Hopper Design + Illustration 
Drone on
Collecting high-quality contextual photos is an important part of visualization, so we upgraded our early DJI Phantom series drone to a Mavic Pro. At just about 1.5 lbs including the battery, it travels easily to building sites and collapses to a convenient 3” by 8”. The greatest improvement over our old manually adjusted camera mount […]
Autodesk Gallery
If you’re in San Francisco, don’t miss this amazing free exhibit near the Embarcadero that shows “how design shapes the world.” The Autodesk Gallery features a variety of exhibits that illuminate the importance of design in buildings, machines, and everyday products. One of my personal favorites was the rock-cut shrines which could be viewed as […]
Flagship Retrofit
When the original H Boutique closed its doors, the display fixtures were warehoused for later use at the Harry Ritchie’s flagship store at Valley River Center. Hopper Design was asked to rethink the “ribbon” display case that was originally designed to attach to a glazing wall and give the illusion of floating between columns. With […]
Escaping Odile
In September 2014, what began as an idyllic beach vacation ended with our family narrowly missing the most powerful hurricane that ever struck the Baja Peninsula. Just 6 hours before Hurricane Odile made landfall in Cabo San Lucas, my family and I caught the last plane to depart the airport before it was shuttered. Other […]
Tallmadge Doyle Public Art
This September, Lane Transit District is scheduled to begin work on the West Eugene EmX extension. A portion of the budget for this project will be spent on art, and Tallmadge Doyle was one of the artists invited to present their ideas. Hopper D + I created renderings showing the proposed art in context of […]
Eugene Skate Park Realized
Well, almost. But yes, it’s really happening! After a decade of politicking and fundraising, Eugene will have its own world-class skate park. When complete, it will be the largest covered and lighted skate park in the country. The park’s home, a historically underutilized and underappreciated location beneath the Washington and Jefferson Street overpass, used to […]
A New Restaurant Venture
In this industry, it’s common for designers to work under written or verbal non-disclosure agreements while developing a retail design. Clients in competitive markets or working under strict corporate franchise rules tend to keep their plans under wraps until they’re ready for implementation, which makes it difficult for designers to show their work in progress. […]
Neptune Plaza
Our newest vision for the city of Alameda in collaboration with architect Daniel Hoy, the proposal for Neptune Plaza re-imagines the existing shopping center to reflect the history of Neptune Beach, once known as “Coney Island of the West.” Together with the proposed Foster’s building (see our December 1 entry), the two projects would span […]
Salem Cafe Yumm! opens
To commemorate Cafe Yumm! Salem’s opening, here are a few glances at the design process from October/November 2013. Like all sketches, things changed a lot from these first ideas. These digital model shots are unrevised. Notably, the nook bench seating and branding panels shown here were dropped from the final installation. The branding panel, shown […]
An Exciting Location
The foundation forms are up at the corner of 18th St and University, within sight of Hayward Field and Old Mac Court on the edge of campus. A great location always helps an illustration shine.
Remember when…
Remember when artistry and computers were not simpatico? Until not that long ago, renderings were done exclusively by hand–it was the only way to make them look good. Sometime in the mid-90s, the potential of the computer as a rendering tool began to crystallize. It was around this same time that I began transferring my […]
Mixed-use in Alameda
This is a building collaboration with architect and friend Daniel Hoy. Our illustrations have generated some buzz for this project, which we hope will become a reality in Alameda.
H Boutique Ideation
Sketches and in-process development working drawings by David Thigpen Design Services
H Boutique Grand Opening
On Wednesday night, the H Boutique held a gala grand opening for their new concept jewelry store located inside The Inn at the 5th in Eugene. We assembled a great team for this one. It’s a pleasure to work with such a talented group of creative people, from initial concept to finished store. Enjoy the […]
Tokyo Exhibit
About the award: This concept for a children’s museum won an Award of Excellence from ASAI in the Sketch Category. It was one of approximately sixty pieces chosen from a field of over four hundred international entries to be included in a traveling exhibit of outstanding architectural illustration. The show opened at Pola Museum Ginza, […]
