Throwback: Street Flair

Somewhere in the early 90's for a Gay Pride charity event, a parking lot in the west village was turned into a carnival, filled with sponsors and other frivolities. Geoff was asked to create a cohesive and festive visual experience, and each booth was given a three panel painted backdrop. Geoff donated his services to design and paint each backdrop designed to reflect a sponsor or street fair game (like a duck pond). Ready, Set, Paint! (Deliver and Install...)

Throwback: 1997 - DIFFA - Devil in a Red Dress

For the very first DIFFA: Dining by Design, the theme was simply RED. Anne Klein sponsored a table and working with their design team, who came up with the idea of a 'devil in a red dress'. The mannequin stands on a smoldering rock rising from the middle of the table. Surrounding the table were ten chairs with 6 and 8 foot high red plexi flame shaped backs.  Geoff designed and produced the table cloth and her dress, ombred from deepest coal black at the bottom transitioning to bright red at her neck. The swaroski crystals also ombred up in ruby red and diamond. The feathered headdress with spiraling horns, the pitch fork and her tail, casually draped over her right arm, were all custom made by Geoff.

Shown above and below are photo taken for publication by ELLE DECOR Magazine.

In addition to the flaming chairs, the table was set with dozens of candles to reinforce the element of hell-fire.

Geoff's design was also published in New York Times!

The cover of Elle Decor featuring Geoff's fiery design.

What's the EFFEN DIFFA?

 EFFEN vodka generously sponsored both a booth and a bar for the prestigious Dining by Design, put together by DIFFA. Working in conjunction with the fabulous Tracy Reese, Geoff was asked to design and produce both the booth and the bar. The booth was 10 x 10 feet and 8 feet high and spoke to the modernity of EFFEN and Tracy's love of pattern and texture as well as including a natural element informs a lot of her pattern design. Geoff designed and created four large crimped, folded, crumpled and bent metal wall sculptures that were originally used as the backdrop for her fashion show this past Fashion Week at Lincoln Center.  The sculptures were made with brass copper galvanized steel and aluminum and were set in large silver-leafed frames. Additional walls, completely silver-leafed separated the backlit sculpted panels and sat on a floor of brushed aluminum that was laid in  absket-weave pattern. Sitting on top was a custom made round table and hanging light fixture. The stemware was generously donated by Stueben Glass.

The EFFEN vodka bar spoke completely to their brand's aesthetic with a a central tower in brushed silver with a niche for highlighting their bottle, and back lit logo panel. Everything else was in sleek high gloss black. The front bar itself was faced in brushed aluminum and down lit from under the lip of the front bar top.

For those of you who'd like to know more about the charitable works that DIFFA organizes to help those fighting AIDS (read the descriptions below, pulled from the DIFFA website):

DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS is one of the country’s largest supporters of direct care for people living with HIV/AIDS and preventive education for those at risk. Merging care and commerce, supporters of DIFFA come from all fields of fine design and the visual arts, including: architecture, fashion design, interior design, photography and consumer product design.
With fundraising efforts bolstered by strategic partnerships and unique events showcasing innovation and creativity, DIFFA has mobilized the immense resources of the design communities and granted over $38 million to hundreds of AIDS service organizations nationwide.


DINING BY DESIGN brings together internationally celebrated designers and local talent to create three dimensional dining installations that awe, inspire, and delight. These extraordinary dining environments—from the lavish and romantic to the outrageous and whimsical—set the stage for five days of fun and fundraising.