Behind the Design Show - You heard the idea here first!

Behind the Design
(working title)

developed by
Patrick Ryan
Founder and Creative Director
patryan:things LLC. - Denver Colorado


With network programming bloated with programs based on cheesy swapping-places-on-a-budget to multimillion-dollar schlock-job cribs, the growing demographic of design cognoscenti is looking for more…

8 am.

As a large steel garage door opens in an industrial section of the city, the piercing sounds of grinders and metal saws greet the new day. Further inside, on the mezzanine offices overlooking a showroom of custom chairs, hand-built lighting, sleek couches, and steel armoires, a group of young designers are sipping coffee and laying over a large CAD drawing of a high-end custom stairway.

This is no ordinary design studio. It is not your normal fabrication shop. It isn’t even close to an architectural office. This place is called "Chemistry Design" – a popular, hip company whose projects and products are installed throughout the United States. This place is a magnet for creative energy, work, and loud noise.

Imagine a West Coast Choppers of the custom interior design world. An art gallery, wood and metal shop, furniture showroom, architectural studio, materials research lab, and construction company all rolled in one. A place overrun by creative artists, designers, fabricators, engineers, business strategists, and the design-groupies and eager interns who hover in the wings hopping for a chance to become accepted into the "Chemistry" lifestyle.

Phones begin to ring. Someone turns up a stereo. Loud beat-driven jazzy dance music attempts to lessen the racket coming from the shop. On one phone call, an architect is worried about “his timeline”. Another call comes from a frustrated restaurant owner who wonders when his new barstools will be ready. “The guys are working on them right now, I promise”, replies a frustrated project manager. Still another call comes in. This one from a vendor who hasn’t been paid for a shipment of plastic. A pretty, bespeckled office manager launches into her sweetest songbirdy voice. “Oh, I’m sorry, that check is sitting right here on my desk. It was under a pile of files”, she exclaims, feigning surprise. “I’ll get it into the mail today”, she lies. The bell rings on the front door of the showroom. An architect toting an assistant carrying a huge roll of plans, a contractor, and the client on an office renovation arrive for a meeting that promises to be a marathon of finger-pointing and bullet dodging. And so begins another day at the design shop of “Chemistry Design.”

This show, Behind the Design, introduces viewers to the backstory of all those cool places and people who make it happen as well as the complexities and craziness that accompany the business of design.

It eavesdrops on the creative process and logistics of custom design and build projects. It experiences the design project from the designer’s viewpoint. It is not, however, a self-absorbed glamour shot that looks only at a finished product. It is intelligent, informative and packed full of personality. Projects are presented in a fun, sometimes outlandish narrative. The projects range from a simple piece of custom furniture or junkyard ready-made restoration all the way up to an entire home or hotel designed down to what type of screws to use. It examines the creative individuals who are just crazy enough to “think it up”. It shows the ups, downs, ins-and-outs of the teams and crews who actually pull these projects together.

By using humor, intelligence, likable characters and world-class hippness, the show becomes a “http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/ meets House of Style” for the new, do-it-yourself sect that is fast becoming too smart for the typical weekend yawnathons that insist on shoving another episode of drywalling a basement down their throats.

Our show has five or six segments dedicated to different storylines. We present the ongoing process of building a nightclub in the heart of an urban city. Then we head back to the shop to show how to build a movable stainless steel and concrete kitchen counter for a loft. Maybe during this segment, we would present a safety topic or idea: How about not leaving your tools on the top step of a ladder? Have you ever seen someone move a ladder when they didn’t realize the had left a hammer up there. It’s hilarious. Then, its off to visit an emerging designer or builder to see what they are up to. Or a visit with a star: an on-camera interview with Karim Rashid, Cynthia Rowley, or Marc Newson perhaps? Or maybe it is a profile of a new restaurant highlighting its design features and not its food. Then, back to check up on the nightclub progress - Oh Oh! The client is having a nervous breakdown right on camera. Yikes! Time to go shopping for new tools (test and review the newest shop tools or design software?) . While were at it, let’s check out some funky fresh glass tile. (Do I sense sponsors wondering how to have some of their stuff featured?)

So, basically our show teaches, watches, experiences, learns, and exposes the world behind the design. We rely on a great soundtrack, intelligent and thoughtful projects, fun people, and high-energy action to illustrate what a lot of us already know: Design is the new art of our times. It surrounds us and encompasses everything we do therefore elevating it to the status of “very important.”

The world of design is also not without its foibles and screw-ups. And, the reality of this business is about money, sex, acceptance, ego, personality, individuality, and a whole lot of luck. They all come together and meet at one big psychological cocktail party! And at the end of the night, what’s left is something new. A new product. A new nightclub. A new loft, restaurant, retail store, office space or simply, a better way to throw away your trash. The show’s subtext will present designer’s personal instructions for everyday life – even if they look foolish doing it sometimes.

With a visually-stimulating backdrop for its stage, a contemporary and smart soundtrack and a host of interesting characters (designers as well as their clients), Behind the Design is destined to be one of television’s most watchable How-To shows.

Come on already, how many of us can keep watching goofy neighbors ruin each other’s houses for only $1000.00? The time has come for a show that is a whole lot smarter, a whole lot edgier, and a whole lot more show for the buck.