Scraps of Paper
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My Love Note To #BlogTour
This week the folks at Modenus announced the crew for BlogTourNYC. I thought I’d take this occasion to explain (quickly) why BlogTour is awesome and why I think it represents a big piece of the future of the design business.
First thing you should know - BlogTour is Awesome.
Design is All About Experience
We can all look at catalogs, read press releases and visit company websites but what matters is the personal reaction a designer has to a product or space. BlogTour doesn’t give you one design blogger’s perspective it provides 10 or 15 of the most influential design bloggers in the world talking about their amazing experiences all over the globe.
BlogTour wakes up a designer’s senses.
When I was invited to BlogTourLDN my creative gas tank was on “E” and I needed a recharge. I live in NY, the design capital of the United States. I see an amazing skyline everyday, I have access to global culture, none the less, like every other designer hustling to keep the lights on, I run out of inspiration. BlogTour London re-awoke my senses. I was shooting photos and writing posts like a tourist and I loved every second of it.
BlogTour is becoming a social media giant.
In the cold world of analytics, eyeballs and clicks - Veronika, Tim and Erin are creating a social media phenomena in BlogTour. I don’t have their numbers offhand but there are few communities of professionals more active than interior designers and home decor brands. Becoming part of it as a sponsor, an event on tour, a designer on tour, or even just a watcher on twitter/instagram is to take part in one of the most important conversations going on in our industry.
Second thing you need to know - BlogTour is the future of our industry.
The design services industry is going through rapid changes. Soon, the world of blogs and social media will be the primary source of information for people interested in design and home decor. Forward thinking brands already recognize this, but soon every home decor brand will realize that its this community of online tastemakers who are the most important to win if they’re product is going to make a dent in the market. The team at Modenus recognizes this and is making the future now.
BlogTour is coming to NYC. I hope I get the chance to meet up with this terrific group of bloggers and hear their take on my home town.
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Modenus Announces the Team for BlogTour Cologne! What a fantastic group of bloggers! Can’t wait to see what they come up with!
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The BlogTour London Magazine is Out!
BlogTour was an incredible experience. I was able to completely immerse myself in London’s Design Festival and meet some amazing designers from all over the US and Europe. The experience is one I’ll never forget.
The folks at Modenus (that means you Erin) have put togther an incredible digital magazine that sums up the entire tour. Check it out.
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“I have no design background. I built my first house when I was 16 years old – I was with my step dad – we washed our clothes in a concrete mixer – but I wanted to learn.” —Christopher Guy - During his talk for the BlogTour Participants
I haven’t gotten much of a chance to talk about the talk we had with Christopher Guy while on BlogTour. Speaking as someone who doesn’t build furniture, I can tell you I was utterly blown away by the drive one man has to build a global empire. It seemed to me his career was is the marriage of creativity with entrepreneurial drive.
I found it inspirational that someone could put so much of themselves in their work and build something that they were both passionate about and deeply committed to growing into the future. Mr. Guy was a fantastic speaker and very kind to all of us and showed a great deal of humility, a rare thing in a global CEO.
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Terrific Rundown of all the BlogTourLDN participants from Cheryl of In Detail Interiors -
BlogTour buddy Lynn Byrne interviews Marcel Wanders. Really terrific interview on his process and his personal story.
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5 Happy Inspirations: London Design Festival from @igorjosif Fellow #blogtourLDN traveler Igor
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Wanna know how awesome BlogTour Is?
Here’s a list of the design shows we’ve seen already…
More than enough to keep me inspired for awhile.
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Why European Lighting is Different
My 20 mile 6 hour walk last night left me too drained to write my daily recap post this morning. I thought I’d share a few thoughts while I had a moment in the press room at Tent London and Super Brands. I’ve had a hard time putting my finger on a simple way to express the differences between typical American lighting and European equivalents. But as I walk the various design shows and the streets of London a few things stick out.- European designers are a lot more fearless about seeing the source of light.
- That means they embrace what it (the light source) actually looks like, instead of forcing new sources into old form factors.
- Design is less restricted in the European market. Because its easier, faster and cheaper to get a fixture CE approved versus UL, you see smaller shops working on experimental designs and moving them to market to test their popularity much faster than in the US.
- Lighting just matters more. The European market simply seems to understand the importance of lighting to a greater degree than the American market. I don’t just mean that by what you see on the showroom floors of design shows. I mean that by what I saw walking the streets of London last night, or eating in the cafe’s. Lighting is often just a more integrated part of the design process. ,waning it has higher importance and designers can be bolder when incorporating it into a scheme.
Have you encountered European lighting? What did you think of it?
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Some amazing lighting fixtures at Design Junction.
