Von Löwen Designs » Jersey Zen

Mindfulness – From Breath To Business To Design

Lars — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:56:23 +0000

Learning for pleasure, for its own sake, whether it is learning a foreign language, traveling, reading history or philosophy, or pursuing a hobby, is in short supply today. Many people find that just keeping up with their home lives and doing a minimum of reading about their field, or anything else for that matter, is more than they can handle; but you never can tell how your personal interest learning may one day connect with professional opportunities and your overall effectiveness.

The analogy of the explorer as the quintessential learner can be useful to keep in mind. As we mature from children into … [visit site to read more]

Dial-up Mentality – In a Broadband World

Lars — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:01:31 +0000

“An expert is a fellow who is afraid to learn anything new because then he wouldn’t be an expert anymore.” – Harry S. Truman

The typical narrowband expert is a specialist who delivers data and information, they know their skill-set and carefully and obsessively define where their proficiency begins and ends. Whereas the broadband expert, an authority as well, is someone who has a core expertise onto which they layer knowledge of related (and sometimes unrelated) fields. The result is a designer/advisor with … [visit site to read more]

The Teacher – Designer Parallel

Lars — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:24:00 +0000

If you stop and think about it, in a many numbers of ways, an adept designer’s skill set should be very comparable to those of a successful professor or teacher. Both having the objective to encourage and provide guidance to the student/client to get from Point A (what they know, understand and believe to be true in the present) to Point B (an advanced state of deeper understanding and knowledge to enable and support a conclusion).

I’m not sure if you will find many noteworthy educators that just stand up in lecture to simply declare B as the correct answer. Of course not, there is considerably more to it than that, and similar methods will apply to a proficient design … [visit site to read more]

Commitment

Lars — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:19:12 +0000

Without commitment, design advice or any advice for that matter, is merely the expression of opinions. When addressing commitment here I am not referring to such things as drawing up a contract or ‘closing the deal.’ Instead, I would like to discuss the designer’s role with ensuring that the client understands exactly what will be necessary to have a successful remodeling … [visit site to read more]

HGTV’s Design Star & Origin of Jersey Zen

Lars — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:30:13 +0000

I’ve had several people throughout the last several months contact me to ask what this Jersey Zen thing was all about, so I thought I would finally break down and tell the story.

Back in 2008, a friend of mine (hi Stephie) told me about the HGTV program Design Star. At this point I had never even heard of the show, me – I’m more of a Colbert Report, Reno 911 kind a’ guy; but after countless cocktails and a little more persuading, she finally convinced me to post some of my work on their site. I didn’t really think much of it and after doing a bit more research and actually watching the show, I just blew it off with a … [visit site to read more]

A Focus On The Differences

Lars — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:00:49 +0000

A core ingredient to any successful design approach is simply treating your client deservedly, like you would want to be treated and not like just another kitchen, bath or other remodeling project. Subsequently, as you listen to a client, the question on your mind should be, “What makes this person different and unique from any other I’ve worked with?” and “How will this affect my approach and course of action?”

Unfortunately, this can be very hard … [visit site to read more]

A Client’s Perspective

Lars — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:19:58 +0000

To better relate to some of the emotions surrounding the client’s decision to use a professional designer, it is always helpful to put yourself into their shoes. Think of the risks that go along with the responsibility of choosing any provider, for what could easily be one of the most invasive and costly endeavors they and their family will go through in their lifetime. How would you like to be the one to blame, if something doesn’t turn out right?

Viewed in this way, it is easy to understand that the client has every right to enter the visit site to read more]

When Being An Expert Is Not Enough

Lars — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:39:16 +0000

I remember when I first started in this field I felt a strong need to demonstrate my expertise upon meeting a prospective client, thinking my only role was to provide all the answers to any given query. After all, this is a professional business relationship, not a personal one.

Obviously, answering questions and doing great analysis holds some validity, but with time I’ve learned to relax and enjoy developing client … [visit site to read more]