Fascinating Pheasant

Everlasting XOXO: Pheasant's 54" Constellation Mirror receives non-stop fanfare..

What Thomas Pheasant creates is visually arresting. As he glided through a slide show at the recent Las Vegas Market, I wanted to melt into the screen and visit his designed spaces. Maybe one day I will.

What Thomas Pheasant says is also compelling. As I listened to him explain his design process and retell his journey toward the helm of the interior design industry, his confidence was evident yet unobtrusive, and his words flowed with an easy cadence that kept ears and eyes wanting more.

At the Bellagio, Christopher Guy sets the stage for Thomas Pheasant to graciously accept the Icon Award.

I knew little about Pheasant when he took the stage in front of a packed seminar room in Las Vegas. I learned much (that he spent several years folding fabrics in the back of a showroom before getting his big break, for example)  and was quite moved by his gratitude ("I love my staff and when they leave, I want them to leave here a better designer."), and now have a new awareness of the interior designer so deserving of the 2016 Designer Icon Award and all previous accolades.

The title of Pheasant's book relates to the emotional experience of his environments.

In a mix of direct quotation and my translation, here's what I gleaned from Pheasant's presentation.

On INSPIRATION:
Inspiration is an overused term...it does not mean replication. It's about seeing something and letting it stay and work inside of you, and then when it comes out, it comes out new.

On DESIGNING:
"Say a lot without saying a lot"...As I mature as a designer, I communicate with less and I am more and more drawn to minimalism.
 I do not like to fulfill a space but would rather leave room for the people, for life. Spaces should reflect the client, and not be locked into the date that I left.
Houses need care, rethinking, and re-imagining, but not too much decoration

On SUCCESS
My success is not necessarily about certain colors or my style, but rather the emotional connection people have to the spaces.
I've stayed true to my vocabulary.
Re: Trends: figure out how a trend works for you and use them in YOUR way.
If you're putting your name on it, make sure you believe in it and let people judge it for what it is.
Editorial is important; do a showhouse and present the work you want to do.
Bring in people -- accountants and legal -- to help.
Go travel. Live..and bring back experiences.








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NEED: Do We Need Interior Design Emoji?

Eye candy from Maison

While walking last week's Maison & Objet Miami, I wanted to text a few friends but was dismayed by the lack of smart phone graphics to convey  my adventure. Granted photos of colossal glass chandeliers speak volumes over simplified cartoony emoji...but still, it's nice to have an option.

I thought: "Why aren't there furniture emoji? I WANT them."

Then I googled "furniture emoji" and discovered that Ikea had come up with its own iconic text language earlier in the year. Ikea's emoticons are beautifully illustrated; they remind me of modern flashcards. Ikea's emoji philosophy:

In the home situation
misunderstandings occur most around clutter.
And that is why IKEA introduces Emoticons:
a communication tool to ensure universal love
and understanding in your home.

Check it out at http://ikea.nl/emoticons

 

Before learning that Ikea had pioneered furniture emoji, I felt inspired to take it on. As a design enthusiast, I was feeling left out of the picture text world. Apple's existing emoji offerings enhance the victories, challenges, and overall communication of other careers, but for interior designers...there's.really nada.

A chef can express enthusiasm for a new dish that just got written up in the Times.

A basketball player can share his success after being signed to the pros.

But in the world of basic unbranded non-Ikea emoji, what can an interior designer really convey via text?I am a tad surprised, since designers and furniture makers comprise such a passionate group, that they have not left their mark yet in the emoji world, especially with design icons such as a Barcelona chair, an Egg chair, a Kagan sofa, an X-bench, a Sputnik chandelier. While waiting in a doctor's office, I mocked up these.

Perhaps for this trade, emojis simply cannot rival photographs to relay the design experience and the library could be endless. How would one adequately communicate:

Luna Bella's Medusa pendants

 these luscious tablecloths from LinenMe

a  B+W composition at Maison Montaigne

the comparative textures of nuLOOM's rugs

Sometime emoji move but not to this extent.

 Love these magnetized porcelain plates designed by Martial for Non Sans Raison

Me on a So-Nu river stone chair

So maybe it's ok then. We have our camera apps. Do we really NEED emoji? And is Ikea correct -- that all emojis are the key to harmony at home?