Kelly Waters, Founder - Studio Waters & And A Tangerine

Design with Kelly Waters

‍

‍Studio Waters is where design meets depth. We are driven by curiosity, rigorous research, and our unique understanding of the human sensory experience. This makes us adept at designing spaces in the realms of hospitality, from restaurants and hotels to creative studios and amenity rich environments.

With a rich background in hospitality design, it’s a natural progression to re engage with our roots in residential design. We draw deeply from the legacy of California’s groundbreaking architects and designers, influenced by their pioneering spirit. By integrating our core pillars of narrative, research and deep collaboration with artists and artisans we blend historical influence and contemporary insight. This approach enables us to craft authentic spaces steeped in the stories of the people that inhabit them.

‍

‍

‍

‍

"As an avid user of Miro during the pandemic (It was a god send to have virtual pin-up boards with my teams) I was pretty excited that Canoa combined a similar platform within their original offering. The realm of furniture purchasing and procurement has been a nightmare for designers for years. Horrendous specification software and an opaque purchasing system (whether that is funneled through dealers or purchasing agents.) Now, that I'm a small design business combining software offerings is incredibly helpful to my budget. Typically software companies are set up for much larger companies and don't scale to smaller user profiles like me so if I can combine two use cases, I'll do it every time. "

‍

- Kelly Waters - Founder, Studio Waters & And A Tangerine

‍

Design Process

‍

Collect: How do you explore new ideas?

‍

Short answer, through everything. I’m constantly gathering information from an everyday lived experience. We experience the world through our sensory capacity and we’re constantly processing stimuli in our everyday existence. Longer answer below;)

Curiosity is a necessary trait. If you aren’t curious about the world around you I’m not sure you can be a designer. But it’s helpful if you can create multiple libraries so you can harness that curiosity. I do this in multiple ways.

Travel - It’s a must and was part of my schooling with my early study tours. Visiting iconic architectural sites and sketching them. I need to be better about the sketching part these days but the sketching allows you to break down how the design was actually built, constructed, materiality. Photographing the same sites doesn’t allow for your eye to analyze them properly. Most of this lives in my head or my phone if I need to jog my memory but I often pull up ideas from other creatives from various generations that I’ve experienced personally and translate them to the project at hand.

Books - The internet does not hold all the things. I have a decent library that allows me to explore many subjects in more depth. I really rely on my collection. In school I loved nothing more than sitting amongst the stacks and pulling out book after book, my professors would often exclaim, “Where did you find this?!” It’s important not to collect all the books of designers today or only design books. Stretch and find arbiters of their day you’ll be stunned by the tales they can tell you and anything on nature will be a never ending well of inspiration.

Multiple online tools from Canoa’s Canvas that allows for you to collaborate in real time with your teammates or collaborators on virtual pin-up boards, Pinterest to hold visual fodder, I’m also always collecting rare and vintage pieces on chairish and 1stDibs. Even if I don’t end up purchasing them they are a great way to use the algorithm to find new designers you’ve not heard of before.

‍

‍

Design: How do your ideas begin to take form?

‍

A large part of those beginning stages is synthesizing all the necessary information. Site, typology, the type of client and how much they are bringing to the table. From there you help them craft a narrative around the parameters of the project and if it’s more personal like a home, A narrative around what brings them joy and acknowledges and celebrates their everyday rituals. This narrative along with concept imagery and hand sketching allow for the design to begin to take shape and form.

‍

‍

‍

‍

Share: How do you communicate or express your ideas.

‍

Designers communicate their approach through a series of drawings, sketches, renderings, imagery and narrative. I am no different in this respect but of course it depends on the size of the project, typology, etc. A huge part of my process is the collaboration with local artists, designers, and artisans. It’s hugely important to me to have their voices be a part of the process as well as the more formal presentations.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍