Evantine Design Blog

Recently, we had the pleasure of working in the beautiful Samuel Hamilton Building of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  This building, opened in 2002, houses galleries that are a striking departure from the magnificent galleries located in the original historic building across the street.

PAFA is the oldest museum and school in the country, founded in 1805 by scientist Charles Willson Peale, sculptor William Rush, and other artists and business leaders.  The original building, designed by Frank Furness and George Hewitt, opened in 1876.  It is simply exquisite.

Both the Hamilton and Furness buildings are available for private gatherings after normal museum hours.  They present a rare opportunity to host special events in unique spaces, the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else in the country!  After several hours of preparation, the doors of the Hamilton Building swung open for 700 guests attending the annual BEST OF PHILLY celebration hosted by Philadelphia Magazine.  We filled the various rooms with contemporary furniture, illuminated bars, and striking lounges, each serving up its own particular flavor.  Guests mixed and mingled, moving throughout while noshing on a variety of foods and beverages.  Duffy Catering provided food and service and everything they did was just perfect.  They are a great team and very talented professionals.

Evantine Design has been the recipient of SIX coveted BEST OF PHILLY awards.  We were thrilled to create a fabulous environment to welcome the 2009 winners!  Pick up the August issue of Philadelphia Magazine to discover this year’s winners!

Below are photos of a beautiful wedding we created in which the ceremony was held in the historic and ornate Furness Building, after which the reception took place in the contemporary and sleek Hamilton Building.  Truly, the BEST OF both worlds!

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Some fear them.  Some fear mixing them.  But we say, embrace PATTERNS in your designs!  They are regularly available and widely used on dinner tables with linens, napkins and on invitations, of course.  But at Evantine Design, we ask: why not use pattern on vases, candles, table bases, bar fronts, dance floors, table tops, pillows and other design props?  We love pattern when used boldly and in repetition throughout the design concept.   The photos below (thank you Jana Bannon at Mike Kehr Photography) of a recent bat mitzvah we did in May for the “coolest kid in town”, Arden Rose, at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue ,show how we used a PUCCI fabric in oh-so-many simple  but powerful ways. 

Sometimes the invitation sparks our creativity and sometimes it’s the other way around.  In this instance, the Pucci fabric we found and used as linen, also became the dominant design element used on all paper goods and stationery for the event.   We worked closely with talented local graphic designer, Diane Schaffer, to bring the papers to life with Pucci!  Di, in her usual clever fashion, managed to take the Pucci to new levels of coolness.  And the logos she designed for the event blew us away!

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