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Since the COVID-19 pandemic will ban maximum travel for the rest of the year, and U.S. passport holders are banned in several countries, adding Canada and the EU as a total, these restrictions will in fact have a profound impact. effect on the design community. Interior designers travel abroad to make stopovers at assigned locations, attend fairs, shop at markets and, of course, find inspiration. How do ordinary travelers restructure the way they do business in the coronavirus era?
“We’re reassessing the way we work,” says AD100 designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard. “It turns out that a lot can be done through Zoom meetings, yet the design industry is a responsive and practical company, so face-to-face interaction with our suppliers and consumers is vital.”
In fact, Bullard is feeling the effects of COVID-related restrictions, as he was forced to cancel 18 flights since the closure began. You have designed a much lighter schedule in spaces where there are no restrictions. “I’ve flown twice across the country,” he admits, adding that he’s probably making plans for six major paint trips by 2020.
“I will travel when necessary, as I am committed to my clients and intend to meet my design goal as much as possible for them,” Bullard says. “But there will be no unnecessary travel for me or my staff until there is a COVID remedy or vaccine available.” At this point, however, you plan to resume operations as usual. “My way of life has changed, but once it’s all over, I’ll restart my schedule because it’s a component of my good luck and my business model.”
Most designers agree that lately non-essential travel is suspended. “We don’t plan to attend industry exhibitions this year,” says Kati Curtis, director of the design company that bears her name in New York. “More than the desire to travel to find inspiration, it is the desire to travel for our customers. Therefore, we will prioritize our travels in this way. And making sure we can travel safely for our visitors infrequently means skipping trips that we would normally do exhibitions or other events. »
Curtis says he sometimes feels very aware of new product launches, but will miss the social connection of attending the shows. “At High Point, I can see my other favorite people twice a year, or on my annual vacation in Paris Deco Off, I spend time with a lot of other people I love and admire,” he says. “Missing those friendships and the social side is the hardest component for me.”
Keia McSwain, owner and assignment manager of Kimberly and Cameron Interiors and president of Denver-based Black Interior Designers Network, says she is not yet 13 percent committed to participating in the High Point fall market. “I’m very careful with where I pass, but I’m happy to spend the scouting trips and stopovers at the assignment sites if they’re local or if the flight is rarely too bad,” she said, adding that he planned it to attend. Atlanta Market in August to contact himself, a member of the atlanta-based team. “We will prioritize our safety, wear masks and attend the Atlanta market only for one day of grocery shopping, without establishing contacts. We plan to get in and out and take care of the business in the most efficient and safest way possible.”
Bullard hopes to attend High Point as he has two new releases this season, but still doesn’t know if he’ll make the trip. Similarly, Corey Damen Jenkins, director and CEO of a design studio founded in New York and Detroit, is still contemplating attending Market. It also has two new product lines that are doing their deyet at the fair.
While some designers have had to replace their commercial methods during the forties, Jenkins says remote paints have been a staple in their business. “When you talk to consumers in other states and abroad, you can’t fly at any time to solve a wallpaper sewing problem,” he says. “Our business style has been the regular use of platforms like Zoom and FaceTime for several years, and will continue to play a central role in our practice.”
Jenkins says he continued to make visits to the project sites in New York and Detroit, with new safeguards in place. “We measure the temperature of consumers before entering their homes with non-contact infrared thermometers,” he says. We also asked consumers for virtual tours, virtual copies of floor plans, and other key points before making formal plans initial consultations. And, of course, masks, face protectors, etc., are all in the schedule when in spite of everything Know in person.
With inspirational trips and grocery shopping trips around the world temporarily interrupted, designers are looking for new concepts and products elsewhere. “I’m looking for inspiration, and looking for my old photographs of my travels has become a night obsession,” says AD100 designer Michelle Nussbaumer, owner and senior designer of her Dallas-based design company. “Fortunately, I have vast resources all over the world and the craftsmen I paint with, [and] I made a lot of WhatsApp and Zoom calls to create lovely products. But it’s not that much fun.”
Curtis agrees that while he prefers experiences in person, he adopts virtual tools. “One of our clients shaped The Cultivist Art Club and organized virtual tours of studios and collections,” he explains. “Things like that made me feel like I was ingesting even when I’m not.”
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Curtis and Bullard cite markets like 1stdibs and Chairish as valuable online grocery shopping sites. And Curtis says it also relies heavily on relationships with key suppliers that has evolved over the years, while McSwain bases its purchasing decisions on the power with which it can download materials. “When it comes to purchasing products without an industry show, I rely on corporations that can send samples and memos temporarily,” McSwain says. “The suppliers who can get things out at the right time are the ones we value more than ever at the moment.”
When no other resources are available, some designers decide to create their own, as was the case with Nussbaumer. “I’ve created products: the maximum of everything that enters a customer’s space is everything I’ve designed,” he says. “This [period] without travel has given me time to invest in new designs and ideas. I enjoyed it more than I could have realized.”
Although travel restrictions have proven complicated for the industry as a whole, Bullard, for his part, has smart prospects. “We’ll be fine, the long haul will be bright again,” he says. “Traveling will be appreciated and motivated by all.”
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