Indiana Design Center Blog

Q&A with the Experts

Indiana Design Center — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:13:22 +0000

As the showroom openings and programs at the Indiana Design Center continue to ramp up, we ‘d like to take a moment to tap into the expertise of IDC team member, Linda Kirby. Linda serves as the IDC National Brands Consultant and, with over 27 years of design industry experience, has great insight to share on showroom design, product merchandising and trends. If there’s a topic we missed, be sure to post your question in the “comments” section and we’ll address it in future Q&A posts.

Q: What is the importance of having national brands represented in a design center?

A: Consumers “trust” national brands. Manufacturers work very hard to create credibility (i.e. Gerber, Sears, Kleenex, etc.) and it only takes one serious mistake to lose that trust as Toyota and BP have demonstrated.

Q: In your experience designing showrooms, what are the keys to a great space for showing products

A: When selecting a space to display product, things to consider are: location, parking, safety, ADA accessibility, great lighting, ceiling height and an understanding of the geography of the space if renting or leasing an existing space.

Q: In the world of showrooms, what is “IN” and what is “OUT”?

A: “IN” It’s all about the consumer’s experience and interactivity with the product. ”OUT” are plasma screens that do not allow touch screen interaction.

Q: When it comes to building products, what do you find to be most revolutionary this year?

A: There are too many new products to declare any singular revolutionary product (i.e. kitchen cabinetry with more storage and accessories). The best thing to happen is that manufacturers are continuing to use sustainable materials and trends to reduce their energy expenditures and attract new customers.

Q: What do you think are Indiana’s strengths when it comes to design or product manufacturing?

A: Being centrally located between 5 major cities - Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Fort Wayne and Columbus, OH – has advantages in creating a one stop design center destination, meeting place and stage for product introductions other than Chicago.

Q: How will the Indiana Design Center affect the State’s professional design industry?

A: Even in the early construction and leasing stages, the IDC has already created great dialog and energy among and throughout the design community. IDC can and should become a meeting and learning platform.

About Linda Kirby, IDC National Brands Consultant:

Linda Kirby is President of Kirby Design and Consulting, an Indianapolis based design firm specializing in commercial interior design. Kirby Design and Consulting provides commercial design consultation, professional design team coordination, planning and budgeting, purchasing, and furnishings installation. With twenty-seven years of commercial design experience, Linda has a long track record of successfully planning and executing an unlimited variety of commercial design projects.

Linda Kirby has been recognized both nationally and locally as an award winning industry expert. In 2008 she received the IBS National Silver Award for Best Design Builder. Town & Country Homes awarded her third place in the 2004 National Kitchen & Bath Association and she earned the 2003/2004 Award for Non Residential Space. Linda is a published consultant for design, serving as a quarterly columnist for Design Center Magazine from 2005 – 2008. She is currently a contributing resource and columnist for Kitchen and Bath Design News.

Press Clippings: The Trade Connection to Join IDC

Indiana Design Center — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:59:42 +0000

A new showroom lease has been finalized and The Trade Connection will soon move to the Indiana Design Center. The showroom, owned by Mark Chestnut, will be located on the second level of the IDC next to The Trade Source, a fabric, wallcoverings and drapery hardware showroom, and the IDC’s design resource library.

The Trade Connection showroom will feature national and specialty lines of furniture, case goods, upholstery, fine lighting, mirrors and outdoor furnishings. Top-selling national lines include Henredon, Drexel-Heritage, Marge Carson, Habersham, Lorts, Bolier, Tomlinson, and EJ Victor.

To add to the diversity of products represented in his showroom and the marketplace, Chestnut travels to furniture markets throughout the year to find specialty and boutique product lines to offer his professional design clientele. Later this fall, Chestnut plans to officially announce a partnership that will solidify The Trade Connection as an exclusive state-wide dealer for Ralph Lauren Home, an iconic line of home interiors.

The IDC team would like to extend a very warm welcome to The Trade Connection!

Visit the recent Indy Star article for more information.

Read, Flip Through or Just Browse

Indiana Design Center — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:55:00 +0000

There are many IDC projects in the pipeline and one in particular that we are very excited to share with you. We love this project for many reasons, especially because it is for and fueled by the design community.

In a recent conversation with Indiana Design Center Advisory Board member, Mark Demerly who represents the American Institute of Architects, the topic of learning environments surfaced. Mark suggested that we “build” a reading room where the design community could enjoy access to publications that would inspire creative thinking…what a great idea!

So with that nugget in mind, we are launching the “construction” of the IDC Reading Room, a space that will foster knowledge about all fields of international design through the availability of periodicals, books and other media. In fact, as you are reading this, we are negotiating partnerships with local furniture distributors to provide the furnishings!

How you can help? By donating back issues of magazines, design books or text books that are gathering dust in your library at the office or at home. In other words, we would love to have anything that you find currently or have found inspiring in the past. We will be offering design journals from around the globe from publishers who have already committed to partner with us and we will add more as we learn about new and obscure resources that inspire!

If you’d like to purge old design publications or make space on your bookshelves, please join us in building the IDC Reading Room! You may contact Emily Robinson (erobinson@indianadesigncenter.com) to arrange for the pick-up and delivery of your contributions. Below you’ll find more specifics on the materials we’d like to have.

Donation Materials Check-list:

Design Journals

Design Books

Text Books

Other Media

A sampling of our growing collection of trade publications.

IndianaDesign: Jay Slifer

Indiana Design Center — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:37:53 +0000

In today’s post we’re excited to introduce you to one of the IDC’s newest tenants, Jay Slifer Design Group.

A Rhode Island School of Design Alumnus, and former adjunct professor Jay Slifer brings a variety of design talents to the impressive list of Design Professionals here at the IDC.

A native of the midwest, Jay’s career began in New York in the Housewares industry, as the Design Coordinator and in-house studio head of Dansk International. During his tenure with Dansk, Jay designed 100′s of new and innovative products for the home, including 2 of the top 10 Bridal Registry dinnerware patterns in the US.

In 2000 Jay moved his studio to Chicago, and turned his focus to interior architecture, creating an ongoing partnership with Chicago based Interior Designer Kristi O’Sullivan. Jay and his designs were featured on HGTV’s “I Want That Bath”, and Chicago Home magazine.

In 2003 Jay made what he calls the best ‘design’ decision of his life, which was taking a 3 year sabbatical to raise his two daughters, a decision which ultimately brought Jay and his girls to Indiana.

Today Jay is an accomplished multidisciplinary designer in the fields of graphic design, product and furniture design, and interior architecture. Over his 18 year career Jay has designed over 2000 products and brand identities, and has headed design studios in New York, Chicago and currently Indianapolis. He has designed for an impressive array of clients including Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Calvin Klein, American Express, John Frieda and Conair, and has collaborated with such noted designers as Klein-Reid, Queensbury-Hunt and 20th century icon Eva Zeisel. His designs have been featured in over 50 publications including, Dwell, Architectural Digest, Home and Garden, and Parents Magazine.

Jay Slifer Design Group offers turn-key branding, product development, and communication solutions to start-up companies and not-for-profit organizations. You can see more at jaysliferdesign.com.

In the Blogosphere: from Arizona to the IDC

Indiana Design Center — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:10:05 +0000

The energy continues to grow each day at the Indiana Design Center as showrooms open, designers move into their office suites and, especially, with the recent addition of the Blu Moon Café. We could go into great detail about why we’re excited, but it probably sounds best coming from one Arizona designer who visited the building’s showrooms and reported on her own blog, Blue Artichoke Interiors.

The blogger’s camera and showroom descriptions were on a roll that day between visits to Outré, The Trade Source and Blu Moon Café…enjoy her IDC recap and other great posts!

IDC Meet & Greet: Tom Vriesman

Indiana Design Center — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:04:01 +0000

The story of the Indiana Design Center does not begin when the first shovel dug into the ground on Rangeline Road. It actually goes back a few years more, to when the vision for the master redevelopment plan of Old Town Carmel was established and included a design center that would anchor the Arts & Design District. From there, began extensive research, focus groups, design and planning. Leaders from Indiana’s design industry participated in numerous advisory sessions that continue to influence decisions made today.

One of those advisory members, Tom Vriesman, continues to work closely with the Indiana Design Center serving as Director of Design Community Relations. Tom’s role is to build relationships between the Indiana Design Center and design community and guide the design center’s commitment to championing design excellence in Indiana.

Tom has established and chairs the Indiana Design Center Advisory Board which is comprised of representatives from design industry organizations (ASID, IIDA, NKBA, AIA, BAGI, IEDC & NARI), design center tenants, academia, commercial and residential product manufacturers, interior designers, and local community representatives.

As principal of his own interior design firm, Design Studio Vriesman, Tom’s work has been published in House Beautiful, House Trends, Indianapolis Monthly, and The Indianapolis Star and has received awards from the St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild Decorators’ Show House, and Indianapolis Monthly. Prior to starting his interior design business, Tom was a Creative Director for Showroom Design with Herman Miller and also served as VP of Business Development for Rowland Design.

This summer, Tom will call the Indiana Design Center “home” for his namesake firm as he moves his business to the IDC. Visit Tom’s website to learn more about Design Studio Vriesman and enjoy the following examples of his work. You can also expect many great contributor blog posts from Tom in the future!

Press Clippings: Walter Knabe Studios to Join IDC

Indiana Design Center — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:54:23 +0000

Visit the latest Indianapolis Business Journal article covering the Walter Knabe Studios move to the Indiana Design Center.

Also visit the Indianapolis Art Center blog to read more about Walter Knabe’s work as the Official Artist of the 2010 Indianapolis 500.

Upcoming Indianapolis Event

Indiana Design Center — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 01:31:33 +0000

If you’d like to enjoy some of the most beautiful gardens in Indianapolis and inspire your green thumb, mark your calendar for the upcoming Indianapolis Garden Club’s 15th annual Garden Walk.

J. Baker Interiors, LLC, a tenant on the first floor of the Indiana Design Center, is one the sponsors for the event which is scheduled for Wednesday, June 9, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. The tour will feature five outstanding gardens located throughout the Indianapolis area and there is also a luncheon at Woodstock Club from 11:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

For more information and ticket availability, please contact The Indianapolis Garden Club at www.igcgardenwalk.com

Photo from www.igcgardenwalk.com

Press Clippings: Ferguson Moving to IDC

Indiana Design Center — Fri, 28 May 2010 01:36:53 +0000

Check out the latest Indy Star article about the new Ferguson Bath Kitchen and Lighting Gallery coming to the Indiana Design Center. The new showroom is anticipated to open by year’s end and will feature well-known brands like Bosch, Jenn-Air, Brizo, Gatco, Kohler, Top Nobs, Progress Lighting and Sub-Zero, among others.

Moving In and Getting Set.

Indiana Design Center — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:57:45 +0000

It’s a big week at the Indiana Design Center. While there are trucks delivering building products, furniture and construction materials almost everyday, we get most excited about moving trucks. Why? Because it means a new tenant is joining us! This week, Julie O’Brien Design Group is moving into their design studio space on the second level. You can read more about Julie O’Brien Design Group in previous posts here and here.

This spring, the design firm launched a new ad campaign featured in publications like Indianapolis Monthly. Below you’ll see an ad that announces their move to the Indiana Design Center. The illustrations are by Indianapolis artist, Andrea Eberbach, whose work and client list extend far beyond the region.

A very warm “welcome” to Julie O’Brien Design Group from the IDC team!