Monthly Archives: September 2015

Print..Pattern & Product -Design Works International NYC celebrating its 27th year! 

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Hard to believe that this month our NYC based design studio, Design Works International will be 27 years old! I can still remember our first day in business and our original 1000 sq ft studio on west 35th street between 7th and 8th ave.

We started as a textile-art studio creating hand painted original pieces of artwork for mainly the fashion industry. Our clients were based in NYC and many were a few blocks away from our small studio space. At that time we employed 4 full time designers and had about 10 clients.

FAST FOWARD to 2015 where we are now located on 36th street between 5th and 6th ave in our 10,000 sq ft studio employing many more designers and working with hundreds of clients.

Besides feeling thankful and blessed for having “survived” in NYC for the past 27 years I truly feel proud of what my husband Neil and I have accomplished over the years. It’s not easy working in the “Big Apple” when your a “mom and pop” business as the city is not kind with incentives for small business…finding affordable rent, benefits for employees and the everyday rising cost factor of having the privilege of living and working in NYC…but we did it and today we celebrate our Design Works International anniversary!

Neil Co-Founder Design Works International and First2Print


Over the past 27 years we have had the privilege of working on so many creative and exciting projects! From working with famous established designers, up and coming designers as well as successful corporations like HGTV, GAF, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Calvin Klein, JoAnn Stores, Dollar Tree, Jeremy Scott, Peter Marino, Marc Jacobs, Kids 11, Crate and Barrel, Beanstalk, Macy’s and Kimberely Clark…just naming a few!

How did we establish ourselves over the years in our business you may ask, LOTS OF HARD WORK and constantly moving forward with fresh and new ideas! About 14 years ago my husband Neil felt that digital printing would be the future of printing in this country as well as around the world and started our company First2Print which is housed in the same studio space as Design Works International. He hired a fantastic creative women, both technically as well as aesthetically, Dani, our Director of Operations and the two of them have built a fantastic digital studio with the collaboration of DigiFab located in Vernan California, the west coast office of First2Print! Clients have included many of the same from Design Works International with additions like, Graceland, Sony Pictures, Book of Morman, Elf the Musical, Marc Jacobs, Coach, Yigal Azrouel and Jeremy Scott, just to name a few!

Dani, Director of Operations at First2Print

About 7 years ago I started a division of Design Works International called “Creative Corporate” where I consult with companies on trend, color, print, pattern and product development. Many of our Design Works International clients naturally needed this consulting part of our business and became clients because of the one on one attention needed in business today talking about brand and lifestyle.

Nancy Co-Founder and Creative Director Design Works International.
Social media has played a huge part in our business and we are proud to say that we cover this on our own…yes I know that we “might” have more followers if we hired someone to do this for us, but we choose to be authentic and post articles, pictures and life stories on our own, after all we have survived in the “Big Apple” for 27 years, we surly can do our own social media!!!!

Our dedicated team of illustrators, surface designers, product and digital textile artists really help us complete the team at Design Works International and First2Print. We are truly international with so many on our team from many countries!

We are blessed with a talented team of designers, some still with us from the very beginning 27 years ago…and over the years we have become quite the work family…my brother Russ, our sales manager and “super duper salesman” has been with us for 19 years and Frank for about 15 years….Frank not only handles sales, he helps with art direction, design strategy and maintains his client base! Zach is our newest addition to the super sales team…giving us our millennial edge!

Our  super duper sales manager…”Brother Russ”! 
Frank….sales and all around creative!

Zach our “Millennial Man”
Meet Claire and Selina, our design director and art director of our “Chelsea Print Collections”  both from different parts of England and both incredibly talented! Selina spends her free time creating @thejellyempire and claire ventures throughout the boroughs @cnewton3 taking very cool street scenes!! 

Meet Elena our studio manager who is quite the talent scheduling our service work studio, designing and keeping the work flow…flowing!! Corinne, our art director of the “HOME” Collection is constantly in creative mode with lots of upbeat energy and uber talent!

 These guys….Jim (@jamessimonartist) and Michael, both “graphic gurus” have been with us the longest and have awesome computer talent! Always fun collaborating with this dynamic duo!

 Pauline, Rosie, Nicole and Ellen are designing original prints non-stop in our fast paced studio…and we are blessed to have them on our creative team!

 Cannot forget Angela, our receptionist and Linda our office manger, both amazing women who are part of the Design Works International family.

Angela  Linda

 First2print celebrates Michelle, Romalia, Alex, Melissa and Lisa…a dynamic team of hard working and talented designers. And a special “shout out” to Eleah who is leaving our team to focus on a writing/pr career…we wish her all the best❤️

Michelle    Romalia

  Alex

Melissa
  Lisa


And of course Michael, our faithful and hardworking messenger who is truly the best! 

Kudos to all of you at DWI and F2P…we have a lot to celebrate…so let’s get started!

Sending lots of love and respect to the best creative team in NYC!

Nancy and Neil

Power of Collabration…

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Blessed to be working along side the talented group at GAF, North Americas largest roofing manufacturer, collaborating on trend, lifestyle and color…as I head into their color lab next week to work on shingle color and texture updates, I am excited to share my trend knowledge and 27 years of experience with GAF on our newest collaboration-Nancy

PARSIPPANY, NJ (9/9/15) – Furthering its focus on connecting style and design elements with quality roofing materials, GAF, North America’s largest roofing manufacturer, has partnered with Nancy Fire, HGTV HOME design director, and creative director and founder of Design Works International.
As HGTV HOME Design Director, Nancy provides industry insight into design, style, and emerging trends. Her ability to apply “high fashion” to products for the home is second to none, having worked with giants including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Crate & Barrel®, as well as serving on the Advisory Board for the Fashion Institute of Technology.
The partnership with Nancy will allow the GAF internal innovation team to leverage her extensive background in design and emerging trends, ensuring that GAF continues to create products that excite homeowners and help them express their genuine style. GAF customers will also have the opportunity to garner insight from Nancy on design and color trends on the GAF Style Guide at gaf.com starting in the fall of 2015.
“Nancy’s keen sense of style and extensive experience working with international brands and products, paired with her experience leading the helm for design at HGTV HOME, make her a perfect partner for GAF,” stated Emily Videtto, vice president of residential products at GAF. “The roof makes up a significant portion of a home’s curb appeal and our customers are looking for “on-trend” colors and styles to personalize their homes’ exteriors. Our partnership with Nancy Fire ensures that our customers are getting the most stylish roof on the market.”
Nancy Fire herself stated, “In today’s world we have seen a major lifestyle shift in “bringing the indoors, outdoors” so a paramount design decision like choosing the color and substrate of your roof is now being influenced by your lifestyle. Color as well as texture are two factors to consider while making this important decision and I am thrilled to be working with such an innovative company as GAF.”
Design Works International is a lifestyle design studio, leading the industry for over two decades in trend and color forecasting, design, and product development.
About GAF
Founded in 1886, GAF is the largest roofing manufacturer in North America. The company’s products include a comprehensive portfolio of steep-slope and commercial roofing systems, which are supported by an extensive national network of factory-certified contractors. Its success is driven by its commitment to Advanced Quality, Industry Expertise, and Solutions Made Simple. GAF was the first roofing manufacturer to offer a Lifetime limited warranty on all of its laminated shingles, which then evolved with the introduction of the GAF Lifetime Roofing System by extending the Lifetime coverage beyond just the roofing shingles.
With a focus on social responsibility, GAF has developed Advanced Protection® Shingle Technology, which provides excellent durability and wind resistance while reducing the use of scarce natural resources. The company has also developed single-ply and asphaltic membranes with excellent durability and high reflectivity to meet the most rigorous industry standards while helping commercial property owners and designers reduce energy consumption.
GAF also supports the roofing industry through CARE, the Center for the Advancement of Roofing Excellence, which has provided education to over 125,000 professionals. CARE’s mission is to help professional contractors and distributors build their businesses through sales and management education, and to provide product and installation training to contractors, distributors, architects, property owners, and related industry personnel. For more information about GAF, visit gaf.com.

Paris..products and lots of “purdy stuff” at Maison Objet!

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How many years can one person attend a show and still get inspired…the answer is 20! Yep I have been coming to Maison Objet for the past 20 years and I still get excited spotting fresh and fun products. Sometimes it’s just an updated color or a new texture or technique that inspires me but you guested it…key word is INSPIRED!

So many people today say that retail is flat and that products are not interesting, but I beg to differ because products today “have to be exciting in order to survive because the competition is so vast” so let’s start looking in the right place….shows like Maison that inspire us to be “our best self” in the product world of course…

It’s true that the show is large and getting larger each year…why because this is where you come to be in inspired…sorry had to throw that in…but it’s true…that is why we schlep through millions…or it seems like millions of aisles to find those inspiring products and ideas that make us smile…

Here are a few of mine…..

 Lalie Design  Trend Hall

 Flamant

  Mero Wing

 Vent de Boheme

  Twoolies

  SebraRina Menardi

 Toulemonde Bochart  Vitra

Check out my other blog colorchaosandcreativity.com tomorrow for an overview of Kind + Jugend, an International trade show for kids products in Cologne Germany.

Thanks for following….

Nancy Fire