Art of the Tender Tribute

Streng homeowner Rexx DeMarzio is indeed smitten by mid‐century modern architecture and its California neighborhoods—and in a very heartwarming way.

The graphic designer/illustrator's artistic output devoted to the world of MCM—delivered with goodwill while bestowing honor and pride—has been stirring our emotions.

After all, DeMarzio's extensive collection of self‐produced creations—illustrations of classic MCM houses, plaques memorializing Eichler and Streng models, and unique maps of MCM tracts—serves as an impressive tribute to the communities, homes, architects, and builders that make up our world.

No blushing, please. Time to take a bow and get those new picture frames ready.

Guided by his company slogan—'mid‐century inspired artwork and design for the minimalist, maximalist, and everything in between'—DeMarzio launched Foxface Design in 2019 and soon found an audience for his work.

DeMarzio started "with the intention of being more of a generalist freelance graphic design studio," he says. "I chose Foxface as a name because I wanted something unique and a bit playful—and foxes are my favorite animal."

However, DeMarzio realized early on that, "in order to stand out at all in the oversaturated field of graphic design, I needed a niche. I've always loved mid‐century design…and unintentionally I found myself incorporating a lot of that sort of thing into my work."

As clients started knocking at his virtual door, DeMarzio became even more inspired—and busy too. Now his days are filled with projects ranging from modernist home illustrations and elevations to logos and "other sorts of minimalist graphic elements."

"A lot of the people that reach out to me are Eichler and Streng owners who are already in that mindset," he adds. "Eichler homeowners especially are into that."

With no formal education in the graphics field, DeMarzio took his lifelong interest in art, drawing, painting, and sculpting—coupled with 25 years of experience with interior design and home renovations—and developed it into a business.

Exploring California's MCM residential tracts, he soon began illustrating home exteriors. "It started as sort of a side project I did for fun," he recalls. "It was something I could do and put on social media."

Illustrating everything from Craftsman and Victorian to Art Deco and MCM homes, DeMarzio posted his work on Instagram and, to his surprise, discovered they became popular in fairly short order.

His MCM output represented three different but related illustration types: his 'Mod‐icons' series, commemorative plaques, and maps of homes in MCM tracts. (See examples of each pictured here.)