Crossville Connects with Hospitality Designer Evan Ledesma

Evan Ledesma | Senior Designer Wimberly Interiors | designing experiences |  Beverly Hills,  CA

Here’s our Q&A with Evan about the booth and his perspectives on hospitality design.

Introduce yourself. Share about your current role at your design firm, as well as a little bit about your career experience.

My name is Evanleo! Been in the industry for 12 years. Currently working at Wimberly Interiors (WATG) in Beverly Hills as a Senior Designer.

Tell us about your design of the booth. Where did the design inspiration come from? How did you design with the tile in mind?

Escher. When the package mentioned M.C. Escher challenge, it got me excited. I love this designer (Graphic Artist). His approach is very math oriented, sometimes absurd but with great, effective results.

Discuss a few special features of the booth. Any unique tile patterns, design focal points, or hospitality trends that you were sure to incorporate?

As the booth was inspired by M.C. Escher, the rest simply fall into places. If you look at the plan, no matter where you enter, no matter where you’re standing, everything has balance, with open gallery feel. While the feature tiles (the laser cut ones) are my favorite, they seem to work well with different juxtapositions from multiple manufacturer.

Speaking of hospitality trends, enlighten us on what’s now and upcoming in hospitality design. Give us insights from your unique perspective in the global industry.

Personally, design-wise, I do not go by trends. Trends seem to have limitations. Most, if not all of my clients love the timeless look (and mostly because of economics). A take on classic with modern twist. Perhaps that is the trend, but built to last longer than usual. But, if we are to be specific, the latest hotels love the idea of incorporating electronics to almost everything. I do not see the need of eco-friendly pieces as forecasted. Hardly anyone brings that up to the table. Unless a client wanted specific, environmentally-friendly designs/materials, we will then provide.

Share how you incorporate tile into your design projects. What are tile’s top advantages in terms of style and performance for the kinds of projects you focus on?

The use of tiles will always be around. It can be practically applied anywhere. What I hardly see on latest designs are tiles being applied into the ceiling. They’ve done it in the past. However, lately, no one is going on that route. If I get that chance, I would use the idea… but with a modern twist… so, stay tuned.

How do you and your colleagues keep up with what’s the latest and greatest–in the tile industry and beyond? Do you read trade publications, rely on news from manufacturer sales reps, scour trade shows, tap into online directories?

Presentations, invitations, expo/trade shows is how we keep up. And honestly, most of us are too exhausted to keep up with latest trends. We think about designs all day; generating/reinventing pieces, solving design puzzles, dealing with the psychological aspects, while keeping everyone happy is an all day event for us. So, yes, while we are thankful with presentations, invites, and trade shows, we are constantly coming up with our own Inspirations and magic. I guess, that is where the heart of the trend really starts… We are trends.

Here’s a peek inside our Escher-inspired HD Expo booth designed by Evan!