Bold & Noble—from kitchen table to Marie Claire
So you want to start a design collective. How do you move from ideas on a kitchen table to an internationally recognised collection, which is stocked by the finest outlets, and in demand by style aficionados from Brooklyn to Helsinki?
Until recently, you’d have to approach retailers first: pitch your idea to as many as possible, hoping one would take the risk of backing you. It wasn’t a situation that encouraged fresh, radical thinking. But the web changes all of that. Meet Bold & Noble.
A collaboration between book-cover designer David Wardle and art director Jane Tobitt, Bold & Noble design beautiful screen prints, hand-printed onto recycled card, and delivered in eco-friendly cardboard tubes. Inspired by the frustrating experience of looking for prints to decorate their newborn son’s room—and after years of bespoke design for clients—they decided to start designing screen prints for people’s homes.
Website first, retailers later
Bold & Noble recognised that the web is now the primary communications channel. So instead of approaching retailers, they started by designing their website—in collaboration with Together London—while the prints were still a work in progress. The website launched at the same time as the collection: customers could view the work, and buy direct, from day one.
Coverage: press, blogs, and communities
Early press successes included Elle Decoration, Living etc, and the Sunday Times; the work was featured in design blogs worldwide, including prestigious USA-based Design Sponge, children’s product blogs, even style blogs in Sweden; and was also a hit on Etsy, the online community for handmade goods. In its first year, Bold & Noble was also featured in the Telegraph, Junior Magazine, the Observer, Country Living, BBC Good Homes, Period Living, Grand Designs, In Style, and Marie Claire; and was linked to by hundreds of blogs.
When you get that level of coverage, retailers approach you; no pitching required. So Bold & Noble prints are now stocked as far away as the Netherlands, Finland, the USA, and South Africa, and as close to home as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Simple, elegant design
The website itself needed to be simple, elegant, and easy to use. Professional photography, a clean grid-based layout, and subtle animation effects let the artwork shine, and the site is easy to navigate. But this is only the beginning for Bold & Noble: watch this space.
Credits
Identity, branding, graphic design: Jane Tobitt.
Strategy, user experience design, web development: Jonathan Kahn.