A very dapper Chank Diesel at work on the mural

Last week we announced that our building was going to be getting a makeover. This week the makeover is well underway.  Local font designer Chank Diesel and local artist Adam Turman have been hard at work creating amazing murals on all sides of our building.

Adam Turman added his art to the east side of the building.  It encourages visitors to keep going to the main entrance of the building with the text “Keep Riding” and an illustration of a girl riding a bike.

Full view of the Adam Turman mural

Detail of Adam Turman mural

Chank is hard a work on the facade, west side, and south side of the building.  The south side faces 94 East and greats commuters with upbeat shades of blue and the simple message, “Hi”.

The west side of the building says "Hi!"

Not only is our building starting to look classy but we think Chank looks really classy while he is painting it.  Let’s be honest, most people don’t paint in a tie and fedora.  Chank said of his outfit:

‘i find that wearing a tie not only makes me feel more like a “fine artist” but also changes the way I hold the brush. so cool that I actually have a job where I get to work with a ten-foot pole.’

Mural concepts for the Creative Lighting building by Chank

Most natives of the Twin Cities are familiar with the Creative Lighting building.  It is a bright beacon of a box located off the Snelling exit on 94E in Saint Paul with a painted mural for a facade.  In the past the storefront has sported gophers in a homage to the University of Minnesota, but since 2002 it has proudly displayed a mural by Minneapolis based font designer Chank Diesel.

Current Creative Lighting mural by Chank in 2002

As with all buildings, the Creative Lighting building needs maintenance too, and after eight years it’s time for a fresh coat of paint.  We see this as an opportunity to create a great piece of public art and asked our good friend Chank Diesel to make another mural for us.  He said yes and we couldn’t be more excited about watching him transform our exterior.

Detail of current Creative Lighting mural by Chank in 2002

The pressure washing of the exterior of the building started today and Chank will start painting the building with the new mural sometime this week.  The painting will probably take about three weeks.  We will be documenting the process here on the blog, taking pictures as the new mural comes to life and talking to Chank about his vision for the building.  Please comment to us here on the blog or on our Twitter account at @createlighting.  Chank Diesel can also be found on Twitter @chankfonts and on his “chankblog“.

Chank Diesil's signature on the Creative Lighting building

Art Deco Pendant

What’s hot in lighting for Fall 2010? We have rounded up the best ideas happening in interior design and lighting right now and put them in an easy to read list:

• Art Deco fixtures – Deco lighting is timeless, going from Victorian to Contemporary interiors. Particularly nice for a bit of warmth in a a black and white decorated room. Deco lighting was plentiful, so there’s plenty affordable pieces in the secondhand market.

• Environmentally friendly fixtures are in – just like in every aspect of interior decorating, “eco-conscious lighting” is brightening the day for “eco-conscious homeowners”. Dimmer switches help keep energy usage down, as do automated lighting control. LED light fixtures enable longer lamp light along with compact fluorescent bulbs in traditional fixtures. Look for lighting to go more high tech as this trend continues.

• Larger lighting lingers in design, as great rooms and larger multi-purpose rooms need the big fixtures for scale.

• Metal bases for table lamps shine with the metallics that are setting the design stage in 2010.

• Barring a metal base – look for more organics, such as bamboo, cork, wood veneers and even vines to be used in lighting.

• Lighting is going global with Japanese influences sneaking into fabric styles, look for the trend to continue to lighting as well.

Japanese Influence

Organic Material

Metal Base