Convo By Design‪®‬ Josh Cooperman

I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design. Today, you are going to hear from Daniel Marcus - CEO and Jonathan Michaud - Head of Design of Soie de Lune. Like everything in life, this podcast has changed over the years, I have changed over the years, the business of design and those who contribute have changed which is why I love to begin with the origin stories of the guests who join me for these conversations. You’ll hear why.



Designer Resources



Pacific Sales Kitchen and Home. Where excellence meets expertise.



Monogram - It’s the details that define Monogram



ThermaSol - Redefining the modern shower experience. Without steam, it’s just a bathroom.



Design Hardware - A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home!



 - Where service meets excellence



TimberTech - Real wood beauty without the upkeep



What is really fun about the following chat is that the loom really hasn’t changed all that much. The yarns have. But the loom has not. Textiles are magical. The materiality of a fine silk, the texture, colors and ability to create is one of the concepts that allows designers to create exceptional spaces that differentiate based on color, shape and pattern, for sure but also the experiential nature of the space that allows clients to add that additional senses of touch and smell. This conversation covers all of the above and more. One of the concepts explored is how this company is addressing the challenges of achieving balance between modern design requirements and and the artisanal nature of weaving. Love this and I think you will to. We’ll get to it, right after this.



Thank you Daniel and Jonathan for taking the time to join me for this. Thank you to my partner sponsors ThermaSol, Design Hardware, Pacific Sales, Monogram and TimberTech. Thank you for your considerable support of the design industry and those who comprise it.



Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to listen to the show. This thing of ours is amazing. 11 years strong and I could not do this without you. Please keep those emails coming, Convo By Design at Outlook.com. Reach out on Instagram as well. Tell me if there is a designer you would like to learn more about and we’ll see if we can make that happen. Thank you for listening, downloading and subscribing. Until the next episode, be well, and take today first. -CXD

I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with another installment of the Design Icon Registry. The Icon Registry inductee for May 2024 is the incomparable, Susan Ferrier. Here is how Susan describes her work, “Our interiors are meant to be experienced, to take you beyond the expected and into the extraordinary. We design lush, romantic spaces that are at once bold and refined, imbued with drama and meaning.” I’m going to suggest you might want more of this. Well, here it comes.



If you have heard these segments before, you know, I don’t do contests and I most certainly don’t do lists. Lists are gimmicks designed to capture clicks. They are, click bait pure and simple. You cannot tell me that a list of 50, 75 or 100 designers and architects are the absolute best at what they do without providing context. Lists are created in the hopes that those who are being listed will promote the accolades and that attention will be driven back to the author of the list. And contests where creatives have to reach out to their base to get them to vote for them is just wrong in my opinion. Because, if someone is amazing at what they do… Celebrate that, no strings attached. And that is what we are going to do here. 



Now, the criteria… Each inductee has been a guest on Convo By Design. They have a body of work that is exceptional in their various disciplines and there is no justification required for their world class status. They give back to the industry, they are innovators, givers and make our industry better than they found it. This project is called the Convo By Design Icon Registry, because that is what this is, tantamount to a hall of fame, but more. What is an ICON? Described as an icon; A person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration. A registry is a well curated list. You can consider this a venerable who’s who in our industry with gifts to offer and a willingness to share. Pablo Picasso is credited with saying, “the meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away”. Now, I am not suggesting that those enshrined in the Icon Registry have all just been giving away their gifts. These are professionals of the highest order and part of being a professional is knowing your worth and understanding your value. Each of these individuals have appeared on Convo By Design, shared what they know for the betterment of others, and I am deeply appreciative for that. This is the most authentic way that I can express my gratitude for that. As deeply appreciative as I am for their sharing, I am equally grateful for your taking the time to share a few moments, an hour out of your busy schedule each week to listen to the show. Again, the most authentic way that I can express that gratitude is to give you an opportunity to hear them again. Every month, the last Thursday of the month, unless it’s a holiday week, in which case I will publish a week sooner, I will share a new inductee with you.



As stated, the May, 2024 inductee is Susan Ferrier. She appeared on Convo By Design during the pandemic and I instantly understood her philosophy. Pre-pandemic, there was a shiny sheen over design. There was a focus strictly on how the look. Then, when the world changed, the focus became centered on how it works and yes, it still had to have the look, and the performance but also the feels, all of them. Susan Ferrier, was already doing this. Designing lush, lavish, romantic spaces for not just what might look good in a magazine but would also elicit an emotional response. Susan’s portfolio is a compendium of collected works that blend elegant concepts with earthy and opulent materials alike. Her work is special,

I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design. Today on the show, you are going to hear my  conversation with interior designer, Staci Munic of Staci Munic Interiors. Hers is a firm based in Chicago and Palm Springs, an interesting combination for base cities. We talk about that in addition to her experience in the service industry leading all the way up to that of a restauranteur. If you own a restaurant, you understand how the kitchen works under extreme conditions. If you know that, designing a residential kitchen is a breeze, or so you might think.



Designer Resources



Pacific Sales Kitchen and Home. Where excellence meets expertise.



Monogram - It’s the details that define Monogram



ThermaSol - Redefining the modern shower experience. Without steam, it’s just a bathroom.



Design Hardware - A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home!



 - Where service meets excellence



TimberTech - Real wood beauty without the upkeep



A restaurant kitchen is nothing like its residential counterpart. But a residential kitchen, designed properly can have all of the functionality of a restaurant kitchen. Staci’s experience as a restauranteur gives her an edge and you can see it in her work. 



Because SMI works a great deal in Palm Springs, you might think that Staci loves Modern and Mid-Century Modern architecture, and you would be right. And the lessons learned from Modern architectures climb to prominence, fall from taste and back tells a pretty remarkable story that can help predict future ideas. We get into all of this and so much more. You are going to hear about all of it, right after this…



Thank you Staci for taking the time to talk. I really love the ideas shared and love your work. 



Thank you to Convo By Design partner sponsors, ThermaSol, TimberTech, Pacific Sales, Monogram and Design Hardware. And thank you for taking the time to listen, subscribe, download and share Convo By Design. Thank you to everyone who has made a show or guest suggestion, keep em coming, I love them as well as show ideas. I use many of them because I created this show for the design community in 2013 and who better to know what is working on the ground level but those who do it day in and day out. Please reach out via email, Convo By Design at outlook dot com and on Instagram @ConvoXDesign with and “X”. Thank you again to those subscribing to the show. By doing so, you receive every new episode the moment its published. You also receive The Design Messengers episodes on select Mondays that touch on new developments taking place in the industry, Drinking About Design on the occasional Friday where I get together with some amazing creatives over drinks, and The Convo By Design Icon Registry episodes on the last Thursday of each month where we enshrine exceptional creatives in our hall of fame. Until we meet again, be well, and take today first.

I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design featuring a conversation with Erin Minckley of Relativity Textiles. An artist who started a textiles company from passion and love came a business and that is only the beginning.



From brand building to creating and sharing is how Erin crafted an idea to build a business. A business based on passion but also a business crafted to succeed in a very crowded, very competitive space. How? While we do get into the weeds a little bit about building a business, something I generally stay away from because Convo By Design is not a business of design show. There are more than enough of those and I never wanted to do that. It’s about the stories behind the work that I find so fascinating and Erin’s story is an interesting one. That story can’t be told without first exploring why she wanted to get into such a competitive space and how she does it differently. And she’s going to tell you all about it.



Designer Resources



Pacific Sales Kitchen and Home. Where excellence meets expertise.



Monogram - It’s the details that define Monogram



ThermaSol - Redefining the modern shower experience. Without steam, it’s just a bathroom.



Design Hardware - A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home!



 - Where service meets excellence



TimberTech - Real wood beauty without the upkeep



Thank you to Convo By Design partner sponsors, ThermaSol, TimberTech, Pacific Sales, Monogram and Design Hardware. And thank you for taking the time to listen, subscribe, download and share Convo By Design. Thank you to everyone who has made a show or guest suggestion, keep em coming, I love them as well as show ideas. I use many of them because I created this show for the design community in 2013 and who better to know what is working on the ground level but those who do it day in and day out. Please reach out via email, Convo By Design at outlook dot com and on Instagram @ConvoXDesign with and “X”. Thank you again to those subscribing to the show. By doing so, you receive every new episode the moment its published. You also receive The Design Messengers episodes on select Mondays that touch on new developments taking place in the industry, Drinking About Design on the occasional Friday where I get together with some amazing creatives over drinks, and The Convo By Design Icon Registry episodes on the last Thursday of each month where we enshrine exceptional creatives in our hall of fame. Until we meet again, be well, and take today first.

I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with an illuminating conversation about creativity, design and making things.



It’s that last part that I find so intriguing both Ethan Streicher of Streicher Goods. Anyone who has made something. I mean really made something as in a thing from a block of wood or multiple parts that were not designed to be put together knows that there is magic in crafting something from nothing. It’s what I imagine it feels like fro a designer or architect to take a space and turn it entirely into something else. Ethan Streicher is a maker of objects, an art director ceramicist and artist. 



Designer Resources



Pacific Sales Kitchen and Home. Where excellence meets expertise.



Monogram - It’s the details that define Monogram



ThermaSol - Redefining the modern shower experience. Without steam, it’s just a bathroom.



Design Hardware - A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home!



 - Where service meets excellence



TimberTech - Real wood beauty without the upkeep



Ethan and I shared some time and swapped ideas about makers and making. I feel as thought the design industry in all disciplines woke up in the summer of 2020. The greatest take away from that time is in two parts; 1. Once something happens, it can happen again. and 2. When an occurrence takes place that affects the entire planet and every person on it at the same time, there will be fallout, changes, disruption upon disruption. That has what happened. Many have returned to what they perceive as normality. But we are still in the midst of vast changes in the way way think and the manner in which we live. If you want to see  what that looks like, turn to creators, makers, artists and writers. Put down the magazines and news, they can only tell you what was and perhaps what is. But not what will be. Look to the makers for that. 



Be skeptical. After all that is what guards against the dreaded trendy next big thing. 



Be curious. Without curiosity, there is no possibility of discovering that which might change your life in unimaginable ways.



Be free with honest and probing questions. Our society has changed the way it looks at questions. A question will open the door to understanding. If someone is offended by the question, it might be because they don’t know the answer.



Makers, thinkers, writers, artists, designers will show you the state of our world in ways others can’t, or won’t. Ethan and I explore what it means to be a creator in times like these. If you are a designer, decorator or set decorator, Ethan is a new source. You’re welcome.



There you go. Thank you Ethan for taking the time to talk and sharing your work. Thank you to my partner sponsors for your continued support of the show and the design community. It’s important to the health of our industry. If you are a designer interested in learning more about my partner sponsors like Pacific Sales, ThermaSol, TimberTech, Monogram and Design Hardware, as well as any guests or concepts you heard on the show, please check the show notes for more information. 



Please keep those emails coming. convobydesign@outlook.com and reach out on Instagram @ConvoXDesign,

I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with a ton to take in. When I moved to Tulsa in 2021, I thought that it would be a one year situation and then we would return to LA or figure out what was going to be the next destination. But something changed. Tulsa, Oklahoma is what the locals call, “Green Country.” And it is. Green. This part of the country is in what can only be described as the lower mid-west. It’s not the south. And one of the things that I noticed very soon after moving here was that life here is far less complicated than living in California.



Designer Resources



Pacific Sales Kitchen and Home. Where excellence meets expertise.



Monogram - It’s the details that define Monogram



ThermaSol - Redefining the modern shower experience. Without steam, it’s just a bathroom.



Design Hardware - A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home!



 - Where service meets excellence



TimberTech - Real wood beauty without the upkeep



I am a native Angeleno. I have moved away, but always came back. I love California. But some things have changed over the past 20 years. They have changed drastically over the past 2 years. I made a trip to LA to visit my friends at Design Hardware who were hosting a day of media and interviews. During that trip, I had the opportunity gather with a number of designers and contractors to discuss changes in the design and architecture landscape.



In addition to Convo By Design, I produce Doctoring Up Design, the official podcast of Design Hardware. Design Hardware is a sponsor partner of Convo By Design and the partnership is a strong one, going on over 4 years. Part of this partnership is hosting and producing the podcast, as well as hosting and recording unique design and architecture events. One such event took place in February. There were two groups, one group of designers, in partnership with ASID-LA and another group of all female contractors. This is a very interesting project spearheaded by Joan Barton, founder of Dirty Girl Construction as well as SheSpoke, a platform dedicated to promoting the success of women in the industry. 



So today on the show, we will hear from a group of ASID-Los Angeles Chapter design professionals discussing new design ideas taking shape in Spring of 2024 . We will hear from an all female group if contractors answering the question, “why is it so difficult to build in California.” One hint, Title 24. 



That was incredible. An amazing group of ASID-LA designers that included designers;



The following conversation features;



Cheryl Vines | Mesa Design Group



Jaqueline Steinberg | Eve Mode Design @JackieSteinberg



Lenora Mahle | Mahle Design @LeonoraMahle



Mark Cutler | Cutler Schulze @CutlerSchulze



Juliette Schatan-van der Meijden | Curated by Juliette  a href="https://www.instagram.