Furniture Design

Given that I am new to the furniture industry, I have started reading a bit more about furniture design.
Just got on my Kindle "Furniture Design" by Jim Postell and find it very interesting as this book is not just a collection of beautiful photographs as most books on design are, but a comprehensive educational guide to all aspects of furniture design as an academic discipline (including the business perspective).

On top of that, it is impossible to avoid googling designers, pictures and videos.  So here are a couple of videos that really stretched my imagination - from traditional techniques to modern days 3-D printing.

This is a BBC introduction to the new furniture gallery in Victoria&Albert Museum.

And this - I am not even sure what it is - but it is really cool and involves 3-D printing. It is quite an old video from 2007 - I wonder how advanced these technologies have become by now.  3D printing certainly looks like a great way to prototype furniture and other objects, but it is affordable technology or not yet?

Digital Marketing Trouble

Marketing, and particularly online marketing, is a very specialist subject, and it is incredibly easy to get lost in all the advice available online and in books.   I just cannot believe how many individuals and firms are trying to teach you how to use Facebook and other social media to improve sales.
Well, I am definitely lagging behind in this area.  Despite having my professional profile on LinkedIn for years, I have never posted anything on Facebook - just did not see the point.  At LinkedIn you can get a job offer, but Facebook always seemed to be a waste of time.
Just when I thought it is time for me to get up to speed, one of the young designers told me: "Facebook is for old generation - we use Instagram".  On one hand, what a relief - I can just not bother with Facebook any more.  On the other hand, doesn't Facebook actually own Instagram, and at the end of the day this will be all one thing?

On a serious note, I have got some really good advice from a marketing expert in my family - she probably read all the books on the subject, and the most practical ones she recommends are the following two:

1) Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation by Damian Ryan and Calvin Jones

Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Digital-Marketing-Strategies-Generation/dp/0749453893/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1387214288&sr=8-3&keywords=digital+marketing+ryan

2) The B2B Social Media Book: Become a Marketing Superstar by Generating Leads with Blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, email, and More by Kipp Bodnar and Jeffrey L. Cohen

Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-B2B-Social-Media-Book/dp/1118167767/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387214438&sr=8-1&keywords=the+b2b+social

Image source:  http://www.bettiblue.com/digital-marketing-trends/

As far as my future online marketing strategy concerned, I would like to stick to Benjamin Franklin's advice: "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about".  

Choosing Website Developer - any advice?

Now when my business ideas and plans are shaping up a bit better, I want to think a bit about my online presence.

Websites are now a commoditised product.  It does not cost very much to set up a website, especially if you are using standard templates provided by your chosen hosting company.  Using a professional web-designer is also not that expensive any more - for a couple of thousand you can build a comprehensive eCommerce site.  However, if you need to do something special, it is probably better to use a web-developer.

As a typical beginner, I reserved my domain with a hosting company, and so far did absolutely nothing. Now I decided that I definitely want to use a web-designer to help me to set it up, and I am a bit confused with the choices I have.

On one hand, I have recommendations from friends - some small companies who can put together all necessary components available on the market, including some standard Content Management System (CMS).  On the other hand, at the start-up exhibition I was impressed by some slightly larger companies (with track record of 300+ websites) who have their own CMS.  Although I liked them a lot, would not it be restrictive to engage with a company who use their inhouse developed web-management products? What if I do not get along with them or I will want to move to another platform?  I wish somebody could advise me.

Any views and recommendations on http://www.digitalvirtue.com/  ?

I suppose I will have to talk to all of them and go with my gut feeling.  In a meantime, I will start writing up my business requirements for the website - something exciting to do over Christmas.

Image source: http://www.yescando.com  

The Jewels of North Yorksire - Bespoke Furniture

This weekend we traveled to see my boyfriend's family in Harrogate, and I decided to take advantage of this trip and visit a bespoke high-end furniture designer whom I just accidentally found on Google search in the area.  In fact, it was an article in Harrogate News which caught my attention - about a talented young designer teaming up with a workshop owner with a PhD in engineering.

It took us some time to find the spot in the middle of the fields full of sheep, but the trip was well worth it.

First of all, it was wonderful to see the process - from a computer image which is shown to the customers before the work starts, to the finished (or almost finished) product.  By the way, they use Rhino software to generate 3D images, rather than VectorWorks which I thought was more popular among young designers.

The show room did not have many products, as they tend to produce furniture to order.  But the items which were there looked exceptional - variety of woods (and various parts of the trees), complex shapes, and the quality and look which makes the items stand out and differentiate from cheaper producers.  

It was interesting to note that they are often invited to advertise, but they feel that they need to be very selective, as there is no point in mass advertising - their products are so expensive that they believe that only 0.5% of population can afford them.  I did admire the little side table for over £3000 and yes, I thought that I just cannot spend that much money even if I adore it.

So far their furniture manufacturing process has been very manual and they would create complex and elegant joinery (which justifies the cost).  But they are also just about to invest in the computer-controlled machinery which will allow to work on complex shapes with less cost.  In addition, they are looking to work with other materials and already established relationships with metal works supplier.  I immediately thought that if they are able to combine different materials, then they would be a good place to order prototypes for more complex products.

The company did well through the recession despite difficult times. They have a good website, and they outsource the efforts for SEO,which makes sense - if you are working in a workshop, would you really have time to run a blog?  Most of the clients are from the regional population. And the word of mouth combined with great quality of their products, allowed them to get a large order from a Cathedral.  Just have a loot at the altar below.  What a great credential for a small company!

http://dovetailors.co.uk

Most importantly, we had a good chat about the furniture market, about famous UK furniture designers, high end furniture retailers - as usual I have a lot to learn.  The main thing I took from this conversation is that if you do not have passion for furniture, then you should not be in this business.  

NB  Read about John Makepeace, Mark Fisher, Silver Lining.

Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas

We have just had our first formal creative session on selecting which products we would like to design for our first production cycle.

As a person who does not have any artistic or creative degree, I really should keep my own views with regards to what should be designed to myself.  But I did have a stroke of inspiration. First, I visited the British Library and really loved the chair I was sitting on.  Then I walked into a book shop and saw a cover of the book where Benedict Cumberbatch enjoys a book in the library of the Garrick Club.  Would not it be a nice idea to design a lovely reading chair and place Benedict on that chair in the library?  Ah, the quintessence of Englishness...

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Image source: http://www.standard.co.uk

My creative team has largely ignored my proposal.  From what I hear, they like contemporary modern style and combination of various materials, for example, combining wood with plastic.  My immediate reaction is that would be more expensive than using just one material as you might need different suppliers, but for now I probably should not interrupt the creative process.

We have agreed to focus is on three projects for now:
1) sustainability / use of recycled materials
2) the set of coordinated furniture for a living room - disregarding which materials are used
3) explore the area of decorative ceramics

We are aiming to get some sketches ready for January, so that we could do more work on prototyping and  product costing.

According to Donatella Versace, creativity comes from a conflict of ideas.  Perhaps I should not give up on the library chair idea and keep looking for introductions to Benedict :-)

The British Library: Knowledge is Power (only if you know what facts not to bother with)

Visited the British Library for the first time (http://www.bl.uk).  Incredible experience.  Amazing facilities.  Ridiculously strict security - the guards walk around and take away pens and lipsticks.  The library must have been a target for book thieves or vandals.  This is not surprising - I found more information than I was ever hoping to find in a library.  The online research sources for business were overwhelming.  Three hours flew away as one moment and I just scratched the surface...

Found some really useful briefs for starting a company in a specific sector  - with overview of required skills, market trends, regulatory landscape and trading issues.  Got several of these briefs for furniture industry.  And I could not resist from getting one for a coffee-shop! Don't we all think that we pay too much for a cup of coffee?  Profit margins must be incredible in this business :-).

On top of that they run some business-related workshops and events, many of which are totally free.

NB:  I should come back to Business and IP Center /  check for relevant events too
http://www.bl.uk/bipc/

Image source: http://blog.storystarpublishing.com

Business Current Account - Taste the Difference

Like anyone else, to decide on the bank account, I went to the comparison websites to see which bank has the best business current account.  At the moment Santander comes up as number 1 in terms of cost and ease of opening, but given the recent scandals in the press, this bank is definitely not the one for me.  Don't get me wrong, I am not picky - almost every bank has been involved in some sort of scandal, particularly PPI misselling and LIBOR scandal.  But Santander has just a little bit more than others:  poor pensioners lost their money as their old  accounts were closed without notification, some issues with their computer systems, breach of their firewalls in my local Surrey Quays shopping center...

So, naturally I went for the second choice - NatWest with two years of free banking for a start-up.  First, I called and gave my details, and then waited for the branch appointment for about a week, but nobody called me.  So I followed up, and they said that they can give me an appointment only in two weeks, however they can pass my details to another less busy branch.  Needless to say, other branch never called. Then I applied online for the service of the Direct Banking team.  Nobody called me. So I followed up, and some gentleman happily informed me that his team, the Direct Banking team, has been just sold to another organisation, and that if I want to stay with them, they cannot guarantee the terms that are advertised by NatWest. I believe he sounded happy, because he has not (yet) lost his job as a result of this disposal.  But it does not help me as a customer.  

Then my boyfriend suggested to call Metro Bank (https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk) which is still quite new.

When I read the terms, it turned out that if you keep £5000 on the account all the time, you do not pay maintenance fee and get 50 transactions per month free which is not too bad.  The next surprise was that they do not have those horrible automatic answering and call distribution systems which ask you to listen to options and press buttons and then hang up on you after 15 minutes.  A lady called Helen answered my call immediately, clearly explained both the application and decision-making process, and the next day I was in their branch filling in forms and drinking nice tea.  Really, the tea was nice.  They even call it chai not tea.  Once the branch manager reviews my application, I should have my account in 3 days.  Taste the difference!

Image source: http://www.offshore-private-banking.com/