http://www.davidstarkdesign.com/, http://www.davidstarksketchbook.com/, http://twitter.com/davidstarkinc

David Stark Design and Production, 219 36th Street, 3A, New York, NY (2025)

03/26/2025

We are working on a new idea for Easter, and another bread concept came to mind. We’re going to table that one for now, though, and let it marinate. Sometimes we do that; perhaps the notion is not exactly the right answer for the creative challenge at hand, or maybe it doesn’t work logistically . . . or the budget does not work — that happens a lot! That doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea. It just might not be a good idea for NOW, so we file it away for later. 😉

Sometimes the ideas come really easily. Periodically they are hard won battles. I have to admit that Easter has been a harder one to crack, but I know we will solve the riddle. That’s one of the things that’s rewarding about being so practiced: I always know a new idea will come.

Stay tuned . . .
📷 by ; shot on location at

03/25/2025

While the photos of our events showcase joy, I’m not going to sugar coat it; behind the scenes it’s a lot of hard work. But the smiles on the faces of our team always get me — whether that be those of the designers, producers, artisans or client services gang in our organization or our beloved partners — planners, caterers, servers, even the guys working the grill at the BBQ ( 😉 ). These grins radiate pride. They denote the pleasure of time well spent in the collective pursuit of excellence. So on this , we salute the smile. It says so much about how we feel about what we do.
📷 1, 4, 9-12, 19, & 20 by 📱; 📷 3 & 5 & 🎥 2 courtesy of ; 🎥 6 by ; All other 📷 by

03/23/2025

People tell me all the time ( excitedly!) that they have spotted our truck around town. They even send me photos of it en route someplace. But the truck, itself, is not that exciting. It’s the wild array of magic that comes out of it that is fun and unexpected.

Swipe ◀️ to see just a fraction of the variety it delivers. Just add water . . . and a whole lot of passion, hard work, and love.
📷 1 & 10 by 📱; 📷 2, 4, 5, 7, 10-14, & 17 by ; 🎥 3 by ; 🎥 5 by ; 📷 8, 9, & 18 by ; 📷 14 & 15 by ; 🎥 16 by ; 📷 19 by

03/21/2025

Swipe ◀️ to see two kinds of pipes used in ways they were never intended: one for smoking and one for plumbing. Which kind of pipe are you?!
Note: The plumbing pipe images are from our book AT THE ARTISAN’S TABLE, co-created with designer .
📷’s 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, & 11 by ; All other 📷’s by

03/20/2025

Both custom and vintage matchbooks and boxes are so popular right now, why not turn them into place card keepsakes for your guests?

Here, an array of vintage finds collected from antique stores and online resources are a creative, yet inexpensive way to give personality to the table and also complement our multileveled pipe centerpiece conceptually. We curated them by palette in this case, but of course there are other ways in. For foodie hosts, is it a collection of favorite restaurants world over? For native New Yorkers, is it a selection of matches from long closed, favorite haunts like Restaurant Florent, the Copacabana, or Elaine’s?

The hunt for the right bounty is half the fun, and the matches also function as brilliant conversation starters. Don’t be surprised if trading ensues at the tables. 😉
Chocolate table linens by .
Bread by
📷 ‘s by

03/18/2025

It’s , and one of the things I’m most proud of is how long the three of us have been a squad. Marco aka El Diablo ( ) has been with the company for 25 years this year, and Susie ( ) has been with us for 30!

Marco and Susie, words cannot express my admiration and appreciation for you both. And this photo . . . Gosh, I love it. Maybe this is our album cover if we ever form a band and release a record ?!?! 😂

🙏🏼 🙌🏼 😘
📷 by

03/17/2025

When I see a pipe, I immediately think of artist René Magritte’s infamous painting, “The Treachery of Images.” The painting is also known as, “This is Not a Pipe.”

I have long marveled at the idea that an artist could “own” an image in the way that Magritte does here. I mean, he obviously is USING the image of a thing that exists in the world, but his meta statement is so charged that he becomes inseparable from it. Thats when art is very powerful for me.

Lots of other artists have been inspired by this seminal work, too, making their own homages to Monsieur Magritte. Swipe left to see “Ceci n’est pas un pipe” as well as other pipe-centric pieces made by other artists, including us! Some years ago, we created a pop-up store called Wood Shop, filled with hand-made items inspired by the wood workers’ atellier. The last slide in the carousel shows one of the pieces we made, the plume of “smoke” created from wood shavings.

Art credits are below:

1. Art on slide 2 by René Magritte
2. Art on slide 3 by René Magritte
3. Art on slide 4 by René Magritte
4. Art on slide 5 by Christopher Autret
5. Art on slide 6 by Banksy ( )
6. Art on slide 7 by Jeremy Hutchison ( )
7. Art on slide 8 by
Chocolate table linens by .
Bread by
📷 1 & 7 by ; All other photos courtesy of the World Wide Web.

03/16/2025

When I was a kid, my Dad smoked a pipe. I would sometimes go with him to the mall to get to***co at a store called The Tinderbox — I remember those trips very clearly. I loved the way the shop smelled, and today, I gravitate towards scents that have strong notes of to***co.

While I have never smoked a pipe myself, I’m weirdly sentimental about those times with my father ( and I’m not really a sentimental person!). I also can’t shake the romantic vision in my head of all the artists captured in photos sporting a pipe, or all of those, for that matter, that painted their own self-portraits with a pipe in tow. So, this dinner party, with it’s cloud of pipes repurposed as candle holders is an homage to my Dad ( with love ), but it’s also for all the famous pipe smokers whose imitable style was partly defined by the wooden implement hanging out of their mouths. Swipe ◀️ to see a handful of those icons as well as more shots of this special evening.

In case you need us to help you identify the portraits in this carousel, refer to the list below. You’re welcome. 😉

1. Marcel Duchamp
2. Andie McDowell
3. Donald Duck
4. Albert Einstein
5. Marcel Duchamp
6. Albert Einstein
7. Fred MacMurray
8. Gregory Peck
9. Greta Garbo
10. W.C. Fields
11. Vincent Van Gogh
12. Frank Sinatra
13. Henri Matisse
14. Jean Metzinger
15. Millicent Fenwick
16. Michael Caine
17. Vincent Van Gogh
Chocolate linen table cloth and napkins by

Bread by our pals at
📷 ‘s 1, 19, & 20 by ; All others courtesy of the World Wide Web. ***co

03/15/2025

Susie ( ) and I have set a lot of tables together over the last 30 years, and we are excited to share a brand new one with you tomorrow. In the meantime, swipe ◀️ for a roundup of recent favorites.

The one we are going to share mañana, by the way, is smokin’ — hint, hint. 😉
📷 ‘s by

03/11/2025

It’s and the one thing our gang has in common is the sentiment that our Design Director, Michael Moyal ( ) shares in the video on slide 3. 🙌🏼 🥰

Swipe ◀️ for that and more behind the scenes ballet.
📷’s by ; 🎥 3 & 5 by

03/10/2025

A few weeks ago we posted a BEFORE and AFTER examination of a handful of our event transformations, and you guys enjoyed that; thank you for all the positive feedback! We are back with chapter two of that same concept. Note the images of empty venues interspersed amongst the photos of the finished installations to get the full effect of each metamorphosis.

Those venues are:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
All 📷’s by except for 📷’s 18, 19, & 20 by ; Image 2 courtesy of the ; image 5 courtesy of ; image 7 by 📱; 🎥 17 by 📱;

03/09/2025

I have had (and loved!) dogs in my lifetime, but I’ve never considered myself an animal person EXCEPT at our events where we all LOVE any kind of creature. 🐑 🦒 🐘 🦢 🐄 🐸

Swipe ◀️ for a roundup of critters we’ve created or enhanced as well as actual animals we’ve gathered for a variety of events — from the archival pages of Martha Stewart Weddings to a street takeover of the village of Gruyère in Switzerland and lots of places in between. 😉
📷 1 courtesy of ; 📷 2 & 3, 12 & 13 by ; 📷 10 by ; 🎥 4 & 5 by 📱; All other 📷’s by

03/07/2025

People say to me all the time, “I can’t wait to see what you are going to do this year for the Purim Ball.” For the first time in twelve years, we won’t be producing and designing the annual Jewish Museum’s fundraising gala. While disappointing, we recognize that leadership and institutional goals change, and that’s a natural part of business and evolution.

That said, as the festive holiday approaches, and I walk down memory lane, I’m proud of the accomplishments we’ve had as a team. We started working on this project when , the Museum’s Director at the time, arrived at the museum. Prior, this event was a sort of dusty, conservative fundraising dinner. But like everything that Claudia puts her gaze on, she challenged us to raise the bar and make this evening young, fresh, and THE must-attend art world event of the year. We were happy to oblige.

I want to thank you, Claudia, for your fearless, ambitious world outlook. The best results come out of the tension of being challenged, and you pushed us to do what I believe is some of our most innovative work. While never easy, I’m proud of what we accomplished TOGETHER, and I miss our sparring for excellence. ❤️😘

From a 30 foot Ferris wheel to poodles on the red carpet, swipe ◀️ to see a window into what absolutely became one of the art world’s most fun, surprising, and most anticipated evenings of the year. We wish well this year and every year.
📷 by

03/06/2025

We produce and design events all over the world, but one of our favorite places to do so anywhere is the Flagship location of the New York Public Library ( ).

Swipe ◀️ to see four different events transforming an array of spaces in this glorious Beaux-Arts landmark building, including the truly extraordinary Rose Main Reading Room that the institution allows to be used but once a year for their very own annual Library Lions Gala. We are privileged to partner with our dear friends at on that iconic evening’s design and production.
All 📷’s by except for images 10-18 by

03/02/2025

Back in the day, I created a few guest designer collections with when my dear friend was SVP and Creative Director. There was a colloquial term that Alex used — “things on strings” that referred to holiday ornaments and the like. That phrase has stayed with me, and I smile every time I think of it and that fruitful time with the West Elm team.

Here are a collection of recent “things on strings” that we have played with since then.
Swipe ◀️

I can’t help but think of you, Alex, every time we tie something up. 😉 Sending hugs. ❤️
📷 by

02/28/2025

This week we have been celebrating the anniversaries of David Stark Design team members, and as we get to the last day of February, we have a bunch more to shout out. Swipe ◀️ and make some noise for:

⭐️Cynthia Castaneira ( ._ ), our beloved Studio Coordinator has been with the company for 11 fabulous years this month ( but I met her when she was 2!).

⭐️Daniel Shovlin ( ) , Executive Producer, has been with the company for 4 years this month.

⭐️This month we celebrate, Design Director, Michael Moyal’s ( ) , 3rd year with the company!

⭐️Our wonderful Head of Production & Operations, Brie Jeffrey ( ) has been with the company for 3 years this month, too.

We have some more really BIG anniversaries in the coming months, which delight me to know end, and we’ll be celebrating those, for sure. In the meantime, Cynthia, Dan, Michael, and Brie, you are all so central to our team. We adore you, appreciate you, admire you, and celebrate your accomplishments. Thank you for all you bring to our world. 🎉 🥂 ✨
📷 1 & 3 by ; 📷 2 by ; 📷 4 📱

02/26/2025

February is full of special anniversaries over here, and we have another spectacular one to celebrate today. This month marks a whopping 25 years that our beloved Marco Mendez ( ) has been a key member of the David Stark Design team. Marco first started as a driver — pure and simple, but it took very little time for us to realize that Marco’s talents were numerous beyond comprehension. He’s our very own MacGyver who can fix anything. He has superb engineering skills, excellent knowledge of applied physics, can build a large branch arrangement like nobody’s business, is not afraid of climbing the tallest ladder in a single bound, and is one of the nicest, most committed humans you’ll ever meet. He’s a great driver too, by the way. 😉

Marco, you call all your colleagues, “Partner.” We admire that you truly treat EVERYONE like one. You are one of the heartbeats of our DSI family, and we salute you. Thank you for all the magic, friendship, brilliance, passion, commitment and humor that you bring. You teach us new things everyday ( for 25 years!!!!! ), and we love you.
Swipe ◀️ to see Marco in action over the years. There’s NOTHING he can’t do! Really.
All 📷 by except for image 3 by ; 🎥 6 by ; 🎥 12 by 📱

02/24/2025

Today is the day to celebrate this guys’ five year anniversary with David Stark Design. Our beloved Managing Director, .kociski started exactly two weeks before the pandemic changed the world, and fast forward, a lot has happened since. Not only have we done what might be argued as our best creative work on his watch, but I credit Lee for literally spearheading the transformation of our agency with his clear and empathetic leadership, his passion, his humor, his steadfast commitment to our team as well as to our clients, and his vision for what a future forward, best-of-class agency could look like in a post-pandemic world. From navigating the precarious business difficulties of the pandemic to re-building the team right after, Lee has guided so many accomplishments (and beautifully navigated the challenges — they always exist! 😉). And while it’s impossible to name all of his achievements, swipe ◀️ to see just a handful of event highlights that have occurred under Lee’s leadership — varying from pop-up retail experiences to a State Dinner at the White House, and everything in between.

We all love and appreciate you, Lee. Thank you for all you bring to our world.

📷 1 and 15 by 📱; 📷 2, 3, 5, 12-14 & 20 by ; 📷 4 Courtesy of the White House; 🎥 6 by ; 📷 7 & 8 by ; 📷 9 & 10 by ; 📷 11 & 15 by ; 📷 16 & 19 by ; 🎥 17 by ; 📷 18 Courtesy of Cartier

David Stark Design and Production