Cedric Gibbons (1893-1960) was an American film set designer. He was born in Dublin.
Biography
Gibbons became a set dresser for films assisting art director Hugo Ballin at Edison Studios, New York, in 1914. He soon accompanied Ballin to Hollywood, where Samuel Goldwyn hired him. Ballin resigned as art director to direct and produce, and Gibbons replaced him, assuming the novel title ‘supervising art director.’ Gibbons replaced painted backdrops with three-dimensional sets and was dubbed the person who put the glove on the mantelpiece.’ He managed a staff of talented unit art directors, not always recognised in screen credits, including Ben Carré, Merrill Pye, and Richard Day, and Arnold Gillespie.
He signed a contract with MGM that gave him sole credit for every film the studio made in the USA. He controlled the wardrobe and set-dressing, Matte painting, special effects, and photography sections of the studio.
The 1925 Paris ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industrials Modernes profoundly influenced his approach, as seen in sets for Our Dancing Daughters (1928) with its expansive Art Deco interiors. Other glamorous films popularising Art Déco followed, including Our Modern Maidens (1929) and Our Blushing Brides (1930), creating a craze for affectations that included Venetian blinds, dancing figurines, and indirect lighting in middle-class décors of the time.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL
More on Interior Design
-
Designing Liners: A History of Interior Design Afloat
This book shows how the insides of ocean liners have changed from the middle of the 19th century to the 21st century. It is the first book to give a history and analysis of this vital part of interior design, which reflects and reinforces cultural ideas about national identity, gender, class, and ethnicity. Anne Massey’s…
-
Modern Rustic Hardcover – Create a Rustic Cozy Home
Rustic isn’t the same as it once was. The days of fusty dried flower arrangements, antlers over a stone fireplace, and acres of plaid are long gone.Read More →
-
Live Beautiful |Learn How to Create and Curate a Space
Athena Calderone is a renowned design expert and interior designer who shares her knowledge and connections with interior decorators, fashion designers, and tastemakers from around the world in her book Live Beautiful. Calderone delves into the inspiration behind each homeowner’s design journey and provides practical tips on how to incorporate these sophisticated elements into your…
-
Designing Coffee: New Coffee Places and Branding
The coffee industry has ignited a cultural and creative movement, leading to the creation of unique and imaginative coffee shops. “Designing Coffee” provides guidance on how to create a unique space that reflects individuality.Read More →
-
Noguchi lamp space without clutter
Isamu Noguchi designed the first of his lamps to be produced by traditional construction methods in Gifu, Japan, known for its manufacture of lanterns and parasols made from mulberry bark paper and bamboo. Akari is handcrafted with washi paper from the inside bark of the mulberry tree and bamboo ribbing stretched across sculptural moulded wood…
-
Buro Happold on How are offices evolving?
Due to the pandemic, there has been a change in office layout, with hybrid working providing a means of lowering carbon footprints and enhancing work-life balance. Teams of multidisciplinary experts from Buro Happold are assisting clients in reimagining their workspaces. Companies are investing in their offices to encourage employees to spend time with their teams,…
-
What is traditional Interior Design? (Architectural Digest)
Traditional interior design is a style that began in Europe between the 18th and 19th centuries. Classic, elegant, timeless, and formal are words that describe it. It takes ideas from this time in history and reinterprets them in a modern way, making a polished and well-curated home that feels timeless and has no expiration date.…
-
Made for Living: Collected Interiors for All Sorts of Styles
This Book will help you plan a home that’s made to be lived in. NATIONAL BESTSELLER With more than 250Read More →
-
How Cubicles and the Open-Plan Office Came to Be
Open-plan offices did not work out as well as their utopian creators had hoped, leading to the shift back to cubicles or pods to increase employee productivity and well-being. READ MORERead More →
-
Alastair J.F. Morton (1910 – 1963) British textile Manufacturer
Morton joined his family’s Morton Sundour Fabrics in 1931 and oversaw the company’s first screen-printed fabrics. He was the artistic director and principal designer of Edinburgh Weavers in Carlisle, which was established in 1928 as Morton Sundour’s creative design unit from 1932 to 1935. From the 1930s, he was a supporter of the Modern movement,…
-
Charles Pfister (1938 – 1990) American interior designer
Charles Pfister (1939 to 1990) was an American interior and furniture designer and architect. He was professionally active in San Francisco.Read More →
-
Midcentury Modern: 15 Interior Design Ideas
Master midcentury modern design principles with this simple and snappy interior design handbook. Do you love rich and vibrant timeless design? Are you on a budget and planning a new project based on this hot trend? Are you excited to find out how to create the midcentury modern look for your home, hotel or motel?Read…
-
Modern Interior Design – a guide
The modernism movement began to unfold as it moved away from using the traditional building and design materials like wood, stone and brick and instead began to focus on industrial materials including glass, steel and concrete.Read More →
-
The Interior Design Handbook Kindle Edition
Frida Ramstedt, a design consultant, owns Scandinavia’s most popular interior design blog. In The Interior Design Handbook she reveals the secrets of effective interior design and styling in this book to help you design a home that suits your space, taste, and lifestyle.Read More →
-
Kurt Versen (1901 – 1997), Swedish lighting designer
In the 1940s and 1950s, executed many assignments from architects for flexible lighting appropriate to Modern interiors.Read More →
-
Dorothy Draper (1889 – 1969) American interior designer
Dorothy Draper (1889 – 1969) was an American interior designer. She was born in Tuxedo Park, New York. Draper’s upper-crust upbringing, Tuxedo Park was one of the first gated communities in the United States. Dorothy’s parents were part of an old New England family with longstanding social connections. Dorothy’s childhood was spent playing in high-ceilinged…
-
8 Interior Design Trends from 1966
The 1960s was a period of rediscovery in interior design – an opportune reawakening to the merits of forgotten favourites that were abandoned, perhaps not because they had become cliches. Interior Designers returned to past design, materials and ideas not because they evoked nostalgia but solely because they are good and contribute something of value…
-
The 10 Best Bar Stools for socialising
Bar stools are comfortable, use space well, have unique styles, and offer more ways to make a home feel like a home. READ MORERead More →
-
Robert Bonfils (1886 – 1972) French Graphic Artist
Born in Paris, Robert Bonfils was a French graphic artist, painter, and designer. He studied at the École Germain-Pilon in 1903 and at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1906. He worked for Henri Hamm, a furniture designer. His work included paintings, bookbindings, ceramics for Sèvres, Bianchini-Frerier silk, wallpaper and interior design layouts.…
-
Kaare Klint (1888 – 1954) Danish furniture designer
Kaare Klint – Danish furniture designer. The Danes were greatly influenced by Germany’s Bauhaus movement in the early part of the twentieth century. Read More →
-
1950s bathroom designed by Marcel Breuer
This classic mid-century interior is roomy, with clay tile countertops designed to take suds, wear and water. The clay tile tub and recessed shelf, dramatically reflected in the mirrored storage wall, are sparkling and bright.Read More →
-
John Eberson (1875 – 1954) American Designer famous for the atmospheric theatre
John Eberson was an american designer who was known for his cinema décors. One of his earliest, the 1923 Majestic Theatre in Houston, Texas, was a loosely recreated garden of a late-Renaissance palazzo in Italy. Through his workshop Michelangelo Studios, he was was successful at producing elaborate plasterwork for his theatre décors in Spanish, Moorish,…
-
Emeco and Naoto Fukasawa introduce “Za”
The name “Za” was chosen by Naoto Fukasawa, an industrial designer from Tokyo, and it means “a place to sit” in Japanese. It is a term that alludes to the multi-functionality of a simple stool that can be used anywhere, indoors and outdoors, an object that people will intuitively choose to sit on.Read More →
-
Kwok Hoi Chan (1939 – 1987) Chinese architect and interior designer
Interior design projects included furniture for Air India and the IBM offices in Hong Kong. 1966-68, Chan worked in a design studio, London, contributing to the interiors of the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth II. He subsequently, designed for Spectrum, the Netherlands. Read More →
-
Eero Aarnio (b. 1932 ) Finnish interior and industrial designer
Finnish designer Eero Aarnio (b. 1932) is a great innovator of twentieth-century furniture. His plastic chairs from the 1960s are pop culture icons that continue to be in demand, which is why Aarnio Originals began manufacturing them again in 2017 after launching at the Stockholm Furniture Fair.Read More →
-
Brian O’Rorke (1901 – 1974) New Zealand architect and interior designer
Brian O’Rorke was a New Zealand architect and interior designer. He was professionally active in Britain. He studied architecture, Cambridge University and Architectural Association, London. His style was uncompromisingly Modern. The 1932 music room he designed for Mrs Robert Solomon in London included a swirl-motif rug by Marion Dorn. Read More →
-
Best Of Indian Home Window Grill Design
Windows are an introduction to the world beyond. They are an invincible part of any home since it brings in air, sunlight, views, sounds that could be music to ears or noise to irritate, weather… inside the house to make and keep it fresh and vibrant. More the windows better ventilated is the home. Moreover, windows…
-
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886 – 1969) German architect and designer
Between 1905 and 1907, he worked as an apprentice to architect and furniture designer Bruno Paul in Berlin, where he studied wooden furniture design. He created furniture for all of his early homes, including the Werner residence.Read More →
-
Sibyl Colefax (1875 – 1950) British collector and interior designer
At Onslow Square and Argyll House, she opened salons. Lady Oxford, Lady Asquith, Lady Cunard, and Lady Ottoline Morrell were her rivals as hostess. She continued to entertain on a small scale at her house, Lord North Street, London, after her husband Arthur Colefax died in 1936.Read More →
-
Andrés Reisinger’s Explorative, Pastel 3D Renderings
Barcelona-based multidisciplinary graphic designer Andrés Reisinger renders still lifes, interiors and design objects in 3D with a clean, modern aesthetic.Read More →
-
Andrée Putnam (1925 – 2013) French Interior Designer
Andrée Putman was a French interior designer, furniture designer, and entrepreneur. She was born in Paris. Putman was probably best known internationally for her black and white palette, illustrated by the 1985 interior of Morgans Hotel in New York. It was commissioned by the entrepreneurs Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell.Read More →
-
Oliver Messel (1904 – 1978) British theatre, film and interior designer
He met Rex Whistler at the Slade, with whom he began making papier-maché masks. These piqued the interest of Sergei Diaghilev, who commissioned Messel to create masks for the Ballets Russes production Zéphyre et Flore in 1925. For his 1928 play This Year of Grace, Noel Coward commissioned sets and costumes.Read More →
-
Foam Furniture Collection Inspired By Meteorite Pieces
This unique foam furniture is inspired by meteorites and is painted bold to add impact to the space Celestial theme is very popular now, various celestial bodies are incorporated into home and event decor. If you are looking for a non-traditional and bold way to add such trendy touches to your home decor, we have…
-
A new era for African Designer Donald Nxumalo
Donald Nxumalo, one of the bright lights of the 2018 Design Joburg, has announced the renaming of his company. Previously known as DNX, Donald Nxumalo will now be known simply as Donald Nxumalo. Donald Nxumalo will be the brand’s name and the monogram will be DNX. The explanation for this shift is that people are…
-
Clean and Elegant Kitchen Designs
Clean and Elegant Kitchen Designs From kitchen makeovers, to new builds, Becki Owens passionate about the environments she create. Simple, clean, elegant are words that inspire her every day. — Melina DivaniRead More →
-
A Cafe Entirely Decorated with Neons
If you are looking for an original and cosy cafe in London, have a tour at the God’s Own Junkyard, an entirely decorated with neons bar. For all the warm and kitsch deco lovers, this place will be an insolite experience. The owners, Chris & Linda Bracey, are neons collectioners since 40 years and they…
-
Best Amateur Living Space: The Hunter Greenhouse – Catskills Mountains
The winner of the 2018 Remodelista Considered Design Awards Best Amateur Living/Dining space is Ely Franko, for his project The Hunter Greenhouse in the Catskills. His project was chosen as a finalist by guest judge Stephen Alesch , who had this to say: “What a perfect little hideout—full of surprise and compact good energy!Read More…
-
4 Things My Tiny Apartment Taught Me
Call me crazy, but I’ve always imagined how much fun it would be to live in a tiny flat. Small, although not in the sense of a prison cell, but by American standards. Read More →
-
S533 Cantilever Chair timeless elegance
Technology is transformed into furniture, and an eye-catching invention is transformed into a beautiful interior design product. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was the first to give the cantilever chair a light aesthetic and use curved lines to tie it to its surroundings.Read More →
-
Nordiska Kök Bespoke Kitchen for Stylein Founder Elin Alemdar
Swedish kitchen company Nordiska Kök have created another beautiful kitchen, this time in collaboration with Scandinavian fashion brand Stylein . One of Sweden’s most beloved contemporary womenswear brands, it was nominated for Sweden’s most prestigious design award Guldknappen in 2017.Read More →
-
12 Tips for The Best Kids Bathroom Decor
Even the greatest among us find it difficult to decorate a bathroom efficiently. You really need to think about the colours and textures you choose in such a large room so it looks designed but not overwhelming.Read More →
-
Cozy kitchen with a vintage dining table
Cozy kitchen with a vintage dining table How amazingly cozy and inviting does this kitchen look ? The all grey kitchen cabinets, combined with the marble counter top and the white tiling on the wall has a rather minimal and fresh look.Read More →
-
A Wide Open Kitchen in Pistachio Green – Swedish Design 🇸🇪
In collaboration with Swedish fashion label Stylein, Nordiska Kök has created this open plan kitchen for the fashion label’s founder.Read More →
-
The blackened kitchen 🧑🍳 | the best of Curated Design
DeVol has done it again with this beautiful black kitchen. called the ‘Chipping Norton Kitchen’ , its glamorous glossy black cupboards paired with those statement-making San Simone Quartzite worktops and beautiful hints of warm brass and copper look so chic. devol took their simple Shaker cupboards and painted them in their Printer’s Black shade, deep…
-
My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation
For over twenty years, scientists have been discovering connections between physical space and the creative mind. Written by a noted architect, My Creative Space is the first book to turn this rich trove of psychological research into practical techniques for shaping your home for maximum creativity.Read More →
-
Ini Archibong’s debut collection for Sé explores delicacy and strength
The series, also known as Collection IV by the brand, was released over a two-year period. It is the Nigerian American designer’s first collaboration with Sé and his most extensive furniture collection to date.Read More →
-
The Atra Armchair Continues the Indoor/Outdoor Furniture Trend
Atra has ergonomic sitting with ventilated perforated back and side regions, as well as a wide, curved design. The armchairs are stackable and the seat is easy to clean. The materials utilised to create Atra – 100 percent recyclable polypropylene and fibreglass – are weather-resistant.Read More →
-
Walter Gropius, Lighting fixture in the Director’s office 💡
It was a lighting fixture of tubular bulbs wired through thin aluminium tubes. These lights were part of the interior decoration of the Bauhaus Building.Read More →
-
What was the Purpose of Saloon Doors? 👩🌾
People may want to instal saloon doors for a variety of reasons. These doors are not weatherproof, but they serve as a symbolic barrier that urges people to pause before entering a building, room, or area. The clear view above the doors allows individuals on both sides to see what’s going on, which can be…
-
4 Decorating Mistakes You May Not Even Realise You’re Making 🤭
Decorating — that is, making your home the best it can be in terms of aesthetic. Decorating is a skill, not a science, and it can be challenging to master. Even the most well-intentioned designers make mistakes, and sometimes they’re blunders you’re not even aware of. Ask yourself if you’re making one of these five…