Vern Yip

[haplesshobo]

For any fans of his work, Vern Yip is one of the judges on the reality series Next Design Star on HGTV, a design rip-off of Project Runway.
Unfortunately, he doesn't do any of the designs himself but he's pretty spot on with what the designers should have done with their projects.

I never watched Trading Spaces, but he was supposedly the best designer on the show.

[rice cracker]

I loved him on Trading Spaces. Regardless of race, he was *the* most talented and even tempered designer that show ever had. And cute to boot.

I haven't seen this Next Design Star show, is he basically a Tim Gunn?

[eos]

yes he was my favorite on trading spaces too. his ideas were always so clean and modern.

[lethal]

He went to my school. The alumni magazine did a story on him a few years back about how he was supposed to be a doctor or lawyer or something and ended up transferring to the architecture school.

Here's the story: http://aands.virginia.edu/x5439.xml

[haplesshobo]

I haven't seen this Next Design Star show, is he basically a Tim Gunn?

Tim Gunn is supposed to be an impartial mentor, with no power in the judging process. Vern Yip however is one of the three judges, and doesn't seem to interact with the contestants untill the judging process. He might be more of a Nina Garcia in that sense, but without the meaness. Its obvious from his expressions that Vern Yip might not like something, but he'll try to be diplomatic about it.

They were running the marathon today, and I really haven't watched the show so I don't know what type of archetype Vern Yip is supposed to fill. But, from what I've seen, he's very good in the role of judge- he will point out what was good and what was bad and why. In that sense, he might play a similar role to Gunn- articulating to an otherwise ignorant audience what is good or bad design. We, as the audience, might look at something and make a split decision on why its a good or bad decision even though we probably don't understand why we made the decision. Vern Yip is able to point out details as to what would have made it more succesful- the fireplace should have been a shade darker to make it more of a focal point. Or, he'll explain that it works because the designer is repeating that pattern, etc.. Whether he's criticizing or praising the design, Vern seems to be pretty spot on with his assesements and analysis.

[otter p.]

He went to my school. The alumni magazine did a story on him a few years back about how he was supposed to be a doctor or lawyer or something and ended up transferring to the architecture school.


Seems like every asian at one point was supposed to become a doctor.

Imagine that scene when he finally told his parents that he wanted to be an interior decorator instead.

Are there any photos or images of his works. I'm now curious what his work look like. When I googled him, it mentioned that his works are asian inspired, but I couldn't find any pictures of his work. What the hell does that mean?

[rice cracker]

Y'all are NOT getting huffy in the Vern Yip thread. I will not allow it.

[Martino]

Most of his stuff is not to my taste, but Vern Yip has his own webspace that is itself beautifully designed and accessable. Here is his index of wares:

http://www.vernyip.com/ (http://www.vernyip.com/index.html)

Mind you, I fancy the Rodolfo Dordoni table lamp very much.


http://store1.yimg.com/I/vernyip_1813_768319

[otter p.]

I was looking more for his before and after pictures.

But, if those pictures on his site are the after pictures of his remodels, then I'm really impressed he could make those rooms look that nice for a thousand dollars. Those rooms actually look liveable and nice.

I've gotten stuck watching TS cause of the gf, and the show is usually crap. They all look cheap and gimmicky, right out of a really bad theme park. It might be okay at first, but I can't see people actually living in those rooms.

But, I'm still not sure how VY's stuff is asian-inspired.