MIDLAND Stays True to a Philosophy of Well-Chosen Goods

Southern California is blessed with many things: year-round beautiful weather, close proximity to the ocean as well as the mountains, and MIDLAND. Founded by Paige Appel and Kelly Harris, the shop has two locations in both Culver City and Silver Lake, and operates by the philosophy of selling only well-chosen goods that resonate with both women and their customers. Home goods, beauty products, and apparel have been curated specifically from makers that Paige and Kelly either know directly or have at the least met in person. Each product must have a connection to something higher than commerce, and ideally it all comes back around to community. For June’s Design Store(y) we spoke to both women to find out what makes MIDLAND tick so successfully.

Why did you pick this city/neighborhood/storefront?

For Culver City, it was an untapped neighborhood for quality boutiques. We drove by this space everyday on our way to our event studio and watched it come for lease, jumped on it, and then gutted and renovated it. It was laborious and not without hiccups, but the space has such good energy and we love the aesthetic we’ve created.

Where did you get the name for the store?

The name has many meanings. One being that Culver City is in the middle of the L.A., so literally the Midland of the city. Two being the name is not too feminine or masculine and has a Western ring to it. Three, it reminds us of an open field or prairie in the Southwest, much of where we take inspiration from.

Has it changed much since it opened? How?

Yes and no. The idea and ethics and aesthetics haven’t changed, but about 30% of the products we carry tend to change. We are still learning about makers we align with and those we don’t. It has also become more of a clothing store than we originally imagined, but it is proving viable and fun to have a good selection of quality clothing.

What’s one of the challenges you have with the business?

It’s challenging to figure out what customers want without compromising our values or makers. It’s a strange world in retail right now where people want cheap and fast, and that’s not what we are about. Marketing without being obnoxious, carrying the products we believe in without over-saturation of products. It’s all a balancing act, and honestly what works and doesn’t changes all the time.

What other stores have you worked in before opening this one?

None! We have backgrounds in film and advertising and event planning. This is our third career iteration, so it’s not only exciting and challenging but also a new road to go down.

What’s your favorite item in the store right now?

Paige is always partial to the Navajo pottery and Kelly is partial to the apothecary, specifically the Saipua soap Clary Sage with Dill.

What is this season’s theme/inspiration/story? 

Spring is always about transition for us. Moving from corduroy pants and sweaters to flowy sundresses and lightweight jumpsuits. We don’t shy away from pops of color that reflect natural seasonal elements such as a violet Kkibo dress the color of wisteria. A peach Rachel Craven caftan the color of a sunset. A wheat colored jumpsuit from Ilana Kohn. Our inspiration is always an effortless look made from natural fibers, and doesn’t overpower the person wearing it. Unfussy, but chic. Same with our home goods and other products.

Are you carrying any new products and/or undiscovered gems you’re particularly excited about?

We are very excited about our line of scents. They are the perfect organic unisex blends that don’t overpower but are significantly earthy and interesting. They don’t imprint on someone else when you hug them but rather leave a longing for a place elsewhere… Midland, Heartland, and Hinterland. People always ask us what the amazing smell is when you walk in the store and we say it’s an olfactory concert of the three natural formulations.

What’s been a consistent best seller?

Coffee mugs! Can’t keep them in stock. We love all our potters, but right now the custom colors Ivy Ivy Ivy is making for us are beautiful and flying off the shelves. They pair well with the coffee bean blends from Canyon Coffee we sell.

What’s your process for selecting + curating the objects in your shop?

First, we have to love the product ourself. We have to try it and know it’s flawless. Second, it has to have a connection to something bigger than commerce. Ethics and quality of product is key. Third, it helps to connect with the designer/maker. We are big on community, so feeling like we are carrying our friends and people we have met and adore makes it easier for us to stand behind the product and sell it. We are not interested in detachment or lack of familiarity. Beauty organizes the mind and when something aligns in ethics, detail, and humanity – it’s truly beautiful.

Any special events/exhibits/pop ups/collaborations coming up?

We host pop-ups quite often. We just did a wonderful collaboration with our friend Karen Kimmel and the artists she works with at Tierra del Sol. They empower people with development disabilities through art and job development and we are now carrying their pillows, textiles, and ceramics in the Silver Lake shop in some of our chosen color-ways. These soulful artists really inspired us, emotionally and creatively, and giving back to them is beyond fulfilling. We also have a pop-up coming up with Jungmaven, Paradise People, and You Swim for summer, and are hosting a beach clean-up with our dear friend Christy Dawn. We are more than just a shop, we believe in a life of substance beyond our walls. The Midland customer cares about more than just incense and soap.

Do you have anything from the store in your own home?

We have pretty much something from every maker in our home. Pottery, clothing, apothecary, etc. We both have a couple of the Agnes Baddoo bags carried in the shop. The custom hunter green and canvas is exclusive to our shop and we are obsessed. Agnes has been a wonderful collaborator and made the “Midland” green bag for us before we opened, as a deep Essex/Hunter green is our signature color. We each carry her bags and swear they are the only bag you need. They get better with age. Durable, beautiful, and holds just what you need. The compliments are endless for these purses.

What’s been one of the most fulfilling aspects in opening your store?

Connecting with people, customers, and makers. Feeling the joy of making someone’s day with our goods. Creating a space to gather, explore, and discover the craft of so many talented and sincere people. It has been fulfilling to have more control over our content and creations. Previous work was more client-centric and that sometimes didn’t align with our values. This is 100% our curation, and maybe it’s not for everyone, but that’s okay as it’s for us and by us and someone resonating with it makes us happy.

What’s one lesson you’ve learned since opening your store?

Don’t buy anything for the shop without seeing it, testing it, and getting a feel for it’s energy and quality. We made the mistake of buying product from line sheets without knowing it in real life and quite a few were not meant for us. Kind-of like online dating… it may look good on the screen, but you gotta meet for the happy hour to know if you really resonate with each other.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to follow a similar path to yours, what would it be? 

Just do it for yourself. It won’t make you rich. It won’t make you famous. Find your intentions for the space and follow that. People can tell when it’s authentic and it benefits everyone, especially you, when it’s done from your heart and soul.

Visit MIDLAND at 8634 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232 or 1404 Micheltorena St. Silver Lake, CA 90026 or shop-midland.com.

Photos by Morgan Pansing.

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Diving into the Aquarium of the Pacific’s Immersive 9K-Resolution Honda Pacific Visions Theater

When Honda invited us down to Long Beach with the promise of an experience representing the intersection of architecture, science, and technology, even the notoriously slow traffic of Los Angeles couldn’t keep us from checking out the newest addition to the Aquarium of the Pacific, Pacific Visions.

Whether day or night, the Pacific Visions glows with blue-tinted luminosity.

Conceived as a state-of-the-art expansion of the original aquarium, the new 29,000-square-foot, two-story wing is an architectural medium for storytelling, presenting the global challenges and proposing solutions in reference to our planet’s most pressing environmental issues. Designed by the San Francisco-based architecture and design firm EHDD, the exterior’s enormous flowing biomorphic mass was created in sum with 800-plus panels of acid-etched glass, each thoughtfully dulled to reduce excessive glare, yet still reflective enough to produce a subtle blue-tinted luminosity across its sinuous length.

The Honda Pacific Visions Theater is a two-story, dynamic digital theater that rumbles with the action, and even mists and emits scents to match what is projected upon its encompassing 32-foot-tall, 180° arc, 130-foot-long digital projection wall that extends down to the floor across a 30-foot-diameter floor projection disc.

Visitors eventually find their way into the Honda Pacific Visions Theater, where a trio of 4K-resolution, 20,000-lumen laser projectors cover the expanse of a 133 feet long and 32 feet high screen complemented by a fourth projection directed at the 30-foot diameter floor projection disc. It all adds up to an image with 9K resolution. And if that level of visual immersion isn’t enough, the theater is also equipped with fans and a fog and scent system, producing yet another layer of immersion to communicate the physicality missing from nearly all theater experiences.

The 50-foot-long interactive media wall designed by Cortina Productions in the culmination gallery uses a radar touch system that creates an invisible field about 4 to 6 inches from the wall. When a visitor’s hand crosses the field, the system uses the coordinates of that location to activate the content displayed on the wall…or even allow visitors to pop virtual bubbles floating along the wall.

Pacific Visions is unlike any other aquarium expansion project. We are taking a unique, unconventional approach in creating a space where the focus is on the one species that is affecting all others on Earth: humans. Pacific Visions is a place where scientists, policymakers, and the public can come together to explore solutions to create a better future for all.

– Dr. Jerry R. Schubel, Aquarium of the Pacific president & CEO

Reefs & Drifters is the inaugural installation in the 2,800-square-foot Pacific Visions art gallery and is designed by Convivial Studio, a European art and design practice. With exhibit elements focusing on corals and plankton, visitors will be immersed in nature’s diversity and resilience through a multisensory experience featuring video projections accompanied by spatial soundscapes, a touchable coral sculpture wall, glass sculptures inspired by plankton, and a collection of mirrored exhibits called Infinity Coral.

The new wing of the Aquarium of the Pacific is now open, with Pacific Visions’ array of interactive exhibitions, the state-of-the-art immersive Honda Pacific Visions Theater, and art gallery inviting visitors to explore the depths of the ocean and humanity’s impact upon it through the mediums of art, technology, and architecture.

Photos by Tom Bonner.

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AMJL Designs a Colorful Pair of Interactive Furniture Pieces

Designers Abdalla Mohamed and Jannes Lüdtke, of Kassel, Germany based design studio AMJL, have launched a colorful pair of furniture pieces that invite people to interact with them. The colorful side table and shelf float somewhere between “the presented and the presenting,” both functional pieces as they are but they evolve with interaction. They used bold colors – ultramarine and fluorescent orange – to spark visual interest in hopes the observer will find it enticing.

Luftikus reimagines the traditional shelving unit by eliminating solid shelving surfaces and opting for an outer grid made of wood. Despite a lack of shelves, it encourages users to think outside the box and discover new ways to use it by claiming it as their own.

This side table, named to/o, requires the user to add something weighted to the flat orange surface to counterbalance the table’s surface. If no weights keep the orange disk down, the tabletop becomes unstable and unusable. When it’s time to move it, take the weight off and the table rolls willingly to its next location.

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The USPS Is Making All of Our Ellsworth Kelly Dreams Come True

Just over three years after his death, the U.S. Post Office honored American abstract artist Ellsworth Kelly on what would have been his 96th birthday with stamps that highlight ten works of art. Kelly’s career spanned over 70 years and during that time he honed a distinctive style that incorporated simple shapes and patterns, bright colors, and hard edges. While widely known for his abstract paintings, his work crossed multiple mediums, including sculpture and printmaking, and now, stamps.

The forever stamps come as a sheet of 20 that feature 10 of Kelly’s works with two of each design, including: “Yellow White” (1961), “Colors for a Large Wall” (1951), “Blue Red Rocker” (1963), “Spectrum I” (1953), South Ferry, (1956), “Blue Green” (1962), “Orange Red Relief for Delphine Seyrig” (1990), “Meschers”, (1951), “Red Blue” (1964), and “Gaza” (1956).

The stamps are available now for $11 per sheet via USPS.com.

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Desktop Wallpaper: June 2019 by Shaw Contract

The following post is brought to you by Shaw Contract. Our partners are hand-picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.

While we know how quick it is to switch out your desktop wallpaper every month with our Designer Desktops, we also know that the wallpaper, textiles, carpet and flooring that inspire these designs were made for longevity and durability in high traffic areas. That’s why this month, we’re excited to share more about the design process for not one but three Designer Desktops brought to you by Shaw Contract.

Gradation is one of Shaw Contract’s carpet tile collections that combines multiple hues to create colorful, futuristic gradations. The designers at Shaw Contract tested and experimented with hundreds of colors to create unexpected and unique combinations. The process to manufacture these carpet tiles, as well as highlight the details and complex gradients, is highly advanced, something traditional tufting methods would be unable to achieve.

DESKTOP:  1024×768 \\\ 1280×1024 \\\ 1680×1050 \\\ 1900×1200 \\\ 2560×1440

MOBILE: iPhone XS \\\ iPhone XS Max \\\ iPad Pro

The Community collection is inspired by the connections we make locally and abroad. Composed of painterly strokes and weaving-inspired patterns, the collection is an exploration of colors and patterns that stemmed from the Shaw Contract design team’s trip to Morocco, where they saw first hand how artisan communities practiced their age-old craft. From the experience, designer Omoleye Simmons created these sketches to kick off the design process for the Community collection.

DESKTOP:  1024×768 \\\ 1280×1024 \\\ 1680×1050 \\\ 1900×1200 \\\ 2560×1440

MOBILE: iPhone XS \\\ iPhone XS Max \\\ iPad Pro

DESKTOP:  1024×768 \\\ 1280×1024 \\\ 1680×1050 \\\ 1900×1200 \\\ 2560×1440

MOBILE: iPhone XS \\\ iPhone XS Max \\\ iPad Pro

Learn more about Shaw Contract here.

View and download past Designer Desktops here.

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Where I Work: Alex Daly

New York City-based Alex Daly has been a driving force behind some of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns over the years, including three books from Standards Manual (here, here, and here), Today clock, TLC’s new album, Neil Young’s audio player, and Joan Didion’s documentary, earning herself the much-deserved nickname, Crowdsourceress, and a spot on Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2016. She is the founder of Vann Alexandra and DalyPR, which eventually morphed into Daly, a company that was spun from crowdfunding clients looking for guidance post-campaign. Now, Daly brings the knowledge learned from running these massive campaigns and offers PR, events, and crowdfunding consultation services. This month’s Where I Work goes behind the scenes to see the colorful offices where Alex Daly does her best work.

What is your typical work style?

Our company, Daly, just relaunched this year as a modern marketing and PR company that offers publicity, crowdfunding, and events services. Before that, I had founded a company that took a soup-to-nuts approach to launching and managing crowdfunding campaigns for designers worldwide. We were very successful, but it was high stakes, 24/7 work and team members were dropping like flies from burn out. Beyond that, our crowdfunding clients were asking for PR after their campaigns ended. Both factors ultimately forced me to rethink our goals, and I realized it was time to pivot.

When we managed crowdfunding campaigns full-time, it was about keeping up with the daily crises; now, our PR and marketing work is about planning ahead and ideating ongoing stories in a diverse, community-driven, untraditional way. This means that the work / life dynamic is inherently more balanced. It’s important to me that my team comes in and works hard, but can also turn off at the end of the day and live their lives. I’ve literally written this into our company handbook, to make sure this is an ingrained and observed part of our company culture.

Overall, our relaunch has allowed us to begin working with clients in a longer term capacity. It’s been a really exciting shift so far—and we are partnering some of the best creators in the world, like Pentagram, Freitag, Standards Manual, and Doberman. It’s a massive privilege to grow and evolve with them.

Personally, I feel like I am always working, and I like that! I get up early and send emails from home; after work, I have drinks or dinners with writers and potential collaborators. On weekends, I am constantly talking to my boyfriend (and frequent collaborator) about creative ideas or ways to make the company better. I meet with people I admire and try to learn from them (with the goal of working with them, too!). I don’t care for vacations, but enjoy traveling frequently to introduce myself to even more people and projects. Working provides me with motivation and direction. It makes me feel good.

What’s your studio/work environment like?

We worked with my brilliant boyfriend Hamish Smyth’s company, Order, to design our new office. While Order typically does branding jobs, they are beginning to offer interior design services.

Hamish and his excellent designer Nicholas Stover planned out the space to work as a beautiful office and showroom, picking out and arranging every single piece of furniture and all the decor––from the signage on the door to how the posters are positioned against the wall and our lamps are angled on our desks. We are such lucky ducks.

How is your space organized/arranged?

The layout of the space lends itself to exhibiting our client’s creations. Right when you walk in there is a cozy area in front of a towering Vitsoe 606 shelf that is efficiently filled with all types of special objects from our clients: Standards Manual books, a Today clock, Anicorn watches, Keap candles, Freitag bags, AIGA Eye on Design magazines, Greenery NYC plants, AstroReality planets, and Duane King’s Pioneer Plaque replicas.

Behind that is a Saarinen Tulip table for client and team meetings, and on the opposite side is our work area, where we spend most of our days. Hamish painted the back wall to match our branding’s dark gray color, and leaned our favorite posters against that wall.

The space has lots of natural light, and we have filled it with color, which represents Daly. We are an upbeat, sunny bunch, and collaborate with bold, exciting companies.

How long have you been in this space? Where did you work before that?

Only since January! Before that we were in Gowanus, Tribeca, and Greenpoint. We have moved around a lot, but are ready to park for awhile.

If you could change something about your workspace, what would it be?

I love the open office layout. It feels collaborative, and I get lonely quickly otherwise. While we have a cool phone booth tucked next to the kitchen for privacy, it’s still not possible to have private meetings, which is the only thing I would probably change. I wish I had some magic powers to conjure up a meeting room when necessary (*witch emoji*).

Is there an office pet?

No, but we love sharing doggy pics (especially Mr. Bubz!) on Slack constantly.

Do you require music in the background? If so, who are some favorites?

Music is a necessity for me, and we have an awesome teenage engineering OD-11 speaker that does the trick. I am obsessed with NYC rock from the early aughts, so there is a lot of Interpol and TV on the Radio, mixed with stuff like Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, and David Bowie. We are listening to The Strokes right now. Go figure.

How do you record ideas?

Our client and friend Aron Fay is both a wonderful designer and composition notebook obsessive. We kickstarted his elevated version of a composition notebook, comp, and that’s where you can find all my chicken scratch notes.

Do you have an inspiration board? What’s on it right now? 

Our inspiration comes from sitting together at the conference table talking through ideas, or discussing things on Slack. We don’t need a bunch of sticky notes all over the place to make things happen––just sayin’.

What is your creative process and/or creative workflow like? Does it change every project or do you keep it the same?

Last year, I brought on a stellar business consultant, Holly Howard, who was instrumental in helping us restructure and relaunch the business. In addition to putting company culture systems into place, we also created an employee handbook and operations manual. The manual documents everything from what we do from receiving new business inquiries to kicking off a new engagement, where we build a master database that houses all our contacts, agendas, call notes, and more. We have been able to take on many more projects because of this level of organization. There is no other way.

What kind of art/design/objects might you have scattered about the space?

Our Vitsoe 606 shelving houses a lot of our clients’ projects. Next to it, against the wall, we have also hung up a bunch of Freitag bags. We like to showcase work from pals of Daly, too, like our friend Aelfie’s rug and pillows.

Are there tools and/or machinery in your space?

Just a bunch of Macs.

What tool(s) do you most enjoy using in the design process?

Luckily, Order does our design work. They use all the typical design tools—pen and paper, Adobe Suite—and newer tools optimized for digital that are emerging, like Figma.

Let’s talk about how you’re wired. Tell us about your tech arsenal/devices.

I really am not tech savvy. I do love my iPhone 7, and use it for music, podcasts, emails, reading. I love the OD-11 speakers—we have some at home too!

What design software do you use, if any, and for what?

Some of us use Adobe InDesign for proposals and presentations. Other than that most of our work is written. Does Apple Mail count!?

Is there a favorite project/piece you’ve worked on? 

There are too many to pick a favorite, but I am proud of publishing The Crowdsourceress, which was a massive undertaking to accomplish on a tight timeline while also running a company.

Do you feel like you’ve “made it”? What has made you feel like you’ve become successful? At what moment/circumstances? Or what will it take to get there?

I don’t know if I will ever feel like I have “made it”––and that’s what compels me to get up and keep working every single day. I do know that I wouldn’t be here without key people in my life: Hamish, my parents, my business consultant Holly, my team, my clients, and my therapist. It really does take a village.

Tell us about a current project you’re working on. What was the inspiration behind it?

Our clients energize us every day.

We are currently working with a women-operated vanilla company, Heilala, that employs and empowers hundreds of women workers to cultivate the world’s most awarded vanilla, grown on the Vava’u islands of the Kingdom of Tonga. Amazing, right?

We also just began working with Pentagram in New York, which is an absolute dream.

What’s on your desk right now?

Some of our beautiful Daly pens. Otherwise, it’s nice and clean. Having a clean and organized office is incredibly important to me; so at the end of the day, all desks and surfaces are cleared. It makes for a clear head!

Do you have anything in your home that you’ve designed/created?

I am not a “creative,” even though I always wished I was. I compromised this desire by working to bring creators’ ideas to life, and promoting the shit out of them. (I do enjoy writing though! Can you tell?)

It makes sense that I live with a highly creative individual, and I am inspired by how he can sit down and actually make something. When we moved into our new home we had a bunch of empty walls, so he began painting. I am so jealous!

Photos by Julia Hembree.

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