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.

First day at the fair!

Monday january 17th the IMM Cologne trade fair started for VIP guests and press guess. The pre-opening! With about 300.000 sqare meters of exhibition surface, one of the biggest trade fairs in the sector. We are in! Of course you already know that, but still, we can’t believe it sometimes.

During the first day, Maria León, Juan Pablo Quintero, John Larking, Yoraco González and Antonio Paiva were standing at the fair. We made a lot of contacts, about 20 business opportunities and about 6 press contacts. Great for a day with limited entrance.

We have incredible attention for the L shelf, and a lot of people stop at our booth to look closely at the system. That gives us the excuse to engage people in conversation and introduce the whole collection, make the contact and get the information we need.

It goes fantastic! So we are really excited about the next days, with the offcial opening on tuesday. Mediodesign, go!

Blue Chains design and Mediodesign: closer than you think

A nice thing about Arré is that it brings together different designers with different background and approaches to one place.

Mediodesign’s Maria Teresa León started looking at Blue Chains website and came across a known name: Oriol Tarridas! Tarridas made the pictures of Blue Chains Design collection, and he is a good friend of Mediodesign’s team in Barcelona.

That sort of coincidence gives a good feeling about what we are doing. Now we still have to come to business with Azul Cadenas and Blue Chains Design. We will get it!

Photo shoot

First picture of elephant chair

Going to IMM Cologne not only means being there with the furniture pieces. There is a whole set of things that come along. Among them, a good set of photos and a good printed material to hand off during the fair.

As everything is this period, we have to tilt our usual business to a higher level. The old pictures, made with the best intention and at the best capacity, can be redone with a better quality. That’s why we are hiring a great photographer from Barcelona, which is close to Mediodesign and whose professional work has been all over the place in recent years. We are talking about Lucia Carretero, whose assigment for us is to make fantastic pictures of the pieces that go to IMM Cologne.

With these pictures we are preparing a folder, a set of postcards and a catalog.

Lucia is working together with Maria Teresa León at a beautiful location in Barcelona, trying to get the most out of the new collection and most of all, trying to get the best out of the  mediterranean  winter light. Go girls!

D3 Design talents

Last augustus 2010 we were together with Mediodesign discussing to apply  for the exhibition programme D3 Design Talents at IMM Cologne. D3 professionals, a selection of emerging independent designers and design studios, was our target. After several emails exchanges, change of plans and yet another change of plan. Maria Téresa León and Juan Pablo Quintero finally could send the application just days before the deadline of october 30th 2010. The good thing about being that  late is that waiting for the results of the application didn’t take that much. After a couple of weeks they received the official confirmation and invitation to the fair.

Is Mediodesign an emerging design studio? We believe it is. It is equipped with talent, energy, strong professionalism and a good work ethic. Juan Pablo Quintero and María Teresa León have been around for several years under the name Mediodesign, working hard!

On the other side, the commercial experience bundled in Arré agency is a good complement to these talents. Multilingual, commercial savvy, international, knowledge of logistics, finance, distribution, access to an international network of photographers, graphic designers, architects and retailers.

In a sense, we want to participate at D3, but prepared on all fronts. At the design level, and at the commercial level. Prepared!