American modern design through the objects, colors, materials, and makers that shaped everyday style…
Maximalist provides a historical archive of American design from the 1930s through the 1960s, built from collecting, object study, graphic restoration, and close attention to the colors, forms, makers, and visual culture that shaped modern domestic style. Its creative studio, QwkDog Design, extends that world into original art, illustration, textile design, pattern, and digital work.
American Modern Design
EXPLORE THE MAIN COLLECTIONS
California Colorware
1930s California colorware brought modern optimism to the table with bright glazes, streamlined forms, and casual pieces made for everyday living. From Bauer and Pacific and others, these wares turned useful forms into cheerful expressions of color, craft, and West Coast style.
Furniture
From Heywood-Wakefield and rattan to Monterey and other American modern forms, this section explores the furniture that shaped the mid-century home—streamlined, casual, practical, and deeply tied to the changing look of everyday living.
Go-Alongs
Lighting, glassware, textiles, barware, and decorative objects that complete the room. This section explores the supporting pieces that added color, texture, shine, and personality to the American modern home.
The latest from The Maximalist
Chi Chi Birds: Sascha Brastoff’s Feathered Friends
There is nothing shy about Sascha Brastoff’s Chi Chi Bird line. These birds do not perch politely. They pose. With...
Sascha Brastoff’s West Los Angeles Showroom
Sascha Brastoff’s Los Angeles showroom was more than a place to sell ceramics. It was part factory, part stage set,...
Where Did Decorative Ceramics Go After the 50s?
Mid-century decorative ceramics belong to a very specific postwar moment. The work of artists like Sascha Brastoff and Marc Bellaire...
Design for the Masses: Bellaire Teaches Ceramic Arts
Marc Bellaire is usually discussed as a mid-century California ceramics designer, and understandably so. His signed bowls, trays, lamps, vases,...
Flights of Fantasy: Sascha Brastoff’s Jeweled Bird
Sascha Brastoff’s Jeweled Bird pieces are small, but they have a lot of presence. The designs combine dark glazed grounds,...
1950s Stars Fabric Design
This fabric design is based on the cover of the 1950s children’s book Stars. I was drawn to the strong...
Bellaire Bird Isle Fabric Design
I created a fabric based on Marc Bellaire’s Bird Isle design, adapting the look and feel of the original into...
Flights of Fancy: Marc Bellaire’s Bird Isle
Marc Bellaire’s Bird Isle pattern sits comfortably within the cheerful, stylized world of mid-century California ceramics. Bellaire’s work often favored...
The wonderful world of QwkDog Design
The QwkDog portfolio is full of fantastic designs, illustrations, and patterns inspired by some of the best designers and artists of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Check it out!
