Beneath the Surface Blog

Interior designers who earned their stripes by purging and organizing the fabric sections of material libraries can relate to this one! Or would hanging these images on your wall drive you crazy? Inspired by the layering and weaving patterns inherent in textiles, this graphic art series Sample Sample begs for interpretation. To create the 2D images, the elusive Zeitguised studio expertly conducts color, texture, form, and shadow in their representations of woven textiles.

Portrayal of Argyle

Each block of color is given its own space, and that space seems to undulate in and out, forming peaks and valleys that appear to have been photographed from an object in real life.

Portrayal of Plaid

Portrayal of Tartan

What makes these images so compelling to us is that they defy scale; the interpretations can range from the weave of carpet, scaly snake skin, stacks of legos, or the massing of an urban space. How do you see it?

Image credits: Zeitguised

In design, it’s not always what you add, but instead what you take away that makes the biggest impact. Case and point: perforations. This design trend has been taking off in all areas, and can be found on interior walls, ceilings, building exteriors, and even furniture.

Unlike simply adding elements to create visual interest, this subtractive method uses the “less is more” philosophy to enhance aesthetics. The voids create dramatic and visually light spaces that not only look sleek and clean, but fresh and dynamic. Take a peek at some of our favorite uses of perforations below. 

Leave links to your favorite perforated designs and we'll add them to the image collection!

Images compiled by GPI Design

Individual image credits: PWSteel, TheCoolHunter, GoToInteriorDesign, DesignSpotter, DesignMilk, LouiseCampbell, InteriorShowOff, ChicTip

This week, we are looking at this extraordinary application of ceramic tiles in exterior design. Ceramic tile possesses a high durability and is easy to maintain. It is commonly used for wall, floor, and roof covering. Modern manufacturing techniques have made it possible for this ancient material to be produced in various colors, shapes, and sizes, allowing architects and designers to create both artistic and functional décor pieces.

The exterior of this elegant-looking music hall by Spanish architect Cor & Asociados in a village near Alicante, Spain is comprised of pearly porcelain tiles. Slightly different from stoneware tiles, which are the classical ceramic tiles, porcelain tiles have more breaking and wearing resistance. To achieve this iridescent effect, each plate went through the process of firing (three times), vitrifying, and metals disposition.

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Unlike many projects GPI Design creates where our clients desire an evenly illuminated surface with artificial lighting, the exterior of this music hall interacts with perspective and natural light. If you look closely, you’ll realize that the ceramic tiles are perfectly flat even though they appear to be dimensional and ceramic tiles with dimension have been an important feature of Spanish design. The constant change in its light reflection creates a vibrant movement and enables the building to appear less massive in a subtle way.

Image Credits: Dezeen

Snow just started to accumulate here in the Cleveland area but somehow I’m already picturing myself embracing the spring breeze, like jogging in my shorts or flying a kite in the lake park. [Ok, I lied. I don’t fly kites, not since I was a little kid. Maybe that’s why I was attracted to this weighty-looking cubic kite created by artists Heather and Ivan Morison.] How did they manage to do it?

This type of 3D kite that actually flies has a bit of history and it was originally called Tetrahedral Kite when first developed. In 1903, innovator Alexander Graham Bell published an article in National Geographic magazine proving that large-scale kites are possible. Instead of constructing one big wing, he built a kite in a tetrahedral structure with a number of small wings. The more small wings it has, the stronger the kite becomes because the surface to weight ratio is optimized.

Today, Heather and Ivan Morison recreated the tetrahedral kite with a modern name, the 3D-Printed Little Shining Man Kite. They used carbon fiber rods, nylon connectors, and Cuben Fiber to “achieve the perfect combination of strength and weight”. The final sculpture would be comprised of three such structures and expected to fly once a year in the Jersey bay area.

The deceptive visual effect of Little Shining Man reminds me of how our team works with systems of delicate surfaces and technologically advanced LED lighting, creating structures that appear effortless once complete.  Just like flying the 3D kite, we are looking forward to changing the impossible to the possible on more of our projects in the new year, and reminding ourselves to infuse our work with a bit of playfulness!

Image Credits: vms3d.com

As we voyage into 2012, the hexagonal geometric form is appearing everywhere. The way in which this relatively simplistic form can be manipulated into patterns, textures, and overall structures, makes it a popular and versatile choice for a graphic aesthetic. Here are some of our favorite uses of hexagons that create truly dynamic and intriguing designs.

While most often treated as a flat plane in graphic motifs, the spatial possibilities of the hexagon shape are most interesting when it is extruded or modeled into three dimensions.

Images compiled by GPI Design, individual image credits: TheCoolHunter, ArchitecturalDigest, DesignMilk, TrendLand, Tang Chan via Flickr

Being in the lighting design industry, we here at GPI, just can’t resist when we discover a cool, new product that embodies light and a little original innovation. That being said, we thought we would share these cool new light fixtures that look more like celestial planets than pendant lights. Made from layers upon layers of upcycled cardboard, these pendants, called Jupiter Scrap lights, are functional works of art.

The way in which the cardboard filters the light creates interesting, dream-like patterns. The corrugation of the cardboard allows light to penetrate in random variations, creating softly undulating waves of light and shadow on nearby surfaces; you almost think you are in the Milky Way. Even the exterior of the fixture itself glows with a surreal watercolor-esque aesthetic that embodies the fluid nature of the planet Jupiter in both light and material form. Such simple, commonplace materials, yet so dynamically beautiful. Bravo!

Image credit: Graypants

With Turkey Day just hours away, the team here at GPI decided to get together and have our own pre-Thanksgiving feast. While we were sitting around the conference table enjoying our meal, the talk of design came about (surprise, right?). But this conversation was a little different than our normal meeting dialogue. Instead of discussing shop drawings or lighting specs, today, we turned to a new topic of conversation: design within our food.

Through our conversation (and after we paused long enough from stuffing our faces to actually look at our meal), we realized that a lot of the materials we work with on a daily basis actually closely mimic elements found in our food. The veins in a slab of onyx, the undulating grains in a slice of wood, or the texture of concrete, are all things that make those particular materials desirable; qualities that add beauty and visual interest to the piece. But veins, grains, and texture can all be found directly on our dinner plate as well. And while taste is usually the main criteria upon which food is judged, there is so much inherent beauty within these foods that often go unnoticed.

Armed with this new-found design inspiration, what did we do? The only logical thing of course…we took our Thanksgiving meal and backlit it.

Above: Thanksgiving meal transferred onto our LED panel

Above: fun with cranberry sauce and snow peas

Above: Snow peas with LED backlighting (fine details emerge)

Above: whole grain bread with LED backlighting (warm color)

Above: cranberry sauce with LED backlighting (a mess to clean up!)

While we’re pretty sure the Pilgrims and Native Americans never meant for their Thanksgiving meal to glow, it just goes to show that inspiration can come from anywhere…even on your own dinner plate. What inspiration will you find in your Thanksgiving meal?

Though it’s not a brand new emerging movement, the idea of facets has really caught on in all aspects of design. We have been and still are seeing a strong shift towards geometric prism motifs through all different media, a lot of which we find very inspiring and intriguing. This phenomena, while not necessarily cutting edge, is on trend so we think it’s worth noting.  Here are a few favorite faceted images that get our creative juices flowing.

The geometry and materiality of these pieces, along with the potential for voids, create infinite possibilities for interactions with light.  What themes are inspiring you today?

Images compiled by GPI Design, individual image credits: Design Milk, Design Stores, TrendHunter, Dezeen, ApartmentTherapy, Trendir, TheCoolHunter

Happy Halloween! In a playful celebration of the holiday, our designers wanted to share this inspiration: Kyle Schumacher’s Stained Glass Spider Web. Mixing bold graphic lines and delicate glass textures, Kyle’s mostly colorless glass creations fluctuate with the views or spaces placed behind them. Allowing light and color to peek through, these pieces remain appropriately seasonal without boasting giant toothy pumpkin faces.

Photo credit: Kyle Schumacher via Etsy

We're working on illuminating a commercial lobby floor for a project in Perth, Australia.  To firm up our strategies, the specified glass panels were shipped to us so we could study their relationship to our backlighting. Creating even illumination for this highly translucent glass surface in a load bearing floor application presented a fun challenge for our team. Photographer and videographer Andrew Thames spent a few days with us capturing the process.

Take a look at how we arrived at the final design - you'll see hot spots and any distracting evidence of the light source slowly disappear.