Initial emails:
| From: | Georgina Korrison (georginakorrison@hotmail.co.uk) |
| Sent: | 31 October 2013 20:03:40 |
| To: | sales@sableinteriors.com (sales@sableinteriors.com) |
Good evening Fiona
I am not sure if you remember me! I worked for Sable Interiors over 5 years ago for my G.C.S.E work experience.
I am now in final year studying Fashion Communication and Promotion at Nottingham Trent University. One of my dissertations is a live brief working alongside a pattern book business called Pike Textiles.
I hope you don't mind me approaching you out of the blue as I would love your professional opinion on a couple of things:
1. Do you feel there is a future for pattern books in interior design?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using pattern books from an interior designers perspective?
3. Do you think your customers find pattern books easy to use? Do they supply the customer with enough information?
The information you give me will be used in support of my work and may be written up in my project/dissertation. Anything you say will be treated with the strictest confidence and your contribution to the discussion will not be attributed to you as an individual, what you said will be used for illustration only; to reinforce a point that I am making.
Thank you in advance for your time.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
Georgina Korrison
| From: | Emma Applegarth (emma@sableinteriors.com) You moved this message to its current location. |
| Sent: | 01 November 2013 14:11:10 |
| To: | Georgina Korrison (georginakorrison@hotmail.co.uk) |
Hi Georgina,
Thank you for your email - i forwarded it onto Fiona and she has responded with some answers to your questions:
1. There will always be a future for pattern books, however they may play a lesser role as time progresses.
2. The advantages of pattern books are that the fabrics are displayed/gathered in one place and you can refer back to this as a point of reference. If the book is well organised and has the fabric details inside, it can provide a wealth of information. However the disadvantages are that the books are often quite heavy and large making them difficult to use/transport/ and lay out for clients. In our company we are moving towards ordering samples (cuttings or returnables) of fabrics and storing them in drawers labelled by colour or type, only purchasing pattern books when we know we would use all the fabric it has to offer.
3. As we are more of a design consultancy than a retail practice our clients don't usually handle our pattern books often. That being said clients can find pattern books quite helpful depending on from which supplier they are from. They are easy for clients to 'flick' through for inspiration if they don't quite know what they are looking for.
I hope that helps!
We wish you all the best - good luck with your dissertation.
Many thanks,
2. Liz Cann, design director for Zoffany and Sanderson
Initial email:
| From: | Georgina Korrison (georginakorrison@hotmail.co.uk) You moved this message to its current location. |
| Sent: | 01 November 2013 14:47:04 |
| To: | pressoffice@colefax.com (pressoffice@colefax.com) |
Good afternoon
I am in final year studying Fashion Communication and Promotion at Nottingham Trent University. One of my dissertations is a live brief working alongside a pattern book business called Pike Textiles.
I hope you don't mind me approaching you out of the blue as I would love your professional opinion on a couple of things:
1. Do you feel there is a future for pattern books in interior design?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using pattern books?
3. Do you feel using a pattern book is a crucial part of the consumer purchasing journey?
4. Do you think pattern books showcase your designs in the most appropriate way? Or is there an alternative method that is more suitable?
The information you give me will be used in support of my work and may be written up in my project/dissertation. Anything you say will be treated with the strictest confidence and your contribution to the discussion will not be attributed to you as an individual, what you said will be used for illustration only; to reinforce a point that I am making.
Thank you in advance for your time.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
Georgina Korrison
| From: | Liz Cann (liz_cann@zoffany.uk.com) You moved this message to its current location. |
| Sent: | 01 November 2013 16:52:47 |
| To: | georginakorrison@hotmail.co.uk |
Dear Georgina,
Thank you for your questions regarding the use of pattern books in our market. We use Pikes ourselves although they are not our biggest pattern book supplier and I have known Andrew for many years.
In answer to your questions -
1] Although online sales are increasing year by year, pattern books are still the most efficient and cost effective way of promoting fabrics and wallpapers. They allow us to package a collection in a way that is either small & convenient [small blocked books of plains] or tell the story of a collection [coordinated books of fabrics & wallpapers etc]
2] Advantages - Pattern books allow us to use just enough of each fabric to indicate to the customer all the colours in a pattern & the general layout of it. Within the book we can present colour stories or style stories to display how the design team envisaged the patterns and colours, prints, plains & wallpapers being used together. Even if the customer only buys one of the fabrics within the book this type of presentation helps to sell the look.
If a book combines large designs with coordinating plains we can layer larger and smaller samples in one spread to make a pleasing and inspiring page.
Hangers of single designs are better for showing a large repeat of a printed or woven pattern but usually only in one colourway as they use more fabric , the other colours of the design are shown as small 'flags'. When design are presented this way the coordination and story of a collection often gets lost.
One downside of pattern books is their cost which some customers complain about , especially if they only like some of the designs. These customers often order hangers instead.
3] I think all customers like to handle the fabric before buying [although this is not so important for wallpapers] so, in spite of online sales, pattern books will continue to be an important marketing tool.
4] There do not seem to be many alternatives to pattern books. Some small and exclusive companies have tried boxing fabric samples which looks very smart but is not as convenient as a book.
Within our company we have 5 brands ranging from Scion at the less expensive end of the market to Zoffany which is very expensive. Yet we tend to book everything in a very similar manner.
The books tend to differ in format depending on the intended customer. Generally the top end sells more to Interior designers who do not need the 'story' laid out for them and who prefer books compiled by design. In the middle market sector the end customer is often selecting without the help of an interior designer so it is more important to show how designs can be coordinated - to sell in the concept.
I hope this is helpful to you dissertation.
Best wishes
Liz Cann
Design Director Zoffany & Sanderson
| From: | Georgina Korrison (georginakorrison@hotmail.co.uk) You moved this message to its current location. |
| Sent: | 01 December 2013 13:00:00 |
| To: | Liz Cann (liz_cann@zoffany.uk.com) |
Dear Liz
Thank you for answering my long list of questions the other week!
When you have a spare moment, would you mind answering a couple more please?
1. Its evident that the pattern book will always be around, however through primary research the books don't seem to provide the client with enough narrative on the collection. Do you agree with this? Are pattern books therefore missing out on vital information?
2. How do you feel about the pattern books being used alongside something else? Do you have any ideas on what this could be or provide the customer with?
Thank you in advance for your time.
Kind regards
Georgina
| From: | Liz Cann (liz_cann@zoffany.uk.com) You moved this message to its current location. |
| Sent: | 02 December 2013 12:32:28 |
| To: | Georgina Korrison (georginakorrison@hotmail.co.uk) |
Dear Georgina,
This is an interesting question as our marketing department is always keen to add narrative to pattern books as they feel the 'story' helps to sell the collection.
The problem comes when there is no strong narrative. Some of our collections are, for example, just a collection of florals. In cases such as this the narrative can seem forced & unnecessary.
However, whenever appropriate and where it is informative to the customer I think it really helps - e.g in Morris collections customers always want to know the artist, date and background information. Similarly when Zoffany launched the Melissa White collection 'Arden' we included lots of information on her background as a mural artist involved in historical restoration and gave the history of each design.
I don't really understand question 2 but thought it might be useful to mention that many countries do not use pattern books as much as we do in the UK. In Italy they prefer hangers [a 1 metre length of cloth with cuttings of colours attached] and in the US all the top brands are sold though showrooms with large 3 metre hangers on swing arms.
We also invest a lot into photography which can be a great selling tool both in brochures and on the internet but ultimately customers do need to see the actual cloth either in pattern books or as a cutting or returnable sample before they buy.
Best wishes
Liz
| From: | Georgina Korrison (georginakorrison@hotmail.co.uk) You moved this message to its current location. |
| Sent: | 02 December 2013 18:39:37 |
| To: | Liz Cann (liz_cann@zoffany.uk.com) |
Dear Liz
Thank you for your prompt reply, your answers have been very insightful!
To clarify question 2, we were thinking of using the pattern book alongside an online platform that showcases the collections, provides the client with further information on the collections and generally engages them on a multi-disciplinary/sensorial platform. Just a rough idea at the moment! So, I was wondering whether you think the pattern book could be used alongside something else?
It's interesting that you have mentioned the global differences in relation to the pattern book. Why do you think other countries prefer hangers? Is is linked with the materials and larger designs that they tend to create?
Have a lovely evening and thank you again for your time.
Kind regards
Georgina
| From: | Liz Cann (liz_cann@zoffany.uk.com) You moved this message to its current location. |
| Sent: | 02 December 2013 21:18:11 |
| To: | georginakorrison@hotmail.co.uk |
| Cc: | Victoria Blair (Victoria.Blair@a-sanderson.co.uk) |
Dear Georgina, Our Creative Director Vicky Blair is currently working on a new site for all our brands and can probably give you more information than I can including whether this sort of platform will be included. Regarding global differences in booking collections - I think this is mostly historical but often depends on the degree of involvement by interior designer/decorators which is more usual in some countries than others. In the US for example, customers buying at the top end of the market are more likely to use interior designers to select for them. In the UK I think customers like to be much more hands on and select themselves, even if they use an interior designer. e.g - The Duchess of Cambridge was seen at Chelsea Harbour prior to her move to Kensington Palace. Best wishes Liz
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