Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » sneak peek: louise fili

the beautiful designs of louise fili pop up all over the landscape of new york. if you like good food, chances are you love the work she does, as her specialty is in restaurant design and food packaging. today’s sneak peek into her studio definitely proves louise’s love of food and the role it plays in her work (check out more here). thanks so much to louise, steven and andy for their help! you can click here for more images from louise’s studio. -anne

[Above: I have three interests: food, type, and Italy. My studio is an archive of objects collected from European flea markets, juxtaposed with a hodgepodge of bottles, jars, and boxes that we have designed for specialty food clients. Some visitors enter the conference room and think they are in a supermarket. Coffee, preserves, olive oil, biscotti, or Prosecco, anyone? The bistro chairs arrived one day from a restaurant client in an effort to settle a debt.]

A rare moment when my two designers, Jessica Hische and Andy Evans, are not tethered to their desks.

I have followed one dealer to flea markets all over Italy to add to my collection of vintage tins. Perugina is a favorite, and is used to hold samples of business cards and matchbooks for many of the restaurants that we have designed logos for.

A restored dental cabinet from the 1930s is the ideal repository for all things small and collectible: clothing labels, pencil boxes, and orange wrappers. The enameled St. Raphael sign was carried home from a Paris flea market.

A color-coded shelf in my office with flea market finds from Italy and France.

If I didn’t have design work, I would spend all of my time in this kitchen. (When time permits, I make lunch for my staff.) The ceiling-high cabinets are filled with packaging samples, and the illuminated glass-fronted shelves are a good way to showcase new projects.

I’m a big fan of Louise Fili’s typography and book covers (in fact, she was one of my biggest inspirations in college, and a huge part of the reason why I went into book cover design), but I have never seen photos of her workspace. It’s so exciting to see how tied-in her working environment is to her overall aesthetic. (And that dental cabinet is to DIE for!)

yay. i’ve followed louise’s career since i was in design school (over 10 years ago). i would add that i have a recent graphic designer crush on designer and illustrator jessica hische who works in louise’s office, (who she mentions). Her own site, especcially the pages on typography, have had me drooling for the past week.
http://jessicahische.com/type.html

Before I even read who’s house it was I thought, wow, this is a great packaging designer! I love her home, and I have loved her work for years and years, she is a huge inspiration to me. She is like my Queen of England…hehehehe

Swoon! What an original style! Thanks for sharing Louise Fili’s work. I wasn’t familiar with her, but am dying to see more. How fantastic is that repurposed dental cabinet and the little tableau of wine bottles on top? So graphic! So chic!

I especially love the dental cabinet idea! How wonderful for storage. I sure could use one. The kitchen is to die for, and the fact that she makes lunch for the staff? WOW! So exciting to have look inside,Thanks!

Louise was my portfolio teacher back in 2005 and it was always a luxury walking into the office. I sat on the opposite side of the table with the rose on it closest to her work. Some of my best works were because of Louise and her love of typography.

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