In our March trend letter, we talked all about color and design trends from the Fall 2020 Ready-To-Wear Runways. In addition to vibrant, saturated colors and oversized silhouettes, a major theme emerged about sustainable textiles and manufacturing practices. Consumers are aware of the toll fast fashion is having on the planet and, as a result, […]
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Design Pool is excited to announce a new partnership with Museum L-A in Lewiston, Maine. Our online library of licensable designs now offers a selection of historical textile designs from the Museum L-A archives. These designs are available to anyone looking to license a design for a product or project. The best news? 100% of […]
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Do you subscribe to our newsletter? You should! Each month we send out a monthly trend letter full of exclusive content about material, pattern, color trends we’re seeing in different industries and links to some of our recent blog posts. Occasionally we send out other newsletters full of interesting news about what we’ve got going […]
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If you are a subscriber to our monthly trend letter, you have already seen our round-up of the biggest trends from the Fall 2020 Ready-to-Wear runways. (Not a subscriber? Subscribe today and you’ll receive our most recent trend letter.) After poring through photos of fashion, it got us wondering which trends seem ready to start […]
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A lot of small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs are facing uncertainty these days. We can relate, we are too at Design Pool. Our goal to grow our business by licensing pattern designs is the same. Yet, our plans had to be reassessed. The shows we were exhibiting at have both been postponed. Both the Licensing Expo and NeoCon have […]
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As we all adjust to the new reality of social distancing, a lot of people are suddenly working from home. We feel for you, it is a challenging transition. The Design Pool team all work remotely and know it takes a while to feel productive working from home. Not to mention, also keep your sanity […]
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The world of print-on-demand technology is an exciting corner of the world to hang out in, and it’s growing exponentially. As technology improves, the opportunities to use this technology have been opening up. Yet, it can also be a little intimidating to enter and confusing if you’re not up on what all the terminology means. […]
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This month we are talking trends with Kathy Phillips, Vice President Design/Trend/Curator at Springs Creative. Kathy oversees the creative process for all printed fabrics by the yard for stores that cater to home sewers, quilters, and makers, as well as the home furnishings market. She is also a talented and creative woman who has a […]
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Everyone at Design Pool may have different roles, but we all have one thing in common. We all have degrees in textile design. When people ask the standard cocktail party question, “What do you do?” answering, “I’m a textile designer” is nearly always a surprise, which kind of blows our minds. We surround ourselves in […]
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Did you recently invest in a digital printer? Do you have a super cool new product but don’t have a design staff? Do you see print-on-demand as a forward-thinking and sustainable way of doing business in the future? If you answered yes to any of these questions, we would love to talk to you about […]
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There is no doubt that good design makes for a positive aesthetic experience, but does it make for a healthier one? As hospitals and healthcare facilities look to build new spaces and upgrade existing ones, they are more often requesting that these spaces be more humanized. Good design in healthcare environments can have a positive […]
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If you’re a pattern and design lover like we are at Design Pool, Spain needs to be on your bucket list. Narrow that down even further to southern Spain, where the decorative Spanish tiles used in the architecture will blow you away. On a recent trip to Seville, it was inspiration overload walking through the […]
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A houndstooth refers to a design created in a woven cloth through a color and weave effect. Traditionally, the warp layout is designed with alternating bands of four dark threads followed by four white threads. Similarly, the weft is woven with four dark threads followed by four light threads. The weaving is done with a […]
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Kristen’s work with Building on Hope is gearing up for May construction. Until then, she is raising money for the Nashua PAL Youth Safe Haven. She has already donated hours of her time. Yet, cash donations will go far to turn her ideas into reality during construction. What does she love so much about this […]
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New Hampshire non-profit Building on Hope will spend two weeks in May renovating the Nashua PAL Youth Safe Haven. Consisting of New Hampshire volunteers from all walks of life, this inspiring nonprofit helps other nonprofits doing good work in their community. This past year, Kristen has been donating her time and expertise to this great […]
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In the latest in our series Talking Trends, Kristen chatted with Wendy Noory, Director of Design for Panolam Surface Systems. Panolam has been in business for over 70 years and offers one of the largest selections of surface options and designs for interior designers and architects. Wendy has a keen eye for design and upcoming […]
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Here at Design Pool we have big things in store for 2020! This spring Design Pool will be exhibiting for the first time at Licensing Expo 2020 in Las Vegas. The world’s largest licensing trade show, it describes itself as, “The meeting place for the global licensing industry.” Licensing Expo takes place at the Mandalay […]
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We are excited to announce the team at Design Pool is growing! Please join us in welcoming Kristin Crane to our team as Director of Marketing & Communications. Kristin has been writing for the Design Pool blog since we launched in 2019. We are thrilled she is joining us full-time in 2020. Kristin’s career began […]
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At Design Pool, we like to say that our creative process is client-driven. We do this work because we love to see our designs find their way into a client’s product and out into the marketplace. Founder Kristen Dettoni does the majority of the design work for Design Pool and is passionate about creating a […]
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2019 has been an exciting year for anyone who appreciates the women of the Bauhaus. Around the world, museums have been installing exhibits that celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany in 1919. From a vast retrospective of Anni Albers at the Tate Modern in London to The Bauhaus and Harvard, a […]
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At Design Pool, we know how important it is to stay on top of industry trends. With that in mind, we’re launching a new blog series Talking Trends to give us an excuse to talk to talented artists and designers about what they’re seeing. We’re kicking things off with a conversation with Kerry Rowe of Kerry Rowe […]
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Georgia O’Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1917 and said later, “From then on, I was always trying to get back there.” New Mexico can have that effect on people. The big sky, the clear air, the piñon trees dotting the landscape, it’s no wonder so many artists flock to New Mexico. And then keep […]
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In October, we visited Printing United 2019 in Dallas, Texas. Printing United describes itself as a brand-new trade show that will “provide access to the latest solutions for apparel, graphics/wide-format, and functional printing applications.” Their goal is putting under one roof “access to all printing technologies.” Those of us in the industry all agree it’s an exciting […]
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Design Pool is excited to let you know about a volunteer project we are working on to create textile reproductions for Museum L-A in Lewiston, Maine. Museum L-A was founded to tell the story of the textile mill workers who had once worked in the Bates Mill in Lewiston, which ceased production in 2001. Their mission reads […]
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Anyone lucky enough to have seen a suzani up close will always remember the experience. These beautiful textiles are expertly crafted by skilled artists, and their size and density of stitches are awe-inspiring. The stitching is what gives these textiles their name. The word suzani is derived from the Persian word suzan, which means needle. A […]
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At LDI Interiors, sustainable design is more than just an industry trend or empty marketing term; it is one of the core values of their company. They view sustainability as an essential part of their business model and an ever-evolving part of the design process. Each new product, each new design, is seen as a […]
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During her recent trip to Ireland and Scotland, Design Pool founder Kristen Dettoni spent seven days in the Scottish Highlands with ACE Camps. One of those days was spent visiting the Knockando Woolmill, where Kristen was just as inspired by the history as the fabrics. Knockando derives from the Scottish Gaelic cnoc cheannachd, meaning “Hill of Commerce,” […]
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KwickScreen originally began as a student project for Michael Korn. Still, today, it is slowly revolutionizing how hospitals and medical centers create privacy and comfort for patients and families in an instant. Michael enrolled in an industrial design program at the Royal College of Art with the spirit of an inventor. He wanted to design […]
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Running your own creative business can be incredibly fulfilling and rewarding, and the life of an entrepreneur is never boring. But a creative business is not all drawing and drooling over color swatches. It’s also sending out checks, figuring out why your website isn’t updating and making sure there is toilet paper in the bathroom. […]
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Computer software may make it easy to take a motif and tile it out, but that doesn’t mean that a pattern has been designed in a pattern repeat. In fact, a skilled pattern designer can spot a design that has just been tiled out and not designed in a pattern repeat from a mile away. […]
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Using data to support decision making is a trend in nearly every industry. Big brands use data to decide where to open new stores, how to market to their customers and how to get everyone to keep scrolling, clicking and buying. DRRP Arquitectura, an architecture firm in Lima, Peru, is designing buildings with data. DRRP […]
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Tana-Tex Inc. is revolutionizing the privacy curtain business with technology that allows for seamless curtains produced from an integral mesh fabric. Anat Unruh, owner of Tana-Tex had been in the privacy curtain business for a while when she got the inspiration for this new product in an unusual place: the tennis court. Traditional privacy curtains […]
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Damask textiles originated in China around 300BC. The knowledge of this weaving technique slowly spread west from there. They are named after the significant silk road trading city Damascus, Syria. These finely patterned textiles grew to major production in the Middle Ages, particularly in the Middle East. Legend often credits Marco Polo with bringing the […]
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At Design Pool we offer a range of solutions for your design needs, including an exciting collection of proprietary designs. The “Paint Paper Scissors” collection is perfect for those in need of an exclusive license or purchase of the copyrights. Rhode Island designer, Paula Becker, designed the first collection in our proprietary design library. Paula […]
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Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire is not the typical high school. It’s a private boarding school founded in 1820 on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region. When the school was looking to move its admissions office from an old New England house on Main Street to a state of the […]
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Color can be both amazing and complicated, but how exactly does it work? At its most simple, different wavelengths are reflecting off an object and back to our eyes, where they hit the eye’s retina. Yet, this simple reflection of wavelengths has an effect on people that is far from simple. Color can change a […]
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Paul Lewin was a designer at Tivi in Chicago when he and his partner Ryan Wither got the project of their dreams, by sheer luck. In 2013, their friend and restaurateur Peter Verrill asked them to design his new restaurant Outliers Eatery, in foodie heaven Portland, Maine. What happens when a designer is given complete […]
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Every day, in hospitals and healthcare facilities across the country, healthcare providers are using whiteboards to communicate with patients, their families, and each other. Keeping track of medication schedules, shift changes, and notes from visitors, whiteboards are an important necessity. Now, institutions are looking to companies such as VividBoard to customize those boards. As a […]
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During her 27-year career working in the textile industry, Design Pool founder Kristen Dettoni watched as the industry she worked in produced yards and yards of textile waste while creating large collections twice a year. The standard model was for a traditional mill to create hundreds of designs, each available in multiple color ways, to […]
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Paul Lewandowski, the architect at Paul Designs Project, was design principal at SMRT Architects and Engineers when he got the opportunity to redesign the St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center. A building that he felt a personal connection to. In order to bring this project to life and be meaningful in the community, Paul utilized custom […]
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Whether or not we realize it as we move through our day, color is affecting our mood, our decisions, and maybe even our hunger level. People are drawn to that sweater on the rack, or the couch on the showroom floor because of its color. It is what catches the eye first and either draws […]
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Over the past few years, we’ve become an on demand society with much of what we need at our fingertips. We can order a car to our door, food from our favorite restaurant and have any product we want delivered right to our door. In the world of commercial and residential interiors, that is no […]
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Design Pool is excited to share that we have partnered with Vistamatic to expand their graphic portfolio. This partnership allows them to offer a wide range of unique pattern designs on their revolutionary glass panels. Vistamatic’s patented product, the Vistamatic Vision Panel is simple, durable, and visually pleasing. Used primarily in healthcare facilities, these panels […]
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