Designer’s Eye.

Twenty-five years of looking at things for a living has a side effect: I can’t turn it off. Wherever I travel (and when I travel), I end up photographing the same things that show up in my client work. Colors. Signage systems. Wayfinding. Architecture. Typography nobody designed on purpose. Reflections. The small, specific decisions that make a public space feel like it was built by someone who cared, or wasn’t.

This page is that archive. Not a portfolio, just the eye, off the clock.

Passenger ferry crossing calm water at sunset with snow-capped mountains behind it.
Not every transit decision is made on land. A Washington State ferry heads out at dusk with the Olympics catching the last light.
Large white sculpture of a seated human figure made of interlocking letters and characters, lit at night on a palm-lined sidewalk.
A figure built entirely out of letters from different alphabets. It’s typography as structure, and it reads even better at night, when the white lets the dark show through. Pacific Soul, is the work of internationally renowned Jaume Plensa, in downtown San Diego.
Symmetrical train platform at night between two Metrolink trains, with yellow safety edges.
Symmetry, after hours. The yellow safety edges and a floor decal handle the wayfinding, and nothing else needs to.
Symmetrical airport tunnel with moving walkways, red neon ceiling lines, and glowing panels shifting from blue to pink.
A walkway at Chicago O’Hare that many normally rush through, turned into the best part of the trip. Neon and color-shifting panels make a transit corridor feel like a destination.
Night view through a steel trellis of a pavilion lit in blue and magenta, with skyscrapers rising behind it.
Steel trellis in the foreground, colored light on the pavilion, towers behind. Three layers of structure, framed by a fourth. A night on the town in the Windy City.
Close-up of a bouquet with purple stock flowers, a large yellow ranunculus, and small white daisies against a blurred background.
Purple against yellow, straight from the color wheel. A florist’s arrangement, and a decent lesson in complementary palettes.
Navy and coral street-pole banners reading Lemont Downtown Estd. 1836 and Women Owned & Operated, with a pedestrian bridge and brick buildings behind.
Two colors, one badge system, and it repeats throughout downtown Lemont, Illinois. The “Estd. 1836” roundel does more for a small downtown’s identity than a logo ever could.
Tall arched windows with ornate ironwork in a historic station hall, reflected in a glossy terracotta tile floor beneath hanging chandeliers.
Afternoon light pours through the historic arched windows and lands on the floor tile a second time. Nobody had to add anything to make this room feel considered.
Grand station hall with a golden yellow arch and glossy terracotta floor, banners marking Union Station's 85 years.
Eighty-five years in, the palette still holds. That golden arch, the terracotta floor, and a reflection that doubles the effect.
Long escalator rising through a curved tunnel of white tile and brushed stainless steel.
Stainless steel, white tile, and one very long escalator. The only color in the frame is the yellow safety edge on each step, and it’s enough.
Glass dome skylight above a large mural of diverse faces and a sign reading To Union Station West.
The dome gets the attention, but the sign is doing the real work. Simple caps, two arrows, and no doubt about where the trains are.
Close-up of translucent pegs in yellow, blue, magenta, red, and green forming a radiating burst.
Art at the St. Paul Union Depot. Color at its most unfiltered. Hundreds of tiny translucent pegs, each doing one very small job, add up to a burst.
Passenger ferry crossing calm water at sunset with snow-capped mountains behind it.
Not every transit decision is made on land. A Washington State ferry heads out at dusk with the Olympics catching the last light.
Large white sculpture of a seated human figure made of interlocking letters and characters, lit at night on a palm-lined sidewalk.
A figure built entirely out of letters from different alphabets. It’s typography as structure, and it reads even better at night, when the white lets the dark show through. Pacific Soul, is the work of internationally renowned Jaume Plensa, in downtown San Diego.
Symmetrical train platform at night between two Metrolink trains, with yellow safety edges.
Symmetry, after hours. The yellow safety edges and a floor decal handle the wayfinding, and nothing else needs to.
Symmetrical airport tunnel with moving walkways, red neon ceiling lines, and glowing panels shifting from blue to pink.
A walkway at Chicago O’Hare that many normally rush through, turned into the best part of the trip. Neon and color-shifting panels make a transit corridor feel like a destination.
Night view through a steel trellis of a pavilion lit in blue and magenta, with skyscrapers rising behind it.
Steel trellis in the foreground, colored light on the pavilion, towers behind. Three layers of structure, framed by a fourth. A night on the town in the Windy City.
Close-up of a bouquet with purple stock flowers, a large yellow ranunculus, and small white daisies against a blurred background.
Purple against yellow, straight from the color wheel. A florist’s arrangement, and a decent lesson in complementary palettes.
Navy and coral street-pole banners reading Lemont Downtown Estd. 1836 and Women Owned & Operated, with a pedestrian bridge and brick buildings behind.
Two colors, one badge system, and it repeats throughout downtown Lemont, Illinois. The “Estd. 1836” roundel does more for a small downtown’s identity than a logo ever could.
Tall arched windows with ornate ironwork in a historic station hall, reflected in a glossy terracotta tile floor beneath hanging chandeliers.
Afternoon light pours through the historic arched windows and lands on the floor tile a second time. Nobody had to add anything to make this room feel considered.
Grand station hall with a golden yellow arch and glossy terracotta floor, banners marking Union Station's 85 years.
Eighty-five years in, the palette still holds. That golden arch, the terracotta floor, and a reflection that doubles the effect.
Long escalator rising through a curved tunnel of white tile and brushed stainless steel.
Stainless steel, white tile, and one very long escalator. The only color in the frame is the yellow safety edge on each step, and it’s enough.
Glass dome skylight above a large mural of diverse faces and a sign reading To Union Station West.
The dome gets the attention, but the sign is doing the real work. Simple caps, two arrows, and no doubt about where the trains are.
Close-up of translucent pegs in yellow, blue, magenta, red, and green forming a radiating burst.
Art at the St. Paul Union Depot. Color at its most unfiltered. Hundreds of tiny translucent pegs, each doing one very small job, add up to a burst.
MBDesignLife
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance (opens in a new tab)
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.