The Gist: Daniela Martinez, a newer designer at SPI, shares which designers and design firms inspire her, what she admires in their work, and how she applies those influences in her own design process.
What you’ll learn
Who Daniela looks to for inspiration (Atelier Cho Thompson, CID Design Group, Beth Clarke, Casa Escuela, Room & Board), what specific elements she admires (lighting, material mixes, light palettes), and how she uses that inspiration to inform her own style.
After reading, you’ll be ready to
Recognize how to incorporate neutral and timeless design with thoughtful lighting, material layering, and accessory choices; understand how inspiration from a variety of design voices can shape your own point of view; and apply those insights into your own or your team’s interior design work.
Talking points
Daniela pulls inspiration from architects, designers, and artists she follows on Instagram; she admires how designers use lighting, natural materials, and mixing of textures; her style trends toward neutral palettes, wood, mixed materials, and timelessness; she’s particularly attentive to how light shifts across surfaces; and she consciously integrates those observations into her own layered, relevant, modern design.
Relevant Modern Design
A Fresh Look at Design with Dani
One of the newest members of the SPI team, Dani, sat down with us to discuss the designers who inspire her in the community. We loved getting her fresh take on relevant, modern design.
Who is an individual or group designer/blogger outside of our typical design space that inspires you in your designs or personally?
I get inspiration from everywhere! I take a lot of pictures and have folders on my phone where I save lots of inspo pictures wherever I go. It can be restaurants, stores, hotels, etc. I also have a separate Instagram where I only follow artists/furniture/designers and a lot of architects! Some of the ones I love are:
View this profile on InstagramAtelier Cho Thompson (@chothompson) • Instagram photos and videos
View this profile on Instagramcid design group (@cid_designgroup) • Instagram photos and videos
View this profile on InstagramBETH CLARKE (@spacehavenhome) • Instagram photos and videos
View this profile on InstagramCasa Escuela (@casa.escuela) • Instagram photos and videos
View this profile on InstagramRoom & Board Modern Furniture (@roomandboard) • Instagram photos and videos
What do you like about their work or visuals?
I love looking at architecture, facades, colors, windows. How the lighting affects a space, how they arrange the furniture and art. Different angles and how to make intricate moments and details.
Image: Atelier Cho ThompsonI mostly look at how things work together, how they deal with lighting, etc; the colors and patterns that are being used together. I’m drawn to more neutral palettes, the mixture of wood and different materials and lots of natural lighting!
How have you used inspiration from their work to implement new installations or design elements in your own work?
I always try to integrate what I see in images that inspire me, I try to be aware of lighting and how colors might react to it! 
Image: CID Design GroupI try to keep things neutral-ish so my designs can be timeless or at least feel fresh and relevant for a while. I do take a lot of inspiration from other interior design groups, especially when it comes to layering accessories and matching furniture.
