more design chat

Friday, November 9, 2007


Echo collection one of my first product design adventures - over 10 years ago

Very little that I would change today if given the opportunity to design this collection all over again ...and any designer out there knows that you don't say that very often. Usually when you design something, once it's in print or in this case once a mold has been made and it's been cast in metal, there's something that irks you, some thing that you wish you'd noticed- that you wish you had changed. I think this collection of home decor items has survived the test of time, today (maybe 12 years later) it doesn't seem trendy and has that timeless quality, that certainly was my intention when designing it. My inspiration at the time was Greek art, especially Greek pots and their incredibly modern looking marks & patterns. Hence the frame inserts (which I also designed, being formerly and occasionally still, a graphic designer) the illustrations on the frame inserts are taken directly from books on Greek ceramics. Incredibly beautiful & very modern looking. I called the collection Echo because I felt I was echo -ing the design of a past culture and I liked the word and thought it would be easy to remember - catchy (sales & marketing talk).





More winter-ey temperatures here in Nova Scotia. We are still without a car (les chiens and I) but we're surviving and except for Jake & Winnie having to have leashes on and not being free & loose - they seem to be enjoying the new scenery and especially all the new smells. We occasionally have, what I'm sure looks to someone who happens to peer out their window, a modern dance interpretation as I skillfully spin around, switching hands and legs, to unwind and untwist, tangled leashes from my body, all the while waving my poop bag in the air. I'm sure it's a comical sight. That Winnie Dixon, she's so good on a leash, she trots along proudly, occasionally looking back to smile at me, the happy face of a shelter dog whose so thankful that she, now, has a good home. She's proud & she's happy and a leash to her - speaks of true love.

4 comments:

  1. Well since I've bought and given many a Seagull piece over the years, I most likely have bought one of your designs. I typically give Seagull frames for baby shower gifts and Seagull candle sticks as wedding gifts.
    These examples are lovely.

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  2. thank you Paula!

    and I haven't forgotten about your yarn query ...

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  3. Wow... these are beautiful Susan. Like you say, why change a thing...they are still perfect.

    'specially like the small frame in the top group and the clock down below in the view with the other frame ....okay...the candle holders..damn... guess I'm broke already hey?
    Can't say I know the line,...but now I will be looking for them just because ...

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  4. Hi Vee, I'm quite sure that every piece in this collection has finally been retired. They sold well for many years. The company that I worked for has since been bought out by a new company and has taken a new direction and they don't sell as much pewter or cast metal anymore.

    I thought, since I'm always writing about my drawings, sketches and thumbnails that it was time to show what those drawings eventually can turn into.

    This Echo collection is one I'll always be particularly proud of.

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