the moon from my attic: Creativity, Unique Art and Color: An Inspirational Interview with DENY Designs

It's now time to start preparing for the Surtex show in May. This includes creating lots of new collections, ads, a press release and promo kit, booth design, and submitting art and making appointments with potential clients. All very exciting but lots of work ahead!

To help keep myself inspired, I invited Kimberly Nyhus of DENY Designs whom I met at the Atalanta Gift show this past January to tell us about what she does and how she keeps motivated.

© Arcturus | DENY Designs

The Moon from My Attic: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your company. What do you do? We're a husband and wife team who bring different talents to the table when it comes to DENY Designs. As it's been said, Dustin is the brain and I am the heart. Dustin, with a background in Industrial Design, oversees the entire business from product development and finances to our resellers. I, previously in Event Planning and Television Production, manage PR and Marketing for the company while also ensuring that the vision of the brand is being implemented. Together, it's a perfect pairing.

Based in Denver, Colorado, DENY Designs is a modern, think-outside-the-box home furnishings company. DENY empowers its customers to transform dull, everyday household accessories into fun and original statement pieces by adding a personal image or selecting artwork from the DENY Art Gallery. With each purchase from the Gallery, our team of talented artists earn part of the proceeds, enabling DENY to support art communities all over the world while also spreading the creative love!

© Heather Dutton | DENY Designs

TMFMA: What drives you personally in your job? What inspires you? In this industry, it's critical to stay one step ahead of the trends. Dustin and I are always on the hunt for design inspiration and we find it in almost everything we do. Creativity, home design, unique art and COLOR are what inspire us most.

TMFMA: Tell us a little about your selection process. We are always looking for brilliant art to showcase on denydesigns.com! Each month, DENY receives hundreds of artist submissions. With that many submissions, it's critical that we find the perfect match for our customers. We have several different sets of eyes that view each artist's work. At the end of the day, we're looking for three different things:

Is the artist unique in his/her own right? Out of respect for our current artists, we prefer to select new art that is different from our existing art collections. We're looking for something that is truly different from what we already offer our customers.
Does the artwork represent the DENY brand? We're a modern site showcasing various types of art but we always want to make sure that it's art that we can stand behind as a company.
Will the art translate well to our product line? There are so many artists whose pieces we love, but sometimes they just won't translate well to our product offerings. It's incredibly important that the image quality is top notch.

© Valentina Ramos | DENY Designs

TMFMA: What makes for a great art collection? Great art is in the eye of the beholder. Just like in spouses, there truly is a piece out there for everyone! What we really love to see are fresh ideas that stir something inside of you. Art is a feeling that invokes an excitement…the moment you say to yourself, "I have to have this." That's how you know you've found something great.

TMFMA: What are some of your favorite design trends right now? We're loving the bright and bold colors that are being used in home décor right now. People are taking big risks in their design choices and the payoff is huge. It lends well to a vibrant and inviting space. Also, pattern mixing and matching. In the past, you'd mix a standard solid with a print. Now, you can mix pattern with another pattern and it works brilliantly.

TMFMA: What's your largest product category? Our shower curtains have been very well received. We're turning one of the most boring rooms in the house into the life of the party!

TMFMA: What’s on the horizon for your company? 2012 was a year of quality control. We spent the whole year ensuring that our fabrics and product line were up to the highest standards. 2013 will be a year of product development. We intend to launch several new collections so that eventually you'll be able to outfit your entire home with DENY Designs' creations.

And our biggest goal? Creating more awareness of art communities from all over the world and sharing our findings with our customers.