You don’t get to keep creating if you don’t sell
My life as an artist began at the age of twenty-five. No, I did not know I wanted to be an artist from my early teens. I did not take a single art class in high school. I did know at age twenty-five that I was not interested in being a “starving artist.” Starving never appealed to me. So, it became my job to figure out how to sell my art. This task is true for every company in our industry, from furniture to lighting to décor manufacturers. We must sell to survive. If your lamp designs do not sell to retailers and through to consumers, you must discontinue that lamp. If you make enough fatal decisions in the category of “no sale,” you go out of business. I know this sounds like a simple supply and demand topic, and it is. Provide retailers with products that consumers will demand. Success through the supply chain embodies my favorite business credo: “win/win/win.” Design products that consumers “must” include in their homes.
Stay loyal to clients and brand
Now, it is becoming trickier. Successful object designers command hefty salaries because they must continually make decisions that are consistent with their brand and excite and entice consumers to make a purchase. In other words, retailers will return and buy from a manufacturer/wholesaler because they know that the designs represented will sell through to the final consumer. This loyalty is a key factor to success and longevity. Shake-ups in brand managers and ownership of a company can send a wholesaler down an uncomfortable spiral toward demise.
Nudge a brand forward at every major wholesale market
Next, it gets even more precarious. In every major market, the brand must nudge, sometimes push, and design towards an edge. Change or be replaced. Keep moving forward. Label it as you please. If a manufacturer/wholesaler does not evolve the design while maintaining client loyalty, that company will begin to falter. What really moves the needle is developing furniture, lighting, and/or décor that catches clients off guard, yet it is consistent with the brand’s loyal customer base expectations.
From 2006 to 2015, when I was represented by The Mix/In-Detail group in Dallas, I knew I had to present fresh items every market while removing duds from the line. I had to shake the design tree just a bit, or clients would lack excitement as they walked by my brand. I also knew this to be true when I showed without a rep group in Atlanta and High Point. In the Fall of 2017, I bought five 60 x 72” paintings and hung them on the wall with six pieces of furniture. That was it. Yes, I shocked some of my clients. Yes, I said they could purchase the pieces in any size desired. Yes, I sold all those large originals. It was a fun market! A small company can take that kind of risk; larger companies must be a bit more cautious in their approach to new product design.
Include “WOW” Items at each market
Fresh design brings me to my next point: A manufacturer/wholesaler must “WOW” clients at every market. There must be an inclusion for a product(s) that are “fashion forward.” Trend setters are rewarded handsomely. That is a basic premise of the design industry. That is why we love what we do. Exciting new products also encourage the sale of everything else in the line. The “WOW” item may flop or succeed. Success is better, and a flop is OK. The “WOW” items generate excitement and overall sales. We design to sell. If you are a sensational designer, your “WOW” will nudge the line into the future, leaving competitors forced to copy the trend.
Passion brings sales
“WOW” leads me to my final point about striking a balance between creative and commercial instincts. Never forget why you are in this business. It is the passion for creating awe-inspiring designs and careers. Failure is inevitable. Some designs do not translate to sales. However, if we don’t keep the passion alive to design items that generate a gasp from the viewer, then we will never achieve a following that “guarantees” sales.
When I decided to place art in a metal-fabricated console, I was not reinventing the design. Fabrication with inlay had been accomplished centuries before I was born. I did, however, start the spark of a trend that sold 1000’s of Austin Allen James art consoles. Yes, that was fun. Always be on the lookout for your next beautiful idea. It will likely present itself when you least expect it from a source you least expect. I was carrying a large piece of art over my head toward the dock at the Dallas Market Center in June 2015, and a worker yelled out, “Is that marble?” From that bark, I rode a wave of sales for a solid decade. Have fun. Maintain your passion and consistently strive to surprise your clients while remaining true to brand and commercial viability.
