From growing up in Brooklyn, New York, to studying art theory at the School of Visual Arts, Steven Mark Klein may be a “man with no name,” as he puts it, but his discerning branding stamp rooted in contemporary culture is on a long list of global consumer brands like Montblanc, Iridium, and Swatch, and emblematic hospitality projects, from Thompson and SIXTY Hotels to the Hollywood Roosevelt and James Hotels, to a spate of New York projects for restaurateur John McDonald (including the Gordon Bar and Sessanta in the SIXTY SoHo), among others. The man who has been called a cultural savant shares career influences, his one question for Dieter Rams, and where hospitality might be going.
Describe what you do.
I author brand names and design brand logos (identities) for independent hotel projects, hotel groups, and restaurants. I also author brand narratives, which can encompass the creation of all forms of branded deliverables and messaging. The work ranges from old to new media. I consult if a client requests on interior design and architectural direction.
How did you end up where you are professionally?
The defining period for my branding work is when I was a contemporary art theory student from 1968 to 1972 at the School of Visual Arts [in New York]. My courses led by conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth etched in my mind a deep sense of philosophical justification for my own solutions.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
To take a leap outside one’s fate, to paraphrase a quote by Romanian philosopher E.M. Cioran.
Who do you consider an iconic hospitality veteran?
In 1999, [the late] Alex Calderwood opened the first Ace Hotel in Seattle; simultaneously André Balazs opened the first Standard hotel in West Hollywood. André already owned [New York’s] Mercer Hotel and [West Hollywood’s] Chateau Marmont. Almost 20 years later the hospitality industry has had many interesting hotels open, but in 2017 [we are] due for a similar transformative moment as what happened in 1999. Someone or something—idea or technology—is out there, and it will be exciting to see what explodes onto the scene.
How has hospitality changed in the last two decades?
Hospitality has been completely changed by the emergence of more people having access to the internet, advanced smartphone technology, and the arrival of a culture driven by online opinion.
What can the retail, airline, and auto industries learn from hospitality?
A simple real world example: In the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn, luxury car brand BMW is creating from an old warehouse an experience it has branded Amalgamated Drawing Office or ADO [designed by local firm nArchitects]. This community center will be an extension of BMW’s MINI car brand and house a restaurant, a retail design store, and a free space with wifi for open social human interaction. ADO’s branding will be discreet. Retail, hotel, and airline design professionals should all take note of this new project. For decades the first word was brand. We have reached the point where the brand can take a step back and the focus can be on the people.
Who is on your list to watch in his or her field?
I’m always interested in what French architect Laurent Deroo is designing. The young actress Millie Bobby Brown who plays the character Eleven on the TV show Stranger Things is really amazing. One major result of social media 2.0 is that children are expressing adult thoughts. This is true in fashion, TV, movies, and pop music. How does the hospitality community approach teen power and decision-making moving forward? Hotel brands will have to take particular note of emerging gender sensitivity, which is of major concern to the next generation.
Do you agree that the KISS—Keep It Simple, Stupid—motto applies to branding?
I am always on the side of simplicity. A goal when I’m naming a brand is to find a single word (and this is a personal intellectual preference), a five-letter word. When I design a brand logo, the solution is to use a flat icon whenever I can. No illustration. No layers. The 21st century is still searching for its own original graphical strategy. So much work is now rooted in nostalgia. The internet, especially Google, reinforces younger designers to look to the past to define the present.
Biggest branding pet peeve?
If the owner is not 100 percent committed to the branding solution, the brand loses direction. I work in the manner of a fine artist so when my work has been processed by a committee of people on the client side, things have gotten interesting—usually diluting and weakening the work.
Highlight of your career?
That I’m still considered not just relevant, but also thought of as predictive.
Who changed your career?
In the 1990s, I spent two and a half years in [Pritzker Prize-winning Italian architect] Aldo Rossi’s office. He had an office in New York and an American partner, Morris Adjmi, who now has his own successful firm. Aldo operated intellectually in a manner that was like almost no one else in the architecture industry. There was a meeting room, and he would go in there in the morning, close the door, and take off his shoes. Paper, pencils, no technology, no reference books, no Google, no boards, no meetings, no consensus, nothing. He would come out a little dazed, hungry, a little more disheveled. And on the desk would be 20, 30 of the most beautiful drawings. You’d go, ‘Where’d that come from?’ It’s the 1990s—he’s already a master at his craft. By today’s standards, it can’t happen. It’s so ethereal, so conceptual, and it’s touching. It’s emotional. Aldo was important because he showed me I can still live my life as a dreamer.
Who’s your coolest client?
I’m particularly fond of restaurateur John McDonald. He always trusts everything I have named or designed for him. He understands that I work from a deep base of knowledge, and I’m at my most effective when my solutions are intuitive and free from group analysis.
Most influential cultural movement of the last five years?
Instagram has upended traditional intellectual and societal hierarchy. The definition of originality is completely fluid today and will continue to be into the near future.
Is there a movement you would like to see revived?
I’m not a fan of reviving any movement, especially when it impacts contemporary design. I think the strength of any aesthetic work is revealed by the context at the moment of its creation. An artistic expression, whether it’s ancient, modern, or contemporary tends to have the most power to move me if I give it space to be itself.
Where is your favorite place to travel?
I love visiting Japan. Tokyo from 1960 to 2016 has a unique place in urban design history. My No. 1 travel experience is Therme Vals [hotel and spa complex] in Switzerland. No. 2 was flying on the Concorde, and my third has to be sailing on [the late Italian industrialist and head of Fiat] Gianni Agnelli’s yacht Stealth off the Ligurian coast.
What object do you cherish most?
My watch. I own a model 4960A Patek Philippe Aquanaut that I have worn every day since I purchased it 10 years ago in Bern, Switzerland. Eyewear design is of special importance to me—I’ve been wearing glasses since I was 8 years old. My current choice is the Scott frame by BassamFellows. I use it for both my regular [glasses] and my sunglasses.
If you could have dinner with one person, living or dead, who would it be and where?
I would like to share a meal with industrial designer Dieter Rams at his home in Kronberg, Germany.
What would you ask him?
The obvious question: How does it feel to be the most influential industrial designer in the world? Apple’s product look is greatly influenced by Dieter’s original vocabulary. The general public has not been made aware.
What do you do in your spare time?
I walk. I’ve traversed the streets of many of the world’s great cities. I derive immense pleasure from navigating unknown urban geographies. Walking was a key element of [social revolutionary organization] Situationist International thinking.
What is your life motto?
Don’t wait for a breakthrough, create one.
