This was our studio until a few days ago. Be on the lookout for photos of our new digs once we unpack all the boxes. In the meantime, here’s a look at our old space, filled with fond memories:
Our HQ: The barn is over 100 years old and was once the home to Cannondale bicycles. It’s drafty. The roof leaked, but we fixed it. We love it. Come visit.
The front portion of our office is from around 1805. It’s in surprisingly good shape. It has a larger rear section that was added sometime in the early 1980s. At one time the structure was painted red — kind of what one would expect. We prefer the green.
Before we moved in, our atelier (OK… barn) was a big raw space, around 5,000 sq. ft. We designed the interior, cabinetry, and lighting fixtures. We bought a lot of the furniture from Design Within Reach, who would eventually — happily — become our client.
Alex got one of the red Jens Risom chairs at an auction a few years ago, and it looked so lonely we had to go find it a mate. The pillows are from our client Jonathan Adler, and we think they look pretty great next to the Eames “circles” fabric on the Eames Compact sofa. (OK, no more designer fanboy and -girl talk. We promise.)
We need lots of wall and floor space to lay things out. One can only learn so much by looking at a screen.
BOTTOM: We wish we could say this bust activates a bookcase that slides open to reveal a pair of bat-poles... but it just operates our lights.
Our conference room featuring just a few of the books and packages we’ve designed over the years.
This must have been taken on a Casual Friday. All our team members are warriors, trained from childhood to master a variety of unorthodox skills and make quick, non-standard decisions under extreme conditions.
A 100% completely unstaged casual outdoor lunch.
The designers’ work area is filled with optimism, expectation, and books. One thing that’s important to us is having a large space where people can easily collaborate. We don’t like having a lot of individual offices where people can become isolated. It’s crucial to be active and engaged and involved in everyone else’s business, which enables an open exchange of ideas.
OK, that’s a lie: We could never bring him into the office because his favorite thing to do was eat paper, wait a few minutes, then throw it back up. So having him underfoot in this paperful place was pretty much a catastrophe. But it does make for a more interesting photo. So let’s just call him a prop.
BOTTOM: Grinding through to that one perfect solution. It takes a lot of effort to make something seem effortless.
The wall sign in our lunch room came from an exhibit we designed for the Cooper-Hewitt museum in New York. A series of these were bolted to the fence encircling the museum. Someone managed to steal one of them. (On Fifth Avenue.) (In the middle of the day.)
Our downstairs lounge, with one of our favorite vintage posters. It’s inspiring: We would never have thought to promote an airline by suggesting their jets are like paper airplanes spiraling into the ground. Interesting choice. (And if you can’t find a dog to use as a prop, you can always try a fake anvil.)
Our repository of rejected ideas, emblazoned with select client comments.
BOTTOM: As a farewell, our house mariachi band bids you a heartfelt “Adios!” Thank you for stopping by.