{image1}Images Publishing Group of Melbourne, Australia, has included three Flux-designed Milwaukee bars in its book "100 of the World's Best Bars," published this spring.
The Milwaukee-based designers' sleek and modern aesthetic style -- which graces Eve, Vivo Urban Grill, Roots and Twisted Fork, among other places -- has been lauded locally, and now Eve, Terrace Bar and Vucciria are among only 18 U.S.locations chosen for the upcoming book.
"One of the publisher's reps was scoping out places in Chicago when someone suggested he look at Eve in Milwaukee," says Steve Sorrentino, Flux's project manager.
The rep hopped a northbound train and was soon peering into the windows of Eve, which, because it was morning, was not yet open.
"Apparently he asked a passer-by who designed the place, and, luckily, they knew it was us."
{image2}Impressed by Eve's organic and structural style, Images Publishing asked Flux to see more. A year later, the gentlemen received a complimentary copy of the international publication highlighting their work for the world to see.
Sorrentino says he thinks it's Flux's ornate, sculptural style that caught the group's attention.
"We're more of an artist group filling the role of a design company," he says. "Our staff has degrees in sculpture, printmaking and film, making us sort of a little hub of creatives."
In just five years, the gentlemen at the custom design/build firm have evolved from their modest beginnings as a two-man company in a Third Ward gallery space to a staff of 12 full-time employees working in a 20,000 sq.-ft. fabrication facility in the Riverworks Business Park.
Sorrentino says that Milwaukee has begun a period of profound change, and Flux Design is working in tandem with this transition, helping to make Milwaukee a metropolitan landmark.
The team of artists and designers create sculptural furniture and fixtures for both commercial and residential clients. You can check out recent commercial Flux design work at Euro Café Bar, where they've designed the bar canopy. Other clients include the Velvet Room, Sauce, The Social and the much improved Pizza Shuttle. Their Web site is thinkflux.com.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
