Traeger Grills’ sought after Danny and his team for their new office space in Salt Lake City. The workplace, originally designed by architectural firm, Method Studios, received an artistic transformation. The team was hired to curate an art collection for the space. This includes the city’s most sought-after local muralists and artists, paintings, collage, drawings and photography from all over the world. The team combined lowbrow street art with elite corporate culture.
Due to water damage, Alternative brought Danny and his team back to renovate the SOHO space for the second time. They took this opportunity to update the aesthetic and created an environment to enhance the new brand direction. The space, a former manufacturing facility of Tiffany jewelry, has the influence of the San Francisco store location and a gallery like environment familiar with SOHO retail. In keeping with the community-centered vibe of the brand, the store features a lounge area where visitors can linger to relax and recharge.
Stance selected a 2,000 square foot space in Soho for its flagship store, an immersive retail experience created in a century-old building that draws visitors into Stance’s “Punks & Poets” lifestyle. Working in partnership with Skylab Architecture and the creative team at Stance, Danny brought his own signature touches to the project incorporating mixed materials, media and modular fixtures to create a unique retail environment representative of the game-changing brand.. A large collaborative multimedia mural is the artistic centerpiece of the store featuring work by Kassia Meador
and Russ Pope. The lower level was transformed into a lounge complete with an overstuffed leather couch, live edge tables from Bali, a custom bar by Echo Park Yacht Club and a working fireplace for invited guests to enjoy VIP experiences and special events. Covering the walls are selected works of art from Stance’s own band of Punks and Poets.
Enjoy, a new technology-focused concierge company, wanted to create a comfortable and relaxed environment for their experts in New York. The Noho location for the Silicon Valley-based startup is used as a respite for staff in between client visits. The surroundings needed to be flexible and functional to support both productivity and leisure. Danny and his team converted the once raw industrial space into a bright and inviting environment with multiple seating areas, workstations and meeting rooms. With its casual, yet sophisticated design, the Enjoy House also plays host to special events that range from wine receptions to videogame tournaments.
Working with Junk Food’s creative director Mike Palermo, Danny brought the premium t-shirt brand’s fun and witty point of view to life in its first flagship store. Located in Venice, California at Abbot Kinney’s north end, the space was stripped down to its essence, revealing a raw interior that once housed a Hudson Motor auto dealership in the early part of the 20th century. Danny introduced a crisp, clean palette to complement the building’s inherent design characteristics, allowing Junk Food product to be the focus. Working with local artisans and vintage dealers, Danny outfitted the store with a tightly curated selection of custom made pieces alongside mid-century finds, including an oversized light fixture from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and a custom-built suspended apparel rack system Danny calls “abacus” that is inspired by the ancient counting tool. The result is fun and eclectic space with mid-century touches and a casual beach vibe.
Danny took an inspired approach to create the interior for Aoki, a longstanding sushi restaurant located in Time Square in The President Hotel. Drawing upon his travels to Tokyo, Danny created a modern, Japanese-inspired restaurant environment that blends traditional elements with a pop art color palette. Dark grain wood is juxtaposed against bright red elements incorporated through furniture and paint. To create a visual focal point, Danny introduced a hand-painted mural inspired by a fan obtained during a trip to Tokyo and reimagined it with vibrant colors befitting of the energy of Times Square.
After a successful collaboration on the Overbook Entertainment offices, Danny once again joined with Scott Cunningham to infuse his eclectic point of view into the work environment of Flavor Unit Entertainment. Playing with geometry, color and texture, Danny incorporated clean lines in furniture pieces from all eras. Custom desks feature angular plywood construction for a simple, yet unique look. Texture and color provide visual focal points in a space that flows with function, comfort and style.
As Creative Director for San Francisco’s popular Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen, Danny designed the flagship location in the Mission District and the second location in the Contemporary Jewish Museum. The modern take on an old world deli, Wise Sons’ carefully curated environments have reinforced and defined the brand’s distinct identity, which simultaneously celebrates heritage and tradition while staying current with present-day lifestyle. Designed with a perspective focused on diversity and multicultural, multi-generational heritage, Danny has honed in on Wise Sons’ blending of old and new. In the Mission District location, a large photo installation spans the main wall and is filled with original photographs of the Wise Sons founders’ family members and friends.
Alternative’s Hayes Valley store represents an evolution of the basics brand into a modern purveyor of casual sophistication. To create an environment reflecting this updated perspective, Danny took a carefully edited approach to designing a clean, chic space. The warmth of wood beams and brass-accented fixtures balances the stark and modern white of the walls. Poetry is stenciled and handpainted on the floors. The cashwrap is a focal point, created by local craftsman Raven Mahon. The design evokes a brutalist influence materialized in reclaimed lumber, a signature element found in each Alternative store.
Located in Samuel Goldwyn’s former office in the Sony Pictures Studios lot, Danny’s collaborative endeavor with Scott Cunningham for Overbook Entertainment came with a specific set of limitations. Working in the historic space meant restrictions on what could be done with the walls. Danny met this challenge head on, as one of his design tenets is to be respectful of the spaces he works within. Focal points were brought in through statement furniture pieces, including an antique Mongolian wood cabinet that Danny boldly recreated by taking a torch to it for a new take on a weathered look. A vintage marble dining table with unique geometry is accented by 70s brass and velvet chairs, natural wood side tables flank sofas with curved armrests echoing the Art Deco era of the space, all while playing off the calming white walls and high-ceilings of this storied building.
