EU Design issue
photo courtesy of EU Jacksonville

My wife Mackenzie wrote the introduction to the personal style piece of EU Jacksonville’s design issue. It’s beautiful, here it is:

Are we losing our personal expression to design that is prepackaged and sold by the room? Who needs to experiment with their own taste when there are aisles of Kinda-Famous Designer Guy’s taste calling your name at the local Superstore? Oh, and it’s all in the ad this week. That’s right, 15% off and right across from the paper towels. On sale and convenience to boot!

In a busy, work-centered life, it can be hard to foster our sometimes neglected creative side. The ease of shopping for style by the room or catalog spread has perhaps made us lose touch with, and lose confidence in, our own personal style. We begin to question our judgment if we’re drawn to a style or design element that isn’t in the latest 200-page-mother-of-all home décor catalogs.

Stand up! Have a say in your own personal expression. If you haven’t noticed, making things yourself is the new shopping for things at the mall. It’s the handmade revolution. It’s back in a big way, and it’s super easy to jump on the wagon and start making the things you like; the things that make you and your home an expression of yourself.

There are endless resources on the web to inspire and help you; from tutorials and general information, to community, supplies and friendship. Blogs are a popular way for crafters to share ideas, projects and processes. Craft and sewing lounges are popping up across the country, dedicated to providing the community with a physical place for classes, assembling and inspiration.

Challenge yourself to be inspired and try something new. Make things yourself and you will develop a relationship with them. These will become the pieces that really make your surroundings rich, meaningful and distinctly you.

Other articles in the design edition are Design Nation, Daryl Bunn Interview, Urban Architectural Design, Personal Design, Interior Design, Landscape Design, Tattoo Design, Event Design and Music Design.

By the way EU, the image on the Urban Architectural Design page is broken.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 5:56 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.