ARTICLES Archives - Page 57 of 315

In the Cards

Of all the promotional tools Dave Garton has deployed to support his watershaping business through the years, nothing has been more effective than his business cards. Why so? As as he reports here, it's because there's more to them than the usual bits of contact information.

Soul Searching

For more than 20 years now, both as a printed magazine and as the WaterShapes web site, we've focused more or less exclusively on custom, high-end, full-featured projects, the thought always being that by offering a steady diet of

The Designer’s Environment

'To my way of thinking,' wrote David Tisherman to open his Details column in August 2004, 'professional design work requires a professional workspace in which all of the necessary professional tools are available. 'In fact, for the designer creating custom watershapes, I see the space in which the work actually unfolds as being critical and cutting to the very heart of what it really means to be a "designer." I know that

Celebrating a Legend

Sad to say, I will not be able to see this exhibition for myself. But if you live within striking distance of the New York Botanical Garden or have any plans to be anywhere near New York City between now and September 29, please do not fail to visit NYBG while "Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx" is up and running. This amazing event has

It was a most unusual remodeling project, notes Carla Sovernigo. Partly it had to do with its scale and complexity, but mostly it was because it took three full years to finalize the design and then another whole year to align every last detail with the clients' highly refined ambitions.

The Gradual Renovation

Participating in a major project is sometimes like watching a child grow up through various developmental stages: Good things take time! Our own involvement in one of these endurance tests started when we were called out to a 25-year-old home in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: It was being updated from a dreary, dated style to something modern and contemporary for clients who were all about luxury, five-star amenities and state-of-the-art detailing. The architect and the home builder

Ushering a full-featured backyard design through to final form can be complicated, observes Kurt Kraisinger. That's why, as he writes in the third article in this four-part series, he guides his clients through an interactive process he credits with smoothing the pathway to success.

From Idea to Action

Most successful designers have a bit of show business in them. Whether you play the sophisticated artiste or radiate a quiet competence, it's all about making a connection with a client who is asking you to participate in a significant project, whatever your personality or approach. I've always wondered how those at the extremes of the personal-style spectrum find work, but the fact of the matter is that all of us, designers and clients alike, are individuals who respond in different ways to different triggers - and I know for a fact that the way I work isn't for everyone simply based on the fact that we don't win every contract we pursue. For all that, however, we at Lorax Design Group (Overland Park, Kans.) have developed our own pattern and have found that it works for us often enough to

#34: Synthetic Grass

If you'd asked me 20 years ago if I'd ever consider using artificial grass with one of my high-end pool projects, I would've looked at you like you had two heads and three hats: There was just no way on earth that would've been a possibility. A lot has changed in the past few years, however, and it's getting to the point where I'm working with fake turf on a surprisingly number of projects - including

Back in Action

I'm finally at work again, more or less on a full-time basis - and grateful to report that things are going well: My lower back has stabilized and strengthened, I am mostly pain-free and, although I've been slowed by the four-week hiatus, I am back to my work and workout routines and

A Bumpy Road

Well, I've gone and done it again. It was Saturday, June 29, and I'd decided to throw an extra bit of sweat equity into our home-remodeling project by digging up and removing what had become a non-essential gate on one side of our house. It was an old, metal-framed assembly that

A Day to Swim

Is it an idea whose time has come? On June 8, I received an email from my friend Dave Penton announcing that he was setting up Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts for something called International Swim Day. "The first day of summer this year is