Just the FAQs

Rex Kirby outside his London concept: The Texas Embassy Cantina.

Rex Kirby Design's clients seem to credit your success in designing bars and restaurants to "what a good listener" you are, and how you are always open to their ideas. Is that all it takes?

I wish it was that easy. While I'm glad to learn that I'm considered a good listener, there's a lot more to it than that. Most of the time, the majority of our clients don't really have all that clear an idea about what it is they actually want, in terms of atmosphere -- which is why they come to us. Sure, they know they want a Mexican restaurant, so they want it to look Mexican, or a steak house, and they want it to look "steaky." Beyond that, though, they can be pretty vague.

Which is fine with me, because we don't really design for the clients anyway; we design for their prospective customers -- the demographic they're trying to attract. For instance, do they want a Mexican restaurant that attracts a college crowd, or a family crowd? Is the steak place or whatever going for the serious 'business-dinner' clientele, or is it going to be one of those casual places where they cut your tie off if you wear one in the door? Of course one of the first things we look at is their basic menu plan to give us an idea of who their customers are going to be. Once we've helped them focus on their prospective 'core clientele,' then we can start coming up with some solid ideas and sketches, doing the research....

That's the other thing your clients mention -- your intensive research.

Research is a big part of it. It always helps for me to physically see something tangible to help get focused on my goal, in terms of what I want to accomplish visually.

For example, when we did El Pescador, I went to South Beach in Florida to look at, study and take pictures of Tropical Art Deco. From that starting point, I was able to come up with something unique. Same thing with Tia's, and again with Don Pablo's. I was riding around in Monterey, Mexico working on another project when I came up with the concept for Don Pablo's which was creating an outdoor courtyard feel, complete with billboards, trees, storefronts,etc.

It was your commitment to authenticity at Don Pablo's that caught the attention of the Texas Embassy Cantina folks, right?

Click image for larger view

Yep, that and a place we had just finished called Tijuana Johnny's (at right). And for the Cantina's turn of the century border town look, I went back to Monterey -- but this time to an old Colonial section of town that was about to be torn down. The streets were all blocked off and the buildings condemned, getting ready for new construction. I spent several days walking around taking pictures of walls, lettering, finishes, window, doors and so on.

Authenticity is not only important to me personally, but it's also real helpful to the other artists and craftsmen we bring in on these projects: Things go a lot faster if we can hand them photos and samples of the actual material from these places while we're telling them what we want in the way of a particular "look."

Replaying the mental tapes here, trying to come up a description of what constitutes the 'Rex Kirby Design Look,' and frankly, not having much luck...

That's because there isn't one. What we do is new looks, new concepts, and one of the things I pride myself on is that I have no particular look, no preference for Art Deco over Modern or Traditional or High Tech or whatever. I'm very eclectic and versatile. A lot of people, familiar with our work at, say, Don Pablo's or The Park Cafe in the Hotel in Port Arthur, think of it as being high-contrast and colorful. That's not especially true, I am just as happy working with muted hues when the situation calls for it.

An example would be...?

Well, take for example Kirby's Steakhouse (no relation) which has a somewhat subtle color scheme. It was one of my favorite projects because we had just finished doing the Texas Embassy Cantina in London, and so being able to come back here for my next project in my own neighborhood (the Lakewood area of Dallas) was a real treat.

More about Kirby's Steakhouse

For Kirby's (right), the first thought I had was an image of James Dean from Giant.

What I wanted was Texas Chic, but with some of the feel of Lakewood mixed in. And of course I wanted to be respectful of the history of the place and of the 'old' Kirby's tradition from the time when it was that great old Fifties place with the beehive-hairdo waitresses just up the street.

I wanted to reflect both the fact that it was back in a newer and more modern incarnation, yet not cut the ties to the old place.

We used touches of limestone and sandstone, materials which are common in Lakewood. As for the history, we wound up with a whole wall of photographs and memorabilia from the original Kirby's. I love that wall, and the ties to the old Kirby's.

But it is true that I've spent a lot of time in other countries over the years, and that I sure can use bold colors, and a lot of colors you wouldn't ordinarily think would work together, but do. You see that a lot more in other cultures -- Italy, Greece, Mexico, South America and places like that.

One thing that comes with experience as an artist learning to make colors work together is just a matter of having the courage to do it. One just gets better and better at using the colors, because the more you do, the more you learn, and the bolder you're willing to get -- but we only use them when it appropriately serves the case at hand.

You were born and raised in West Texas, and got your degree from Texas Tech. Meaning no offense, but West Texas isn't exactly the first place a person would think to go to look for an artist or good colorist. Paris, it ain't.

Well, I guess I was just born an artist, because I started drawing as soon as I could hold a pencil or crayon. My mother would buy these really big pads, and I'd just draw for hours. I started oil painting when I was barely five years old: I was playing with color before I was even aware what the word "color" meant.

And this is kind of interesting: A few years back, I was helping my parents move from Odessa (or West Texas) to retire locally, and my sister and I were looking through the attic of our old house and found all these old pads filled with drawings of mine from when I was a child. And the interesting thing is, almost all of them were from a very unusual perspective, for a little kid: They were drawn from above, from a bird's-eye view. In other words, I was basically drawing floor plans and layouts from the very beginning, almost from instinct. I think it just came naturally to me.

What's next, professionally?

Nobody knows what's ever gonna be 'next,' but I can tell you what's current. We're looking forward to going back to London to work with the Texas Embassy Cantina designing a small private dining room. Of course we're still doing bars and restaurants, but we're also branching out into hotels, casinos and other kinds of public spaces as well. We're also currently working on the lobby of the Holiday Inn/Select in Richardson (a suburb of Dallas) and redesigning the public spaces and suites of the Holiday Inn Park Central in Port Arthur. And then there's what I have come to think of as our 'life's work' for Louie's Backyard in South Padre; it's an ongoing project that's been underway for four years or more. It just keeps growing -- and it's a huge place -- and they just keep on adding more wings. It's a lot of fun....

CURRENT	PROJECTS	SHOWCASE	AWARDS	PRESS	CONTACT	HOME