Have a Creative Business or Hobby? George Lois Has Some Advice for You ...

An interior designer friend of mine shared a book with me that he said "changed my life," and I feel it's my duty to tell every Sheffield student - and everyone in a creative profession or with a creative hobby - to pick up a copy of Damn Good Advice (for people with talent!) by George Lois. Mr. Lois was the ad guy behind the rise of popular brands like MTV, Tommy Hilfiger, and VW, and his graphic design background (think the classic covers of Esquire magazine that are in MOMA's collection).

The book is wonderfully simple and jarring, with 120 great tips that are actually mini wake-up calls to become more creative and to work better and smarter with our talents. Here are a few nuggets.

• Most people work at keeping their job, rather than doing a good job. If you're the former, you're leading a meaningless life. If you're the latter, keep up the good work. 
• When you're presenting a Big Idea, be prepared to answer dumb questions. There's usually somebody in every meeting that just doesn't get it. Before the last word comes out of their lips, tear their doubts to shreds.
• You can be Cautious or you can be Creative (but there's no such thing as a Cautious Creative). A creative thinker must be fearless. If you're more tentative than decisive, if you're more cautious than creative, you'll never be an innovative business leader, and certainly not a great visual communicator. A Cautious Creative is an oxymoron.

If you're pursuing a creative hobby or a creative profession, you need the inspiration of books like this one to help give you a jolt and replenish your "juciness." Lois, whom many refer to as the original Mad Man (as in the TV show Mad Men), rankles at the comparison because he believes in a much better work and personal ethic than shown in the TV show. I highly recommend this book. You'll come away inspired and ready to create great work!

If you're interested in learning more about creative pathways for hobbyists and professionals, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter. 

Thinking Outside The Box When Packaging Your Jewelry

Photo by Rachel Chew, jewelry by Elephantine.

When it comes to your handcrafted Jewelry, packaging appeal is not only an added bonus to please your customer, but you are assuring that your piece will be received in the style you want. Displaying your work with a walk away business card is a resourceful way to brand your name with your packaging. Most people are completely thrilled if you relieve them of the packaging part of the gift giving process, This is a great opportunity to do it for them while including your business name.

 

Carrie Hill Photograph on Clover Market.

Literally thinking outside the box can help you create packaging that is unique to you. You may even be able to find items around your house that are in keeping with your work. No matter what type of card you choose to use, keeping them in a wooden box will help keep your table clean and make your customer feel welcome to flip through the merchandise.

huaban.com

That does not mean you have to spend a lot on materials. Something as simple as a small paper bag with holes punched through it and tied closed with a pretty ribbon is clean and thoughtful. Personalizing it with an ink stamp or a business card is all you need to make it feel finished.

 

Supply Crate on Etsy

Kids At Heart Designs on Etsy

Have you ever purchased something packaged so well that you could not wait to give it as a gift? That is ideally what you want your customers to feel like. If your item is fun to give, and receive, it will be remembered. These match book boxes by Kids At Heart Designs can be decorated any way you want. 

JJB Studio

Using a business card tent as a way to display your work is not only a great way to stand your jewelry up for a table display at a show, but it also allows you to create a quick take away sale at a busy craft show. You may want to make sure the price is not permanently written on the card if it is to be given as a gift. 

Haley M packaging

In unit 5 of the Sheffield jewelry design course you will learn about packaging your designs. I have chosen to use screw top tins with a sticker for my packaging. Many of my pieces are mailed out in a bubble mailers. In order to minimize the risk of pieces getting crushed in the mail the look and protection of the tins work well for me.

Creatively packaged jewelry adds value in they eyes of customers. It also makes them want to come back for more. Think about your presenting and packaging your work in a way that reinforces your brand.

If you're interested in learning more about jewelry design, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter. 

Preview: Architectural Digest Home Design Show

Spring is definitely here when you see signs for the annual Architectural Digest Home Design Show.  Always held in March, the AD show heralds the latest trends in interior décor and home furnishings. 

New Yorkers fling off their winter blues and make the trek to the piers for the largest venue of furniture, lighting, and accessories. Besides home furnishings, Pier 94 will also exhibit DIFFA's Dining by Design event.  DIFFA or Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids shows off tabletop design & accessories and other display creativity from top event planners and interior designers.

If you're going to be in town from March 22nd to 24th, come drop by at the show. For ticket and venue information, go to the Architectural Digest Home Design Show site.

What Well-Dressed Beds Are Wearing: Divine Duvets

In our last post, you heard that Sheffield has completely redone and updated the six Unit DVDs for The Complete Course in Interior Design. There are hours and hours of visits with top interior designers - to learn their tips and secrets, of course - and a host of trips to antique dealers, furniture and accessory showrooms, and lots of surprises. One of our trips was to the luxury bedding experts at Casa del Bianco, and they told us some great ways to dress a bed. The duvet is key to a beautiful bed, but you can vary the way you style bedding with a duvet quite a bit. Here are just a few of the many bed dressing and linen quality tips we learned.

• It's preferable to keep bed linens white or off-white, with a border or embroidery adding a pop of color that coordinates with the bedroom decor. Look at the Lamu duvet and sham set from Serena and Lily in the top photo. The duvet and its coordinating sham add bold coral notes to the room. But note that there's only a hint of color at the edging of the coordinating pillow case and top sheet. That's because sheets require more frequent washings, usually once a week. A duvet is laundered much less frequently, and the duvet and shams are more apt to keep their colors vibrant and unfaded over time.
• There are a number of ways to display your duvet (hey, that rhymes!). As in the photo above, you can use the duvet as a traditional American bedspread and pull it up most of the way to the head of the bed. Go all the way for a look that hides the sheets but emphasizes bed pillows, shams, and throw pillows.

• You can be less "tidy" with your duvet placement for a more casual look, as in the loose half-way-up-the-bed folding of the Caroline duvet from Serena and Lily in this bedroom for two teenage girls. In the background, there's the more relaxed bunching (for beds without a headboard, the effect is neater, with the duvet folded down in half or in thirds and draping over the end of the bed, just below the mattress/box springs assembly). The bed in the foreground shows the duvet pulled up to the head of the bed, revealing one side of the duvet to full effect and presenting an alternative appearance. When a duvet is folded in halves or thirds, however, you can also get a crisp look by neat folds - in the photo above, the duvet is folded in a way that maximizes the showiness of a two-sided/reversible duvet, so if your duvet has two coordinating patterns, folding and draping is a great way to show them off.

• A more tailored, European approach to the duvet is to tuck the sides neatly under the mattress and box springs assembly as shown in the photo above. Here, West Elm's beautiful Lotus Pink Linen Cotton Blend duvet is tucked in a stylish way, with a jaunty angle to the top fold. This is a great approach for platform beds, beds with tall footboards, and more traditional and antique beds, like four-posters. A good variation: tuck in only the bottom edge of the duvet and let the ends drape over the sides of the bed. 
• Be sure to always carefully measure your mattress width and the height of your mattress/box springs assembly so you can purchase a duvet that's large enough to drape or tuck over the sides of the bed. The last think you want is for your duvet to look like it's a little napkin stuck on top of the bed, barely covering it.
• A final treatment (not pictured here) is rolling the duvet up and having the rolled fabric at the bottom of the bed. 
• Hate duvets? This works for bedspreads and quilts, too, or try layering quilts under a duvet for plays of texture, pattern, and color. Have fun dressing your bed!

If you're interested in learning more about wedding planning and decor, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter. 

Create Your Own Jewelry Displays

Willows Home and Garden in store jewelry display.

A great display can draw people over to your table. You are essentially creating your store on a table. Purchasing displays can become very costly. This is where the phrase necessity is the mother of invention comes in. Maybe seeing these cleverly made jewelry displays will inspire you to make your own, with items that you may already have in your home. This chest of drawers used as a jewelry display is in the Willows Home and Garden Store.
 

Using household bowls, trays and baskets can be visually fun for your customer and save you money at the same time. Also consider having attractive signs displayed beside your jewelry letting your customers know the price. These chalk boards by Pick Up Sticks are great looking and inviting.

River Song lays out her jewelry in trays with a natural wood frames and linen fabric. This clean, and easy on the eye, display makes you want to take a closer look. If you are worried about someone walking away with your work, at a busy show, pin your pieces to the fabric.

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If your pieces of jewelry are unique to you, then displaying your work in a unique manner will help to emphasize your brand. To save table space you can hang earrings from an upside down mesh pail, recycle a picture frame to hang on a wall, and create a stand out of wood like all of these great examples found on Pinterest.

pinterest

Viva Reviva Blog

Pinterest and Viva Revi blog. 

 We go over DIY display branding in units 5 & 6 of the Sheffield Jewelry Design Course. Creating your own display will give you the opportunity to size and customize your displays so they are cohesive with your work. Spending the time to personalize your display reinforces your style. For some of us this process comes naturally, for others it is a creative process that takes time to evolve. 

Driftwood bar by Haley M.

This long piece of driftwood holds my summer wrap bracelets with a reminder of that beach feeling. Think about your own buying preferences when shopping at a craft show and how you appreciate someone who can clearly communicate their product.

A rosy note blogspot.

This is a very sweet idea, using spools of thread as earring displays, I can visualize a group of them in soft colors. The sleek looking display below by jewelry designer Valerie Sloan looks like it is made from charcoal or possibly large stones. I am not quite sure but it looks great whatever they are. 

Jewelry and display by Valerie Sloan.

Displays should enhance your work, not detract from it. There are a lot of things to see at a show. You want to grab attention for the right reasons, an attractive pleasing look that makes people want to come over and take a closer look at your work.

Give those jewelry displays as much attention as you give your jewelry designs and have fun making them. Don't forget the mirrors!

Sheffield School began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.