APLDWA Featured Designer:
Naomi Goodman

Firecracker LLC
Member since 2013

This quarter we feature Naomi Goodman of Firecracker. Naomi served as the National Advocacy Chair for APLD from 2017 - January 2020 and brings expertise in art history and urban planning to landscape design. Let’s learn more about Naomi and Firecracker here.

How would you describe your design style?

I gravitate to simple, strong lines that can clearly demarcate a space – lines that form visual patterns in the garden or create distinct shapes outdoors. I love all the colors of the rainbow equally, but not all at once or all in the same space. I aspire to warm minimalism in my gardens – wood that weathers to its natural silver state paired with concrete, or metal with lots of lush, green plants spilling over the edges of planters. Maybe a pop or two of color here and there, say light orange and deep dark purple blooms, and pale yellow to round it out.

Design & Photo: Firecracker, Construction: Greener Living Solutions

I never met a pattern I didn’t love, so if there’s somewhere I can sneak in a large herringbone where it makes sense, I’m game. In other words, not too Dwell magazine, not too UK House and Garden, but somewhere in between.

Design & Photo: Firecracker, Construction: Elliott Bay Landscape Design

Is your focus design? Or do you also manage installation, build, and maintain gardens?

My focus is on design work, although I manage installations as well. I often return to residential gardens in season two and add a bulb overlay to the existing plantings.

Design & photo: Firecracker, Homeowner installation

My daily focus depends on what’s on my plate at the moment. During my workday, I am either at my desk, meeting with clients in person, or more often nowadays on Zoom, off to nurseries to spec plants, or on a job site pointing at something. Most importantly, I’m bringing hot coffee and donuts to the crews who are doing the lion’s share of hard work outside in the elements.

Who inspires you and your designs?

I’m inspired by people who stand up and do the right thing for society, everyday heroes that don’t get recognition for their work, but get things done to make life better for others. In the design world, that’s Christy Ten Eyck, Margie Ruddick, and Mia Lehrer. Each creates designs that evoke a distinct sense of place unique to their locales, while pushing hard on the public good tenets of landscape architecture and its impact on our cities, wildlife and the individual. I’m also inspired by Nigel Dunnett, plantsman extraordinaire – encouraging the public to learn about ecology and horticulture through masses of immersive multicolored floral plantings in public spaces.

Do you collaborate with other designers?

Yes, I’ll pretty much collaborate with anyone who’s interested. I truly enjoy the collaborative process and believe that no one person has the best answer to the problem at hand. Oftentimes, when multiple heads come together to tackle an issue you come up with a richer solution than if you were going it alone. I thrive on growing as a professional by learning from others’ experiences and perspectives, working in tandem to come up with the best solution to the design problem. I’ve developed a few designs with APLD and American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) members, and have enjoyed the process tremendously each time.

How has permitting requirements (stormwater, ECA, etc.) or site limitations affected your design process and creativity?

Limitations make for creative solutions, so I view the necessary rules and regulations as another layer of my work, which enriches the design process. Some of the hardest assignments in design school had zero restrictions on the design brief. Design restrictions on a job site, be they code compliance, budget parameters or distinct features of a site like boggy, shady conditions for example, allow designers to flex our creative muscles and come up with interesting solutions to the problem at hand. Using a limited plant palette for the specifics of the site or developing new patterns to lay out a garden due to environmental restrictions are ways in which I creatively work within the confines of the legal requirements of our profession.

Repurposing old concrete patio for cost savings & environmental benefits of keeping materials onsite. Design & photo: Firecracker, Homeowner installation

What have you found to be most rewarding?

It’s really fun to see my ideas come to fruition from the skills of talented contractors. However, talking to clients several months after the garden is installed and hearing how the space has transformed their lives makes me the happiest. I designed a front entry garden renovation for a family with a beautiful Northwest bungalow that had a deep, but empty front porch. After several conversations, my clients agreed to let me make over the porch as well as the garden. New furnishings, lighting and planters adorned the entry to the house, complementing the garden renovation.

Many months later, the client let me know not only do she and her husband use the previously neglected front porch regularly, but their teenage son sits outside every morning before school and has coffee and quiet time before the start to his day.

I’m thrilled to not only change the aesthetics and functionality of a space, but also to know those changes have impacted the daily lives of my clients in such a positive way. During these challenging times of prolonged quarantine and general upheaval to all our lives from the Coronavirus, these small bits of peace that we all glean from outside spaces is even more essential to us all.

Tell us about one of your most memorable projects.

One of my more recent projects has very few plants in the garden. A single mom with a growing tween needed a more welcoming and functional backyard. They have a giant trampoline and an existing deck, but nothing else to tie the space together. She’s a busy executive, so there’s minimal time to care for a garden. However, my client wanted something beautiful to enjoy while she’s in the garden, but also when looking outside from her kitchen facing the garden. We added a large mural of Swedish wildflowers to wrap around the new patio with a sunken fire pit. The underside of the existing deck was waterproofed so her son can have his own outdoor lounge, also enjoying the mural across the garden.

We partnered with Urban Artworks to create the mural. Urban Artworks is a local nonprofit that pairs artists with Seattle students and exposes them to professional opportunities as a working artist. The students learn about developing contracts, working with clients, budgeting, sourcing materials and painting techniques. Many of the students have a limited arts background prior to entering the after-school program. I couldn’t be more excited to use their services and transform this family’s garden.

Mural Design: Amanda Jorgenson & Firecracker collaboration, Photo: Urban Artworks

Design & photo: Firecracker, construction: Vertumni Fine Landscaping & Gardening

Design & photo: Firecracker, Construction: Vertumni Fine Landscaping & Gardening

Naomi Goodman

Firecracker LLC
firecrackerdesignstudio.com
naomi@firecrackerdesignstudio.com
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APLDWA Featured Designer:Naomi Goodman