Prominent Chicago designer Jon Cockrell was known for designing both interiors and furniture, and his interiors have been featured in House Beautiful, Interiors, Interior Design, Modo, and Domus, among many others. Raised in Carthage, Missouri, Cockrell occupied himself as a child by drawing buildings during the church services his family frequently attended, and at 19 he moved to Chicago to enroll in the Harrington Design School. He was hired by Chicago interior designer Bruce Gregga before completing his freshman year. Gregga recalled of Cockrell that he “had an incredible palette for pastel colors. The colors became a mood, from the feeling of dawn to the feeling of dusk.” Cockrell’s furniture was described by the Chicago Tribune as “stark and steely—a reflection of beauty and strength in an electronic age.” Cockrell died at the age of 35
from AIDS.
