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!

nyc couple goes custom for baby

With their first baby on the way, Stacey and Marc looked to blik to make their nursery special. They had a vision of what they wanted, so we listened and initially turned their ideas into concept artwork for approval.


Once we got the thumbs up, their decals were made and shipped off. Stacey and Marc were kind enough to take a photo of their installation and send it to us just days before baby was due. We love how they took a simple shape and made a striking crib-side design. We were glad we could help beautify your space, guys....we hope baby likes them, too!

blik gets a daily dose from domino

One of our favorite magazines, domino, gave us some amazing praise this week. We are feeling a little flushed by the highlight from The Deal Hunter, Nick Olsen--who, coincidentally, has an architecture background just like blik co-owner, Scott Flora. If you aren't already in-the-know, domino is a style magazine centered on home, "the most important expression of who you are and how you live." It's tailored for fashion-conscious people who are always on the look out for the "best-designed items." Design consultant and personal shopper wrapped up into one cool magazine, domino is one of the freshest voices in house and home publications. So take a peek if you don't already subscribe. And be sure to read the rest of Nick's blurb on blik. Thanks, domino!
blik in domino daily dose

chiasso exposes chandelier

When we checked our mail today, we were stopped in our tracks by a cover shot featuring none other than blik Chandelier. When we realized it was the cover of Chiasso's 2008 winter catalogue, we were giddy. If you aren't already familiar with them, Chiasso's mission is to "inspire and delight" and we think their beautiful, unique, contemporary pieces do just that. No, we're not just saying that because they sell blik. See for yourself. We're sure you'll agree. (pssst...and while you're there, don't miss the lovely shot of blik Bamboo on page 19). Thanks, Chiasso! Now, if only the rest of our mail were this exciting...pesky bills.