julianna holowka
sometimes an area rug just won't do. if you're looking for a spectacular way to decorate your floors look no further than the custom floor painting of julianna holowka. based in philadelphia, julianna creates fine artwork and designs for the home like this beautiful custom floor pattern. if you love geometrics and live in the northeast (or somewhere within driving distance of philly) julianna can apply a pattern like this to your floor, walls or ceiling. i can't imagine a more beautiful way to celebrate independent artists and craftspeople than commissioning an artist like julianna to create a unique design for your home. you can click here to find more information on julianna's work and to contact her about custom work. [thanks, julianna!]
[update: there was some hubub about this design but it's all been cleared up below. juliana was not trying to pass this design off as her own, so please look below for further explanation if you need it]
Labels: rugs and flooring
posted by design*sponge @ 1.8.06
21 Comments:
so cool! thanks for sharing!
This is a direct copy of flavor paper's pattern called Highway 66. I know this is expressed in a different medium, but where is the creativity in that? Should we admire and encourage this kind of "artists" or is it all right to celebrate their creative use of a copied pattern? What do you guys think?
Wow, did she just go on the Flavor Paper website and decide to rip off one of their patterns and call it her own "unique design"? For anyone that wants something really original I would go to www.flavorpaper.com and look there before Juliana rips something else off.
hi guys
you're all absolutel right and i'm talking with jon at flavor paper right now and waiting to hear from juliana. i'd really like to get all sides voiced here. i'm really, really shocked and hope there's some sort of explanation...
either way, flavor paper and i are talking and i'm waiting to hear from juliana, you can be assured this will be cleared up and updated with whatever information comes from both parties.
jon suggests there is a rather fishy history between the shop that juliana was commissioned to paint in the picture and a missing flavor paper book he sent them...
more asap
d*s
hi guys
i don't want to reprint jon's emails without permission so i'm waiting to hear if he'll post his thoughts (and anger at the copying above) or whether i'll paste them in. either way he sent this pic of that pattern being used. i'm hoping this can all be resolved without having to remove the post (which i've never done) so we're all about to learn a lot about how to handle copying...
http://static.flickr.com/75/204329025_b8d6e31616.jpg
(link to the photo of flavor paper's floors)
I don't think you should remove it. If she in fact copied I think everyone should know she tried to pass this off as a NON-copy. I thought it looked familiar too and I couldn't place it.
Alan
When viewing the Highway 66 pattern on the flavour paper site I was expecting to see an exact replica of the pattern that Juliana apparently ripped, but it's worth noting that her pattern isn't a 'direct copy'. They are incredibly similar but there are some differences in the positions of the diamonds & squares and how they interlock. Not enough difference to make it a unique pattern though.
It's interesting that the shop had a copy of the flavour paper book. I wonder if Juliana unwittingly copied the pattern based on a suggestion of theirs but never realising where the original came from?
At the very least, Juliana's work was "inspired" by the paperflavor pattern. However, as lara pointed out, there are variations. In any event, wallpaper on the floor certainly isn't feasible, so I don't really see the problem with someone taking a pattern that they love in one media, varying it (albeit slightly) and using it in a totally different context. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
i find it equally astonishing that the "mean cards" on ms. juliana holowka's site also bear a striking resemblance to the early (2000, 2001) daily comics drawn by Sam Brown at exploding dog
I spoke with Jon at Flavor Paper again and am expecting to hear from Juliana soon. Things may not be as malicious as everyone assumes so I hope to have both sides' stories printed here soon. I appreciate Jon's patience while we figure out what happened. There IS a backstory here...
My two cents? I don't think it's a horrible thing to reproduce an image for a single custom job. I am a little irked that she chose not to mention to me that the design was "inspired" by Flavor Paper, or however you label it. But the idea of reproducing it for profit is somewhat questionable without quoting a source. However, there may be some issues about provenance of the original design anyway so we'll see...more soon.
D*S
sad to read such ugly words about such a beautiful floor! what would have been the proper thing to do here? contact flavor paper for permission to republish as a floor or mural before the work was done? credit the work after the fact? i'm very curious to know the answer. thanks, grace, for shedding light on this.
Does the wall covering shop in question carry Flavor Paper?
To me it seems they were trying to promote Flavor Paper's "look" (if not exact pattern) within the store in a very novel way. Did it lead to increased queries about Flavor Paper? My guess is that it might. ("Love that floor! Got any paper along those lines?")
Ok, responses from both parties coming asap. I've heard from them via email but need permission to print their emails.
I wanted to clarify, as Julianna pointed out to me, she did mention in her email to me that it was inspired by, "a wallpaper pattern [her] boss liked". I missed that part so she did mention the inspiration, just not the name and pattern. My apologies for missing that.
d*s
Here is Jon from Flavor Paper's reponse, I'm so glad this was able to end without anyone losing their heads. Thanks to Jon and Julianna for their explanations. From Jon:
"Thanks to everyone for their concern and appreciation for Flavor Paper and
our design integrity. We have cleared up the situation and Julianna did not
intend to represent the work as a true original. In fact, our Highway 66
pattern, which she reinterpreted, was originally based off of a Navajo
blanket pattern so it was a design progression from an existing concept from day one. After all, everyone is inspired by something they have seen, even if it is only in the back of their mind, when a new concept direction is formed. Such is evolution in all facets.
What I did not appreciate was the way that the owner of the store that
commissioned Julianna reproduced one of our designs, in one of our colorways, without asking or crediting us with full knowledge of what he was
doing. The store was going to rep Flavor Paper at one point and were in
possession of one of our books which they were supposed to return or pay
for, but never did.
In response to some of the posts regarding putting wallpaper on the floor and it's feasibility, please take a look at the image Grace posted
yesterday. That is a floor done in Highway 66 wallpaper in a bar in the
French Quarter. We have done ceilings, floors, bars, stages, tables, and
just about every other surface you can think of with Flavor Paper, so it can
be done!
Thanks again for your vigilance, work, and coverage,
Jon"
Wow, I am really surprised that this blew up to be such a big deal. It sounds like Julianna mentioned the wallpaper thing, and the fault was more on the part of the store owner. I could see this being a huge deal if Flavor Paper sold flooring, but since they don't, reproducing a similar design doesn't seem criminal to me.
Charlene,
Sure, but this isn't something mass produced, and it's not identical anyway (from what people are saying). If it was able to be produced en masse, that would be one thing, but a one-off custom floor is not a big deal, imo.
I posted the comment above, and will just add that I am interested in the fact that Flavor Paper patterns can used on the floor, and am going to contact them to learn more. (The previous owner put a hideous tile in our entryway and the mortar may not allow us to refinish the wood.)
Hey that's a copy of my great-great-grandmother's Navajo rug!!!
Thief! Thief!
Humpf! Nobody cares about ripping off the Indians.
You guys are crazy. All they did was show the floor and the claws came out. It was very much like a pack of wild dogs, you saw an open and went for it. No one had the full story at all. Could you of checked her site, spoke with the artist or customer before losing your minds? Julianna mentioned the wallpaper thing on the site and if you were really that upset you could of emailed her for more details to see what was up. I feel sorry for Julianna it had to go down like this. I love the floor.
for the record, i checked with BOTH parties before i posted a final review. the fact is that a pattern almost identical to flavor paper's wound up on my site without credit. that's not something i'm ok with doing and not something i'm ok with finding out was reproduced for money. i'm not saying julianna did it on purpose, it seems that she didn't. so i'm glad that both parties were able to clear up details. but i can understand why readers would get upset. accusations of copying are NOT taken lightly on this site.
appreciate your quick jump to calling everyone "crazy" though.
d*s
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