A friend of mine recently launched Ball Coffee Co., a Toronto-based coffee bean company that offers free 48-hour delivery to almost anywhere in the Greater Toronto Area. Their beans are sustainably sourced from Peru, Brazil, and Ethiopia, and artfully roasted here in Toronto. I was asked to photograph some promo images for their website and social media, and it was just what I needed to feel excited to be behind my camera again. These images were created using four sheets of white foam core and my Godox V1 Flash.
Interior Design Show 2020
This year’s Interior Design Show was one of my favourites to date. I went on Trade Day to attend three seminars: Trend Briefing: Colour, Material and Finish Forecast: Autumn/Winter 20/21 with Samantha Duha of Colour Hive; The Open Office: how open is too open? with Annie Bergeron and Kevin Katigbak of Gensler; and Artistic Collaboration Is the Future of Design with five different panelists of different design backgrounds, most notably Deborah Moss of Moss & Lam and Tania Bortolotto of Bortolotto Design.
The Trend Briefing: Colour, Material and Finish Forecast: Autumn/Winter 20/21 seminar was one of the most inspiring presentations I have ever been to. Hosted by Samantha Duha of Colour Hive, a UK-based creative agency, the seminar walked us through this season’s four distinct colour, material, and finish trends: Scuff, Ritual, Dome, and Gorge. It was fascinating to see how colour could be interpreted into these greater concepts. Dome, for example, was inspired by travel to Mars; a futuristic, utopian dreamworld of protection and deflection. This particular concept’s colour scheme was reflected through brick red, pink granite, pebble, umber, and hide, with finishes and materials of refined wood, reflected acrylic, long hair hide, and soft touch ceramic.
The Open Office: how open is too open? seminar was also very interesting, as many of us have first-hand experience of working in this setting. Gensler, one of North America’s top architecture and research firms, discussed common myths about the open office and outlined successful case studies such as the Gusto Headquarters in San Francisco, which was built in an industrial warehouse with high ceilings and a no-shoe policy. One of the main takeaways from this seminar was that open offices can truly be designed for any industry - even a law firm. The trick is to design them with the office culture in mind; let the user define the space, and not let the space define the user. Unfortunately, the final seminar I attended about Artistic Collaboration was a bit of a disappointment.
Caesarstone always steals the show at IDS, and this year they did not disappoint. In collaboration with Jonathan Adler, Caesarstone created a dreamscape of surrealist furniture and objets, colourful neon lights, and dreamy, celestial clouds throughout the quartz platform. “Dreamland” was a treat to walk through and photograph, and was rightfully front and centre at this year’s exhibition. Whether you’re in the interior design industry or just have a love of design, I highly recommend checking out next year’s Interior Design Show.
