Meet Jason Apilado | Senior Interior Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jason Apilado and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jason, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?

The largest misconception outsiders might not be aware of is the discipline it takes to be a successful interior designer. We’re constantly performing a mental balancing act between our creative side and business side of work. This includes being technically skilled in both tactile and digital mediums. We use a lot of maths, geometry & engineering for calculating material costs, timelines and collaborating with Architects. Often, we compose deep dives into psychology, history and cultural studies for accurate & robust concepts. Sometimes we find ourselves navigating a design language that hasn’t been created yet; and as trailblazers, we must carefully communicate this to our design partners, vendors and craftsman. Interior Designers do all of this while managing business logistics, meeting imperative deadlines and being insatiably charismatic for our clients.

A common dilemma amongst designers is having artistic restraint. Have you ever overdressed to an event or when painting a canvas, wish you would have stopped hours ago? This is a perfect example of balancing creativity and control. Sometimes, it can be easy to drift off course or get too invested about one idea. For instance, this is why its super important to define the nuances between inspirational and conceptional precedent studies. At the end of the day though, we are designing for our clients and want to push imagination & practicality at the same time, all without compromising the integrity of our own design values.

The scenario becomes even harder when you add constant deadlines to the mix between project managers, clients, vendors, architects and city planning processes (the list goes on). Although time management has never been an artist’s strong suit, Interior Designers should find a way to prioritize its development. I even made an acronym to help support my discipline with time and its relationship to creativity (The 3 R’s). Recognize when or how often you need step back and see things from a bigger picture. Reassess the “items” and your consistency so far. Recalibrate the priorities accurately.

I’ve been practicing Interior Design for 14 years, about half of which I was freelancing for myself. I think staying independently self-motivated is a final key discipline that outsiders are probably unaware of to succeed in my field. It’s important to sporadically revisit the question of what motivates you as a designer, what challenges you creatively and what keeps you engaged? Being resilient and ready to problem solve is incredibly important. Leading with confidence without an ego might help as well. Ultimately, I think if one can learn to be criticized while applying their imagination, significant design breakthroughs and self-growth can be accomplished.

What should our readers know about your business?

A project that I love sharing is a mind-bending brutalist home/event space set atop a mountain in Eden, Utah. We had the honor in working alongside Tom Wiscomb Architects & Benchmark Modern for manifesting the structure and container to seamlessly integrate our vision for the interiors. The space includes art installations and furniture by Jónsi, James Turrell, Rick Owens, Vibha Galhotra, Naama Tsabar, Pedro Reyes, large glass enclosers by Germans Ermičs and an amorphous chrome table from MAD Architects.

Some other projects include Soulmate Restaurant in West Hollywood, a G550 jet and a contemporary residence inspired by southern latitudes in the Hollywood Hills with Belzberg Architects & Dobkin Construction. In the last few years, we’ve also started dealing antique furniture, launched a textiles collection and selling a variety of curated goods online.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Culture: – Casa Perfect Los Angeles 3.0– Anat Ebgi gallery– Vardan Gallery– Arcana Books– Endeavour space shuttle

Eat:– Santa Monica Seafood Market– Santa Monica Farmers Market– Spoon & Pork– Kang Ho Dong– Siam Night Market

Shopping:– H. Lorenzo– Rose Bowl Flea Market

Community:– In sheep’s Clothing hifi– Ambient Church– Brain Dead Studios– Aroma Golf Range– LA River West Bank Bike Trail

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

There are so many Designers and Craftsman that come to mind, in which who’s shoulders I stand on. Knowing or unknowingly, I recognize them for inspiring me to be a Designer. I firmly believe that there has never been a more exciting time to be a creative person and I think as artists we should continue to support each other in investing in our imaginations, especially the future generations. Without support, it can sometimes be intimidating or scary sharing your art to the public that has a deep connection to you or represents your profound viewpoint of the world; I think that’s why it’s so important in finding community and a sense of belonging wherever you live as an artist. So, I’d like to give a shoutout to my close community of friends in LA who have all supported me since relocating here.

I would also like to thank my parents for putting up with the sound of Legos all night long when I was growing up. I don’t think I would believe in such endless creativity without growing up with those little plastic nuggets. I would like to thank my brothers for their support and countless rides to and from school. I would like to give a shoutout to my high school teachers that sponsored my dance team and LGTBQ+ club, especially my math teacher who never gave up on me. My college employment counselor and my toughest design professors for seeing the potential in such a peculiar student. I would like to recognize Sean Leffers, for trusting me with building a design studio from the ground up. Other notable people I would like to mention who have influenced, inspired, or supported me as mentors are: Riza Stillwell, Scott Pennington, David Waggoner, David Goggins, Bjarke Ingels, Ridley Scott, The Wachowskis, Craig Green and Richard Feynman.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/404.pagenotfound.404/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonapilado/

Other: Design Studio: https://www.seanleffers.com

Image Credits
Elizabeth Carababas Summit Sothebys International Realty Tom Wiscombe Architecture Sean Leffers