Name: Thomas o’Brien
Company: Visual Comfort
Position with company: Design Partner
Website: www.visualcomfort.com, www.aerostudios.com
Tell us a little about your background in design (education, experience, etc)
I studied photography, art, and design at Cooper Union in New York City. Today, I’m an interior and home furnishings designer, founder and President of Aero Studios, one of America’s leading design firms, and the proprietor of Aero Ltd., the retail extension of the studio.
How would you describe your personal design style?
A blend of vintage modern elegance and easy domesticity, along with new variations
on American traditional and classical forms. A philosophy of ‘antique modern’ design
Where does your design inspiration come from?
I go home to my restored schoolhouse and library-studio on Long Island. That’s where
I recharge and get ideas, by caring for my own household.
Final thoughts; tell us a little more about yourself and your daily inspirations:
I think of design as a way to bring real, practical value to people’s lives. I want to
make beautiful products and homes that also work well and will last for a long time.
And I always feel that design is an ongoing history: it’s about finding the new idea in
what’s intriguing and smart from the past. It’s about staying interested in that world of
ideas and adding to it if I can.
Thomas O’Brien‘s piece for Visual Comfort has been shortlisted for Lighting Piece Award
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