Perhaps one of the most unique things about Modern Times is our in-house design team. This is the team that you know and love from projects like our can designs, social media propaganda, and general branding/aesthetics. But they're also our source of inspiration AND implementation when it comes to our tasting rooms and restaurants. Most companies hire interior designers to dream up the look and feel of a space, at a substantial cost. There can be a big gap too between ideas and final results, with finger pointing between designs, contractors, and clients.

Not at Modern Times. Our in-house design team works hand-in-hand with our in-house construction team to pull off pretty amazing concepts, usually fashioned in the DIY, nostalgic, maximalist aesthetic we've become known for. No finger pointing when everyone works on the same team -- oh, and they're also all co-owners of the same company. Most impressively, our scrappy nature that's defined the business from day one lives on and thrives when it comes to our physical design work.

Santa Barbara is a great example of these values come to life. Our design team started with a budget of $25,000 for all of the art and design in this 4,500 SF tasting room and restaurant. Ask any retail operator, that's an astoundingly low number. And despite that, they're actually at a spend so far of just $8,000, with another $2,000 projected between now and open. So they'll likely only spend 40% of their budget on this project. How's that possible?

Say it with me -- DIY. We fell in love with the patterns of classic mexican talavera tiles, but at a cost of $25,000 in materials alone for our bar facade in Santa Barbara, we knew they weren't going to be in the realm of possibility for us. Enter our insanely talented design team, who figured out we could re-purpose our in-house screenprinting workshop (yes, we screen all of our own apparel) to mimic these tiles on panels cut from simple plywood. Instead of spending upwards of $40,000 on materials and installation, we cut, screened, sealed, and installed 260 tiles for just $800, and created something unique in all the world along the way.

Across from the bar facade, guests will be wowed with a 2500-piece silverware mural constructed again by our design team. $548 worth the common objects re-imagined into a statement piece.

We can't wait to share the rest of this space with you as additional projects come to life. Hopefully your travels take you to Santa Barbara sometime this summer so you can see it all firsthand as well.