cool stuff

Retailer Art Van Furniture rolled out the red carpet for their new flagship located in Canton, Michigan, U.S.  It is the first furniture store in Michigan to be built ‘from the ground up’ in two decades(!!) and warranted a ‘WOW’ sculpture to suspend over the feature escalators.  Well friends…it goes without saying that Yellow Goat is the go-to for your ‘WOW’ moment. 

Vegas is always a good idea.  Collaborating with Yellow Goat is always a great idea. When the ARIA Resort & Casino was due for a convention center expansion, MGM interiors teamed up with the Goat to design a very unconventional fixture we like to call Arboreal.  In the second successful installation at ARIA, it’s no surprise that when YGD designs casino lighting, our clients hit the jackpot.

Picture a perfect day:  AM: lounging poolside with palm trees and a slight breeze.  Afternoon: Chauffeured by a Mercedes for a mid-day shopping spree on Worth Avenue.  PM: waterfront dinner followed by a movie with your closest friends.  Am I describing a vacation?  For some.  For others, this is every...single...day.  Let me introduce you to the MorseLife Stephen and Petra Levin Tower: the latest in luxurious independent retirement living located in Palm Beach, Florida, US.  

Happy New Year, Goat Groupies!  Here at YGD we are ramping up for another successful year!  Our 2018 resolution:  continue to push our creative boundaries to inspire you monthly with new designs.  Your resolution: design well-rounded environments for your clients.  We put together the (un)official YGD project pyramid to ensure your spaces meet the requirements.  Steps to a healthier project (according to us!):

Washington, DC, USA may be the historic nation’s capital but the city is breaking ground on innovative workplace designs that are definitely not a thing of the past.  600 Massachusetts Avenue, designed by DC-based architecture and design firm CORE, is described as “Tomorrow’s Workplace, Today”.  It is an environment that offers the perks demanded of today’s forward-thinking professionals.  CORE captured this ‘city oasis’ by incorporating landscaped terraces, a rooftop garden, state-of-art fitness center and YGD’s organic “Promises Promises” light fixture in the double height atrium.  It’s no surprise that CORE chose to collaborate with the Goat because we commit to design, fabrication & installation PROMISES we can keep.

The Young Jewish Professionals, a New York-based nonprofit, has purchased and restored a 1900 Pre-War mansion just east of Union Square which serves as one of the most exclusive gathering and event spaces in the Big Apple.  In celebration of the approaching Hanukkah holiday, the interior represents a Festival of Lights in its own right, illuminated with a jaw-dropping sculptural chandelier designed by yours truly.

Dedicated to the creation of beauty, Body by Ravi is a medical practice specializing in plastic and reconstructive surgery in Houston, Texas.  Led by Dr. Ravi Somayazula, it was time for their own facelift.  Contour Interior Design was called in to head up the interiors and create an elegant transformation.  The selected focal feature?  Yellow Goat Design’s “Curls Metallica” sitting pretty in the entry.  Go ahead…bat those new Latisse eyelashes!

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company that helps patients prevail over serious diseases through discovery, development and delivery of innovative medicines. #goals  In order to strengthen this aspiring mission, the company needed to re-think their workspace.  Not only are they geniuses when it comes to their own industry, they certainly prove brilliant in understanding the value of interior design and its positive impact on the work environment.  Offering employees an inspiring workplace is a proven factor in spurring creativity and innovation.  To further demonstrate their savviness, they called in the big players- Gensler & YGD- forming an expert team to execute this tall order.

Saks created it’s own shoe zip code (10022-SHOE) and Skittles created the rainbow.  YGD created the best of both: a rainbow hippo with boots!  Meet Humfrey and his friends Anteater and Seal- Not the Singer:  the latest innovative kids play designs from our Rainbow collection.  Roadtrip anyone?  Head to Saks Fifth Avenue at Tysons Galleria in Washington, DC, USA to taste the Yellow Goat Design rainbow!

“I dreamed all my life of the perfect store for women. Then I saw Neiman Marcus, and my dream came true”. – Edna Woolman Chase, editor of Vogue (1936). We couldn’t agree more, Edna. Our dream came true when Neimans and FRCH Design Worldwide asked us to collaborate on an installation at the White Plains, NY location. Let me introduce you to YGD’s “Shooting Stars” design, suspended and sparkling above Saint Laurent, among other designers, in the exclusive jewelry department.

Designing a space that caters to spring breakers? Check out my top 6 picks for all your crazy cool clients crashing at hotels and resorts worldwide!  

Are you at the end of your rope after searching hours on end for the perfect light fixture? Here’s an idea: tie a knot and hang on…you’re about to experience the very best in innovation and design. Introducing YGD’s “Knot”- a jaw-dropping display of large-scale lighting.

In the spirit of the Valentine’s Day, let’s talk love! As many of our readers know, YGD has worked on projects around the world with a client list that is second to none. We love all of our clients…but a few are near and dear to our hearts. I believe one of our US-based clients, The Falls Event Center, would agree that we were truly meant for each other (just as Frank Sinatra says!).

Happy New Year, Readers!  It's great to be back in blog action after the holiday break.  To kick off 2017, I am sharing YGD's #bestof9 designs.  After completing a record-breaking number of projects in 2016, it was definitely difficult choosing only nine.  Here's to hoping Instagram increases that number next year...

We know it’s Santa’s busy season…but our goats on the Gold Coast have also been bustling in the workshop! YGD’s HQ, located in Queensland Australia, was commissioned to provide eight of the twelve icons on display at AMP’s Pacific Fair shopping center’s “12 Days of a Gold Coast Christmas”. Contrary to the traditional song, these icons are designed Aussie style! I can’t think of a better way to countdown to Christmas. Palm trees and 80 degrees? Yes please!

Yellow Goat Design introduces you to New York’s finest. Meet Steggo, our 30 foot life-sized dinosaur designed and fabricated for The Dermot Company’s latest development: 21 West End luxury apartments on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. If you want to catch a glimpse…you’ll need to know an insider. Located on the ground floor in the kids play area, NY’s hottest celeb is safe from the flashing lights of the paparazzi.

Eric Carle…the name sounds familiar right? He’s a starchitect in his own right: he designed the classic children’s book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” in 1969 that we all know and love. The story is based on the principle of transformation…a concept that we are very familiar with here at YGD (shout out to our multiple product lines: lighting, screens, cirrus, kids play!). Based on Carle’s concept and a new exhibit featuring his work, our “Cocoon” Chair has been born, adding ‘furniture design’ to our ever-expanding list of capabilities.

CetraRuddy, Manhattan based architecture and interior design firm, has cooked up a hot new high-rise in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen. Let me introduce you to 535w43, a site comprised of two 14-story buildings that provide luxury apartment living in the heart of the concrete jungle. This haven features a rooftop garden, skyline views and central courtyard gardens with glass-enclosed walkways that bridge the two buildings.

Do you have a tendency to search for unique lighting options that still make an impact within a $10k budget? I know you’re out there…I received over 12 requests this week from my fellow designers (sending shout outs)!  Let me do the leg work for you.  I pulled 10 Yellow Goat Design fixtures that each price under $10k, in a mix of materials and aesthetics, to suit all sorts of interiors.  Check them out.

Don’t (web) surf away- this is not a geometry lesson. Instead, it IS a lesson on how a beach house can benefit from an array of triangles…and how Yellow Goat Design will nail the right angle for your project (pun intended)!  Situated in the ocean town of Trigg outside of Perth in Western Australia, a family commissioned Hillam Architects to design what the architect calls “A stairway to beachside heaven”. The private residence, located on a prominent corner, is inviting for both friends and fanciers.

Lincoln Motor Company just opened its first 5,200-square-foot experience center and let me tell you…it’s a force to be reckoned with. Located at uber-luxurious Fashion Island in Newport Beach, California, the Lincoln Experience Center shares retail space with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Neiman Marcus and SoulCycle (for any of you that know me personally…this is my idea of a good time). Lincoln took note and seized the opportunity to supply their customer base with an introduction to “The Lincoln Way”, designing a space with sleek architectural accents and a stylish interior.

Hey Yellow Goat Groupies!   Nicola here (your US Design Manager).  I get this question a LOT:  where the heck are you located?!  So confusing, I know.  Thought I’d take a moment to clear it up.  This will be short and sweet… stay tuned for a longer blog on our design process next week!

Here at YGD, we love design and we love our biggest fans (we’re looking at you, readers!). Our focus is not only creating authentic designs but creating and maintaining relationships with our fan base. 

As Featured in “Extra” a 120 Collins publication (issue 02: Summer 2015)

Aloft Hotels, a brand of Starwood, describe themselves on their website as “For the traveler open to possibilities…Aloft Hotels is a modern, fresh and fun destination.  Aloft is a hotel that celebrates the individual and gives you freedom to control and customize your travel adventure…popping up in the most unexpected places, lighting cities all over the world with a social spark.” 

Let’s face it: hospital lighting doesn’t have the best reputation.  Describing an interior as “sterile” isn’t exactly a compliment to any space (even for hospitals!).  Those typical bright white fluorescent lights aren’t exactly what we would call “welcoming.”  Problem is… if medical attention is required, there is no avoiding it.   Why do hotels and retail spaces get to have all of the fun?!  Not any more (mic drop from the healthcare industry!).  Healthcare is bouncing back and Yellow Goat Design is at the forefront of elevating the interior experience for patients and providers alike.

If you don’t try new things, you certainly aren’t going to benefit from them.  Sticking to the tried and true can make you feel tired and blue at the end of the day!  In terms of design, your project will feel flat and generic if you cling to the cookie cutter concept.  Good design, in addition to looking great (obviously), creates a conversation, lends a feeling of distinction and destination and sometimes even causes a good laugh.  We think you should go big or go home in your next interior design project.

Simon Mall in Roosevelt Field, NY knows who to call when it comes to original design (Yellow Goat Design obviously!).  This super popular shopping center (one of the largest in the US…hello!) is decked out top-to-bottom with YGD’s whimsical lighting and kids’ play designs.

There is a reason the song ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’ was so popular that it stayed in our minds forever – and why we say something is “ritzy” when it is classy and glamorous.  The Ritz-Carlton hotel brand truly embodies this concept and has done so for decades - their luxury suites have been around since even before the First World War. 

Yellow Goat is known for its creative and overly unique designs.  Our team of bold thinkers take risks and reap the rewards of being daring and exceptional in the design industry.  Our clients know, and have come to expect, that our ideas are different and set their projects apart from the competition.

We don’t mean to brag (or maybe we do), but with several Interior Design “Best of Year” nominations and awards, we like to think of ourselves as true designers and innovators of custom lighting design. 

At Yellow Goat, we are always ready to help a brand make a big impact, especially when it comes to interior design. Our unique sculptures, wall creations, and lighting fixtures are the perfect solution for metropolitan companies looking to create a buzz through art.

Yellow Goat Design is one of the leaders in interior lighting, design, and spatial planning. We get a lot of queries and questions from our clientele and are always more than happy to answer them. With that in mind, we thought we would compile the most popular and frequently asked questions into one simple list to help you better understand what we do and how we do it.

Quite often, the most interesting play areas in a hotel, office or retail store do not even look like play areas. A play area that is artistically integrated with the surroundings will be more exciting for the children and easier on the eyes for the adults.

When people stay at a hotel, they expect a different experience from that of their home life.  People often enjoy staying in hotels because of their beauty, their luxury, and their presentation.  Beyond all of that, one thing that sticks in a guest’s mind after they leave a hotel is the striking interior design – especially the lighting choices.  Many hotels are set apart from their competition by having the best custom lighting solutions in their foyers, their lobby, and their waiting areas.

If you’re looking for a way to make a unique statement in your business, lighting is one area where you can afford to be bold.  Having a strong artistic statement in your foyer, your lobby, or any other communal space can leave your guests with a lasting impression, and lighting is the key to making any space come alive.