Today we’d like to introduce you to Jan Lorenc.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
When starting my company in 1978 I had limited experience, and that was more visible in Chicago where there were many established firms while when I moved to Atlanta in 1981. We became one of a few firms with experience in Experiential and Immersive environment Design.
I had an early notion to become a large multifaceted consulting firm, being inspired by Pentagram in London. We moved into a larger corporate office space in 1984 and hired 15 highly talented designers, the only problem was that I became a manager, the rainmaker, and little or no design responsibility in my tasks, it was all about making work happen…
I was out of the office chasing down new opportunities in the southeast and the designers played. I tried to instill in them the importance of schedule, budgets, etc but they could only see LaLa land of creative heaven where there are no rules.
What inspired or motivated you into your career?
My family and I immigrated to Chicago from rural Poland when I was eight-years-old. I quickly became American with a special twist: first-hand knowledge of the wider world abroad. This early experience began to form my interest in artistic diversity, particularly international movements and schools.
By the time I was preparing for college, my parents encouraged me to pursue architecture instead of fine arts, believing it to be a more professional direction. Already familiar with the great Mies Van der Rohe, I applied to IIT’s School of Architecture but was denied admission.
My next step was to be admitted to IIT’s Institute of Design, planning to transfer into the architecture program. Instead, I stuck with the industrial design after witnessing how my studies exploring forms, colors, photography, and graphic design appeared more compelling than drawing elevations and I-beams in graphite and ink. Instead of becoming a mini-Mies, I designed sailplane interiors and medical equipment–it was tons of fun and totally rewarding.
After my undergraduate program, I continued at IIT, earning a Masters in Visual Design under instructors who demanded excellence. I learned how to sense spacial attitudes and design toward business goals, allowing me to develop the platform for my life’s work.
Who is or was your greatest mentor?
During both my undergraduate and graduate programs, I worked with Ted Peterson as his first and only employee after he left Unimark. Under his guidance, I designed the Target logo and store signage identity program. Working in graphic design, environmental graphic design, architecture, and interiors made me hungry to learn and experience more.
My early experience with Ted continues to inspire my work today as I innovate and grow with each project.
What is your work philosophy?
My work philosophy derives from my parents, who were old world craftspeople–my father a leather smith and bridle maker, my mother a seamstress. The basics are to be prepared, take pride in the detail and thoughtfulness of your work, and deliver only the very best because your reputation is always on the line.
What is your most difficult challenge that you’ve had to overcome?
By the time I grew the firm to 15 people I realized I wasn’t well suited to the management of creative people. I then limited the size of the firm so we could focus first on fulfilling creative work. Without bringing everyone in-house, today we’re even better able to pull from any source of talent.
Who were some of your greatest past influences?
Massimo Vignelli, Pentagram, Chermayeff and Geismar, Peter Walker, and Philip Johnson, all of which have designed projects that continue to live long lives.
Who among your contemporaries today do you most admire?
Ralph Applebaum, David Rockwell, Robert A M Stern.
What would be your dream assignment?
I would love combining an interesting design challenge with American and European history, politics, or culture. A museum project exploring stories in any of these areas would be a complete joy.
Who have been some of your favorite people or clients you have worked with?
We’ve loved working on multiple projects with Vanke, the largest real estate developer in China. The collaboration has allowed our firm to design experiential projects from soup to nuts, including branding, signage, exhibitions, interiors, furniture design, sculpture, lighting standards, and architectural jewelry–artistic elements integrated into architecture reminiscent of the decorations of Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and others.
What are the most important ingredients you require from a client to do successful work?
We have to share two values with our clients to produce valuable end products: shared vision and early engagement. Our work is holistic, so after establishing a shared vision and trust, we need to be able to influence and make suggestions to dimensions that may be formally outside of our scope of work. Acting early gives everyone time to vet the all the possibilities.
When you put together an exhibition design, what is your primary goal for the visitor experience?
We aim to tell the right story through space. We first have to understand the client, their work and culture to begin to identify what design features and elements are needed to speak to the exhibit’s various audiences and values.
When designing public spaces for clients, do you incorporate their existing visual identity in your plans?
There is great value in a strong visual identity. Unless part of our job is to design the visual identity, we always use their existing identity.
What is your greatest professional achievement?
I’m happy we’ve become an international design practice without having to grow into a huge firm. For example, we’ve competed successfully against large international firms for the Sony-Ericsson brand launch and UPS’s Beijing Olympic pavilion in 2008–projects that have earned us international acclaim. Of course, once we get the job, the secret is always delivering on our promises.
What is the greatest satisfaction you get from your work?
I love discovering the client’s story with them, often having them see themselves in a new way. Once completed, I love seeing the satisfaction of the visitors, the client, and the design team in what we achieved together. Great photographs of the results generate design community acceptance, which never hurts.
What part of your work do you find most demanding?
It’s challenging to manage the design process when there is no single decision maker. One reason our Chinese work has been so successful is because their project pace is so brisk, we are always able to meet with the decision makers and make quick decisions.
What professional goals do you still have for yourself?
After 37 years in practice, I still want to work on a project in a part of the world where we have no experience, such as Western Europe or Latin America. I would love to complete a few projects in my native country Poland.
What advice would you have for students starting out today?
Become a rebel. Designers have commodified themselves as either industrial designers, or architects, or graphic designers. I advise today’s designers to expose themselves to the world around them and explore the cross-disciplinary possibilities that haven’t yet been discovered.
What interests do you have outside of your work?
I travel internationally several times a year to explore new cultures and places. I have taken international bike tours in Europe. I kayak my nearby Chattahoochee River weekly and hike each morning in the national park behind my home. I love the world around me and hunger to see new colors, textures, sounds, and tastes. It’s amazing how each day provides finding new things about our world, things that enrich my being.
What do you value most?
I value the love of my family, to see my children grow into productive, loving adults. Also, my successful partnership with Chung Yoo and the trust we have in each other and our staff without whom we would not be able to achieve any of our projects.
What would you change if you had to do it all over again?
I would not change anything since all that I have today is because of the people I have met in trials along the way.
Where do you seek inspiration?
I seek design inspiration in cities around the globe. I especially enjoy exploring the man-made world or built spaces.
Spiritually, my walks in the woods, hiking in Colorado or the Swiss mountains inspires my soul. I look for inspiration in my relationship with my wife who is fearless for new experiences. One day it’s watercolors, next is tap dancing, then poetry. Ilene is my soul mate and inspires me each day.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I had no management skills nor interest in it so I hired a business manager and essentially everyone left the firm and we rebuilt with a staff that was more project management oriented and less creative high horse designers. The manager made us more like a corporation and protocol so even I did not like this.
Being bored with the type of work we were getting and the recession of 1988 I decided to go to graduate school for architecture masters at Georgia Tech. I began to learn more about spaces and architecture which was amazingly enriching. I focused more on school then on surviving the business. So I and my future partner decided to move from the large overhead, and focus on design. I terminated the manager and scaled the firm down to three, Chung Yoo, our accountant, and myself along with freelance designers.
I spent 1990 to 1994 in the program working part time and full time in grad school. By the time I finished the economy had picked up and international opportunities in Korea began and we began to work internationally.
in 2005 we began to work in the United Arab Emirates having been invited by an admirer of our work to visit and we continue to this day working in the UAE, Qatar, Libya, and now in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The issues of being paid in full began in 2008 when the economy tanked and we were not paid in full for one job, however, we were paid 75% in three years. This erratic payment of invoices continues to this day in the middle east so one has to be careful not to deliver more then we are paid for.
In 2008 we began to work in China, the challenge here was the Chinese language so we hired a native speaking architect and work all throughout China at present. We hired a Shanghai-based architect that is our project manager for the region. There are challenges but there are solutions. Going slow was our methodology there. Receiving a 50% retainer before beginning work is critical, payments are slow. We have received advice from our collaborative firms as to how to transfer funds back to the US, how to handle taxes etc. It’s amazing how technology is an amazing asset, email, GoToMeeting for teleconferences and sharing presentations and having the local language.
Staying small we have never been in debt and never commit to any purchases or hiring until we are ready to do so. There are daily challenges yet we have learned from various experiences and from our collaborator. We have committed to stay small which is odd for Chinese to understand since their mantra is a big firm, big profits. I have never had profit as the motive of any of our projects, its all about the right fit, the right challenge, and the profit is there in the end, not on all projects but fortunately, it evens itself out in the end.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about LORENC+YOO DESIGN – what should we know?
Our firm is a multi-faceted creative practice, we specialize in Experiential and Immersive Environment Design, which can be as complex as orchestrating the visual character of large mixed-use international projects where we design the logo, the marketing center, art in the landscape, street furniture design such as lighting fixtures, benches, urban clocks, etc.,
Poetry in the garden where we create inspiring poems in gardens, Wayfinding and signage to direct and inform clients as well as communicating the brand and exhibitions that tell the story of a place or organization. At times we may be working on a couple of these complex projects simultaneously and at other times we may be working on Gaming and Hospitality branding for the coast to coast USA projects, and other times working on retail branding. So it is varied, the more different the better, We take on complex branding challenges where the environment and its immersive experience communicates a brand.
Presently we are involved in the design of the Georgia Gateway for the State of Georgia to define the entry portals into the State at 11 points. We worked with GA DOT and designed a classically inspired design with a modern edge using Georgia marble and granite. The individual icons for each entry portal were designed by our collaborator Therese Huffman. This will be an amazing entry feature unlike any state portal in the US. We love to do unique and odd projects internationally and enjoy being given challenges that we manage to develop a creative solution.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Atlanta for the four seasons, the hills. I love living in Roswell because it’s a small community, I live with my wife 300 feet away from our studio in the Historic Mill Village which dates back to 1840 when Roswell King established this Mill and hence the town. Each morning at 630 I get up and walk for 1.5 hours in the next door woods.
On weekends I ride my bike for anywhere from 25 to typical 75 miles in Roswell and on the Silver Comet Trail. We just came back from a two-day trek to Anniston Alabama where we are on our 9th annual ride on the Silver Comet trail. I can go one mile and put in my kayak into the river. My community has all I love nature, no commuting. To fulfill my culture I go into Atlanta to meet with friends, go to lectures at the Museum of Design Atlanta, attend shows at the High Museum, and travel internationally to visit architectural gems all over the world.
Each Christmas we spend two weeks in a different part of southern Europe, and spring and fall in my native Poland. So to get inspired I reach out to Europe. I love the work we do since it takes me to the middle east and Asia where I get to learn about various cultures.
Contact Info:
- Address: 109 Vickery Street Roswell, GA 30075
- Website: www.lorencyoodesgn.com
- Phone: cell 678 778 7154 off 770 645-2828 x 112.
- Email: jan@lorencyoodesign.com
Image Credit:
Vanke Guangzhou, Georgia Gateway, Rion Rizzo, David Whitcomb, SCAD
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