r.o.i. Design is first a consultative design firm making revenue by charging fees for interior design, graphic design, planning and programming.  But over the years, we have taken on seasonal products or services with the goal of giving our clients enhanced services; we have offered to decorate for the holidays, organize closets, design custom furniture, select art, create schedules and manage projects.

Today we have four projects that we are promoting in addition to our design services:

1. OC International Design, The Reiya Chair. We are the regional representatives for the plant based shell, chair. Made in Chicago. Affordable and responsible.

2. MoCa, Modern Cabinets, made in Florida. (The cabinet manufacturer has historical connections to Grand Rapids and we know the owner there from our past work with Lazy Boy and Rose Johnson.)

3. Two training programs, “Speed Bump Detector” and “Basic Training”, www.accelerateroi.com

4. a Board display, an electronic bulletin board that we can manage remotely as a training tool. http://tinyurl.com/7f8s4k2

 We support our projects with our web page, e-blasts, collateral and in studio sampling. While we have always found ways to diversify, 2012 feels like we have some products that are especially targeted for success! Stay tuned!

 So after scouring the internet we offer these observations for our West Michigan customer base on what could be trends for 2012

 1. Lipstick colors continue to be important accent colors; in 2011 it was versions of Pink, http://tinyurl.com/87shtoj  in 2012 it will be versions of Orange. Pantone color of the year is Tangerine Tango.  http://tinyurl.com/77z5n5f

2. Neutral colors from nature are the more acceptable neutrals; oatmeal, dirt, sand, even wind and sun. Insincere white, taupe and gray have a lot to prove right now.

3. Cultural trends in colors and choices center on stability and preservation. Benjamin Moore Paints has an extensive theory that supports this notion.

4. Cultural trends in graphics and logos are promoting gray or multiple colors which both suggest inclusion. Companies need every  buyer profile and supporter. We don’t want to leave out anyone who might relate to a brand or purchase  a product

 5. Architecture and planning continue to be influenced by technology, globalization and our response to it.

 6. Interior design trends include:

•          Aging in Place (impacting residential and work design)
•          Store within Stores (influencing retail design)
•          Work as Life (commercial and workplace design)
•          3^rd Place (the sacredness of away places)

 Please do your own research, but here are a few sites of interest that talk about trends.

 ————————————————————————–

Architecture-Technology Four experts predict 2012’s innovation and design trends

 http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/design-architecture/four-experts-predict-2012s-innovation-and-design-trends/2944

 Interior Design Trends 2012 | Latest Interior Design Trends

http://www.squidoo.com/interior-design-trends-2012

Trends Home Décor- Home Decor Trends That Will Lead 2012 By Storm: Part 1

http://www.colourlovers.com/home/blog/2012/01/06/home-decor-trends-that-will-lead-2012-by-storm-part-1

 Graphics &Culture-The Logo Trends of 2011, What Will 2012 Bring Us?

 http://pixelclouds.com/2011/12/31/the-logo-trends-of-2011-what-will-2012-bring-us/

 Trends Graphics and Web – 2012 Web Design Trends That Will Keep You on Your Toes

http://www.socialh.com/2012-web-design-trends/

 ColorMix™ 2012

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/pro/paint_colors/explore/paint_color_trends/

 Color Home Decorating-Color Trends for 2012: Balance to Preservation

 http://yourhomeonlybetter.com/color-trends-for-2012-balance-to-preservation/

 Color- Print PANTONE Spring / Summer 2012 Color Trends

http://redoitdesign.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/new-pantone-spring-summer-2012-color-trends/

 Color-Lifestyle Color trends for 2012

AND we are designing one for a great couple who have done their homework. Working with Bruce Heys Builders through the design build process, we are bring to our little community something you may only see on Long Island, or California, or at least in DWELL magazine! Stay tuned for more news on modern design in West Michigan.

1700 Glorious SF of Modern Home! 10 FT Ceilings, Cantilevered Car Port/Deck!

For the first week, three of our artists consistantly were ranked in the top 25 for the HeartSide neighborhood:

Francie Hester/Lisa Hill: “Words as Legacy”

Filippo Tagliati: ‘The River Project”

Michael McCafry: “American Portraits”

Words as Legacy

The River Project

While all of us involved with 48 W Fulton were shocked at the Top Ten selected as “winners”, our gracious artists responded with “we love our venue”, “we have had great experiences with visitors and wouldn’t trade it for the world”, “love talking to visitors”.

In our opinion, all our artists are winners.

We are sad to think about taking down the show next Monday. It has been a wild ride, the ArtPrize ride.

The Mercantile Bank venue at 48 W Fulton and probably all of ArtPrize is experiencing this contrast in styles as the artists and art is now showing up. Before where it was all just an idea, now real people with real stuff are showing up and creating spaces.

The art that is showing up in our venue is amazing.

We are mezmerized by Filippo’s movie on the Grand River. So familiar and now so celebrated.

Brent and his collaborators are hanging their acrylic “seeds” draping them, testing how light refracts off of them.

Michelle Shangraw, Sr VP Retail Banking Experience, "That movie makes you tense!" She laughed.

Our little move, “Transferase” caught some by surprise by its suspense in 8 minutes. The main actor’s eyes are transparent blue and the stress he goes through is nerve-racking. We did ask for one or two audio edits, which Terry was very kind to oblige. It is West Michigan you know!

Francie and Lisa have shown up with family in tow with boxes and boxes of paper clips, lenses, words, words, words….

John Schulte Sr VP & Chief Information Officer

And Mercantile Bank has done a great job developing some huge touch screens that exhibit artist information, can take your photo for facebook, as well as show how their bank is “on-line”. Great Job John.

This will be a busy weekend at 48 W Fulton, with Mary and Hilary here from Arizona and Michael from Chicago.  10 days and counting!

So here comes a(idea) collaborative: Brent Saulic, Nick Tilma, and Jordon Verburg, who some of us had seen at a Site-LAB exhibit.  Their presentation on the ArtPrize site of “Wind out of Light” was well done and intriguing.  Some of us described it as a ghost moving around the room, others said, no, its more like a cloud. Others, just plain cool. Needless to say their work fit the criteria and they also fit another category of artist we wanted to include; they are student artists.  They were the first artist group that accepted our offer to house their work. We know we will be thrilled with their project.

Datum

Over a course of many curatorial meetings we kept coming back to the work of Mary Hood, “Datum”.  Not sure if it was the simplicity of the concept or that it was in such contrast to the other items selected but over three weeks, this work stayed on the list.  The radiating maṇḍala of green and white hypnotized us. The artist wanted the image to be projected on the ceiling so the viewer could lay down while viewing, but with the possibility of 10′s of thousands of ArtPrize visitors, Mercantile Bank extended an offer to Mary to show the work as long as viewers could stand up. We are so curious to see this “hazel eye” for ourselves. Mary is bringing her work with her from Arizona.

SETI1

And while we kept pondering over “Datum”, Hilary Harp just registered as an ArtPrize artist. Her work SETI 1 was electronically sophisticated but at the same time very organic and tangible. Imagine a vessel with water, oil and fabric that is lit. The heat of the lamp moves elements around in the vessel.  A camera captures this movement and projects the image onto a large monitor next to the vessel.  The relationship between the “Wind out of Light”  and “SET1″ is compelling; images created two different ways but both dependant on physics for shape and form, one captured in air one in liquid. Hilary also comes from Arizona and is a co-worker of Mary Hood.

The last choice was the toughest, partly because the group wanted to use the windows for exposure to drive by traffic. Alll the art most appropriate for window shopping fell outside of our criteria of  “New Media”, in our opinion. So we started from scratch and went back to earlier registered artists and came upon Michael McCafrey. “American Portraits” is the culmination of a two-year project when Michael set out to take pictures of random people across America using Kodachrome Color Film, knowing there was a limited time to use and develop the film. The film is shown in glass, uncut and displays over 1400 portraits of people from California to New York. While this work at the onset of our selection process was overlooked, as the venue was near full and we could look at all the art, and we viewed this work to very appropriate. Images captured in glass like SETI 1- realism captured but distorted like Filippo’s video “The River Project”-  study of faces like Chapkupt’s TRANSFERASE – and the focus on the lens.

American Portraits

At this writing we are less than three weeks away from the opening of ArtPrize. We hope you continue reading about our project as well as visit 48WFulton during ArtPrize.

Mercantile Bank received many, many requests from artists to exhibit their art in the venue. The Mercantile Team of  John, Michelle, Monica, Kristy, John and David spent many hours reviewing artists and art with r.o.i. Design.  Most of the ArtPrize artists have art in traditional media;  drawing, painting, and 3-D sculpture.  We were creating an environment with minimal ambient light so the art could create the “light”. That meant most of the registered artists work wasn’t going to work.

 r.o.i. design interviewed  and researched a large group of new media artists from the ArtPrize artist log as well as referred and proven artists with work exhibited in established galleries. This open search was very revealing. And from that process we discovered and captured Francie Hester/Lisa Hill, Fillippo Tagliati, and Terry Chapkupt. Read on to learn more about these artists.

Filippo was referred to us by two local curators: Henry Matthews of GVSU, and Linda LaFontsee, LaFontsee Gallery. They warned us that he may not be interested in ArtPrize. We met Filippo at the venue and talked about his work and how it would be shown, not only did we begin to feel our way through the iterative curatorial process, Filippo got excited.

Filippo loves the Grand River. We take it for granted, but he, like so many other newer residents, it is of incredible interest and perpetual inspiration. And like the river, we wanted the video to feel like the real thing, which meant big. We challenged Filippo to create a video that uses more than 20′ of screen. For a video artist, this a massive canvas; a scary and wonderful opportunity.

Filippo's River

Filippo Tagliati was born in Bologna, Italy. After earning his BA in Humanities from Universita’ di Bologna with a concentration in Semiotics and Art History, in 2004 he moved to the USA and in 2007 he received his MFA in Photography from Arizona State University. Currently Tagliati lives and works in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he is an Assistant Professor of Photography at the Grand Rapids Community College.

His photographic and video works have been exhibited and screened nationally and internationally, including the Toronto Urban Film Festival, Canada; International Film and Video Festival Aarau, Switzerland; CologneOFF VI, Germany; The Scientist Festival Videoarte, Ferrara, Italy; and The Digital Era, Climate/Gallery, Long Island, NY.

Around the same time, we had received a referral from one of Mercantile Bank’s other suppliers who knew about their ArtPrize project about an artist they had seen in Ohio. Francie Hester’s work was immediately appealing, visually and personally. “Words as Legacy” is based on the words and life of two people, both with brain cancer. This short blog cannot give possibly give this art the proper description in the detail required.  We called Francie, told her about ArtPrize and asked if she was interested. After some research on her part, she agreed to become an ArtPrize artist. Shortly after her agreement to work with us she introduced a long time collaborator to the artist team, Lisa Hill.  Both of them came to Grand Rapids in late July and immersed themselves in the “gallery” space and we all learned more about their art. And did we mention how important PASSION is to this exercise. These women are creating art that reaches out into communities and touches the hearts and lives of anyone who has a cancer story, a story of loss and meaning.  They are incredibly focused on this mission.

Words as Legacy

FRANCIE HESTER has exhibited her work nationally and internationally and is represented in numerous private and corporate collections including the World Bank, Freddie Mac, Capital One, KPMG, ASHA, and the International Monetary Fund. She has received honorary grants from the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and from the Arts Council of Montgomery County, Maryland. She received her M.F.A. in painting from the University of Maryland and a B.F.A. in painting from the University of Michigan.

LISA HILL’S work is part of many private collections and has been part of numerous shows and exhibits in the U.S. and abroad. She received an honorary grant from the Arts Council of Montgomery County, Maryland. She earned her B.A. in Fine Arts/Graphic Design from the University of Florida and M.F.A. in studio art from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is the Assistant Dean for Communication Design at Northern Virginia Community College.

Working through the process, and designing the space, we kept considering the empty kitchen in the rented space. While not big, it was a room behind closed doors and we imagined a tiny “movie theater”. We considered the ArtPrize artist video’s and interviewed a few, but after meeting Filippo and Francie, we just wondered if there was someone else out there. Googling “new video art” and “rising stars in cinema”, we came up with a short list of photographer, artists, and directors. Here comes Terry and his amazing mini-story”Transferace”, 9 minutes of suspense, fantastic imagery and humor.  It was obvious that the technical aspect of the work was of a quality that we knew our visitors would appreciate. And where do you find cinema arts? California of course! Terry uses Los Angeles as the primary actor in his mini-movie.

Transferase

Terry Chatkupt received his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2004. In 2003 he attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture artist residency program. His videos, installations, and photography have been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art (NYC), Seattle Art Museum, PDX Film Fest 2008, Art Basel Miami Beach Video Lounge 2007, Harris Lieberman (NYC), and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions. Terry recently had a solo exhibition at LAXART, Los Angeles. He lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

Please come back and read our blog next week when we talk about the ArtPrize artists who we feel in love with too!

As a firm  we weren’t too keen on ArtPrize in 2009 and 2010.  While we loved the economic boost, the national attention and local hype, we were concerned about the “crap” that was being displayed in some venues.  Just call it, “city ego”.  We, as citizens of Grand Rapids,  didn’t want to be viewed by others around our country by the worst of the art at ArtPrize.

This opportunity to work with Mercantile Bank in 2011, to create a venue, brought a whole new perspective to ArtPrize.  It was no one elses fault if  ”crappy art” was being shown.  It was no one elses reputation on the line if the art was ho-hum and unmemorable.  We wanted to be confident in our recommendations because we now “owned” a portion of ArtPrize and it wasn’t going to be anyone elses “fault”.  The world is watching.

We contacted good friends, Henry Matthews, Curator of Art for GVSU, and Linda La Fontsee, the Queen of ArtPrize and owner of LaFontsee Gallery.  The both were very supportive.  We discussed with them the overall idea to drive the nature of the venue to a more thematic approach.  “I just wish other curators had your attitude”,  said Linda.  ”Introducing art and artists to a new audience requires an intentional strategy and stubborness”. says Henry. “You are more than qualified on all counts”.

Projection Art by Feng Mengbo (ARTNews) New Media Artist

With support in hand, we looked at the goals of Mercantile Bank (energetic, technical, community-focused, desire to be leaders) and approached them with the idea of “New Media” for the venue.  “New Media” in the arts uses technology, projection, video, cinema, gaming, audio as well as their marriage with traditional visual arts.

We recommended this approach so Mercantile’s own in-venue-display of large touch screens (that are directly connected to Mercantile Bank and social media) looked and felt natural in the venue.  They want to be part of the dynamic community that engages in ArtPrize.

We also recommended this approach so we didn’t have to create a prestine white and bright gallery. (We have the GRAM in town which is a tough act to follow).  A new media approach means for the most part, a dark environment.  A dark environment with controlled and limited lighting also had a positive impact on the budget for converting the space from retail storefront to urban gallery.

Thai Cuisine Future Site for Mercantile Bank's ArtPrize Venue

And in this case the environment is a vacant downtown retail establishment, last known as Thai Cusine.  Single floor, large oval bar in center of the space, wood paneling on perimeter with decorative chandeliers.  We imagined a space within a space; draping or stretching fabric over the walls and bar to eliminate any trace of a downtown bar without destroying any architecture for the next permanent tenant.

As we were imagining the space, we also started to research artists.

Being a venue and searching the ArtPrize log of artists, is daunting.  There are so many well meaning and many talented people who just want a chance to show their art and be part of the experience to promote their ideas. The discipline it takes to stick to a plan is noteworthy. “My son’s art teacher blah, blah- my neighbor’s boss blah, blah – I love tile mosaics and oversized paintings blah, blah”

Please stay tuned for how the Mercantile Bank of Michigan’s ArtPrize Venue plan at 48 W Fulton emerged on this site. Its a great story of love of art and community.

r.o.i. Design is  creating an ArtPrize venue with client Mercantile Bank of West Michigan. “Creating” means planning a space, but also in this case, creating a criteria for the entire venue and selecting/recommending artists.

This engagement started more than 6 months ago when Mercantile Bank wanted to create a pop-up store “set”.  We bank at Mercantile, but they also researched our web page and were happy to see that we were experienced at retail design. As we worked through the first 30 days of our engagement, we talked a great deal about the motivation of a customer to stop, shop, buy and return to buy more.

The reality hit that “build it and they will come” is only true in movies ..A rough moment.. There was a lot to think about in creating an engaging experience that would attract new customers and sell them on their promise.  They also wanted to promote their technical, digital and electronic advantage over other financial institutions which meant appeal to the next generation buyer who aren’t loyal or predictable.

Cross functional disciplines create the best teams.

When we tell folks what we are up to, penthouse condo interiors, commercial office remodel, branding a credit union, designing an art venue, remodeling a school into a church, etc, we often get the comment, ” Wow, that’s a broad range of work.” They want to ask, “Can jacks and jills of all trades be a master of any one of them?”  But as we continue to talk, they do see the common thread in all we do at r.o.i. Design. We create an experience. Experience design means focusing on the user of the space, not always the owner of the space.

Sometimes the things you don’t put on the résumé are of most interest to your future customer..

A few months after our first consulting with Mercantile Bank, we got another call from them. Mercantile wanted our help designing their venue for ArtPrize 2011. (www.artprize.org). They were in the process of renting space in the heart of downtown, the heart beat of ArtPrize, and they had plans to show their “stuff” within the venue.

They couldn’t have known we had produced more than three exhibits in collaboration with Tim Chester, former director of the Public Museum of Grand Rapids, while at the museum entitled ” Of Wood and Imagination”. We were very involved in the furniture industry at the time and created a show that exhibited historic Grand Rapids designed and made furniture next to current day new furniture designs. We held the exhibit at three different “loft” locations and through the process met many people who are still collaborators today. (Including Joseph Jeup of Joseph Jeup, Inc.)

They couldn’t have known we had done set design for Circle Theater. “Passion” directed by Rodney Vaccaro was a hand painted transformer type set in the old John Ball Park theater setting.

They couldn’t have know that we used to be in the design build business (Designers Workshop) and had a unique perspective on fulfilling designs.

At the end of the day, when you think about appealing to the customer, it has very little to do with what you do but who your are.

Somewhere between technical geek-dom and IT savvy, Mercantile Bank realized they just want to show to future customers who they are.  Today they have great on-line services, but in a nano second, so will everyone else. But will those other guys invest in the future of Grand Rapids? Will those other guys be leaders? Will those guys be real people in a hostile banking world?

So here comes ArtPrize 2011 and Mercantile Bank, an opportunity to meet their future customer on their turf and offer them a quality ART experience. Our experience with Mercantile Bank tells us that they are focused and sincere about this project.  Not what you might expect from a bank, especially since it meant they having to put aside their original goals and look to the goals of their future customers.

This is art and business joined in a unique way; in a way only Grand Rapids can give.

Please follow our story, we guarantee you will like it.

Ryan Bright Studying "Mural Walls"

We arrived as the exhibit floors were opening and we started on Floor 8, the temporary exhibits that are organized around Healthcare, Workplace, and Hospitality. The headline review of floor 8 was: Technology and Graphics Impacts Surfaces. Glass, wall covering, fabrics, are all so sensitive to customization that they almost cancel each other out. We saw some of our factory reps (Hi Steve, Hi Jenn), and we met some of our reps bosses. (Our sympathies.)

Stephanie and MaryJane at Davis Office

Spent a lot of time with Davis Office Furniture but being from GrandRapids, the home of Steelcase, Herman Miller, Haworth, etc.; they looked at us like “really”? But they had a great inventory of used products and a great program.

Floor 7 was supposed to showcase, new stuff and product introductions; not so much. But we liked the GLIMMER exhibit.

Life Straw; Filtering Drinking Water, One Thirsty Person at a Time!

Floor 10 is all about carpet and fabrics. Our sales reps must be doing a great job because between them and the internet, the new stuff wasn’t so new. BUT this floor was crazy with give away bags, granola, gadgets, etc…OK, maybe all the floors were. Mary Jane Caster, Senior Interior Design type probably collected 10 tote bags, a watch, lip gloss, T-shirt, measuring tape, glowing 2×2 acrylic box, snack bars, granola…….

We hit floor 3 last, the big brands, big names place. Steelcase has multiple identities, Herman Miller is trying to sell history and a softer friendlier approach, Haworth always tries harder. But we saw two clear trends, low walls, angular designs. The organic, pods, radius, blah, blah, are not featured. Things are efficient, shared, colorful and collaborative. Gosh, we all hope people start hiring again so their bosses can buy the new furniture!

Tired feet, we trundled down to Clark St where we ended up at a great Italian place for pasta, fish and pizza. We watched the crazy traffic and at a reasonable time after rush hour, we walked to our van, cleverly parked in a $12 a day parking lot and headed toward home.

The biggest thing I learned at NeoCon 2011 was that I have great team-mates and we travel well together, supporting everyone’s learning and accommodating everyone’s needs. That doesn’t always happen. More often than not, company field trips are dysfunctional and discouraging.

Great design comes from highly functional teams who care about their customers and each other. Bring it on! r.o.i. Design, design dogs are ready and able to serve.