I recently held a Design Influencer Group at the Tidelli Outdoor showroom in Newport Beach. This event featured some amazing and influential creatives from Orange County and San Diego. For those unaware, there is a line of delineation between Los Angeles and Orange counties. crossing from (310)/ (323) to (714)/ (949) might as well require a passport, shots and letting the babysitter/ dog sitter know that you won’t be back for a while. It’s not just the traffic, although, I am quite sure that is one reason many in the A&D don’t venture south.

Fact is, the A&D is strong in OC and SD. There is a large base of talent in firms and individuals working on amazing projects, yet most receive no media love unless they are talking about LA, PS or Ventura County projects (SoCal) or NY, even international projects. Why? I wanted to find out. I took a trip down to the Tidelli Outdoor showroom and met with some designers who seem to have many of the answers, but it didn’t seem to bother them the way it does me. But they did have some feedback on this subject and many other issues affecting the A&D biz down south.

Starting at the beginning. Here is who came out. I wanted you to hear some ideas they came out to share regarding the state of design and trending design ideas……

Xander Noori

Xander Noori

http://xandernoori.com

@XanderNoori

Keon Khajavi Noori

Xander Noori

http://xandernoori.com

@XanderNoori

Kristianne Watts

KW Designs

https://www.kwdesigns.com

@KWDesigns_Interiors

Nicole Perrault

HOD Haus of Design

https://www.hodhausofdesign.com

@HausOfDesign.hod

Rick Campos

Design Biz Survival Guide

http://www.designbizsurvivalguide.com

@designBizSurvivalGuide

Michelle Salz-Smith

Studio Surface

https://www.studio-surface.com/

@StudioSurface

Mindy Laven

Mindy Laven

https://mindylaven.com

@MindyLavenHome

John Henry Kaufman

John Henry designs

http://www.johnhenrydesigns.com/portfolio/

@JohnHenryDesigns

Anissa Swanzy

SKD Studios

https://www.skdstudios.com

@SKDStudios

This was a remarkable group of design professionals. As always, I want to provide you with new ideas and resources. You have heard me tell you about Article and if you haven’t signed up for their trade program, ask yourself ‘why’? It’s free for design professionals like you to join and you start receiving discounts immediately with no minimum. Combine that with the amazing finds at Article. Your clients will love their modern Scandinavian style, clean lines and through the trade program, you will get exclusive designer pricing, custom invoicing and their shipping is amazing with stock items shipping for $49 in most cases if not free and it usually arrives in two weeks or less. Now, here is something you won’t find often… true customer service. Their service department is staffed by design industry experts who understand what you need and are authorized to get you what you need.If you haven’t signed up for Article’s trade program, do it now, it’s easy and free. Only takes a second. CXD dot Article dot com. CXD as in Convo By Design, CXD dot Article dot com. And that’s it. Thank you, Article.

Okay, back to the Design Influencer Group. Some big issues came up. First of which were some thoughts on shelter media.

Shelter Media Doesn’t Pay Much Attention to Industry Happenings Down South.