniel Marcus – CEO and Jonathan Michaud – Head of Design of Soie de Lune. Like everything in life, this podcast has changed over the years, I have changed over the years, the business of design and those who contribute have changed which is why I love to begin with the origin stories of the guests who join me for these conversations. You’ll hear why.
What is really fun about the following chat is that the loom really hasn’t changed all that much. The yarns have. But the loom has not. Textiles are magical. The materiality of a fine silk, the texture, colors and ability to create is one of the concepts that allows designers to create exceptional spaces that differentiate based on color, shape and pattern, for sure but also the experiential nature of the space that allows clients to add that additional senses of touch and smell. This conversation covers all of the above and more. One of the concepts explored is how this company is addressing the challenges of achieving balance between modern design requirements and and the artisanal nature of weaving. Love this and I think you will to. We’ll get to it, right after this.
Thank you Daniel and Jonathan for taking the time to join me for this. Thank you to my partner sponsors ThermaSol, Design Hardware, Pacific Sales, Monogram and TimberTech. Thank you for your considerable support of the design industry and those who comprise it.
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to listen to the show. This thing of ours is amazing. 11 years strong and I could not do this without you. Please keep those emails coming, Convo By Design at Outlook.com. Reach out on Instagram as well. Tell me if there is a designer you would like to learn more about and we’ll see if we can make that happen. Thank you for listening, downloading and subscribing. Until the next episode, be well, and take today first. -CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with another installment of the Design Icon Registry. The Icon Registry inductee for May 2024 is the incomparable, Susan Ferrier. Here is how Susan describes her work, “Our interiors are meant to be experienced, to take you beyond the expected and into the extraordinary. We design lush, romantic spaces that are at once bold and refined, imbued with drama and meaning.” I’m going to suggest you might want more of this. Well, here it comes.
If you have heard these segments before, you know, I don’t do contests and I most certainly don’t do lists. Lists are gimmicks designed to capture clicks. They are, click bait pure and simple. You cannot tell me that a list of 50, 75 or 100 designers and architects are the absolute best at what they do without providing context. Lists are created in the hopes that those who are being listed will promote the accolades and that attention will be driven back to the author of the list. And contests where creatives have to reach out to their base to get them to vote for them is just wrong in my opinion. Because, if someone is amazing at what they do… Celebrate that, no strings attached. And that is what we are going to do here.
Now, the criteria… Each inductee has been a guest on Convo By Design. They have a body of work that is exceptional in their various disciplines and there is no justification required for their world class status. They give back to the industry, they are innovators, givers and make our industry better than they found it. This project is called the Convo By Design Icon Registry, because that is what this is, tantamount to a hall of fame, but more. What is an ICON? Described as an icon; A person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration. A registry is a well curated list. You can consider this a venerable who’s who in our industry with gifts to offer and a willingness to share. Pablo Picasso is credited with saying, “the meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away”. Now, I am not suggesting that those enshrined in the Icon Registry have all just been giving away their gifts. These are professionals of the highest order and part of being a professional is knowing your worth and understanding your value. Each of these individuals have appeared on Convo By Design, shared what they know for the betterment of others, and I am deeply appreciative for that. This is the most authentic way that I can express my gratitude for that. As deeply appreciative as I am for their sharing, I am equally grateful for your taking the time to share a few moments, an hour out of your busy schedule each week to listen to the show. Again, the most authentic way that I can express that gratitude is to give you an opportunity to hear them again. Every month, the last Thursday of the month, unless it’s a holiday week, in which case I will publish a week sooner, I will share a new inductee with you.
As stated, the May, 2024 inductee is Susan Ferrier. She appeared on Convo By Design during the pandemic and I instantly understood her philosophy. Pre-pandemic, there was a shiny sheen over design. There was a focus strictly on how the look. Then, when the world changed, the focus became centered on how it works and yes, it still had to have the look, and the performance but also the feels, all of them. Susan Ferrier, was already doing this. Designing lush, lavish, romantic spaces for not just what might look good in a magazine but would also elicit an emotional response. Susan’s portfolio is a compendium of collected works that blend elegant concepts with earthy and opulent materials alike. Her work is special, not just because I or others think so, yes, important that her client’s think so. But in my conversation with Susan, you are going to hear that she thinks so. This isn’t a job to her, it’s a calling. A series of passions curate and collected, then elegantly molded and pressed together to create an experience as much as a designed space. That is what’s so truly special about Susan Ferrier and why she is in the Convo By Design Icon Registry.
Thank you, Susan for making this world a more beautiful place than you found it. Congratulations on your addition to the Convo By Design Icon Registry. Thank you for listening and subscribing to the show. Thank you to my partner sponsors Design Hardware, ThermaSol, TimberTech and Pacific Sales. these are amazing partners all, they support the trade and I love sharing these amazing resources with you. Thanks again for listening, until next week, be well and take today first. – CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design. Today on the show, you are going to hear myconversation with interior designer, Staci Munic of Staci Munic Interiors. Hers is a firm based in Chicago and Palm Springs, an interesting combination for base cities. We talk about that in addition to her experience in the service industry leading all the way up to that of a restauranteur. If you own a restaurant, you understand how the kitchen works under extreme conditions. If you know that, designing a residential kitchen is a breeze, or so you might think.
A restaurant kitchen is nothing like its residential counterpart. But a residential kitchen, designed properly can have all of the functionality of a restaurant kitchen. Staci’s experience as a restauranteur gives her an edge and you can see it in her work.
Because SMI works a great deal in Palm Springs, you might think that Staci loves Modern and Mid-Century Modern architecture, and you would be right. And the lessons learned from Modern architectures climb to prominence, fall from taste and back tells a pretty remarkable story that can help predict future ideas. We get into all of this and so much more. You are going to hear about all of it, right after this…
Thank you Staci for taking the time to talk. I really love the ideas shared and love your work.
Thank you to Convo By Design partner sponsors, ThermaSol, TimberTech, Pacific Sales, Monogram and Design Hardware. And thank you for taking the time to listen, subscribe, download and share Convo By Design. Thank you to everyone who has made a show or guest suggestion, keep em coming, I love them as well as show ideas. I use many of them because I created this show for the design community in 2013 and who better to know what is working on the ground level but those who do it day in and day out. Please reach out via email, Convo By Design at outlook dot com and on Instagram @ConvoXDesign with and “X”. Thank you again to those subscribing to the show. By doing so, you receive every new episode the moment its published. You also receive The Design Messengers episodes on select Mondays that touch on new developments taking place in the industry, Drinking About Design on the occasional Friday where I get together with some amazing creatives over drinks, and The Convo By Design Icon Registry episodes on the last Thursday of each month where we enshrine exceptional creatives in our hall of fame. Until we meet again, be well, and take today first.
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design featuring a conversation with Erin Minckley of Relativity Textiles. An artist who started a textiles company from passion and love came a business and that is only the beginning.
From brand building to creating and sharing is how Erin crafted an idea to build a business. A business based on passion but also a business crafted to succeed in a very crowded, very competitive space. How? While we do get into the weeds a little bit about building a business, something I generally stay away from because Convo By Design is not a business of design show. There are more than enough of those and I never wanted to do that. It’s about the stories behind the work that I find so fascinating and Erin’s story is an interesting one. That story can’t be told without first exploring why she wanted to get into such a competitive space and how she does it differently. And she’s going to tell you all about it.
Thank you to Convo By Design partner sponsors, ThermaSol, TimberTech, Pacific Sales, Monogram and Design Hardware. And thank you for taking the time to listen, subscribe, download and share Convo By Design. Thank you to everyone who has made a show or guest suggestion, keep em coming, I love them as well as show ideas. I use many of them because I created this show for the design community in 2013 and who better to know what is working on the ground level but those who do it day in and day out. Please reach out via email, Convo By Design at outlook dot com and on Instagram @ConvoXDesign with and “X”. Thank you again to those subscribing to the show. By doing so, you receive every new episode the moment its published. You also receive The Design Messengers episodes on select Mondays that touch on new developments taking place in the industry, Drinking About Design on the occasional Friday where I get together with some amazing creatives over drinks, and The Convo By Design Icon Registry episodes on the last Thursday of each month where we enshrine exceptional creatives in our hall of fame. Until we meet again, be well, and take today first.
