Depression Design? Not so Tough

Recession may be the word of the day, but according to renowned designers Stanley Jay Friedman, that's no reason to throw in the towel when it comes to designing beautiful modern furniture.

Adaptation is the life-blood of designers. We always have to adjust our thinking.

Looking to find ways to manufacture product less expensively is always important, but not the key in this down turned economy. It's only one of the ingredients to succeed.

This down turn is unique in that it's effecting all the different furniture markets,...Trade/Showroom,
Contract, Hospitality, and Retail ,...High End and Low End.

Discipline is the key ....   For too long in recent times the critics have been perpetuating the avant-garde  end rarely do they rave about good, beautiful practicalfurniture. Beautiful seems to be a tired word. Art- Furniture seems to be it , and out of control. Sure, it's exciting and admirable but not realistic for the average family.

So,...I say once again that discipline, simplicity and of course subtle beauty is always the safer course in times like this.Always will we have room for the unique, but not necessarily to help our manufacturers to stay in business. They can't make a living selling furniture out of Zip-Lock Bagsor Bird Beaks. As much as I admire this experimentation and as much as I think it's important to experiment,..the few buyers out there want simple beauty. So that doesn't mean to stop experimenting, it only says if you want to create art , go ahead, have fun..., and if you want to have a chance at success with a manufacturer, designbeautiful simple functional product. That certainly doesn't mean we should design mundane or boring ( safe ) furniture, its only telling us to use our brains , be realistic and adapt for these times.

I hope we will learn from this experience to discipline ourselves and make the corrections necessary . We've been over the top for awhile.

Don't worry, we will be over the top again.

Having said all that, most American manufacturers are not risk takers, especially now,... and they are building very few new products. I think that they make a mistakein not building some new product. Even if retailers, etc are not buying much, it would help stimulate the brand, excite buyers, excite reps by showing everyone that ( the manufacturer ) is moving forward with a positive confidence. The press is looking hard for news now, and would jump at  something new and BEAUTIFUL !The manufacturer will benefit tremendously.