Sheffield based furniture and product design studio Psalt Design was formed in 2010 by Richard Bell, Tom McKeown and David Powell. The trio of designers wanted to take advantage of the wealth of industrial and creative opportunities the city has to offer to conceive, design and manufacture furniture and interior products.
Psalt Design has worked with Design Event over the last few years, first exhibiting at the 2011 Design Event MART at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. In 2012 Psalt were part of a collective of Northern designers that Design Event showcased at TENT London during the London Design Festival (LDF).
We had a chat with Richard Bell to find out more about their experience of exhibiting as part of a collective and how that has impacted on their activity.
Showing as a
collective with Design Event at Tent London 2012 was hugely beneficial to us.
It was our first experience showcasing at the London Design Festival and having
business and product development, marketing and public relations advice and support
in the run up to the event from both Design Event and the other exhibitors
meant we were a lot more prepared than what we would have been.
Showcasing as a
Northern collective provided a great platform to generate press interest and
coverage and we were featured in a number of publications we may have missed
out on if we had been showing by ourselves. Also the marketing, PR and design
of the stand was very professional, meaning we could focus purely on our
products and press kits prior to the show.
I think the
selection process (through and open call) was very important to the success of the stand and there was
a wide variety of great products on display. This definitely helped attract
more potential customers to the stand as people saw something that intrigued
them, whether it be furniture, product etc., and then were more likely to
browse the other work on display. The stand was a huge success for us and
played a big part in helping to take our company to the next level.
The footfall at Tent
London has been very strong for a number of years now and it attracts a wide
audience. We met people ranging from students, design enthusiasts and boutique
shop owners right through to head buyers for companies such as Habitat, Heals
and Conran. This varied audience means there are endless opportunities to speak
to people interested in your range of products. We tried to be quite pro-active
in the run up to the event by initiating conversations with a number of people
who we invited to the stand. We also organised a competition sponsored by RIBA
Journal where visitors could win one of our 'Bubble Tanks'. This was a great
conversation starter and through publicising the competition we generated a lot
of interest. In the weeks and early months directly after the show we had a
definite spike in sales from people who had seen the product on the Design
Event stand.
In terms of the
location, the stand was in Hall T1, which I felt was the best hall to be in. I
also think that TENT is considered one of the best locations nowadays along with
Design Junction as an exhibition space.
After exhibiting at
the show we received emails from people 12 months later saying they had seen
our products at LDF and some went on to buy our products. These were mainly
individuals purchasing for their home. The main benefit post-show was from
press, which we met through the event. Many of these people have gone on to
help showcase our work, which has, without doubt, led to indirect sales.
Exhibiting as a
collective has played a big part in giving us the confidence to showcase
individually and in 2013 we exhibited at the same event along with Daniel
Schofield (another designer who featured on the Design Event stand in 2012). Having experienced how well run Design Event’s 2012 stand was, we
were able to apply what we learnt to our stand. Having to publicise the event
ourselves took a lot of time but proved very beneficial for us and we managed
to attract a lot of interested parties when we unveiled our full collection at
the event. We owe a lot of this to the team at Design Event and I personally
learnt a lot in terms of ways of getting the most out of the event. We also
showed earlier in the year at 'Home London' as part of a shared stand which was
a great experience and plan to do several more in the near future.
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| image by Colin Davison @rosellastudios.com |
Both exhibiting with
Design Event and the mentoring provided in the run up to the show has enhanced
the day to day running of our company and post-show we took the direction to
market the products to a much higher level and really push negotiations with
retailers and stockists. This has led to Psalt Design becoming a more
successful and streamlined company.
In the last 3 years
it has been astounding to see how far our company has moved forward. I think
the unveiling of the full range last year initially at the 'MADE North' gallery
in Sheffield and then at 'TENT London' 2013 was huge and it became clear exactly how far we have come as a brand.
We now have a range
of products, which consistently sell, which has given us the opportunity to
continue to develop new products.
The open call for submissions for Northern designers to exhibit with Design Event at Design Junction during 2014's London Design Festival is now open. Deadline is 10 March 2014. More information on how to apply here.
