Soft Design Lab Live kicks off at the Atlanta Gift Market

 

Are you planning on attending the Atlanta Gift Market, July 7 – 15,  or do you live in the Atlanta area?  If so don’t miss Jackie and Deb’s fantastic classes at The Deco Zone.

First up is our class on designing and producing signature product for your business.

 

 

Have you every thought of producing  signature products of your own for your business but don’t know how to get started?  Whether you are interested in simple promotional items with your companies logo to a full line of home décor fabrics or pillows this seminar will give you the in-depth knowledge, processes and sources to make your products a reality. 

 

 

BUILD PROFITS & ELEVATE YOUR BUSINESS WITH SIGNATURE PRODUCTS

Friday July 7, 2014   1:00 p.m.  – 6:00 p.m.

Take advantage of new technology and services available today to easily design, manufacture, and sell signature product lines to your customers. Would you like to open a whole new stream of revenue for your business by offering signature fabrics, pillows, decorative throws, candles, trays or any number of beautiful high quality décor items to your clientele that reflect your design aesthetic and signature style? Deb Barrett and Jackie Von Tobel, the creative team behind The Soft Design Lab can show you, step by step, how to enter into and profit from this lucrative market while using it to elevate your brand at the same time. Signature products not only add to your bottom line but they impart a level of professionalism and expertise to your business that sets you apart from your competition. Don’t be left behind, join us and get your beautiful signature brand ready to sell! Followed by wine and cheese reception.

Jackie Von Tobel is an award winning product designer, author and interior designer who has self-produced signature product lines as well as licensed signature lines through established manufacturers in many home decor product categories from fabrics, drapery hardware, tabletop, gift, garden and many more. She will share her industry secrets and show you how to follow her lead into his lucrative sector of the industry.

This class is an intensive crash course on signature product design using newly available fulfillment resources that can enable you to create product offerings to your clients on a short run basis. Jackie will introduce you to  new resources that eliminate the need to buy tons of inventory or stock product and show you how to utilize print and produce on demand services that can automate fulfillment for you direct to your customer’s one item at a time. You will lean the basic techniques and skills needed to easily design signature products and bring them to market.

Don’t have artistic skills? – no problem, Jackie will show you how to use stock image resources, affordable local talent, and starving artists and students to help you create and produce your vision.

Use these products to turn your website and blog into a profitable source of residual income through product sales while growing and promoting your brand at the same time.

Product categories that will be discussed include:

Fabric - Home Décor Textiles and Accessories - Wall Art - Wallpaper - Tabletop

Attendees will also receive these valuable resources:

A one hour post-class phone consultation with Jackie to fine tune your product design plan. Detailed source list                                                                                                                              Step by Step instructional digital handbook

Brainstorming session and wine and cheese reception following the class from 6PM – 7PM

Learn More or Sign Up Here Today !

attendance is limited

 

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Chinoiserie Takes High Point by Storm

 

Global Views

Classic design motifs and genres are making a big comeback and Chinoiserie is at the forefront of this movement.  If you‘ve followed me for any length of time you will know that it is probably my favorite historical element to mix into interiors for a dash of the exotic.  It’s clean lines and bold colors make it a natural compliment for todays vibrant interiors and todays forward thinking manufacturers are serving it up in large doses.

Global Views had several vignettes featuring bold Chinoiserie prints paired with a vibrant tangerine palette and bright white accents. 

C.R. Laine went all in with the majority of their showroom sporting one derivative or another of the popular style.  Their front window was a great example of how manufacturers are pairing these traditionally busy prints with modern styling to create a lively mix of culture and contemporary design.  Silhouettes and simplified prints bring the motifs into a more relevant form for todays designer and consumer.

 

Décor 55

Simplified Asian style toiles were in abundance and most often paired with zebra prints for a touch of contemporary exotica.  Décor 55 a semi custom, drapery manufacturer showed off this pairing with their high quality ready made panels complete with interlining and superior workmanship!

 

Surya

Always on trend – Surya debuted a beautiful painterly selection of vibrant Chinoiserie styled pillows in a large range of colors and styles.  Printed on silk these pillows raised the bar for Suryas extensive pillow program.

Wesley Hall

The Wesley Hall showroom never disappoints and it was clothed in a wide assortment of Chinese décor from lamps to art, upholstery and drapery; they truly embraced the Eastern vibe.  We fell in love with this trellis style “lantern” fixture.

In our last post we discussed the broad use of Greek Key trim by vendors and Wesley Hall was among those who used this classic element to tone down the busy visual of Chinoiserie prints and add a tailored edge as seen in the trim applied to the dust skirt of these lovely chairs. Never underestimate the power of a little bit of trim!!

 

While they do not sell the wall art that adorns the showroom we have to give a shout out to the design team for providing a complete theme throughout their vignettes with superbly chosen wall décor that brought the rooms home.

Thibaut has always had a selection of Chinoiserie patterns in their line up but their new Enchantment Collection features a diverse blend of traditional Eastern motifs and graphic patterns that create a fresh, trend forward coordinated look.

From beautiful embroidered medallions to a boldly graphic toile, there is something for everyone in this well defined selection. 

 

Terms you should know

Chinoiserie  French for "Chinese-esque", Chinoiserie is a recurring theme in European artistic styles since the seventeenth century, which reflect Chinese artistic influences. It is characterized by the use of fanciful imagery of an imaginary China, by asymmetry in format and whimsical contrasts of scale, and by the attempts to imitate Chinese porcelain and the use of lacquerlike materials and decoration.

Chinoiserie in a broader scope refers to a mixture of Eastern and Western stylistic elements for both the decoration and shape. The style held particular favour during the Rococo period and the court of Louis XV, with which its fanciful, ornate and idyllic imagery is commonly associated.

Toile or Toile de Jouy is the term for a style of decorative pattern consisting of a plain ground color with an overlayed pattern usually depicting scenic subject matter which is most commonly printed in one color. Modern toiles can be multi colored, rendered in silhouette, or colored in reverse with the background being a dark color and the toile pattern done in a lighter color.  Toiles can be used on fabric, wallpaper, and other decorative surfaces.

 

 

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