WE BELIEVE THAT GOOD DESIGN CAN INFLUENCE HOW WE LIVE AND HOW WE NAVIGATE DAILY LIFE. WE ALSO BELIEVE THAT THE SIMPLE ACT OF PAYING ATTENTION TO THE NUANCE OF DAILY LIFE MAKES US BETTER DESIGNERS. ALONG THE WAY WE WILL DOCUMENT SOME OF THAT INSPIRATION AND SHARE IT WITH YOU.

2008 Spring / Summer Playlist - Even though fall is here, we made a playlist complimenting warm breezes, springtime headphone listening, deck parties and pool lounging, available on iTunes. Make sure you download our album cover at the camera icon to the right to replace the pre-assigned iTunes album art. Enjoy! Next up…cold weather music. 02:52 PM October 3, 2008

Kemnitzer Deck - Just completed a new deck and landscaping (with the help of Brian Whitfill) at my house. The two tier deck and large step make the space functional for a small family dinner or a large outdoor party. All of the deck boards are EverGrain Vibrance Collection composite boards in Thunderstorm Grey from TAMKO Building Products. The composite boards were extremely easy to work with and look fantastic. For photos of the deck, check out the camera icon to the right. 06:00 PM September 25, 2008

Dolphin Gallery - Laura Spencer from NPR speaks with John O'brien about the past, present and future of the Dolphin Gallery including the new space here. 12:00 PM August 26, 2008

Kaze Sushi - As far as we're concerned there are sushi places and there's KAZE. With a bold statement like that, you can probably guess that we make sure to go every time we are in Chicago and while we were at NeoCon this year it was no different. Some of our favorites are the sweet potato soup and a couple items not on the menu. So make sure you ask for the salmon with truffle oil nigiri and white tuna with banana-wasabi puree nirgiri, Amazing! While you're in the neighborhood (Roscoe Village) make sure to walk around and visit some of the local bars. 08:30 PM June 09, 2008

Quixotic hits First Friday - On Friday June 6th Quixotic took over Baltimore in front of the Dolphin Gallery with a guerilla street performance promoting Quixotic’s summer show at the Uptown Theater on the 26th and 27th of June. You can see a lot of different things in the Crossroads, I’m glad we can now add flaming hula hoops to that list. 08:30 AM May 04, 2008

Two West LA - This is what I’m talking about. . . lunch LA style. KEM STUDIO is designing Two West’s new offices in Hollywood, CA and we took advantage of the SO CAL weather by holding a meeting poolside at the Roosevelt Hotel. Two West is a transformation design firm that has merged with Melanie Paykos Design, an award-winning graphic design shop in Los Angeles with an impressive entertainment portfolio. BIG CONGRATS on your west coast venture! 12:30 PM May 015, 2008

Kemper Crossroads - KEM STUDIO has been selected to work with the KEMPER MUSEUM to design the new location, Kemper at the Crossroads. Crosby Kemper purchased the building well known as John O’Brien’s Dolphin Gallery. “Kemper at the Crossroads will open this fall, and it is our hope that it will bring contemporary art to new audiences and help to solidify what is already a bustling area of art galleries, atists’ studios, restaurants, retail, and urban residential areas.” Rachael Blackburn Cozad, Kemper Museum Director and CEO. We are honored and excited to be involved with an institution that will continue to be the beacon for contemporary art in KC. 08:30 AM May 08, 2008

AD HOC, Napa Valley - If you want French Laundry quality food at, well, not French Laundry prices and prefer a more casual dining atmosphere, check out Chef Thomas Keller’s new restaurant AD HOC. As the names suggests, it was intended to be a temporary restaurant for the single purpose of experimenting with new dishes while he planned another restaurant. It’s a 4 course family style menu that changes everyday . . . no decisions - just simple, honest, perfectly cooked food. Thankfully, frequent guests convinced him to make the place permanent. The added treat was that the waiter overheard our table geeking out about cooking and invited us into the kitchen to see them prep for dinner service. 02:30 PM May 06, 2008

Centurions take over San Francisco - Brad Satterwhite joined 70 other emerging community leaders from the Kansas City Centurions Leadership Program for a benchmarking trip to San Fran. We found out that we are nothing a like (go figure), but they have fantastically liberal views, great restaurants and wine, and the highest urban land density in the US. Good times, great company. 08:30 AM May 04, 2008

Dolphin Gallery - A Crossroads art gallery landmark is pioneering a new movement in KC. Back in the first part of the year, John O’Brien sold the Dolphin Gallery is moving to the West Bottom’s. KEM STUDIO has been working with John to design the new gallery and frame shop that plans to open in August. The building is a fairly new warehouse that will be fitted out to accommodate a large gallery space, frame shop and storage that far exceed the size of his current gallery. Cheers to John for the vision and guts to instigate change . . . here’s to much success! 10:00 AM May 03, 2008

Biolite Pads - KEM STUDIO recently collaborated with Riddell on a new family of hip, thigh, tailbone and knee pads. The pads are made from extremely light weight shock absorbing foam. Here's a photo of the thigh pads. 09:00 AM May 02, 2008

Stableview Review - Wired Magazine recently reviewed an image-stabilizing binocular we designed for Bushnell in their May 2008 issue. Check it out: 12:17 PM April 27, 2008

Revolution - Brad Satterwhite was on the organizing committee that put together first year event to benefit the Salvation Army. The Hobb’s building was transformed into an atmosphere like no other, from the creative directors of Quixotic and Wearhaus. Organic Proof used their electroacoustic/afro-beat/jams to enforce a funky lounge feel in the outside tent, while DJ Kiko De Gallo kept the inside hopping, spinning elctro/funk/roots music. It was all layered with a production of light and video from Quixotic’s Anthony Magliano and Mica Thomas. Wearhuas’s Carmen Stalker topped it off with 3 runway shows featuring outfits by designers using fabric purchased from Salvation Army Thrift stores. 01:30 AM April 20, 2008

DETOX 3K RUN, Sponsored by PUMA - Jonathon Kemnitzer organized a run designed to DETOX the body after a heavy night of drinking, getting the participants juiced up for the day at the Influence Conference. The event was advertised as a 3 mile run, where someone will most likely throw up and the group will probably stop for a shot of espresso. While no one threw up we did stop for espresso and everyone had a great time at the maxed out event. 07:00 AM April 05, 2008

Influence Speaker + Sponsor Party at KEM STUDIO - Catered by CHOP! and dj by Freddy Allen Anzures the party started out small, but as word got out our studio was packed with 150+ people. Dancing...Drinking...Good Times! 01:00 AM April 05, 2008

2008 Midwest District IDSA Conference, Influence - What Influences you? Every designer is challenged to create the next big thing. In order to achieve this, we often look to the people and places that inspire us - those that challenge conventional thinking and push the boundaries beyond what we've come to expect from the world of design. Held in Kansas City our creative community introduced and entertained designers from around the Midwest for a 3 day event at the beginning of April. 12:00 PM April 04 to 06, 2008

Better Living 2.0 - To help shed light on how lifestyle and personality shape what we do, we are continuing and evolving the Better Living portion of our website. This page will be updated regularly (more regularly than before), and will be a way for us to pass on some of the intangible nuggets of experience and observation that influence our work. We have backlogged some 08 highlights below. 10:09 AM February 22, 2008

Big 12 Tournament final game - Courtesy of our friends at AL Huber Construction, we were able to catch KU’s victory over Texas in the Big 12 Tournament at the Sprint Center first hand. We love our seats for home games at Allen Field House, but it’s hard to compete with the Founders Club at the Sprint Center. 01:36 PM March 16, 2008

Justus Drugstore - This restaurant is the epitome of inspiration found in unexpected places... in this case, Smithville, MO. There are too many savored details to mention here – but behind the bacon wrapped goat cheese salad (like you really need to wrap it to make goat cheese good) and fois gras served with a spiced sorbet – there is the compelling story of the restaurant owner and his connection to Smithville. It is hard to put your finger on the impact of knowing that everything (including the crackers and pasta) are made from scratch every day, and comes from within a 100 mile radius of Smithville. And when one of the owners explains that the taste of the butter actually changes with the seasons because of what the cows are eating it is hard not to look at things a little differently. However, appreciating the food and the story behind Justus Drugstore does not require culinary sophistication – it only requires that you enjoy eating. It sure seems like there is a lesson in there somewhere. 04:29 PM March 07, 2008

Quixotic performs at the 2008 BCA Partnership Awards lunch - It’s not every day you attend a business lunch that includes aerial silk performance acts. One of the intangible perks of being a member of the Quixotic Board of Directors is the vicarious pride associated with witnessing 500 people at this year’s Business Committee for the Arts honors lunch genuinely moved by a 10 minute performance. 04:29 PM February 22, 2008