Deadly

Collections #1

It wasn't long ago that I was talking about collecting things.  Since then I've come across some great images along that line from Camilla Engman, and have decided to make Collections a regular (but without regularity) feature.  So, unless there are any objections, here it is, the first of at least a hundred and ten; Collections #1.

Here is a superb example of little handmade pieces that come together to tell a story.  What are those little things?  What does each one mean?  It doesn't matter.  It's a collection remember.  All each piece needs to do is drop clues.  Enough of those clues and you've got something worth shouting about.   Here's a tip: Everyone will see/hear it differently so there isn't a right answer in what something like this should or shouldn't say.  You might want to avoid touchy topics like cloning, gun control, dying polar bears, Taylor Swift, and so on, but steer clear of those and you can't lose.

A collection doesn't have to be cute.  And it doesn't have to be clean.  And it can (if you're good) be useful for more than looking at.  Here's a tip: build your collection around something that's already on your wall such as a smoke detector or spot of blood that just won't go away.

When displaying your collection, the real art is in the assemblage.  You can make any old crap look good if you learn how to arrange and get the pieces to talk to each other.  These pictures exemplify masterful arrangements.  Can you hear them?

I can.  They're practically screaming.

It's snowing...

I stepped out of the house and guess what was going on outside?  It was snowing (didn't I mention that in the title?).  Maybe I spend way too much time inside because the snow was quite a surprise.  A pleasant one but still shocking.  Did I mention that it was snowing outside, but wasn't snowing inside.
Okay, here's the question to begin today's babbling: Why can't we walk into our houses and experience something similar to the surprise of fresh snow?  Most environments, places, and things change with time but when we think about interior design it's often a once-and-for-all thing.  Some people decorate for Christmas and a few even get into Valentines Day and Easter but I'm talking about something more random and less event based.  How about selecting a wall which changes every month?  Why not use your foyer like a rotating gallery space?  If multiple people live in your house, set up a rotating schedule and let each have their way with a designated space (It's best if you keep it under wraps until it's finished).  You shouldn't be afraid to try things.  You can always change them.  Trying things is the only way to learn and develop what you like.  I'm starting to sound lame so here are some things to look at:

Heads Up: If you ever hire a DJ (it's not something I recommend but it can work) put him in the corner (but up a step or two even if you have to build him a little platform because he needs that extra height- they can be a vain breed) and please keep him in check.  When you say NO Taylor Swift and "You Belong with Me" comes on you need to pull the plug.

So I'm calling this idea Snow.  It doesn't have anything to do with actual snow but refers to an ever-changing interior environment.  It'll lift your spirits.  It'll change your outlook in the morning.  It's great as a surprise.  Are you listening kids?  Put some thought into how you can reshape your same old same old apartment/house/cave.  Pinatas are cool.  You don't have to hit them with sticks.  Painted cut paper is good.  Yes, paint it yourself.  Cut it yourself too.  Googly eyes, bouncy balls, colored pipe cleaners, plastic straws, things that pop, and nets are just a few great and cheap ideas.  Get to work.

Postal Address, Personal Assistant, Pennsylvania, Panama, Parental Advisory, Personal Assistant, Polyamide, Postcode Area, Paranoid Android, Public Address, Practical Art

Variable Color Technique

For those who have something against VCT (that's Vinyl Composition Tile, not the Victorian Calligraphy Tax, or Volume Computed Tomography, or Visual Clutter Theory (more on this later), or Very Classy Tennis, or Virtual College of Texas, or Voltage Current Transactor, or Verbose Creative Types (they'll get theirs too)- you can be for or against those things, I don't really care, but this post is only about Vinyl Composition Tile, so if you are against that listen up), I ask: isn't VCT only as lame as the person in charge of the layout?  Don't things reflect their maker and/or designer?  Does VCT have something to say?  Do you?

Flexibility is part of the beauty of cheap modular materials.  Flexibility is highly valued by designers (or so they claim).  But flexibility doesn't mean a thing, or might be an obstacle to the unimaginative.  Are designers really imaginative?  Are you?  Are you a designer?  Are you an old man?  Now I'm getting ahead of myself.  Here's a picture:

This is a convenience store, or a drug store, or some similar store which isn't supposed to be well designed.  So why is this floor so much more interesting that anything you'll see in the latest issue of Architectural Digest?  That's a question that I'll leave alone for now.  But here's another one: why would you look at Architectural Digest when there is a floor like this in the store down the street?

More questions:
How come so few designers know how to use colors?
Why should a convenience store have a sweet looking floor?
And how is it possible that said floor can not only look great but be long-lasting and easy to clean?
Doesn't that sound like a super material?
What do you even call that dirty pink color?
Why don't designers design convenience store floors?  Maybe now we know.

Here's my response to all of the questions in this post: I think we should spend more time with with 63 year-old guys who run convenience stores.

Now here's a Mitch Hedberg joke to motivate you:  I was in a convenience store, reading a magazine. The clerk told me, "this is not a library!" "OK! I will talk louder, then!"

Geological Atlas of the Moon

I don't know much of anything about the moon.  But I do know a great looking map (Warning: these are maps of the entire moon, there are a lot of them, and if you like maps you will be engrossed for days and days.  Don't blame me.  That's why I'm giving this warning.  I am not responsible for whatever trouble they may cause you.) of the moon when I see one.

These come from the Department of the Interior United States Geological Society.  Here's a brief (and semi-accurate) version of how this all came about.
So in in the 1960s (they probably started long before the 60s but the maps were not published until the 60s) some people (USAF-ACIC, USGS, Dr. G.P. Kuiper and his collaborators, D.W.G. Arthur and E.A. Whitaker, J. Franz and S.A. Saunder (selenographic control), Z. Kopal and G. Fielder (Shadow Progression Technique), Blagg and Muller (I.A.U. lettered formations criterion), and lots of other wonderful people from the Lick, McDonald, Pic Du Midi, Mount Wilson, and Yerkes Observatories) went about making some moon maps.  It went something like this: "laser altimeters carried by orbiting Apollo spacecraft measured absolute elevations and delineated many topographic features of the area."  "X-ray flourescence and gamma-ray spectrometers were carried in orbit on Apollo missions... to extend goeochemical findings from the small spots sampled or analyzed by Surveyor, Apollo, and Luna missions to larger areas of the Moon, the X-ray results..." and so forth.  Here's a peek at the results.

I-1162 South Side of the Moon

This is one of the full maps.  Can't see anything in this tiny picture can you?
Three detail images from three different maps below.

 

I-1047 Central Far Side of the Moon

I-465 Aristarchus

I-714 Colombo

I hope you have enjoyed today's session on moon maps.  Please use the link above and again right here to look at these amazing maps in more detail.


Do you want to now how to order these maps?  Of course you do.  Go here to learn how.

Rocks, Rocks, Rocks. rockS, rockS, rockS.

While this isn't an interior it should be clear how great this looks (or would look), inside or out.

Balance, repetition, harmony, lots of earth tones, order, and tension. I could go on and on. What principles of design can't you find here? Don't waste your time thinking, the answer is none. Not one, nothing, this is it. It's all here. There's even a shirtless guy if you're into that.


I'd like to talk for a moment about stacking. That's the theme of this post and it's a core technique in the field and one that you must employ if you want your interior to look professionale (that's not a misspelling by the way, nor is it Italian (actually, it is, but not in the way I mean it)).

Do you have lots of items which are similar? Have you wondered how to best display them. I think you see where this is going. Don't waste precious shelf space. And if you have enough of those similar items this can be a floor piece (disclaimer: I do not recommend cheeseburgers on the floor, this picture is for illustration purposes only and should not be attempted except by people intelligent enough to know that you don't leave whole cheeseburgers (stacked or not) lying around on the floor).

Isn't one a nice number? How do you feel about two? And what about three? I'm not that crazy about two and three either, but you know what I am crazy about?
23

And you know what else?
456,635

You have a lot of work to do. I'm not saying that you should run out to Target or Bed Bath & Beyond or whatever lame store you think is the go to place for the stuff you display your house. I'm suggesting something more organic (which means it must be good) like collecting. Pick something and make it your thing. Let people know. Claim it, own it, tell everyone else to back off because you've got the rights. Fight for it. Steal. No, don't steal. You probably shouldn't get into any fights either but you get the idea. What I'm getting at is that you must be determined. This advice is not for dabblers and tenderfoots.

Don't get discouraged as you start your collection. It won't likely look good. It might even look atrocious. Or hideous, or dreadful, or unfortunate, or desperate. You must keep going. The awkward early stages are why you find so few people who know how to stack. You'll get through it, I promise.

There is beauty in repetition. And even more beauty in repetition on top of repetition (for the advanced only and if you want tips on how to get there you'll have to pay me a lot of money). Just remember that it's hard to go too far.


Bonus Advice: Some stuff about trophies

Trophies are seriously underused in the field of interior design (and decorating). Everyone seems to want to get rid of them. I say, the more the better. Put them out there. And bonus points if you can use trophies and stacking in the same arrangement. I don't think this is a permanent display, seems to be more of a trophy burger-masher device, but i think it's fantastic- three elements, the trophy to top it off. APPROVED.

Use more trophies people. I've never once seen trophies at someone's house and thought, "now that is way too many trophies."  But I have been to numerous (by numerous I mean every single one) houses with too few trophies or, gasp, none at all. Okay, so I'm probably overemphasizing the value of trophies but I'm giving you this tip right now because I am looking out for you. Jump on this immediately before trophies are all the rage. You can still get loads of them at garage sales for pocket change, but I'm telling you once they start appearing on those tour-the-rich-celebrity's-home shows you'll be too late. Consider yourself warned. No whining later.

Hmm... I have so much more to say but I need to run. I've got a dinner date. Maybe I'll do a part two on stacking in the future. Or if you have questions or comments we could get a conversation going. Good luck kids.

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Buy some things to hang on your wall. Or hire Jesse Brown to repaint your stairwell. Don't ask your landlord. Just do it.

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