IMM Cologne 2014

A short but intensive visit to IMM Cologne this year, with lot of new contacts, meetings with friends and business relations, and of course, the unexpected casual meeting that makes trade fairs worthwhile.

We engaged in nice conversations with the designers Branka Vlasius, Sebastian Scherer , and burö Famos, we looked at their projects and we found interesting paths to follow.

We came across several emerging companies with furniture ranges of great quality, solid background, and positive founding history, like Ames, Loehr, Ondarreta.

We tried to pick up the trends: the embracing sofa as everyone’s piece «de resistance», the embracing shell chair, the tripod coat rack, the diffuse rug patterns, the multiple functionality, the simple «no tools» book shelf (something we naively used to claim).

We were impressed by MDF Italia, Vitra (a bit), Conde house, some of Poliform, Schonbüch, and innomobel.

We were charmed by Jella lamp by Lena schlumbohm, beautiful, clever, functional, clear.

We were impressed by Anne Ziegler, who shown an intriguing kitchen cabinet.

At the design school sections we found a lot of digital fabrication, on site, in real time. All machines were churnning little pieces of plastic, ceramics, resin, right there. The future? feels more like The present…

Interior Innovation Award 2013

Insekt desk winner!

Insekt desk +Kids, designed by Buisjes & Beugels Studio has been awarded the Interior Innovation Award 2013 by the German Design Council!

This is wonderful news for Kellie Smits, the designer, and for Arré, producer and distributor of Insekt desk range.

So for the second time, Arré has presented winning products to the Interior Innovation Award, underscoring the quality of our collection. That’s a good sign!

We are shipping an extra insekt desk +kids to IMM Cologne next january, where all the winners of the IIA 2013 will compete for the prestigious «best of the best of 2013» award. An international jury will select and award 15 products in the forenight of IMM Cologne opening. So we are still in the race for more!

IMM Cologne 2012

At the Pure Village!

We had a great week at Cologne, where Arré was present for the second time. This time in a professional setting at hall 3.2 in the Pure Village programme. Last year Arré was in the background, supporting Mediodesign at the D3 professionals programme, this time a step forward as a brand.

We met lots of interesting people, and we had a great team: Wibo Vermeulen from Amsterdam, Yoraco González from Berlin, Adriana Juncú assisting us with the visitors, and myself.

Great show and great products. We got compliments from trade visitors about the L-shelf designed by Juan Pablo Quintero/Mediodesign, which some people already recognised from last year, and about Insekt desk and Ecke Flow table. One of our major highlights, Metro Chairs designed by Azul Cadenas, never made it to the show… one of the minor things that happened. But we got good response to Insekt Desk, people love it. L-shelf still has to break some kind of resistance of the public, but when people see its simplicity and its genius they are crazy about it. Ecke flow had a very good international debut. German and France clients were quite enthousiast about the work of Michiel van Malestein from Rotterdam.

We are very much in the follow-up now, contacting our leads, and preparing shipment of the orders we took. We had a nice booth and a clear message: here is Arré, designed in Rotterdam, designed in Barcelona, designed in Miami, designed in Berlin.

The general public was really enthousiast about the L-shelf. During the last weekend of the fair, lot of visitors wanted to know where to buy it. How can we make this information clear to all the interested retailers?? We’ll solve that too.

We got some critical remarks from the blogs… surprisingly! 23sqstil was very dissappointed about Arré’s stand. She had followed the company, the work of Yoraco in Berlin, the L-shelf, the new products, etc. She expected more from our show. Well, a critique we take seriously, of course. But for us a kind of recognition that make us smile: we have followers!

We have clients. Clients we meet, we meet again, we retake our conversations, we discuss the next trends, the next steps. We are engaged in new proposals, new businesses. We chatted with the press, we explained our work as a new kind og agency to young professionals at the D3… and surprise, some want to be the next one at Arré.

A nice show, a great place to meet the world, to show our work. We are still working hard, demanding the best quality in what we do. Follow up time now!!!

Designed in Barcelona | Designed in Rotterdam | Designed in Berlin

Arré is ready to show the latest collection of designs and products at IMM Cologne. The show is focused on the international location of our designers and brands, their workplace, their inspiration. Each of them, Juan Pablo Quintero, Kellie Smits, Michiel van Malestein, Azul Cadenas, Yoraco González, are inspired by their cities, interacting with the creative partners, culture, architecture, businesses, friends and life in those places.

We like to think that, though it might be irrelevant for some, location plays a part in the creative process. It is the promise of Arré as well, to support those ideas and try to carry the stories and developments that brought them up in the first place. Designed in Barcelona, designed in Berlin, designed in Miami, yes.

But what does Arré? Organises in Rotterdam? Management? carries a Collection? Perhaps a new business model, a new mode for design, our way to contemporary furniture, a different approach. We are, most definitely, working on that.

We believe that we are preparing to become a furniture and contract label. But we are thinking and pondering, looking around and outside, thinking that perhaps there is room for a more collaborative approach, for effective production, for creating good value with these wonderful resources. We have started engaging conversations with our designers, clients, friends, suppliers, producers, design enthousiasts. In Chicago, Barcelona, Rotterdam, Berlin, Vienna, New York City, Kortrijk. Not only because we like to travel (we do!) but also because this journey of Arré has brought us there. We’ll get there.

IMM Cologne 2012, already a good start!

We are preparing a good and solid show for january 2012, when we will be back at Cologne for the international furniture fair. Among the things that we have done was to send Mediodesign’s product L-shelf system to competition for the Interior Innovation Award, an award organised by the German Design Council.

Did we really get surprised this week when we heard that L-shelf was among the winners? Well, yes, a little bit. But we were confident that Juan Pablo Quintero’s brainchild had everything to get through to the final rounds. So far, L-shelf, launched by Arré and designed by Mediodesign, has won its first award. It its still competing for the «best of the best 2012» award, due for final award ceremony on january 16th 2012.

Of course, this will give Arré the opportunity to show L-shelf twice at IMM Cologne, at our own booth and at the innovation boulevard. Already a good start!

Thank you visitors at Qubique Berlin!

To all our visitors and followers:

Thank you for your visit at our stand at Qubique. We appreciate your interest, time and comments during the fair. It was nice to meet you in Berlin!

Please check our website for the latest information on QUINTo outdoor collection. We will certainly take your comments into account for the final product, due in 2012.

Meanwhile, we have a limited serie of QUINTo Chaise Longe, Chaise and terrace bed available for delivery. Please contact us for prices and delivery conditions.

In january 2012 we will be present at IMM Cologne, so we’ll contact you with an invitation and further info. Hope to see you in Köln!

On behalf of Yoraco, Mr. Wood, and Arré’s team

Thank you.

Bao Nghi Dreste

Follow that name. We met Bao Nghi at IMM Cologne and we saw his design at the D3 professionals programme. He is good!

Lately he got mentioned in the IMM Cologne’s rapport of Wallpaper online. That is great! But now, what is he going to do to follow-up?

We have to admit that making it to the D3 professionals is already an achievement. All of the people we met in Cologne who were also exhibiting in the programme, were very talented and focused designers, with a lot of talent and yes, a capacity to run a show at an international venue. That is not an easy piece of cake, we know.

In addition to that, getting attention and keeping that attention for more that five minutes, making that interest last long enough that people remembers your when they check their notes, that is also part of the talent. It depends on the quality of the work, of course. It depends on the way people see that there is commitment, self-assurance and peace of mind.

We loved the pieces from mr. Dreste. Simple, powerful, clever, fresh. We’ll see him around, sure. 

We would love to have him in the agency, because we believe that he is an excellent talent.

See more of Bao Nghi Dreste at Bao-Nghi Dreste design.

Online press in Canada, the U.S. and several blogs

Home page of interiorzine as of 29-01-2011

The multiplying effect of IMM Cologne and our campaign to launch the collection is still working. A good press kit, in the form of a press compartment at the IMM Cologne web site, has worked very good in channeling pictures and copy to the press.

At the moment we are still waiting for printed media to start running items about Mediodesign, but it seems that it will work out great as well. We are expecting publication in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and perhaps in the Netherlands. A couple of high profile media in the U.S. also have our press kit. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, we are being mentioned in an item in a canadian (french speaking) news provider. The traffic at mediodesign.com has tripled with canadian visitors. Are we ready for such big countries? We’ll see.

We also had a bite of America, which is just starting to notice mediodesign. Interiorzine had just published an article about Xemei.

A succesful IMM Cologne!!

Yes, we can say that. We went to Cologne with modest goals, and we fulfilled all of them!

first of all we brought Mediodesign to Cologne to see what the trade and the general public had to say about the collection. We were very curious about their opinions, their comments, their suggestions. Well, we got very positive feedback, interest from all sides, nice compliments and good suggestions.

We also went to Cologne to multiply our contacts in the european market. That was such a success! We have interesting leads and confirmed contacts in Germany, Denmark, Zwitserland, The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Spain, Italy, China, Korea, Japan, the U.S. and Puerto Rico. In all gradations, from big retailer to small boutiques, from schools to architectural practices, we now have a good base network to develop our business.

In the same line, the press was very enthousiast about Mediodesign. We have a couple of articles in Schöner Wohnen online, before and during the fair, that was great. At the moment, several print and digital media editor have our info, our photos and our stories. Who knows, maybe there would come more press coverage for Mediodesign.

The third goal, which we set up as last one not to bother us during the fair, was to be open and prepared for business. Well, that one was also quite good. We had from day one a lot of interest from retailers and traders in our products. This is wonderful!

Juan Pablo Quintero, head of design at Mediodesign, was complimented many times by fellow designers, producers, retailers, architects, etc. Hard work pays, we know that and we know how hard has Juan Pablo worked. Together with his partner María Teresa León and his team in Barcelona, they put years of experience and months of preparation to make the show succesful.

We also got a few compliments from some senior trade personalities. They said the business is right, the approach is correct and the products are wonderful. Well, we are doing the best we can!!

So, we are still on tracks, better and stronger that before. Arré Design Agency and Mediodesign are looking good.

We still have a lot to do, but there is confidence in our products in our capacity. This post-fair days and weeks are crucial and we are working hard to respond to our clients.

Japanese press

During the official opening day on tuesday january 18th, we got many visitors and many good contacts. We also had visits from the press, the local newspaper here in Cologne, and these guys from Zero Design magazine from Japan.

They stayed for almost half an hour at the stand, interviewing Juan Pablo Quintero. When they were finished talking, they got they gear and started shooting videos and making pictures of the stand and mediodesign’s pieces.

Great! See you in Japan!