Decorati and domino magazine teamed up for a panel discussion at the D&D Bulding in NY. The panelists, pictured above left to right: Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzotti, Founder of Vivre, Dakota Jackson, Founder of Dakota Jackson Inc., Cecilia Pagkalinawan, VP of Marketing, Frette, and myself, Founder of Decorati. In front of a packed audience of over 100 designers, we discussed how each of our companies works hard every day to build our brands. A few highlights:
Eva suggested developing a point of view, or style, or something distinctive to set yourself apart. Better to stand for something and forego a few jobs then to be indistinguishable from the next designer. Similarly, Dakota described his famous library chair, and how that one piece helped define his vision and how he wanted to be viewed as a product designer. He also told us how involved he is with his customers, and how he has built his brand by closely watching the attention paid to customer inquiries and follow up. Cecelia helped us aspire to build a brand like Frette has, 150 years strong and known around the world. Frette has built so much meaning and detail in its brand that new employees go through brand training. Her comments forced us to examine what we designers would instruct others to learn about our own brands… would we have enough for a training session? I kicked off the conversation by laying out four components of building a brand that are critical in the design industry: your vision/identity, advertising, marketing collateral, and partnerships. It was a fun, informative seminar.
Thanks again to domino and the D&D Building for working with us, and of course to Dakota Jackson for hosting a lovely breakfast reception following the event in his showroom, and to all the panelists for sharing their expertise.
