Atlanta designer Vern Yip interview post-’Design Star’

“In my eyes, they were really the right two people standing there at the end,” Yip said. “They both proved it doesn’t pay to be a wallflower in the beginning. You have to stand up and take chances from the start, show you really want this.”

But Yip said the boisterous, confident and often funny Ballatore won because he had that extra “it” factor.

“He brings something unique to the table,” Yip said. “I don’t think that someone like Antonio exists at the network. He has a wealth of experience.”

Antonio, who has worked with big-time photographers such as Annie Liebovitz, has a different background than typical designers. "He's not afraid to tackle projects," he said. "He's really developed a very keen eye in that process. Through building sets, he's worked with color, with patterns and balance and scale, all the fundamentals of a great designer. He's been doing that for years."

Yip said designers that performed poorly on the show, like the ones who seemed incapable of managing time or scope of a project aren’t necessarily bad designers. The challenges create artificially short time windows that some designers thrive upon and others wilt. “The magnitude of what we make people do is much greater than many viewers realize,” Yip said. “It’s a huge task week after week to tackle those spaces. Design shows make it look easy. It’s not.”

Dan’s snafu in the yard challenge in which he purchased a $10,000 gazebo for a project with a $25,000 budget didn’t do him in. “It wasn’t a pattern,” he said. “He is great with projects and time. He has great ideas. It’s hard to find fault in him.” (Dan’s white wall was Yip’s favorite in four seasons. “He really knocked it out of the park,” Yip said.)

Yip said it took hours for them to decide who to pick as the winner. “It was like a ping pong match,” he said. “I feel we made the right decision. I’m looking forward to seeing what Antonio is going to put out there.”

The advantage of giving the judges the control (as opposed to the public vote) is HGTV was able to put Antonio back on air this Sunday. We get to see him re-do his own home.

And “Design Star 5″ is guaranteed to be back. The show gains viewers every year and ended this year with 3.8 million viewers this past Sunday. It’s by far HGTV’s most popular show.

I asked Yip a hypothetical. Would he have done well on “Design Star,” say, ten years ago. “I think I would have done really well,” he said. “It takes a certain type of personality. It takes a little bit of OCD. It takes someone who is very competitive. It takes somenoe who is good with time management and budget, who has creative ideas right away. It’s a unique combination. I would hope I would have done well.”

HGTV recently cancelled Yip’s pride and joy “Deserving Design,” shot here in Atlanta, but HGTV is keeping him plenty busy. He’s shooting four episodes of an upcoming series featuring HGTV “super fans” who feel they can fix up kitchens and living rooms as well as the experts. Yip is a mentor, not a judge or direct participant.

“It’s really enjoyable,” Yip said. “In many ways, I like being a mentor more than a judge because you can do more teaching.”