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.

Coco Chanel

In a recent ad campaign for Chanel's fragrance Coco, the ravishing Keira Knightley was photographed in front of a beautiful hand-painted Chinoiserie panel with a gold-leaf background.

For an event staged in the US, we were asked to replicate the feeling of original but in a smaller scale, this time on a folding screen, sans gold leaf, in a very tight deadline. Working from a few photographs, Geoff was able to re-create the design effortlessly with his team of craftsmen. The project including production of the white lacquer paneled folding screen took less than two days!

works in progress, before added details

Through the Looking glass

For the first time in eighty years, Steuben is introducing a line of colored glass. To amplify the subtle shades of blue, gray and rose in the Steuben bowls, Geoff designed a window that creates multiple reflections by using a series of mirrored risers and background screens at sharp angles.  The curved riser at the base echoes the curvature of the glass bowls and adds to the reflective illusions that deepens as you come closer and kaleidoscopes as you walk by.