Modern Interiors, decorating, etc.» Interviews

Eric and Ammo’s Pad

Pete — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:20:04 +0000

I’ve got a real treat for you today… a look at Eric Meeks’ very stylish, very modern place. For those who aren’t sure where they’ve heard that name before, just think AT’s Smallest Coolest Semi-finalist and Modern Self.

Eric kindly agreed to let us in for a closer look and shared some info and a few tips that help make his home a stunning and stylin’ retreat. Come take a look.

Eric’s place is not only full of style, it’s full of DIY knowledge since many of its most striking features are built by hand. A true DIY guru, Eric has successfully built the following features in his apartment:

hanging light panel
LED Light Box
Bathroom wall painting (must see)
Accent wall
Ikea Hacks
Clear Frosted Kitchen Cabinets
Handmade Curtains and Button Tufted Valances

There’s more but these are truly inspiring and definitely worth a closer look.

What has Eric got to say?

Me: Hi Eric, glad you could make some time to share your place and ideas with the readers of Modern Flat!

Thank you, I really appreciate the opportunity to share my space with more people.

Me: I’ve already mentioned some of the fantastic DIY projects you’ve done, mind telling us which one was your favorite and why?

Particularly I liked making the Curtains and Valances. I consider myself to be very “handy” but anything with fabric I don’t have a clue where to begin.

When my girlfriend Amber-Morning (Ammo) suggested we make our own curtains I didn’t think it could be done with any real results. I wanted big thick valances with button tufts on them to match my mid-century furniture. We took a piece of paper and painted our wall colors on to it and took it to the downtown Los Angeles Fashion District.

This place is a pretty seedy area of downtown but it is known to have the best deals on
fabric anywhere. This was really an adventure to hunt through piles of bolts of fabric and then to wheel and deal with the shop owners. Eventually we found a fabric that matched the color we were looking for perfectly.

We also picked up some cotton batting and a couple of button making kits. Who knew there was such a thing as a button making kit!? We got all the wood from the hardware store and put it all together. Ammo did all of the sewing and my job was to put the wood together for the
valances.

Of course after she saw how I was cutting the wood (not straight enough I guess) she had to take over the hand saw and show me how to cut the wood properly. Then she later revealed to me that she had won a wood cutting contest when she was younger. She is a Southern girl, and you can never make assumptions about what skills a Southern girl has. Of course later that day she was showing me how to use a curved needle to sew on the buttons. I learned a lot from that DIY project and it was a great adventure.

Me: I found your Ikea Hack (Pendant lights) to be a particularly cool idea, where did you get the inspiration for that, or was it just a spur of the moment thing?

It started because I knew I wanted to have two mid-century style pendants hanging above that particular counter. I had been looking everywhere for the right lamps for weeks. I found many things that I liked but nothing anywhere near my budget range. I think that anyone who has tried to put lighting in their home has found it to be quite possibly the most expensive part of decorating.

I was honestly stumped. When I began working on my apartment I wanted to avoid using anything from IKEA. My biggest fear was that someone would walk into my place and say, “Oh, I have that same exact [thing] from IKEA”. IKEA is hugely popular here in Los Angeles as I am sure it is almost anywhere now and that makes it hard to be unique when buying from IKEA.

However because I couldn’t find a pendant anywhere near my budget range I resigned myself to buying an IKEA pendant. When I looked at all the pendants I was sorely disappointed by the selection until I came across these table lamps with the perfect shades. I said to my girlfriend (Ammo), “Now these are the perfect shades too bad they aren’t pendants.” She was the one who suggested that we could “make” them pendants.

Luckily I have a cursory knowledge of electricity so wiring them into the ceiling is no problem. There was a point though where you are sitting there about to cut and strip the wires off of a perfectly good table lamp and you think…hmm what if this doesn’t work and we just ruined two perfectly good lamps.

Well suffice to say, it worked great. So far nobody has told me that they have the same lamps and because of that success I have decided that I can use anything from IKEA as long as I hack it.

Me: How about telling us a little bit about your home (and yourself if you’re not too shy) and your sources of inspiration when it comes to decorating.

The apartment is located between Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood CA. Finding an apartment in this area is very difficult because there is so much demand and very little supply. I actually had to offer to pay more than the advertised rent to secure the apartment. Many people are surprised to see my apartment because from the outside it looks very run down and I even have bars on my windows. Which is one reason I keep the curtains shut when I photograph it. Not to mention the view is of a concrete wall. It really isn’t glamorous at all.

The inside started as just a plain white box and my goal was to make people feel that when they walked into the unit they were transported away, like possibly upward into the Hollywood Hills somewhere. I wanted people to be astonished by what could possibly be behind the door of a standard issue grungy Hollywood apartment.

As for myself, I moved to Hollywood to pursue working in the movie industry and I began making my living as an Electrician which could be more accurately called a Set Lighting Technician. I really enjoyed the work (I am now a business consultant) and found a particular beauty in lighting that before I would have never even noticed or thought twice about.

Since I had no formal movie education, I gained experience in the field and that is what inspired me to take that knowledge and apply it to interiors. I wanted my apartment to be a lighting masterpiece more than anything else. I think I use 22 light bulbs in total to light my 390sq ft apartment, all of them on dimmers.

My main goal was to incorporate what is called “mixed color temperatures” into one space. Basically it’s the mixing of warm colored lights with cool color lights. To do that I
used reveal bulbs in the bathroom and kitchen and lower watt warm bulbs in the living room to give an inviting sense of comfort and to separate the areas. Even though my apartment’s style is minimalistic people continually tell me how warm and inviting the space is. The trick is all
in the lighting.

p.s. I wrote a lengthy article about lighting your own interiors. You can
read it here: http://modernself.com/design/how-to-light-your-bachelor-pad/

Many thanks to Eric for sharing his beautiful apartment and a little bit about himself with us!

There is a lot of great stuff to see here and Eric’s successful decorating and DIY experiments have certainly inspired me, how about you?

Rafael Morgan Interview

Pete — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:52:10 +0000

Not long ago I posted an interesting piece by Brazilian industrial designer Rafael Morgan (Light Drop). I though this was more than just a simple work of art/furniture… this was a really great design. Not only does it look great and function as you would expect but it makes a statement and really grabs your attention.

This compelled me to get in touch with Rafael and request a simple interview, just to see what he was about and where he got some of his inspiration from. As you might have guessed, he agreed. So go ahead and read what he has to say and take a look at some of his other work, it’s really quite good.

A quick background on Rafael

Rafael was raised in Belo Horizonte (Beautiful Horizon), a place that provides him with much of his inspiration. Even as a child Rafael was spending considerable time drawing and illustrating (sometimes several hours each day) for fun, as well as for school projects.

Industrial design appealed to him because, in his own words, “When I first heard about Industrial Design, I was just so excited because I could use my artistic skills to improve people’s life quality.”

Since starting his career as an Industrial Designer, Rafael has been trying to create an identity for himself and set himself apart from the rest. His unique style and immense talent have helped him get noticed and headed towards success. He’s an optimistic guy and I’m sure he will become a household name in the world of Industrial Design.

The Interview.

ModernFlat: How did you decide to get into Industrial Design?

Rafael: I always loved drawing and since I was a little kid I really liked making my own toys and crazy inventions. As an Industrial Designer, I am free to mix art and my crazy experiments and ideas. You know, we live in a world ruled buy money, people love to buy stuff. All I want is to give them good products to buy and maybe make them think about things that really matters.

ModernFlat: What were your major sources of inspiration and motivation when you were starting out?

Rafael: I am the kind of guy who never gives up. I am always doing my best to make things the best way as possible and I think that´s what motivates me. Inspiration for me is everywhere, mostly in ordinary objects. If you stop for a minute and try to watch your surroundings by a different angle or point of view, you would be surprised on how beautiful and poetic our world is. (This is a good practice but don´t practice this too much or you can get I little confused.)

ModernFlat: What would you say is your favorite part about being a designer?

Rafael: My favorite part is that an ID can create great concepts without having to worry too much about if it is possible or not to produce. You know, with today’s technology you just need someone who really believes you and most things can get to production. Don’t get me wrong, some things are really impossible to make but a great idea is always a great idea. There are many ways that you can really improve people´s life quality and Design is one of the best. Like art, Design is a great way of making people think about things that really matter and I always try to spread a message trough my designs.

ModernFlat: Do you have a favorite piece of work? What is it?

Rafael: I really like my three last designs, Hope Table, the Light Drop and Fishcage.

ModernFlat: Why are these pieces your favorites?

Rafael: I think that this Designs are really authentic, they say too much about myself, about who I am. A good design must tell a story, must be reflective and must be inspiring. These three products represent a line of products with a deep reflective quality and I pretend to follow these characteristics in my future projects.

ModernFlat: Your designs are stunning, where do you find inspiration when starting a new project?

Rafael: That is a good question! As I said before in this interview, I find inspiration everywhere. Some subjects for me are very inspiring like paradoxes, optical illusions and opposite words. Poetry, Music and all kind of arts are always a fantastic source of inspiration too. A little meditation helps a lot.

ModernFlat: What are the steps that a professional designer, like yourself, would go through in the course of designing a new project?

Rafael: I follow basically three or four steps that might work well for other designers as well. Just like an example, let´s talk about designing a table. The first step is to research. Make a deep research about all kinds of tables ever made. Buying some books is always a great idea. A really deep research should take a week, so when it is done, take one or two days of just to refresh your brain.

It’s is a good idea to print a little book with thumbnails images of the tables you have researched. Try to look at this book upside-down and from different angles, you will always find some surprises. The next step is to draw.

Try to make crazy tables, something NEVER DONE BEFORE. Don’t worry about the quality of the drawing, the important thing here is to put your thoughts on the paper as fast as possible. Remember not to force your brain too much. If you are stuck, take a time of. When you have something really cool, it is time to develop it to a more detailed level.

The last step is Computer Graphics. Today’s designers must be fluent in at least one 3D package. It helps a lot to see your product in three dimensions. In this step you should refine your product to the higher level of details as possible until it meets your standards.

Just remember to don’t get limited by your software skills. A 3D printer is a very good resource and they are getting cheaper every day. This steps work for me very well.

ModernFlat: Do you have a favorite designer? Who is it?

Rafael: Hard question!

My favorite designer is Ronif Starckgroverinen…. ( A mix of Ron Arad, Starck, Lovegrove and Saarinen). I really love Alvar Aalto, Charles and Ray Eames, Arn Jackobsen….I can´t name them all.

ModernFlat: Do you draw inspiration from their work?

Rafael: Absolutely yes!

ModernFlat: A particular piece of yours, the Light Drop, caught my eye the other day. Could you tell me what inspired that piece?

Rafael: I was surfing on the internet, just googling for random images a I found an image of a burning candle but it´s fire was made of ice. I just thought: Wow!! Something that should cast fire was casting its opposite element! I could really use this idea to design something…
After a few days of research and hundreds of sketches, I designed the Light Drop. I just had a lot of fun designing it!

ModernFlat: I noticed while reading through your website that you are interested in working outside of Brazil. Is there a specific branch of design that you would like to focus on? Is there any particular country or design firm that you would prefer to work for?

Rafael: I just love furniture, lights and home accessories and I pretend to focus on it for a while but I am planning to give all design branches a try in the near future. I don´t have any particular firm that I would like to design for. I just want to work in a nice and friendly environment where I can design and develop solid concepts without too many restrictions.
I am so interested in knowing a different culture that I really don´t have any preferences about a specific country but If I was going to choose a country for its design, I would certainly choose some Scandinavian country. The Netherlands are great too. Italy is great also, because it looks like a boot (kidding)!

ModernFlat: Thank you so much for the interview, is there anything more that you would like to share with the readers that we didn’t cover?

Rafael: I just want to say to young designers like me to never give up creating great stuff. Just keep doing your best and someone will certainly believe in your ideas in the right time. Thanks for everyone who is reading this interview right know! If you want to comment one of my designs just leave a note on my online portfolio.

Cheers,
Rafael Morgan, Brazil.

Thanks again to Rafael for taking the time to participate in this interview and thanks to you for reading it.

Please feel free to link to this page (or Rafael’s Portfolio) and help Rafael increase his visibility (as a young designer I’m sure he’ll appreciate it).