Interview with Bronwen Jones (Interior designer)

Interview with Bronwen Jones (Interior Designer)

Q: I can see you have lots of pattern books here from different designers, but which ones do you find the most inspiring and effective?

A: Delecuona produce a very smart black box with cuttings that are tied together like this, same fabric but it different colour waves.  It looks very sleek and very sophisticated and appeals to the more minimalist architects and designers, it’s very much in the upper end of the market and not very John Lewis. This type of book would be very difficult to sell to John Lewis because you need to be a designer to have that foresight to imagine how it looks. I have cut these out and put them in my own boxes. When I speak to suppliers and I need to show clients ideas, I put a scheme together; I order the cuttings and send them off to the client with a letter.

Other designers that have made a name for themselves and who tend to be a bit more eclectic and thought out like Zoffany, use very good quality fabrics and make a pattern book similar to Colfax. In so much that you have the same tone running throughout, it helps you. You could have wing chair in that and a sofa in that and you can’t really go wrong, it’s like painting with numbers. However, a more creative designer will say ‘I want that on the wing chair and the Delecuona for the curtains, it’s about knowing your books.

Q: Do you find less people are using interior designers these days because they are taking a more DIY approach?

A: The problem here for me, as an interior designer, is that the client will get the cutting, with all the details on, and say ‘great Il just order that straight form the supplier’, this makes interior designers reluctant  to send out cuttings. You’ve spent that time to make a collection and the clients have gone elsewhere. A good example of that possibly, is designer’s guild. The client go straight to them and order it, this makes me defunct.

So when I started off in a company called Charles Hammond we would have large samples like this one, you can see the whole design and it would be tagged without the details.  It would just have a code, so we in the company would know what it was, but the customer wouldn’t. This would guarantee the client to come back to us. But as the market has developed that has not worked necessarily.

Q: How do you think the internet has affected the way you get inspired and how has the industry responded to this?

 A: Now with the internet, for example GP and J Baker have sent me a letter with a code and password so I have access to their full library of their fabrics. However being a designer you need to touch that fabric. You need to see it and get inspired by it, and more often than not you could be working with loads of things thrown out on the floor and because one thing touches another you could think ‘oh wow, they go really well together and they could be from completely different designers. Again, it’s the freedom you need to have as an interior designer.

Q: You have pointed out the books you enjoy using, but which ones do you tend not to use so much?

A: This company is called Evitavonni, it is very expensive fabric and personally I find this type of book really frustrating. It might look really nice but I think it appeals more to the hotel market because you have a load of pages, one very similar to another and at the back; the details and the name of the fabric but you have to use it in a very specific way.  The type of designer using this book is not particularly interested in the overall look; they have just been given a budget and need to implement it. For example, the Duchess rom on floor one of a hotel will have fabrics A,B and C and the bridal suite will have fabric D,E and F.

Q: You have a lot of books here; do you find it difficult organizing and storing them effectively?

A: With books like these, you have to have the space. I had my shop, but I have downsized so I can only keep here what I think I use a lot.

So, this is Zimmer and Rhode fabrics, and they very much deal with the trade rather than retail. They work from designers from the outset. They are good because if I am looking for a silk in a very specific colour, they will have a whole book dedicated to silk; this is how the true designer likes to work. You decide you want a silk and sifting through books like these are tedious; you want all the colours in one book like this one. Again due to space, Zimmer have created tiny books, these are good for me as I can see what they are like but a client might want to see a bigger piece.

From my point of view, this way of viewing a fabric works very well. If I get it condensed like this, it’s perfect!

Zimmer and Rhode have also embrace technology, you can actually see their fabrics online. This is useful for the designer because you can get an idea at a glance but of course colours and texture do not come across on a computer so you still have to order a cutting to get the real feel.

Q: This book here is particularly striking; do you think it’s useful or important to have lots of imagery in a pattern book?

A: This is a huge book by Andrew Martin and very difficult to show but very inspiring. It’s very good for people who are lacking imagination, for designers and clients. You might think that certain fabrics are a bit old fashioned but put in the right scheme it can look completely different. You have an illustration next to the fabrics and wallpaper, again a very contemporary feel for it.  They are helping you, it works! Andrew Martin has marketed himself very well but you do need the space for the books. Also, with these books, it’s accompanied by brochures which replicate the images further pushing the designs forward. As a designer, really it doesn’t matter how anything is presented to you, ultimately you will make that decision yourself because you have that imagination.

You have to buy these books at a very costly price. A typical Andrew Martin book like this one will cost £160, however It’s an investment you have to make, which is why when a client uses us then goes somewhere else to source the fabrics, we are resentful.

Another way of getting samples is using a ‘ladder hanger’, which is made up of about 6 colour ways with one larger sample of your choice, so a client can see what the impact is but also the other options available.

Q: It seems to me, that now more than ever, designers in all areas of the field are trying to sell a lifestyle rather than just a product e.g.Orla Kiely. Do you think this is the future for these books?

A: This is a Cecil Beaton book, it can be very effective. It is selling a style, as illustrated in the images, and like Designer’s Guild, Cecil Beaton goes with Cecil Beaton. There are some companies that are quite specific. You have to have the whole lot!

Q: Do you find more and more clients are coming to you with their own inspiration found from magazines and the internet?

When you get to meet a client you have to learn about them but obviously they have come to you for your advice so it’s a compromise really. You want to give them the best; I have a tendency of pulling out my favourites. It’s important when choosing a designer you look at their style and see if it suits you.

 Some clients know exactly what they want before they come to you, these are the worst because they like to undermine you. They need to accept you have hired a designer because they know best!

Q: Pike believe that the days of the pattern book, the way it is now, are limited and it will soon be replaced by a more modern and digital service, what you do think?

A: I think there is a plus and a minus for that. I think there would be a lot of wastage. I could ring up after looking online for fabrics and to cover myself I will order 10 samples and only use 1 or 2. I think it could work but the suppliers could get bogged down by sending lots of samples. The Delecuona idea with the box is forward thinking. You buy it for £20 and you get all the cuttings you want, so the suppliers aren’t constantly sending out cuttings, paying for the postage and the administration. I don’t think we will lose pattern books but I think it will become increasingly aided by the internet, but the nature of our work; you need to touch it and feel it because one linen is very different to another linen. It’s not until you see it in the flesh that you can appreciate the difference between the two.

I do get the feeling that certain books are very expensive to produce, they won’t be making much profit, and nobody would buy it if it was too much. Especially with companies like Andrew Martin who also provide a brochure, you can see from those images what you want; there is no need in spending so much on making a sell proof book.

I think something does need to be done in terms of the way pattern books work. What I find annoying is when certain fabrics and wallpapers in a book get discontinued; you have to cut it out so the customer can’t see it and your left with a very scruffy looking book. It doesn’t reflect well when you’re trying to inspire someone. You have to update everything all the time, if your client sets their heart on something and you find out it has been discontinued your put in a very difficult situation.

Q:  Now I will ask you some questions about interior decoration to gain you consumer perspective. So which retailers/ brands do you buy items for you interior?

A: I like Ikea, everything is all in one place. I spend so much of my time designing other people’s homes, I am sick of it by the time I come to do mine so I just want it to be as easy as possible. Sometimes when I really like a sample, I cut it out and make a cushion cover or something.

Q: What else attracts you to IKEA? Do you go there with a specific product in mind?

A: Yes, I never go just for a look around. I go for something specific but I always end up buying more than that. I like how cheap it is mainly.

Q: What fashion brands do you buy?

A: Marks and Spencer’s, Next, Wallis, sometimes Monsoon.

Q: How would you describe you interior taste?

A: White! My whole house is white, so minimal I guess. I like patterns in small doses.

Me: Thank you very much for meeting with me.