“A creative economy is the fuel of magnificence.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Los Angeles, also known as the City of Angels, home of the stars. The barest whisper of its name evokes star-studded glamour, due to the fact the Hollywood has produced more famous celebrities than any other movie industry in the world. Yet, for all its hue and cry, entertainment accounts for only 35% of all jobs in the creative industry in Los Angeles. A recent report from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) says that creative industries are now the number one engine of the Los Angeles economy, outpacing traditional stalwarts such as tourism and international trade. The LAEDC defines the creative industry as encompassing architecture, interior design, art galleries, communications arts, fashion, furniture and accessories, product and industrial design, etc..

LA Design Centre/ Hub

Founded in 1983, the AIGA Los Angeles chapter has continuously made inroads in connecting Los Angeles' varied creative industries through a series of extensive programming, events, communication and social outreach. The AIGA Fellow Award remains one of the most prestigious awards in the creative industry, and is a means of recognizing mature designers who have significantly contributed to pushing the envelope in terms of excellence in practice and conduct, either within their local or regional design community, as well as in the AIGA Los Angeles chapter.

Equally prominent as a venue supportive of the creative arts, the Pacific Design Center was designed by the great architect Cesar Pelli of FAIA and provides dramatic public and private space for metings, lectures, special events, exhibitions and receptions involving the creative industry. It hosts and sponsors WestWeek, the annual international market event that is a platform for new products and exciting and inspiring information within the creative industry, and is held each spring, and also houses one of the three MOCAs in Los Angeles.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is the only museum in Los Angeles devoted to contemporary art, and is committed to the collection, presentation and interpretation of work produced since 1940 in all forms of media, and to preserving this work for future generations. MOCA has developed one of the nation's most renowned permanent collections in a remarkably short time, currently numbering over 5,000 works and steadily growing. MOCA is housed in three facilities in Los Angeles: MOCA Grand Avenue, the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, and MOCA Pacific Design Center.

Growth of Graphic Design

Los Angeles has established a reputation for itself over the years as being a hub for graphic design, with notable institutions such as the Digital Media Center, the Art Center College of Design (which spearheaded Environmental Design in L.A.) and the Otis College of Art and Design. Prominent agencies which have set up shop in Los Angeles include Tommy Dew Design, LA Design Studio, Stripe and Vrontikis Design Office. Major events such as The Graphic Imperative and Cut & Paste are held annually by AIGA.

Yet, on the fringes of the traditional graphic design movement lies another burgeoning industry that is ripe for explosion. Sleek and sexy, motion graphics design has been attracting its fair share of attention in recent years, especially within the hotbed of activity that is Los Angeles, which is in the unique position of fusing both traditional design with its evolving film industry. Pioneered by Saul Bass in the 1950s, motion graphic design has been developed over the years by pioneers such as Pablo Ferro, David Carson, to Kyle Cooper, Milke Mills and Geoff McFetridge of recent years whose claim to fame lay in their arresting images for custom-created for blockbusters, blurring the boundaries between film and design and paving the way for Los Angeles to emerge as the forerunner of the industry in the future.

Such studios are usually small and relatively new, such as Stardust, Colourmovie, Logan, Brand New School, Tomorrow’s Brightest Minds, Blind, Traktor, twothousandstrong, Fuel, Belief, bangbangstudio and Motion Theory. However, the appeal of the motion graphics industry lies in the amalgamation of various creative disciplines to conjure up something new and exciting, and may be best summed up by Michelle Hammond, who, with her partner Brandon Martinez, runs the design-and-production studio Colourmovie: “What makes this industry so interesting is that people have such a mixture of influences, moving from design to art to fashion, from advertising to cinema. Brandon has a live-action background; I have a fine-art background. It tends to be a real mixture, and that’s a strength.”

Design Initiative: Nonprofit Contemporary Arts Organization

While Los Angeles has always been thriving with arts activity, where it is home to numerous galleries, art schools and museums, its arts scene has been somewhat neglected, though slowly gaining recognition in recent years. Even then, local artists find themselves continuing to labor in obscurity, and Los Angeles has not embraced art on the scale as say, New York. In response to this, LAXART (pronounced L-A-X Art--the first three letters stand for "Los Angeles exhibitions") was founded in 2005 by Lauri Firstenberg, to be a cross between a creative space for the city's nascent arts community and a professionally curated public-art initiative.

Drawing inspiration from the now-defunct Deep River and the alternative art spaces that populated New York in the 1970s, LAXART aims to use public arts projects to bring attention to local budding talents, giving them the opportunity to expose the city's population to new forms of art in public forums. It features experimental site-specific works by artists who are largely located in Los Angeles, and whose work often addresses the city in some form or other. For example, a recent installation featured a box of glowing haze, which served as a visual demonstration of the pollutants that were present in the city's atmosphere.

LAXART prides itself for allowing its artists to engage with their audiences with a certain level of access and intimacy which makes it unique. For example, the LAXART window, visible from the sidewalk of the office, is curated as part of the space, as are the exterior walls of the building. On top of this, an online initiative called L'Art is also providing a new way for artists to produce, share, and promote their work, supported by the creative community website Uber.com. To cap it all off, LAXART also employs the ingenious use of a billboard opposite the gallery as a massive canvas, allowing thousands of commuters on their way to work a daily dose of art instead of the usual commercialism.
As testament to the art community's endorsement of LAXART's efforts, its fundraiser held in November, which was a silent auction and benefit presented by Hermès, had featured work donated by more than 100 artists. However, Firstenberg insists that even this is a small number compared to the burgeoning circle of LAXART's supporters.

Modern Architecture

For the uninitiated, Los Angeles architecture can appear to be seemingly wanton. However, due credit must be given to this bastion of often innovative and progressive design. From lovingly-preserved Art Deco buildings in the Historic Core, to pre-WWII movie palaces along Broadway, to the sleek, shiny towers in the Financial District, there is enough interesting architecture in Los Angeles to keep even the most jaded of critics fascinated. Even more interesting is the fact that the architectural landscape is constantly evolving, with gems from the turn of the 20th century being converted into hip lofts and condos, and even award-winning architects like Thom Mayne and Frank Gehry are adding their own distinctive trademarks to the city skyline.

Exploring downtown Los Angeles' architecture is somewhat akin to taking a trip down memory lane – from the instantly-recognisable Metropolis aesthetic of the L.A. Times Building, to the Shrine Auditorium, to the fabled Broadway historic theater district, to the MAK Center for Art and Architecture by RM Schindler, to the colossal tributes to Art Deco that are the William Fox Building and the Design Center. Along the way are the LA Music Center, a famous Modernist site, as well as the Library Tower, which was built in the Post-Modernist style. Modern marvels include Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall, the MOCA, and of course, not forgetting the US Bank Tower by Henry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.

In addition, the A+D Architecture and Design Museum aims to expose the general public to the importance of architecture and design in the community, to encourage innovative thinking in these disciplines, to stimulate an awareness of contemporary issues in architecture and design, whether to the general public, school children or the educated professional.

Fashion

While the majority of US fashion houses are based in New York, there is nevertheless a significant number which has set up shop in Los Angeles, where a substantial percentage of clothing manufactured in the US is made. With reputable fashion institutions such as the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and the Academy of Couture Act, as well as a fashion district spanning 90 blocks, fashion is indeed a thriving industry in the City of Angels. Some of the more notable designers who are based in Los Angeles include Diane von Furstenberg, ABS by Allen Schwartz, Bebe, Johnson Hartig of Libertine, Ivan Arnold of Tokidoki, Editte Keshishyan, Eduardo Lucero, Tere Tereba for bebe, Ashley Paige and Uriel Saenz, among others.

However, due to the curious intersection of celebrity and fashion like nowhere else on the planet in Los Angeles, the biggest fashion show of the year turns out not to be the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, but the red carpet on Oscar night. As celebrities wrack their heads on how to look their best on this ultra-special annual event, we witness the birth of a new breed of highly influential persons in the realm of fashion – the celebrity stylist. Reputed for disallowing their clients to so much as step out of the house with nary a trace of makeup on, these stylists can be considered even more important the fashion designers these days, as it is a well-documented fact that stocks fly off the shelves once celebrities are seen endorsing certain labels or products.

The more influential celebrity stylists include Philip Bloch, who dresses Will Smith, Halley Berry and Sandra Bullock; Rachel Zoe, whose portfolio includes Sienna Miller, Linsey Lohan and Nicole Richie; Jennifer Rade, who counts Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Pink as her clients; Jessica Paster, who handles Cate Blanchett and Kate Hudson; Estee Stanley, who is responsible for the styles of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Jessica Biel and Penelope Cruz; Robert Verdi for Eva Longoria; and Alexander Allen for Beyonce, Shakira, Toni Braxton and Eve.

Lifestyle Concept Stores

As per befitting a fashion capital, Los Angeles' Fashion District has entire streets dedicated to design and lifestyle stores, covering every aspect of your interior design desires. For example, taking a very small cross-section of the entire area, one could start with W. 3rd Street situated between Crescent Heights and La Cienega, which houses design mecca OK Store, Zipper, New Stone Age, Plastica and Room Service. Parallel to 3rd is Beverly Boulevard, home to cult design havens such as Ige, Zelen Home, Modernica, Shelter and Twentieth. Another block north is perhaps one of the most well-known streets in the city – Melrose Place. Apart from housing some of the more sophisticated fashion boutiques, Melrose also has a whole line-up of quirky and upmarket design stores to tempt your palette, including Paul Smith, Jonathan Adler, TableArt, Zero Minus Plus, Marc Jacobs Home and Fitzu Society. Further down on La Brea Ave lies an array of great little stores such as Homework, Volcom, Diamond and Foam Fabrics and Landon Cole Furniture. Lastly, for a hipper, more bohemian vibe, Silver Lake appeals to the artsy crowd with indie favourites A+R, Yolk and Reform School.

Events and Exhibitions

Notable events in the Los Angeles creative scene are mostly held by AIGA, and include the Masters of Graphic Design 2007 and the Roundtable Conversation Series. Not forgetting, of course, the main attraction of Los Angeles Fashion Week, which is the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios, along with other key events such as the Atmosphere Trade Show, box eight Fashion Week, Designers & Agents, Gen Art's Fresh Faces in Fashion, Kitten Fashion Week, Major's Market and an array of individual designer shows who continue to show independently – either at centralized venues or unique off-site venues such as nightclubs, private estates, train stations and lofts.

Living up to its name as the home of the stars, most events and exhibitions in Los Angeles are not without a sheen of celebrity glamour as well. For example, the recent Louis-Vuitton-hosted gala at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA to celebrate Japanese artist Takashi Murakami's mid-career retrospective, saw Hollywood stars Anjelica Houston and Casey Affleck, as well as hip-hop hotshots such as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams, grace the event.

Future Outlook and Forecast

The prediction is for Environmental Design, currently spearheaded by the Art Center College for Design, to grow in strength and magnitude in Los Angeles, as people become more conscious of their surroundings and develop an awareness of how to create responsible yet attractive design. Through the study of how persons interact in habitable environments, and the addressing of cultural needs of environments, spaces, and objects for a design-driven future in a professional arena spanning industrial design, graphic design and transportation, environmental design allows the exploration of how best to blend the demands of technology with the subtlest demands of human potential and the environment that surrounds.

In addition, what's guaranteed to be the next big thing in Los Angeles is surely the integration of the various elements of the creative industry – while already happening on a significant scale with regards to motion graphic design, Los Angeles has the added advantage over similar developments in New York, London, Paris and Tokyo, as well as pockets of creativity in places like Brazil and South Africa due to its unique heritage of hybridism and cross-pollination, to create something that is potentially explosive. In addition to having major film and television industries in the vicinity, new advertising agencies are also muscling in on the market, such as Crispin Porter + Bogusky (best known for its award-winning IKEA “Lamp” commercial from 2002, directed by Spike Jonze), 86 the Onions and 72andSunny. This creates a novel and exciting way of doing things, which is about using narrative and graphic design in a non-traditional manner.

While already established as a major design city in its own right, Los Angeles is nevertheless evolving at a rapid pace even today. Exciting things are on the plate for Los Angeles as a design city destination, which not only heralds the entry of Los Angeles as a major force to be reckoned with, but also spells great things for the future of design as a whole.


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TRAVEL ALBUM: DESIGN CITY publishes the essential photography subjects of a city. As they say, architecture landmarks denote the progressing development of a country. Design in each and every city speaks in different languages and dances to different cultures. A lot of cities are growing in the design realm but no one would know about this development but the travelers and the locals themselves. Only. The exciting quirks and electrifying eccentricity of Everyday Product, Design Schools, Designers, Resources, Hotels/Buildings, Design Studios/Personalities, Local Galleries, Museums, etc, are found in both secret and obvious places of the city.

We miss out on these simple things during travel or simply during our busy lifestyle in our own city. So the next time you travel, think of TRAVEL ALBUM: DESIGN CITY.

We spot 5 hot spots in Los Angeles. Who are they? Design City: Talent Spotlight -Read more on these rising design stars.

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