if walls could talk

Being the decor commitment phobes that we are, we understand how daunting your bare, naked walls can be. Especially those bright white ones. They want to be happy just like everyone else (that's what they tell us, anyway). You could paint them, but do you really want to? Will your landlord let you? Master scrapbook designer, Noel Culbertson, recently struggled with similar questions and decided to dress up her large white walls with blik Iron Vines. We thought you might find inspiration in her insights and beautiful photo journal of the installation process on her blog paperpassionpixels. It's a fun makeover that will show you how simple it is to blik your space. We think her wall looks happier, don't you? And if you're a scrapbook-er, be sure to check out her striking designs.

reading hospital

As you know, blik has a thriving custom business that lets clients realize their own unique vision for a space, be it commercial or residential. Whether we engineer the designs, collaborate on them, or simply execute them, blik allows you to dramatically change the look of a room and mix things up when it's time for something new...because it's removable...but you knew that.

Since blik can also be wiped down, we get quite a few calls from hospitals eager to elevate the atmosphere of recovery rooms, radiology departments, etc. They are some of our favorite projects. Recently, premiere architecture and interior design firm, Ballinger, brought us in to help add visual interest to the pediatrics wing of the Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Pennsylvania. The project is still a work-in-progress but we thought we'd share the development process with you. Here are schematics detailing the blik'd designs we'll bring to each room. We'll keep you posted as the project comes to life.

blik-SMMoA mural

As you know, we recently partnered with the Santa Monica Museum of Art on their educational program, Wall Works. Over 250 K-12 students designed a one-of-a-kind blik wall graphic in answer to our question: If you weren't a human, what would you be?

The resulting large-scale public art mural, designed by SMMoA using all of the children's designs, was revealed at Bergamot Station just a couple of weeks ago. It was so exciting to see everything come together and most importantly, to see the sheer joy on the kids faces when they spotted their creation in the larger picture.

Special thanks to the kids for their inspiring imagination and to SMMoA for letting us be a part of such an awesome project. To read more about the collaboration: blik-SMMoA collab

blik is behance'd

Heather Ann Snodgrass, editorial director of revered design blog, joshspear.com, recently took over editorship of online magazine, Behance.com. A terrific resource, Behance features the work and insights of professionals across creative industries. It not only features artists, designers, entrepreneurs, and photographers, but also conceives methodology, products and online tools for creative professionals. Their passion is to help people "make ideas happen." We love that. Needless to say, we were thrilled to be profiled this week: Behance

SMMoA big reveal

In January, we announced our exciting involvement in Wall Works, the Santa Monica Museum of Art’s landmark educational program. Well, now the large-scale collaborative art installation is about to be revealed. Over 250 students designed one-of-a-kind blik decals in answer to the question: What would you be if you weren't human? At a reception tomorrow night, blik, the students, and the public alike will see for the first time how all the kids' original works come together. We can’t wait and we'd love to see you there. Come by the historic Bergamot Station Arts Complex March 12 at 6pm to check it out. If you can’t make the reception, don’t worry. The collaborative installation will remain on view through July 25, 2008. Click here to read more about the project.

blik on Divine Design

Every once in a while, one of our friends or relatives excitedly calls us to say they saw our Keith Haring designs on Candice Olson's "Divine Design".  If you haven't seen the episode, we thought we'd share some highlights--perhaps you'll find some inspiration.  Tatiana wanted a modern yet age-appropriate look for her baby girl's room. She also wanted the style of the room to reflect her daughter's taste as she grows.  Enter: blik.  Candice captures the essence of blik's temporary nature and how it allows the look of a room to change over time. Can you count how many blik Haring designs were used? There's a wild card in the bunch too (hint: check out the windows). Thanks, Candice!

web associates get blik'd

There are two words you will never hear in the hallways of blik: "I'm bored". There's no time! Not only are we busy developing designs for our ever-expanding retail line, but we also have a constant flow of dynamic custom work that keeps the creative juices flowing. Like the series of images we recently blik'd for California-based, award-winning, independent interactive agency, Web Associates. Here is the latest in the series. Look how tiny the refrigerator looks next to the graphic--it's nearly 9 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Far from boring, wouldn't you agree? More custom images to come.

interiors profiles mel lim

Beloved lifestyle designer and blik collaborator, Mel Lim, inspires a beautiful spread in Riviera Interiors Magazine. It's a great piece, not only on Mel, but also the power and flexibility of wall decals... aka blik! For all you decor commitment phobes out there still waiting to take the plunge (we know you've been eye-balling us)--read on!
Interiors Riviera

for goodness mfg sake

One of our Venice neighbors, advertising gurus, Goodness Mfg., called on us to help jazz up their new offices.  So, we threw on our walking shoes and made the long, treacherous trek around the block to say hello and take a peek. Their space is an open, beautiful, blank canvas...several of them actually. Everyone's still brainstorming but we blik'd their door in the meantime.  Striking logo, don't you think?

SMMoA teams with blik

The Santa Monica Museum of Art, located at the historic Bergamot Station, is celebrating 20 years! In addition to their striking art exhibits, SMMoA is known for spearheading projects designed to bring art education to schools. We love that, particularly since art programs nationwide have suffered severe cutbacks over the years. That said, we are especially pleased to announce that blik has been chosen to partner with SMMoA on one of their signature programs: Wall Works. This is the first time in the history of the program that a company, rather than a working artist, has been invited to participate in the groundbreaking program. As you can imagine, we're pretty excited.

Wall Works invites a celebrated local artist to create an “art kit” that is delivered to participating classrooms throughout the Los Angeles area. Students, grades K-12, produce original works that are then installed by SMMoA in a large-scale, collaborative public artwork. The mural is exhibited at Bergamot Station Arts Complex for 4 months for all to enjoy.

When SMMoA asked us what we wanted to do, we immediately thought--let the kids design their very own blik pattern! So, the program director filmed a video of us showing the students how blik is made. We concluded the tour by asking the students to draw a picture in answer to the question: if you weren't a human, what would you want to be? Their pictures, along with their blik color choice, will be sent back to us to be made into a one-of-a-kind blik pattern. But neither the kids nor team blik will see how all the pieces come together until the SMMoA mural is revealed on March 12.

We can’t wait to see what the kids come up with! Until then, here are some “behind-the-scenes” stills of the filming of the video that was sent to participating classrooms.
More to come!

Co-Owners Scott and Jerinne introduce "the shop"


Scott checks out a computer-rendering from one of the blik designers


Jorge works his magic to reveal the final design

fly spotting

UK magazine, Grand Designs, is the counterpart to their Channel 4 TV show hosted by Kevin McCloud. They pride themselves on spotting "...the latest trends in design and identify the hottest designers to look out for, plus there are tons of practical ideas and advice for the home". The Feb issue has a spread on the dazzling state of wall treatments today and they threw a little blik Fly into the landscape. We thought it was pretty, so we had to share. Mmmm...pretty...

To all you UK shoppers, Supernice, our UK distributor, lists all the retail shops that sell blik in the UK and across Europe - and you can even buy direct! Check 'em out: Supernice

LA TIMES profiles blik bamboo...and more

It's a happy Thursday at blik as Bamboo was chosen for a piece in today's Los Angeles Times Home & Garden section about the appeal of this classic motif for indoor decor. Check it out! Co-owner, Scott Flora, sums things up nicely we think...of course, we could be biased: EXOTIC TOUCHES OF BAMBOO.

As if that wasn't enough, flipping through the rest of the paper, we were startled to find Giant Robot by blik standing tall and strong on the cover of the Calendar Guide. The photo speaks to the cover story about THE RISE OF JAPAN COOL which features blik friend, Eric Nakamura, whose pop culture magazine, Giant Robot, "spawned a retail empire." Congrats, Eric!



Just when we thought we'd seen it all, we perused the Business section to see blik Invader on the walls of what looks like a game room at Google! These are all in the print version, by the way, so this is a little photo bulletin for all you online readers.

Seriously, who made January 17th "blik day" and forgot to tell us? Not that we're complaining...

stylemax booth gets pimped out

Last fall, Michelle Alcott & Associates contacted us wanting something striking and original for their booth at STYLEMAX, a quarterly women's apparel and accessory trade show that brings buyers what’s hot, what’s happening and what’s next in the marketplace. The show houses upwards of 4,000 resources in more than 200,000 square feet at The Merchandise Mart in Chicago, so as an exhibitor, you wanna stand out amidst the madness. We put our in-house designer, Jeremy, on the case who conjured up this mural of blik Chandelier in graphite and snow. It shows how much you can do with just one design on one wall. You can overlap, repeat, even trim the same graphic to create your own custom artwork. Don't be afraid to think outside the box when you blik out your space. Thanks MA&A for sending these pictures along; we're glad to hear you're planning to use the wall for upcoming shows.

blik heads to houston

Design Life Now: National Design Triennial is a traveling exhibit organized by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in NYC. Inaugurated in 2000, The National Design Triennial is an ongoing exhibition series showcasing innovative work from across the fields of product design, architecture, furniture, film, graphics, new technologies, animation, science, medicine and fashion. The traveling exhibit of "Design Life Now: National Design Triennial 2006" presents the best designs to emerge from these disciplines between 2003 and 2006. The show started at the Cooper-Hewitt in NYC, then traveled to Boston, and now it's heading to The Contemporary Arts Museum at Houston Jan 26 - April 20. The exhibit showcases experimental projects, emerging ideas, major buildings, new products and media created by 87 designers and firms--including yours truly.



If you can't make it to the show, there's a book "Design Life Now: National Design Triennial 2006" which profiles everyone chosen for the 2006 Triennial including Pixar, Google, Apple, and Nike among many others. We were blown away by the recognition for "Embodying both the current trend towards individual customization and the increasingly transient nature of our lives...." and for being an "innovative alternate to traditional wallpaper and painted walls." The highlighted photo above is of a temporary outdoor art installation we did for Barbara Bestor Architecture in Silverlake, CA. Dubbed "Big Red Wall," Barbara asked us to blik out a 100 foot long exterior wall--looks like graffiti, doesn't it?

Needless to say, we are honored and proud to have been recognized by such an outstanding organization. For more info on the DLN 2006 exhibit in Houston: DLN. And to see photos from our installation at the kick off of the exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt, see our archived blog from 12.2006. More to come!