David Duncan Livingston

PR for Interior Design & New Media

David — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:23:23 +0000

David Duncan Livingston presented his workshop Interiors PR: Pitching to Bloggers and Magazines- April 25, 2013 at Workspace within the SFDC. Here is the introduction to the presentation.

The underlying premise for designers and architects is that traditional PR and getting exposure in national and regional magazines is undergoing a change like never before. We know the cost of delivering ink and paper into a readers hands will keep going up but we may not see the loss of revenue a publisher will face from an “unconnected” reader flipping through the pages of a traditional magazine. Magazines will be forced to go more and more online to capture this revenue as readers engage a clickable and linkable publication. Pick up a recent House Beautiful to see this adaptation now.

We are also seeing the democratization of the publishing process where everyone can be their own publisher with website, blogs and their own online magazine or TV channel for that matter. This “shareable” content is opening up the publishing world allowing each of us to collect readers, viewers, friends and followers. We now can act as our own editor and subscription department. As a designer/principal these are two new jobs to add to your already full plate to stay competitive.

There is a change for consumers of media, no longer are a few publishers/broadcasters reaching a lots of consumers but additionally lots of publishers/broadcasters can easily reach lots of separate audiences. Adapting to this proliferation of media outlets is the key to understanding what could be called The New PR. http://fixcourse.com/social-media-definition/

The title of the presentation is misleading because it is using the model of old “Mad Man” days of PR and not the new direction of Creating Content and Inbound Marketing going forward. This link is insightful: http://www.hubspot.com/products/inbound-marketing/

Yes, traditional magazines will still be published and yes the submission process is discussed in the presentation but the contextual changes underway are most import to grasp.

A PR plan is what you need or at least a PR concept to navigate how you and your firm are perceived. You will need to know who and what you want to be known for, you want to have a consistent voice and decorum. Steve Jobs is a clear example, every time we saw this billionaire he was standing in front of an adoring crowd with a black mock collar sweater and jeans, he spoke in plain and simple language and he was excited to share…

I suggest you have a business plan, a creative plan and an editorial plan.
Most of us come to design for the need to be creative, we need to be viable and we need the patronage of our followers and clients.

In the past design PR was simple, you worked for months or years to make something, you got it photographed and you sent to magazines to get published. The “event cycle” was long and random, new PR is about being deliberate, frequent and created so people will want what you are sharing.

David Duncan Livingston is a photographer of interiors and architecture. His deep publishing record in editorializing design brings this storyteller to efficiently surmise and capture the essence of a project.

Workshop:New Media Content-Generate New BusinessMill Valley, May 18th

David — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:54:18 +0000

Creating Content for New Media-Generate New Business Mill Valley, May 18th 10AM to 4PM

Learn how to develop strategies for new media that can generate leads and get new clients. Principals, marketing directors and PR professionals for design and architecture firms will find this workshop beneficial. Understand how to make content to expose your firm with the power of Houzz.com, Pinterest.com and Facebook.com. Take away how to think like an editor and bring visuals to your story. Provide the answers consumers are searching for with inbound marketing. The morning session participants will learn by case studies of programs in place and in the afternoon break into a charrette session to develop concepts and story ideas that are being searched for.

The workshop fee is $225 and will be held in Mill Valley at David’s home. A tasty healthy lunch will be served. To registar and pay please use the Paypal button. Directions will be emailed as confirmation of payment.

Other Workshops Link
davidduncanlivingston.com/category/photography-workshops

Workshop:Scouting, Styling and Shooting for Magazines

David — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 10:52:26 +0000

This one day workshop is tailored for interior designers to prepare and/or shoot design projects for submission to shelter magazines. Join Editorial and Interiors photographer David Duncan Livingston as he shows the tricks of the trade to make a project photo ready.

A one day workshop for design principals and marketing directors to learn the current trends in design magazines, how to style photo shoots in fresh and relevant ways. Learn how to develop and direct a photo shoot to get the most useful photography to publish and promote in traditional and new media. David Duncan Livingston has been the photographer for eight coffee table books on home design. David is called upon by magazines to bring back the story of a project and use his skills as photographer, art director and stylist.

David shares his experience to make a project photo ready. Participants will share their own snapshots of projects, that will be used as case studies for the workshop. You will take away how to style and compose your project in the look of a shelter magazine spread. Participants will see during live camera/computer demos how the right placement of objects and furnishings along with the right choice of camera angle can make a room more appealing.

Specific topics to be covered:
The look, propping for living rooms and bedrooms
Adding life, ways of arranging the right florals and other elements
Proper art, the importance of good graphic and properly scaled art
Trends in photo styling, a breakdown by magazines
Bed styling, how to make the comfortable bed, messy style or tailored
Kitchen styling, with food, floral elements and table top items
Scouting a project, the dos and don’ts of how to take scouting shots
Before shots, what to do and when to do them
How to submit a project to magazines

Fee and Registration
The workshop will run from 10am to 4pm and will include a tasty lunch for a fee of $225. Email David for registration and location details, david@davidduncanlivingston.com

About
David has been the photographer of leading design books like California Country Style and San Francisco Style by Chronicle Books. David was awarded the photographer of the year for his work in Hawaii a Sense of Place which is in its fourth printing. Regularly David’s interior photography can be seen in regional and national shelter magazines. David has also worked with top showrooms, manufactures and retailers to define their style in ad and web campaigns. Firms like Restoration Hardware, Ironies and Kneedler-Fauchere are drawn to David’s ability to function as creative director and photographer.

Reviews

“We came away with such great information that will really help us, a great workshop. The food, company and discussion made it such a great way to learn.’

“You had such wonderful insights, and the points you made were all very clear and relevant to what is currently going on in the industry.”

“I came away with a better understanding of the intricacies of shooting a design project, how to submit projects to media publications, what types of shots editors “like” and more.”

“I walked away with some very precise knowledge about identifying a consistent theme for my project that can carry through to each room and vignette. What I learned will help me plan for future shoots and guide the styling of the spaces for composition, beauty and consistency.”

Lecture Series:Picture This: Trends & Tipsfor Interior Photography@ Workspace, SFDCApril 24, May 15 & June 5

David — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:36:40 +0000

Workspace at SFDC
and the photographer David Duncan Livingston co-sponsor a three part series;

Picture This: Trends & Tips for Interior Photography

The three two hour presentations will be a feast for eyes, fast paced with the takeaway of solid insights to promote your design practice. The three sessions are on April 24th, May 15th and June 5th. Topics covered:

Interiors PR: Pitching to Bloggers and Magazines

Know the titles, know your look, know the needs; highly published photographer David Duncan Livingston will demystify the magazine and blogger worlds to help you get exposure for your firm. Some of the topics covered will be branding, positioning, placement, long tail seo, magazine format websites, white papers and shareable media content. An idea packed two hour workshop for designers and architects. At Workspace April 24th 10am-12pm with breakout light lunch following.

Photo Styling Trends Interiors/Shelter Magazines

Seasoned interior photographer David Duncan Livingston, will breakdown what is being shown in magazines today. Takeaway how to be current in your photo styling and marketing efforts. Learn tricks of the trade to make your photos feel engaging and quietly sophisticated. A visual feast of inspiration in a quick two hour session. At Workspace May 15th 10am-12pm with breakout light lunch.

Pro Tips: Producing a Photo Shoot for Magazines and your website

Creating a great design is one thing photographing it is another. This two hour workshop will provide a framework for shooting your next project. David Duncan Livingston will give you an understanding how to get the look and feel of the photos you want. Livingston will share tricks of the trade to make photos feel natural and inviting. Be better prepared on shoot day and get the photos that can be used in traditional and new media. At Workspace June 5th 10am-12pm with breakout light lunch following.

Pricing-Reservations

The three part series $225 (SFDC Members $175), $80/individual (SFDC Members $65).
Reservations at Eventbrite:

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Workshop Link

davidduncanlivingston.com/category/photography-workshops

About

David Duncan Livingston has been the photographer of 8 books on home design & architecture, including two books with Dianne Dorrans Saeks, San Francisco Style and California Country Style. He has photographed the work of SF and California who’s who for publishers Rizzoli, Chronicle, Taunton and Sunset. David’s deep knowledge of the interior design process, practice and promotion is openly shared in his presentations.

Bathroom TrendsStyling & Photography

David — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:36:21 +0000

The two trending concepts in bathroom design over the past year have been the graphic wall tile and floating tub. Leading cabinetry finishes have been a light white glaze (ceruse) over mid-tone warm woods, all white or gray paint and the trailing finishes are expresso dark and reclaimed woods. From a style direction neoclassical regins supreme with soft modern coming in second.

Photographing bathrooms for inteior designers is often a challenge. As a photographer, I first make a pleasing compostion and then figure out how to light the space and control unwanted reflection shadows. Styling of the photo should be simple, of good scale and appropriate. Most bathrooms need a wide angle lens to capture the space but with careful composing the unnatural distortion can be reduced. State of the art bathroom photography uses Photoshop to make the more perfect photo, reflections and cameras are removed, switches and grates removed, glass enclosures have green casts removed, among other tricks of the trade.

Here are some of the best ten bathrooms in San Francisco and the Bay Area. I have photographed hundreds of award winning bathrooms for magazines, NKBA and books. Manufactures Ann Sacks, Woodmode, Wilsonart along with stone importers and retailers like Restoration Hardware have commissioned David Duncan Livingston for interior and architectural photography.

David Duncan Livingston has contributed hundreds of stock bathroom photos for publishers of how to and idea books. For Restoration Hardware he was creative director for an annual bath catalog and for many years David photographed the award winning bathrooms for the Western US for a joint publication with a national magazine and the trade association NKBA.

David can be reached at 415-383-0898 to discuss commissioning a bathroom shoot. As the photographer of these photos David does not have any information on the products shown here.

Janus, Pinterest & Me

David — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 21:01:17 +0000

Janus et Cie, the premium exterior furniture manufacture launched a beta version of a Pinterest contest during SF Design Week 2013. The contest, Pinspired Spaces, was the most forward marketing campaign of any showroom or manufacture during the entire week. Janus sought to guide the “Sharable Community” might of Pinterest to have designers discover new products and share with others.

With nearly ten million site vistis each month Pinterest.com, along with Houzz.com, are the game changers within a broad definition of design and shelter publishing. Traditional print magazines should do quick and deep soul searching to find ways to stay in the market.

What marketing exposure Janus et Cie got for a very low expenditure are three things. First, they got designers to visit the showroom and spend time on their website getting more familiar with the offerings. Second, they got these same folks to do free design concepts showing how a mix of Janus product can fit in different esthetics and client types. Third, Janus got a new asset on the internet as these searchable “boards” and design inspiration with Janus product being the hero will living for years. What print ad magazine can do all this?

UPDATED: every contest has it’s winners and I am pleased to announce that one of my boards won the San Francisco Pinspired Spaces contest for 2013.

As a interior, product photographer and art director I took some snapshots in 40 minutes within the San Francisco showroom. I used these photos to augment the Janus Pintererst boards I created which you can see at http://pinterest.com/davidlivingston/my-pinspired-space-janus-contest-2/

Packard Foundation & EHDD Architecture

David — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 01:59:13 +0000

The San Francisco architectural design firm EHDD has a long standing relationship to the Bay Area and its institutions. Recently photographed here is the newly completed Packard Foundation in the Silicon Valley town of Los Altos. The Packard Foundation building has gone very, very green with a Net-Zero energy and LEED Platinum two story building.

When photographing these interior and exterior architectural spaces it was important to show how people in the building can interact with indoor/outdoor spaces in formal and informal ways. Adding a slightly blurry effect to the places attention on the building and gives an approachable feeling to the photos. For this shoot I acted as a photographer and art director directing placement of the people, the wardrobe and amount of motion for the final photos.

Commercial interior photography is changing just as the buildings are changing. For these commercial architectural photographs it was important to have the natural feeling of daylight seen in the photos. Using a careful balance of daylight, photography strobe light and the ability of merging exposures in Photoshop gives the results seen here. Also EHDD’s desire to have people in the photos is aided with advancements in commercial digital photography allowing higher shutter speeds to be used.

10 Best Interior PhotosSan Francisco / LA

David — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:53:56 +0000

Selecting the best San Francisco/Los Angeles interior photography to showcase your firm’s work on your website, for print ads or to submit to magazines depends on the audience you want to reach. The best interior photography will show your firm’s core strengths in the first five or ten photos and will be directly what your audience is looking for.

What interior photography makes the best online presence for marketing design services on a website? The home page photos or banner photos need to show the viewer your firm’s best work in big, fast loading full screen photos. The best full screen interior photography is landscape proportioned with strong interest in the middle of the photograph.

Here is a selection of some favorite San Francisco and Los Angeles interior photography and is really just a small sample from thousands that could also be considered. In Los Angeles the famed antique dealer Joel Chen’s home is an eclectic mix of his favorite finds over the years. In San Francisco the venerable firm ODA carefully blends interior architecture, soft furnishings and antiques together. Marshall Watson created a very comfy country home north of San Francisco in the wine country and also here are emerging designers’ projects in Pacific Heights and Santa Monica.

Fall Books 2012:Getty & Skurman

David — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 19:23:07 +0000

Two of San Francisco top tastemakers have released lush coffee table books this fall: Ann Getty Interior Style and Contemporary Classical by Andrew Skurman. Ann Getty’s tour de force book with writer Diane Dorrans Saeks invites us into the world of connoisseurship and embellishment. Architect Andrew Skurman showcases an exceptional collection of homes with photography and old-world style illustrations to define what classical architecture and interiors can be in the 21st century.

In each of these books I am privileged to have contributed my interior photography to tell these stories. Here are a few spreads from Contemporary Classical and Ann Getty Interior Style:

Interior Reportage

David — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:02:42 +0000

Interior reportage is a term I use to describe the loose and emotive photos taken of interior architecture details and evocative design elements I see in a room. Reportage has French roots going back to street photography when hand held photos captured a mood and represented a point of view from the photographer. For me I use a reportage style of shooting as an adjunct to my formal and more crafted compositions of interiors and architecture. I photograph these special moments quickly, with natural light and keep a short focus that gives the photos a dream like feeling.