Mary Holt: Carnegie Textile Designer

Mary Holt Interview: NeoCon 2008 (her piece starts @ 1m18s)

Last night I had the opportunity to sit and chat with Mary Holt about her creative process. The event was organized by Belinda Binford (Dan Binford & Associates), and several designers in the Columbus (OH) area attended.

Mary was very accessible, and she spoke eloquently about how she and the other Carnegie designers create new textiles. Holt indicated that she will often follow designers' fabric memo requests as one way to forecast trends over the next year or two--Holt understands that designers, by practice, are very forward thinking. Additionally, Holt looks at catalogs like Room and Board to get a feel for current color trends.

In response to being asked how new designs are created, Holt responded, "We are very collaborative." Holt and the other Carnegie designers use a communal pin-up board to inspire new ideas and designs. The designers will discuss certain pieces of the board that grab their attention, and they will organically build off of one another. Carnegie's designers build up and tear down their pin-up wall. So, in a sense, their studio is able to remain fresh through this continuous process.

Thanks to Belinda Binford, the Columbus area designers, and Mary Holt, good food and good conversations were inevitable.

If you're a designer and happen to come across this post, I would love to hear about your creative process. Feel free to e-mail me at bryan [at] theloars.com or bryan [dot] loar [at] fitch.com