Novedge Pulse™ of Kevin Lee Allen

Ministry of Design has unveiled the Vanke Triple V Gallery in Tianjin, China. The soaring triangles remind me of the uplifting energy of parabolic roof lines prevalent in Mid Century Modern architecture, like this  Union 76 gas station roof I wrote about in my post  [more...]

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day Ana behibek (to woman) (änä he bek) / Ana behibak (to man) (änä he bek) – Arabic Obicham te (o be' cham ta) – Bulgarian Soro lahn nhee ah (sir län ne rock) – Cambodian (Khmer) Wo ai ni (wo i ne) – Chinese (Mandarin)  [more...]

Dwell brings the Bubeshko Apartments to our attention. I suppose if we lived in LA, we would either live here or know the building. Either way, we would have happily observed a recent restoration and necessary updating of this Rudolph Schindler building by DSH Architects.  [more...]

… and sees. Still, not every client or home owner has a keen eye for color. There are warm grays and there are cool grays. They are very different and they don’t, necessarily, go well together. Even if they are all grays. Set Designers study this, Lighting  [more...]

Macintosh Super Bowl Ad 1984 With the “Big Game” coming up next Sunday, most of us get more excited about the spots than the sport. Super Bowl Sunday is like the Emmys for TV commercials. Marketers will fork over about $3.5 million for a single 30-second Super Bowl  [more...]

Just a little break from our norm… Enjoy. Tweet

My latest book about Vectorworks was announced yesterday. You should go HERE and order Entertainment and Lighting Design with Vectorworks Spotlight then, come back and read the rest of this post. This is my fifth book about Vectorworks, a subject about which I am obviously  [more...]

OK, first, go here and buy the book. Then read the press release below while you wait for FedEx. Stayed tuned here for some excerpts, and other tips and tricks. This is the book that set designs and lighting designers will need. Entertainment and Lighting Design with  [more...]

Time to start getting your project ducks in a row kids, the deadline looms. The iSquint.net & Stage Directions Magazine Student Lighting Design Competition (SLDC) is well underway!  iSquint welcomes back sponsors, Nemetschek Vectorworks, City Theatrical and Field  [more...]

Wow, someone paid for this? This could be good set design if the desired effect wa to cause stomachs to roll. I know mine does when I look at these images, but that kind of set design can’t be good restaurant design. This design is perfect for a short scene in  [more...]

Just as a show portal or a proscenium arch are to theatrical set design or the opening bump shot might be to television news set design, doors are critical to the theatre of the home. All too often we see boring doors, or worse, fugly doors. Double doors aren’t  [more...]

I like the Houzz site, but all too often it seems to exist to sell the obvious to the oblivious. Apparently, it is a revelation that ceilings do not have to be painted white. I suppose this would be Set Design 101, but maybe the idea isn’t covered during Interior  [more...]

Sure homes are set design, but pay attention to the exterior as well people. When you reconfigure your living room by adding a goiter to your facade, you’re cutting off the nose to spite the face. Remember, the exterior should be a set design also. Interior and  [more...]

Well, they should be, they aren’t always theatrical or often theatrical, but they should be. Eero Saarinen’s Miller House in Columbus Indiana, photographed here by Ezra Stoller. © Ezra Stoller / ESTO is certainly a perfect stage setting for an evening performance  [more...]

Pools have to be set design, they are nothing more than building a stage for a performance or performances. A pool is a theatre, whether you have the Weekiwachee Mermaids or not. It was a bit of a cold day here in the Northeastern US. Not so cold that we had to have  [more...]

…and not an Interstate Highway System? A unique design idea and a great interpretation of a design icon. Cameron Booth is an Australian Graphic Designer based now in Portland Oregon. Not surprisingly, he blogs.  And he, like us, likes subway maps. Astonishingly,  [more...]

Clearly, no set designer was consulted. Probably no actual designer or person with taste was consulted. I certainly can’t believe that anyone in fashion was consulted. There may be three people in the world with a complexion that would be flattered by this color.  [more...]

Here are a few pieces I’ve archived as inspiration research for dressing some of the sets we design at KLAD. These pieces may not yet be available on the general market, they serve as jumping off points for creating a look, mood, feeling and may speak to a character  [more...]

Really, if you have the room, how could you go any other way? Life is theatre and a home is the set and lighting design. In many ways, the bedrooms could be on stage or backstage. This blog will look at bedrooms as backstage, preparing for the day, or performance.  [more...]

Turning the written, and well, then printed, word into sculpture. This takes the idea and art of the set design model into new territory. Artist Guy Laramee has carved a series of hardcover Chinese and English encyclopedias into stunning landscapes for two series entitled  [more...]

‘ Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the ship, Not a circuit was buzzing, not one microchip. The phasers were hung in the armory securely, In hope that no alien would be up that early. The crewmen were nestled all snug in their bunks, Except for  [more...]

As set designers, creativity is part of our every day activity. We are called upon to be creative and be creative on the spot. It’s OK, its part of the gig and we thrive on the intellectual exercise. Here are a couple of other thoughts on creativity. In some  [more...]

 Sure, it’s not all bad, but it is schizophrenic. These designers could use some set design training. You know, that day where design cohesiveness and Gestalt are discussed. Almost all of the individual elements are interesting, but it looks like they set out  [more...]

My father was a welder. His art was very different from ours. As a young set designer, he taught me to weld and although that has never been my forté, having that knowledge has always been an asset.These candle sticks are now another one of our assets. I have no idea  [more...]

A couple dancing on a film reel stage in front of an elegant grand drape. These are the things set designers make out of clear Plexiglas and mirror when creating awards to be presented to Neil Meron and Craig Zadan of Storyline Entertainment by NYMF. Neil and Craig  [more...]

Cars and Watches – these are a few of my favorite things…and this watch is gorgeous, I’d wear it and wear it and wear it, as I’ve always preferred men’s watches over the mostly twee timepieces made for women.  Automotive enthusiast and  [more...]

Client: I like it, but um, I think it needs to be more neutral. What do you think? Me: I wouldn’t show you something I didn’t like, and I really think this color palette enhances the product shot. Client: Its too much. Its distracting. Make it all white.  [more...]

iSquint.net and Stage Directions Student Lighting Design Competition (SLDC), sponsored by Nemetschek Vectorworks, City Theatrical and Field Template, began accepting entries on November 28th. The winner of this second annual competition will receive a prize package  [more...]

Artist Peter Root has created a sculpture Ephemicropolis using only staples to build a terrain that evokes a cityscape. Clearly he has and uses the same skills a set designer uses to build models, miniatures or Marquettes of stage designs. Could easily mock this up  [more...]

We actually do this. Our set design studios are in one wing of our home. Although separate from our personal spaces, the commute is terrific. Like the traditional merchant or professional that lived above the store. Craig Steely Architecture designed this home dubbed;  [more...]

Ahhh, the choice of the car, if it is the set designer’s choice, what a wonderful world. Of course, in film, the production designer may not have this choice. hopefully they have a say. In this case, Hopefully a test drive. When Ian Flemming wrote the James Bond  [more...]

The street side news stands offer many possible choices for a film set designer or production designer. Fewer choices for the news stand operators. In what often seems as an all too zealous effort to ‘clean up’ NYC or fix what isn’t broken, iconic  [more...]

But then, this tribe was named by French-Canadians and the French stuck. Good idea, there is a very French class and elegance to the Tribe’s Resort Expansion. There are elements that are very dramatic and theatrical. The contrasting colors in the image at left  [more...]

Designing in 3D will become a critical part of any set and/or lighting designer’s career. Relating to the Building Information Model (BIM) paradigm being used in architecture today, entertainment designers can collaborate more closely when working in 3D so issues  [more...]