COMPANY OVERVIEW
Designer Callin Fortis present Bigtime Design Studios: a seamless combination of design fashion, music, branding.
Bigtime Design Studios specializes in high concept high style public space environments.
The studio’s recent projects include Morgan’s Hotel Group’s Mondrian South Beach, a dirty disco re-imagining and build-out of the Cameo Theater (for which BTDs received a nightclub interior design award nomination and won the “Best Nightclub Design Renovation Award” and a full scale re-branding of UK dance music institution Gatecrasher. Bigtime has also completed numerous projects including, Ristorante Angelina, Exit, Frank’s, Glow, Hi Tops, Kaboom, Neo, Oo-La-La!, Tequila Roadhouse, Vinyl, America’s Backyard, Watusi and Exit 66.
Most recently, BTDs worked on the historic Betsy Ross hotel on ocean drive as well as a 10-day make over of the iconic Flamingo North Tower Lobby. Though purely a temporary fix, the Flamingo project showcased Bigtime’s ability to tell a story with limited resources and time.
The common thread in all Bigtime work is the sociology of good design. “People might ask what kind of social or political dislocations our designs represent,” says Fortis. “If you look around any significant design you will find that successful space is interpreted as a socio-political monologue, where each user reacts with whatever emotions they already possess”. Bigtime Design is a collaborative studio — a team of creative artists, architects, designers, and staging professionals. The studio utilizes a unique design ethos where oversized objects create the experience, while the human-size details evoke a personal connection and create a lasting memory. “We encourage design to react with you, not to you,” says Fortis.
THE PROCESS
We believe that design should tell a story. With that simple approach BTDs creates a storyboard based on the clients programming requirements. (See B Bar Book attached) All clients have something to say, we feel it is our job to interpret that story and make is real, dynamic and memorable. Just as in life, all stories are different yet no less compelling. From the uber chic B Bar which just won “Best Hotel Lounge” Miami, 2010 New Times, To a complete re branding of the local favorite Crunch Fitness
Design Team – Bigtime Design
Design Team – Bigtime Design Callin Fortis is a nightlife legend. For over twenty years, Fortis-created nightclubs have dominated the world’s nightlife scene. As designer and creator of such iconic clubs as Crobar worldwide, (For which he won “Best New Interior Design and Best Super Club in 2005″ from Club Systems international), Cameo (Miami) best interior renovation at the 2008 Club World Awards, Gatecrasher United Kingdom, Cameo, Rain, Vinyl and many more, Fortis has significantly influenced club life as we know it. Aside from nightclub design, Fortis’s firms most recent work includes their role as interior architects at the tony Mondrian Hotel in South Beach, B Bar at the Betsy Hotel also in South Beach and has recently landed the national re-branding of the multi-city chain of fitness clubs, Crunch. Listed as one of club world’s top 100 people to watch, Fortis is known as an industry leader, a reative nightlife visionary with resources spanning nightclub design worldwide.