design star 1: designers

THE DESIGNERS

Let me start with the best. I had already decided last week that Josh Johnson was the reason I was going to watch Design Star. My only problem this week is that we didn't get enough of him.

Josh J ("Sparkle" -- fabulous!) and Will are going to be the ones for the win. I'm ready to just call them the winners now. They would make a fabulous show together: ebony and ivory. That is hilarious. And they are both such sweeties! It just shows you how two people with very different sensibilities can work together if they are really good designers and put the project ahead of their own egos.

Josh and Will

I really hope that Design Star focuses attention on these two. They both have very strong (in a good way) personalities. They are both very funny. And they are talented designers. What more can you ask for??

Will Smith has a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and African American and African Studies from the University of North Carolina. So Will gets a major plus in my book for having a solid well-rounded education from an excellent university. I think we will see this is a big asset for him as a designer.

Josh Johnson Fun Facts: Something you'd never guess about me: I was once a probation officer. Unusual skills: Clogging. Childhood dream: Flying Wonder Woman's invisible jet. That is a wacky combination of skills and interests!

If this doesn't work out Will and Josh can go into business as private detectives since they both have backgrounds in criminal justice. Instead of Starsky and Hutch they'd be Sparkle and Smith!

Josh & Scott

These two are my second choice after JoshJ and Will because of their previous work. They both have experience and interests that I think would be a good focus for HGTV. Josh works on Green Design and I think HGTV should do a show about this. Scott likes California ranch and that's one of my favorite styles.

Josh Foss Fun Fact: Favorite designer: Charles and Ray Eames. "My dad worked for them back in the early 1960s." That's another major plus in my book!

Kim Adrianna Lisa

I need to see what Kim and Adrianna can do but they have the personalities that would be great to host a show. Lisa seemed like she had a good personality for hosting the show. The skunk hair would have to go. (1983 called and wanted it back.) But her work was disappointing. Kim would be great because she represents the HGTV viewer. She is someone who does crafts -- who watches the shows and then does the projects that are shown on the shows. I think it would be really cool if she won because she would be proof of the DIY ethos of the network. Both Kim and Adrianna have the upbeat can-do spirit targetted at women and especially at women of color and women who may just be starting out or who don't have experience.

Neerja and Christina

AKA Miss Migraine and Miss Negativity. These two do not have the personalities to host a show. They are very grating. Neerja did not crack a smile once. She looked so tense I thought she might shatter into pieces. I have to hand it to Adriana for putting up with Christina because she was wearing down my last nerve. Christina keeps talking about her "two little ones" (and that's getting old fast) and her "no no no" attitude sounded like she had been spending a little too much time around toddlers.

todd and robb

click here

collision course

Todd describes the clients style preferences as having an unusual range: nature, the hand-made, Arts and Crafts, and Mid-Century Modern.

Hold on a minute. (I'm afraid I'm going to have to be insufferably pedantic so bear with me. This won't last long and it should be relatively painless.)

There is absolutely nothing unusual about this range of styles. In fact this is a distinct design lineage that fits together perfectly.

For some reason this combination of tastes causes the designers to freak out. They seem to feel that Mid-Century Modern and Arts and Crafts are “colliding” styles, as Andrea puts it.

Architects might be more inclined to see the two styles as colliding if they think of modern architecture in terms of the international style rather than in terms of residential architecture, but this show is not called Top Non-residential Architect.

One problem is that the designers seem to be fixated on the idea that Mid-century Modern = Eames which they define (if they have any idea of it at all) as a focus on mass-produced, machine made, the use of new materials and bright colors. This is a very narrow description of Mid-Century Modern (as well as the work of Charles and Ray Eames). Mid-century modern also included designers like Isamu Noguchi who uses organic shapes and natural materials, just to take one of many examples.

Basically the designers seem to have a rather fuzzy understanding of the Arts and Crafts and Mid-century Modern movements.

Carisa informs us that Arts and Crafts is a 20th century movement illustrated by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Oy. Carisa is not exactly wrong. The trouble is that this is not exactly the right definition of the Arts and Crafts movement.

• Arts and Crafts is primarily a 19th century movement.
• It started in England with William Morris.
• Its most important American figure is Gustav Stickley.
• It is associated with mission style furniture and bungalow architecture.

Frank Lloyd Wright is considered part of the Arts and Crafts movement—particularly his early Prairie School work. However, his work falls at the very end of the Arts and Crafts movement and marks its transformation into modernism. In many respects Frank Lloyd Wright is a bridge between Arts and Crafts and Mid-Century Modern which is one reason why they are not such “colliding” styles.

ADDED SATURDAY MARCH 24:

Linda Merrill's :: surroundings has a nice post on arts and crafts movement with a variety of images including several Frank Lloyd Wright homes. You can see the difference between his earlier bungalow style in the Robie house and the later modernist lines of Falling Water.

And while I'm at it, I'll remind you that Chicago is the architectural locus for both the Prairie School and the Modern/International style (discussed in this earlier post).

Why does Bravo do this? It is such a disservice to viewers to not use this as an opportunity to educate viewers. Or at least let them know what the hell everyone is talking about.

a few resources :

arts and crafts

• the arts and crafts movement (an older site that I never got back to -- oops! -- maybe now is the time to fix it up)
  
• kora in hell shop: arts and crafts style ceramic and paper goods (shameless commerce : note at the end of the month the design will change from pomegranates to oranges)
  

isamu noguchi (brand new site: he's a favorite.)

frank lloyd wright -- some basic sites

• frank lloyd wright foundation (taliesen west)
• taliesen preservation
• frank lloyd wright preservation trust (0ak park)
• frank lloyd wright buildings (pbs)
• frank lloyd wright library of congress exhibit : designs for an american landscape, 1922-1932

charles and ray eames -- basic sites

• eames office -- a great site -- check out the powers of 10
• the work of charles and ray eames (library of congress exhibition)
• herman miller : charles and ray eames
• design museum

mid century modern
on the web this is basically a commercial category; the best thing would be a book list (forthcoming)

• lottaliving.com