Design Notes

The view from Palm Springs: Vol. 1.

While the photography team at DWR loves living in the San Francisco Bay Area, the fog and utterly mild weather make it damn near impossible to shoot an outdoor catalog anywhere locally, especially in January (yes, the catalog has that long of a lead time). To capture images like the Bertoia Diamond Chair reflected in a sun-dappled pool, we had to pack it up and head south. Where to head when shooting product that reflects mid-century modernism? Palm Springs, of course.

Once called “the playground of the stars,” Palm Springs still retains much of its former glamour. Truly a Mecca for mid-century design, the city continues to grow and nourish those principles. This is evident at the Viceroy Palm Springs Resort – where we were not only lucky enough to stay, they let us shoot there too (see above). In continuous operation since 1933, and designed in the Hollywood Regency style, it underwent a renovation starting in 2001. With the efforts of interior designer Kelly Wearstler (“Playmate of the Month” in September 1994, I might add. That’s Palm Springs for you.), the resort’s design moved toward a more whimsical style from the original look. It mixes the best of the ’30s with mid-century modern now favored in Palm Springs.

Special thanks to the Viceroy for accommodating the whole photo crew (and our gear). The people, the setting and the city itself inspired some of the best work this team has done. Thanks again!
Posted by Michael Sainato, DWR art director

He's a social lounger.

It's hard to move around Paris working where I do, without taking notice of chairs. Talking about café chairs in Paris almost seems like a cliché. But about 25% of cafés are filled with Marais chairs, another 40% are filled with chairs almost exactly like our Cricket chairs. I did see a café or two making use of the Jasper Morrison Air Chair, though the strangest use has to be a McDonalds fully outfitted with white Eames Molded Plastic Side Chairs. (click here for image)

The chair that really caught my attention however was the lounge sibling to our recently launched Cricket Chair - not used in a café but, rather, scattered about in the Jardin de Tuileres, the large park stretching out from the the end of the Louvre. For the most part they were concentrated around the fountains with tourists and locals alike sitting in them, taking each other’s pictures, talking and moving the chairs here and there. As I looked around I noticed that many of the chairs were arranged often facing each other and sometimes in small groups - there was something about this chair being in the right place and having just the right lounging posture that seemed to facilitate conversation.

I sat for a while watching people move about and listening to my iPod (the international sign of "I'd rather not take a picture of you and your family by the fountain"), and wondered, maybe I'm looking too deeply into these simple chairs and have read one too many of Rob Forbes's Design Notes. However, upon leaving I saw the image posted below: a bench that looks as though it could hold a majority of the party in question by itself, but instead they chose to circle the bench with ten chairs, using the bench as a sort of a conference table. Whether a serious or casual conversation had taken place, I can't be certain. But whatever it was, I'd bet that it didn't last less than an hour.

The Making of My Eames Lounge Chair

As the winner of a recent contest, I had the opportunity to travel to Zeeland, Michigan, to tour the Herman Miller facilities and watch the production of my own Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman.

The Herman Miller headquarters are beautiful; the GreenHouse, a manufacturing facility, is a truly a masterpiece of green design. However, the true highlight was choosing the specific veneer for my Lounge Chair. I chose a walnut veneer with ivory leather for its clean, simple look.

Lon, the craftsman who put my chair together, builds approximately 20 chairs each day, and he was very careful, making sure that the leather on each piece was smoothed and stretched out just right. The amount of detail-oriented, handmade work that goes in to each lounge chair and ottoman is amazing! It was apparent that he takes a lot of pride in doing what he does best, preserving the chair’s well deserved icon status.

Anthony Ramirez
DWR Proprietor based in San Francisco