Artists on-site service tailor-made furniture for you

A "close contact" with the artist

Shilpa Sanger decided to add a custom cabinet for her penthouse apartment in Manhattan. She turned on the computer and saw a video of artist Michael Coffey carving a small table. Shilpa immediately made the decision: it was him. Within a few minutes, the site got online with Coffey and signed a custom power of attorney.

Sanger then invited Michael to his apartment to show him where the cabinets are. She, her husband and several children also visited the artist's studio in Massachusetts. There, Michael showed them the raw material of the cabinet-a piece of American walnut. Sanger picked the paint himself. After the furniture was made, Michael came to her house to supervise the installation. Sanger said: "The cabinet is full of life tension, and it is placed in the room and looks like a sculpture."

Bespoke Global, a website that helps Sanger find favorite artists, is an emerging online design platform. Sanger commented: "The service is great, fast, and simple, and there is no missing information in the communication process." Such an "intimate" contact with artists or designers is really exciting, especially when more Homeowners are looking at custom furniture . Gwen Carlton, one of the founders and president of Bespoke Global, said: "Homeowners can work directly with an artist to create an excellent design that suits their wishes. Artists can also know the destination of their work, which is a double-act.

The interaction between the homeowner and the artist will be finally registered on the "electronic birth certificate" of the furniture . This proof is a video recording the "delivery" process of the custom product, and if the guest needs, it can also include an interview with the artist and the host. "Custom commissioning is a very personal matter, and the video can record the whole process so that future generations can understand the origin of this piece of furniture," Carlton said. "Now, even if the homeowners and designers are thousands of miles away, they can It ’s easy to own handcrafted custom furniture, no regrets. "

List of top designers

Bespoke Global has 30 artists, including both British design star Paul Kelley and David Ebner, whose famous works have been collected by the Smithsonian Institution and the Chicago Art Association.

Since the launch of the website in May 2011, Bespoke Global has attracted customers from 71 countries, with a single customized consumption amount of up to $ 55,000. Designers may never see such a huge order. British furniture manufacturer Tony Portus pointed out: "Designers and craftsmen have precious time and lack related resources. They rarely launch personal websites, so they cannot display their talents. They usually do not sell their works through traditional distribution channels, because The middle price increase is too heavy. Therefore, usually, they can only use art exhibitions to make their name. "

Caroline Shamash, art director of the custom website Saffron Interior Arts, agrees with this view: "Most artists have their own independent working environment, they are not part of a giant company, so when artists do not hold exhibitions, it is difficult for people Contact them. "Shamash currently works with 14 artists and craftsmen, including fabricator Judy Ross, glassmaker Peter Binnington, George Papadopoulos, and finishing artist Quentin Reynolds.

Portus and Ross Fenn used their reputation in the art field for thirty years to guarantee the quality of the designers' work. Portus founded the famous studio Cato Workshop in 1989, and Fenn runs an art gallery. Maker's Eye, under the names of the two, provides consumers with online browsing, purchasing and custom design services. The site has 50 top British designers. In fact, when you see a list of designers made up of names like John Makepeace, David Colwell, Fred Baier, The Edward Barnsley, Andrew Varah, Toby Winteringham, and Wales & Wales, It makes people wonder if they have copied the list of top British designers directly.

Fenn said: "Some people may think that custom commissioning is tedious and complicated, but Maker's Eye makes everything simple. It provides a list of artists for reference, guides consumers to choose a studio, and guarantees that they can get what they want. . "

These art brokers also pay attention to niche design brands. The online design platform DeTnk recently introduced Rudi Rabitti to a buyer, an Italian designer who is not very famous. The platform owner Rabih Hage said that buyers and designers shared similar interests and the cooperation was very smooth.

No custom customization

Online customization is a new method of marketing luxury goods. The homeowners are like walking into an exquisite shop with a variety of products. They may never have seen so many artworks and design styles in an exhibition.

Emma Rule-Sayers, who lives in London, also found Shamash, and she wanted to customize a set of cushions for the living room. She said: "The tone design of the room is neutral, so the color of the mat is best to be as natural and elegant as the color of landscape painting, but it should not be too feminine. Caroline showed me samples of various fabrics and designs and recommended them to me Alev Saglam in Istanbul, and then the other party sent many design drafts by e-mail, as well as a lot of pictures of fabric textures and beaded accessories. Finally, we designed a Turkish-style purple velvet cushion with shiny metal on it. Thread embroidery, it looks gorgeous and luxurious. I will contact Shamash in the future, her personal customized service is too intimate. "

Shamash's customers are mostly British and American, while online design platform DeTnk has more international buyers. Owner Rabih Hage said: "Our guests come from China, Russia, Europe and the Middle East." This site has 60 custom designers, some of whom are sincerely invited by Hage with great vision, while others are when he opened an art museum in London Acquaintances you know. "It may be more reassuring to see our physical art museums and guests who contact us through the website. The online service is indeed very flexible. People can browse the web to see various designs and place orders. But we also need to work offline. "

Buyers will never be disappointed with the finished product. Hage said: "Buyers have a clear understanding of the current production status of the work. They will receive a variety of raw material samples, design drawings, and engraving samples. If necessary, artists can also provide furniture design prototypes."

Artists sometimes advise guests to give up some of their ideas. Hage recalled: "A buyer took a look at a Janette Laverriere chair, but wanted to change the shape. We think that such a change is not ideal, so he recommended the armrest of another designer Xavier Lust to the buyer. Chair work. We know that he will prefer this type of design. Buyers generally follow our suggestions seriously. "