The Pivot: Actionable Steps You Can Take Now to Level Up Your Design Business | 410 | Make 2023 The Year You Need it To Be

I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design. Today on the show we are heading back to the WestEdge Design Fair from Dallas, Texas to talk about something on every creative’s mind these days. The Pivot. I started writing about the pivot in the first year of the pandemic. Through my conversations, a constant theme kept emerging. This idea that creatives must continually reinvent themselves to reflect both a working knowledge and fundamental understanding of where the design industry was going from both technological and preferential perspectives. We continue this conversation with some new voices, and I am really excited to share this with you.

How are you adapting to the design business changes over the past 3 years? Are you working harder than ever before? Checking on delivery dates, specifying and re-specifying due to repricing and discontinuations? Wondering how to capture a bigger audience in social media, upgrade your clientele? Are you wondering if this is the right time to scale back, scale up or merge with another firm? Are you concerned about how inflationary pressures or that threatened recession will become a reality? 

Thought so. You’re not alone. These questions are on the mind of most if not every designer working today. Size doesn’t matter, scale does. Is this the time to scale down to find harmonious home/ life balance or scale up to increase revenues. While ultimately these are individual decisions, you will hear from designers who have scaled that mountain, some up and others down. You will learn from those who have experienced it and what they have learned from the experience. Is it working? Follow along as this distinguished group discuss these issues and others that directly affect the industry. Featuring Laura Umansky, Ann Jackson,  and moderated by Sara Malek Barney.

Designer Resources

ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Episode 271 featuring Mitch Altman

Moya Living  Beautiful, durable powder coated kitchen, bath & outdoor kitchen cabinetry

Design Hardware – A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home!

Before I get to this episode of the show, I received a special delivery and I’m so happy to share it with you in this edition of BOOKLOOK featuring Intersection of Nature and Art, an absolutely glorious book celebrating those very things by James Doyle Design Associates. There are a few different styles for today’s design and architecture books. Some are used as a promotional piece for the designer or architect. A way to display their work in a weighted volume from which to share detailed ideas, almost like that of a text book while others create picture books full of their project images sans much editorial. Then of course there are various options between the two extremes. Then there are those who craft and construct their tome with the approach of a romance writer but weighted and balanced as to demonstrate how the copy could have served as the instructions for what would ultimately become the completed work. That narrative is then seen in the photos. There is enough art and sculpted landscape, which could also be defined as art in the project images, but there is also a great deal of work that looks to be there, not because a landscape designer placed it but because it just belongs there. That too is the feeling I had going through this monograph. It is complex yet simple in the idea that nature and art are inexplicably tied, but there is a completeness to the story being told in the work itself. I’ll share a secret with you. I am what you call an extroverted introvert. I have known this for a long time and that is one of the reasons why I think I love design as much as I do. I can appreciate the work and even draw energy from it. Going through a design book like this energizes me, provides me with an opportunity to lose myself in their work and focus exclusively on what is about the inanimate and the living working together without the need for people to activate it. Intersection of Nature and Art is a journey that takes you from a fun, elaborate tree house to the concrete exoskeleton that will be a retaining wall. Exquisitely sculpted gardens to nature-scapes that appear not to have been touched by human hands in decades yet they all share the same sense of scale, detail, scope and importance.

This book is being shared with you because it belongs in your library if what I previously mentioned are important to you. I love books, I love design and so my love for design books runs deep. This is a book I can see myself returning to often and because of that, if you share this passion, I think you will enjoy it as well. James Doyle Design Associates, well done.

Thank you Sara for grabbing the mic and taking this conversation on. Thank you Ann and Laura for your insight and expertise. Thank you for listening and subscribing to Convo By Design. The podcast, now in our 10th year was created for those in the design industry as well as those who simply love design, architecture, the arts and want the insider’s perspective. 

Thank you ThermaSol, Moya Living and Design Hardware for your partnership and support of the show. Keep those email coming, I do love hearing your thoughts about the show, ways to provide you new ideas and those guest submissions. Love those. Until next week, be well and take today first.

Be Bold! Make A Statement & Grow Your Design Presence | 399 | Age of Influence featuring Sara Malek Barney and Melanie Venture

I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with a conversation about influence, your influence on the business of design and the relationships with others that make up this remarkable industry of ours. 

Every successful creative knows the importance of presenting a professional image in digital media. The importance has been magnified in the past few years but with compressed schedules and far less free time to learn new strategies it has become more challenging to create beautiful and meaningful content. While we can’t give you more time to do it, you will learn best practices for interviews, editing images and text to best showcase your work in short videos and social media. You will also learn how to craft your professional introduction on mic and on camera. This is a perfect conversation for the successful designer and architect looking to take their promotional content to the next level. This chat took place at the WestEdge Design Fair in Dallas, Texas in September 2022. It features Melanie Venture of the Dove Agency, Sara Malek Barney of Bandd Design and moderated by me. And, we will get right to it after this.

Designer Resources

ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Episode 271 featuring Mitch Altman

Article, great style is easy. It’s the best way to buy beautiful modern furniture

York Wallcoverings – Designed to inspire for over 125 years

Franz Viegener – Finely crafted sculptural faucets

Moya Living  Beautiful, durable powder coated kitchen, bath & outdoor kitchen cabinetry

Thank you Melanie and Sara for your time and willingness to share your expertise. Thank you WestEdge Design Fair and to all of you who came to the show. Thank you to CXD sponsors and partners, ThermaSol, Article Furniture, York Wallcoverings, Moya Living and Franz Viegener for your continued support. Of course, thank you for downloading, subscribing and listening to the show. Thank you for the emails of support and the guest submissions. I love them and it has allowed me to find some amazing talent to showcase. Please remember why you do what you do and for whom you do it. Designers, architects, artists, product designers, showroom managers, publicists, magazine editors, publishers, set decorators and everyone else that makes our industry stronger by the day, this show is for you. That’s why I do it. Thanks for listening. Be well, and take today first.

Lone Star House of Design | Yates Desygn, Traci Connell Interiors & Bandd Design

This is Lone Star House of Design, a showcase of amazing design and architecture from the Great State of Texas. This is a look back at some of the talent making Texas a hotbed for new, amazing, and world-class design.

Mike and Bryan created Yates Desygn in 2015 and have been practicing in Dallas ever since. Important to know, and you will hear how they hung a shingle in Texas without knowing anyone in Texas. They are going to share how they networked and built their firm from scratch. This is one of those rare firms that offer both interior and landscape services with equal mastery. You will find both southern charm and big-city sophistication in their work. I think that is important right now. I believe that the renewed interest in those moving from highly congested cities like LA, New York and Chicago is growing. I think in the next 3-5 years you will see an absolute explosion in the Texas population. Dallas being its biggest beneficiary. Folks moving in will be looking to blend their contemporary sensibilities with southern charm and The Yates’ are in a very good spot to benefit. This is Mike and Bryan Yates of Yates Desygn.

Luxury living and livable design can both share the same space and designer Traci Connell shares her strategies for making sure both concepts get equal focus in her work. Traci shares her design philosophy and walks us through a few of her projects. You are going to hear how high-end luxury meets easy living. Traci also shares some time and money-saving strategies. Enjoy this conversation with Traci Connell of Traci Connell Interiors.

Sara Malek Barney, founder of Bandd Design. Sara is a remarkable talent who brings a number of unique elements to her incredible rise in design, that of a first career in sports and entertainment. She worked for Hollywood powerhouse talent firm CAA, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and then came home to Austin to launch her design firm, Bandd Design. Sara and I talk about her journey and her work, work that is influenced by her Hollywood experience and Texas roots, equally and balanced which makes her work truly unique.

Thank you, Mike, Bryan, Traci and Sara, that was fun and I truly appreciate the time. Please subscribe to the show so you catch every episode of Lone Star House of design and Convo By Design, ask Alexa or Siri, say, “Hey Siri, Play Convo By Design” and she will.

You can also follow along, ConvoByDesign.Com and @ConvoXDesign with an “X” on Instagram. For show inquiries, sponsorship and guest inquiries, email me ConvoByDesign@outlook.com. Be well and until next week, keep creating.

Lone Star House of Design | 9 | Sara Malek Barney of BANDD Design

This is Lone Star | House of Design, produced and distributed by the team that brings you Convo By Design with another story about design and architecture for the Great State of Texas featuring Sara Malek Barney, founder of Bandd Design.

Sara is a remarkable talent who brings a number of unique elements to her incredible rise in design, that of a first career in sports and entertainment. She worked for Hollywood powerhouse talent firm CAA, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and then came home to Austin to launch her design firm, Bandd Design. Sara and I talk about her journey and her work, work that is influenced by her Hollywood experience and Texas roots, equally and balanced which makes her work truly unique. You are also going to hear about some of her amazing projects like a kitchen she designed for Ferguson.

Enjoy this conversation with Sara and then, catch up on more episodes from both Lone Star House of Design and Convo By Design by subscribing to the podcast so you never miss a single episode. It’s really easy, find the shows everywhere you get your favorite podcasts, or ask your smart device to “play Convo By Design podcast” and it will… This is Sara Malek Barney

Thank you, Sara, loved this. Please subscribe to the show so you catch every episode of Lone Star House of Design and Convo By Design, ask Alexa or Siri, say, “Hey Siri, Play Convo By Design” and she will. You can follow the show on the socials as well, @ConvoXDesign with an “X” on Instagram, and check out the YouTube channel for videos from some of your favorite episodes. Thank you for listening and until next week, Keep creating.