Davis Krumins, owner of Davis-Ink. Ltd., the design firm behind Side Bar, Stingaree and Universal Hillcrest, is always looking for the wow factor.

From his innovative work on Side Bar to his latest creation, Universal Hillcrest and its accompanying restaurant Dish, Krumins has left his mark on San Diego nightlife.

We caught up with the design whiz to chat about his work, and all the organic-synthetic-silly-chic elements he incorporated into Hillcrest’s new hotspot.

Gay & Lesbian Times: Tell us a bit about your background and your work on Downtown’s now-closed Side Bar.

Davis Krumins: I worked for four or five years with another design firm and started doing side projects, including Side Bar in San Diego, before we [his wife and himself] went out on our own. Since, we’ve been able to work for really incredible clients, and we’ve had the opportunity to develop our own little niche, to do something creative and fun with a little more of the wow factor. I had always done a lot of painting and furniture design, and I got my master’s degree in architecture, and I was really into mid-century design and modernism. With most modernism, people can almost take things too seriously and be too sterile, but I liked playing with softer materials and more decorative items. [The design of Davis Krumins] was almost based on a Barbarella, Jane Fonda, futuristic, fun idea – and no one was doing anything like that in San Diego. It was such an old, little space, it made it so neat to place this futuristic stuff in there.

GLT: Now tell us a bit about your vision for Stingaree.

DK: Well, the space that was there was this weird old vegetable produce business – it sold vegetables or something. I remember standing in there, and it is just the most fun thing from a design standpoint to go into an old space – the more thrashed, the more disgusting the better – and turn it into something cool. It’s so cool – the space has time in it, and history, and I stood there and basically visualized it being transformed into a rooftop overlooking the city, and creating a really fun space. With us, our design is very detailed and done very perfectly, but everything sort of has a fun-ness to it. If you make people happy, they have a great time, so we used some cool materials and interesting combinations of different styles to make it a really fun space. In the past few months, I’ve been to Universal a few times and I love seeing people having fun and smiling and laughing in the space.

GLT: Speaking of Universal, tell us a few of your favorite design elements in the space. And, with the construction delays, was it a challenge to visualize what you were going to do?

DK: We figured out what we were going to do really early in the process. That project was interesting because during the delays we would run across really cool lighting fixtures or material, and the project kept progressing and changing, which is really cool. It evolved from what we had originally to what it is now. [Specifically] We visited a gallery with all these little pieces from Bali and around the world, and we saw the driftwood, or the bent wood, which is what is behind the bar and along the wall in Dish. The driftwood was actually one of the first things we ordered. We weren’t sure what we were going to do with them, but I sort of like combining things that are, on one hand, organic, and on the other hand, not organic. I think those earth elements give an underlying vibe of tranquility to the space, and you feel good about it, and they’re fun and funky and interesting. After we purchased them, I spray painted one gold and it looked so cool – it was a sort of synthetic version of organic. Even the birds on the lighting fixtures along the wall – they’re sort of cheesy, but fun. I like the serious stuff layered with the fun. The picture of the girl outside the bathrooms is one of my favorite components. I like old music like The B52s, so I like the funky and kind of silly, dorky, classy, chic, serious but bizarre things. And if you look above the bar, the pink vintage wallpaper is from the 60s or 70s. Universal, the way I envision it, will be there five years from now and five years from then – it isn’t just a trendy spot. Instead of being just a place to go, everyone will feel like it’s their space.

GLT: The driftwood, as you mentioned, is used in Dish, too, but there’s a much different vibe in Dish. Tell us a bit about your design in the restaurant.

DK: To be honest, Dish might be my favorite space we’ve created. Our whole goal was to create a space that makes you melt in your feet when you walk in; a space that is really warm that you want to hang out in and want to come back to again and again. When I sit in there, it just feels so good – the wood floor has a lot to do with it, the peacock feathers, the driftwood, and there’s this material we’ve used that is like alligator skin with all synthetic colors in it. As far as the floor plan, I wanted to open it up, so everybody feels a part of everybody else, instead of closing them off in private dining areas. The coolest thing, the greatest compliment I’ve gotten was just a few weeks ago when two girls we met told me they knew when they walked in to Dish that it was where they wanted to be married. That was the ultimate compliment, really.

GLT: What are you working on now?

DK: We’re working on a boutique hotel on Hollywood Boulevard – it’s a nine story hotel with a pool on top and a huge rooftop bar, with three restaurants. It will almost be like the W, but a lot better. We’re working on a space in Park City Utah where Sundance [Film Festival] hosts a lot of its events. And, we’re working on a very cool project in San Diego that I can’t talk about just yet – but it is going to be the coolest thing ever.