Design Happens

BRIANA: Kelly Wearstler gave her walls a graffiti treatment, Keith Haring now comes in decal form and people are scribbling all over home accessories. So, what do you think of graffiti-inspired style? En vogue art or design vandalism? [Ed. Note: Check out Kelly also rocking two trends we've debated in the past in the pic below: Hand chairs and animal print! What a design daredevil.]

MARIANNE: The last time I felt the love for graffiti was the Stephen Sprouse collab with Louis Vuitton. On my walls? Not so much.

GRANT: Ah, memories. This trend takes me back to my street gang days. I say if you’re going to go for graffiti in design, GO FOR IT.

LILI: I think some graffiti can be really beautiful.

They even have a competition every year for the best graffiti art. But I think it takes just the right graffiti in just the right space (an urban loft?) to make it work really well indoors.

FARIMA: I know I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but I prefer to see graffiti on public buildings. The whole beauty of it is seeing it in an unexpected public place. So to me, graffiti-inspired style defeats the whole purpose of it.

LANA KATASAROS: I enjoy the street art that coats the NYC building I pass daily, but I wouldn’t want it on my walls at home. On the other hand, I think a gentle pop here and there can be fun, or even a single statement piece.

TYLER WISLER: Graffiti is just total bad a** in my book! I LOVE! I pinned this image a while ago, dying over the “art installation” wall, as that’s really what graffiti is all about — ART!

For the “White Room Challenge” in my season of Design Star, we celebrated 5 Pointz and the artists that created it. I think graffiti absolutely has a place in the art world and in interiors. I tried to use that free spirit and free thinking in my White Room. Some artists work in oil paint, others work in spray paint, there’s no difference. I’m a fan of using it in any capacity I can!

BRIAN PATRICK FLYNN: 1.) Graffiti success is in juxtaposition. If a huge graffiti wall is done in a gritty, brick urban loft, big whoop, so what/who cares? It’s kind of supposed to be there. 2.) Used out of context or ironically, it can be genius. A white Chippendale linen sofa sprayed with graffiti by a true tag artist can be stunning. Same with a graffiti ceiling in the entrance of a pristine, formal house. 3.) Color is key. Primary colors with black, white and saturated hues like turquoise are well-balanced. Throw fluorescents into the mix and the results can be stab-inducing. The end. Now I am going to watch Honey Boo Boo at the gym [the gym located on my sofa, next to the candy pumpkins and ghost cookies].*

JESSICA: I side with the popular vote: graffiti rocks!

ABBI: I love the graphic, graffiti-like treatment on the ceiling at the Flip Burger restaurants in Atlanta and Birmingham. I love how the rest of the restaurant is so sleek — totally white and clean with modern looking fixtures and furniture — and then you look up and it looks totally punk rocker cool.

LIZ: Field trip to Flip Burger? I don’t think I’d do anything as permanent as flooring or wall tiles, but a graffitied plate paired with polished flatware? Unexpected and awesome.

 We’ve tagged up the blog with our opinions about graffiti-inspired design, now tell us yours:

 

* SARAH: The Honey Boo Boo quote stays or I quit.**
** JESSICA: I second that. No wait, I take that back. I’m the intern.