Friday 30 November 2007

Catalogue 2008


I have been spending a lot of time lately on the new Heuga catalogue for 2008 as this is one of my annual projects. I work with a design agency called Digital Bubble based in Batley and I am consistently impressed with Gary's ability to turn things around very quickly and his patience despite all the little changes and amends I send to him.
We have some great new products and design features in the new catalogue which I think looks really nice and fresh. I have just sent off the final files to the printer so next week I'll do the final sign off of the proofs. We're all on schedule to get delivery of them before Christmas in plenty of time for people ordering catalogues in January so that's good news!

Wednesday 14 November 2007

Design your own rug with carpet tiles

Here's a neat idea for anyone wanting to soften a hard floor with something funky and unique!

Why not create your own rug with carpet tiles?
As long as you stick down the individual tiles - double sided tape is usually best - it is a really nice way of doing something a bit different. I keep hearing people tell me they are fed up with the laminate flooring they installed throughout their home and this is an inexpensive way to warm and soften an area. You can create something really unique by combining different colours and textures (minimum order is 4 tiles, 1 sqm) or simply create a single colour rug.

The stylish Dutch living room pictured above features FunkyFeet Rug which has been in the Heuga range for a while now and this works really well. This was created with FunkyFeet Rug in colour Onyx and laid on top of a hard and cold stone floor.

Our 123's package works really well in kids bedrooms and playrooms as this is a pack of 12 carpet tiles (3sqm) including numbers 1-9 and +, x and -. In the picture on the left this is installed amongst matching plain colours in PuzzlePieces, but this works equally well on a laminate or wooden floor to protect small (and big!) feet from the cold!

In the 2008 Heuga catalogue we will be launching a number of fabulous rug packages that combine different ranges from the Heuga collection - they are really stunning and I'll try to get some pics on here as soon as I can!

Friday 2 November 2007

Ideal Home Show, Ireland

This week I travelled over to Dublin for the Ideal Home Show. A lady called Anne Ellard was one of the finalists in the Ideal Homes Interior Designer of the Year award with her entry 'Eco Chic Bedroom' and she used our fabulous FunkyFeet carpet tiles in her showcase.


Anne's showcase featured dark wood furniture with accessories and furnishings in light nature-inspired shades and it was a beautiful room set. She had installed a border of FunkyFeet in colour Barn stone around the bed within a main floor of FunkyFeet in colour Pearl.


I visited the show with Malcolm James, pictured with Anne in her showcase room.


Malcolm is an Account Manager for Heuga Home Flooring covering Ireland.


Malcolm and I were both thrilled to see the room design and the response to our flooring. Anne told us that she had been inundated with people asking about the fab shagpile flooring and she had quickly run out of Heuga catalogues to hand out.

Anne is based in Waterford City offering interior design advice for homes.

She is particularly interested in sustainable yet stylish interior designs and this is reflected in the room she designed for the show.

Friday 26 October 2007

Heuga TV advert


We have a great new Heuga TV advert in the making which should be hitting the screens in the UK next week.

This is all around making flooring fun and being creative with your floor using Heuga carpet tiles. Initially this is fairly small scale and will be featured on digital lifestyle channels, however we are hoping to work on a load more publicity and promotions in the coming months.

Click on the link below (Heuga.com/create) to see the page I have put on Heuga.com that we will promote in the advert.

Friday 12 October 2007

Heuga Sales Launch

We had our sales launch last week which was a mixture of informative presentations along with some fun. Most of the informative stuff was around the launch of our new wool carpet tiles range ComfyCord as covered in a previous post.


The fun stuff involved a golf clinic which was quite fun (although I don't think I'll be taking up golf as a hobby!)

We also hired bikes (in true Dutch style) to go riding across Holland to get to a boat.

I managed to grab a few snaps of the team including Patrick Riley (Heuga Managing Director) whilst riding along - much to the amusement of my colleagues as I tried to ride in a straight line.

In true dedication to his customer, Ton (one of our Dutch Account Managers) was talking shop whilst riding along!

We had some dinner on the boat and travelled round the little island where we were staying then rode back to the hotel - this time in the dark after one or two beers which was interesting and luckily we all got back safely!

It was a nice evening and a really good opportunity for the Heuga teams to chat with each other.

Maarten Brons organised the event and did a great job - even providing ponchos for us all in case it rained (which, luckily it didn't!)

As you can see from the photo, Maarten enjoyed himself too!



Tuesday 9 October 2007

Heuga Brochure Viewer

My contribution to the sales launch was presenting a couple of tools we have developed on the Heuga website. One of these was the Virtual Room Tool covered in an earlier post and the other was our new brochure viewer which is another new play thing on Heuga.com

This brochure viewer means you can flick the pages of our catalogue online and click on products to go straight into our online catalogue to order samples and view more details about products.

You can click on the magnifying glass cursor to zoom in on the pages and you can click on the product name or tile image to find out more about the product.

This tool requires flash to view. Please click here to see this on our Design Assistant page on Heuga.com.
http://www.heuga.com/InterfWhyHeuga/uk

Wednesday 3 October 2007

ComfyCord 100% Wool

We are having our internal Heuga sales launch meeting this week and we will be mainly talking about our new comfycord wool carpet tiles.

These are our latest range - soft ribbed floor squares available in 6 natural colours. I think this is a really good looking range and it is installed quarterturn for a subtle patttern.

As a major plus point for this launch, comfycord is climate neutral flooring. Click here to go directly to Heuga.com to read a bit more about that...

Now I've got all the product details online, I am finishing off the email campaigns that will go out to all our online customers in the UK, Holland, Germany, France and Belgium. I will need to present these to our team tomorrow so best get on with them!

Thursday 27 September 2007

LazyLounge - sneak preview of Heuga's new shagpile carpet tile range

I recently went to the lovely Isle of Wight for the latest Heuga photo shoot for the 2008 catalogue and I have to share some photos of one of our brand new products as it's really fab. This is LazyLounge - our latest shagpile range which looks and feels amazing.

We installed this in a house on the Isle of Wight and the guy who owned the house was so thrilled that he wanted to keep it so he bought the floor there and then!

This design is really neat - stylish and interesting but not wacky and it feels amazingly soft!

The shot we did for the catalogue features a poodle called Anastasia - she was adorable and a real poser loving every minute of the shoot! The pics are hillarious and she looks like she owns the place.

Unfortunately LazyLounge won't be available to buy until January 2008 but I had to get these pics on here for an early sneak preview.

Friday 31 August 2007

Redbrick Mill, Batley

I've made a couple of trips to Redbrick Mill lately as it's a nice place for checking out the latest trends in furniture and interior design. There's a good mix of alternative interiors stuff and I would recommend it for a rainy weekend if you want some inspiration or if you've got a spare wad of cash and fancy something special for your home.

It is a bit unusual to find a trendy interiors place like this in Batley, West Yorkshire which was once a prosperous mill town but nowadays is somewhat less grand, however it is nice to see regeneration of a place like this and it would probably be lost in a big city like Leeds.

See below for an interesting article from the Yorkshire Post that gives a good background to the idea behind this interior design outlet and Stephen Battye, the guy behind the idea.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=1472&ArticleID=1370548

We have learnt that people are blown away when they see Heuga on the floor in a room setting but it's a bit difficult to get this kind of display in a traditional carpet store so we are looking at new types of places to show off our products and looking to place them in the stylish kind of environment that they deserve. Maybe one day we'll get some of our stuff in a place like this - I'll keep you posted!

Wednesday 22 August 2007

Photo Shoot

I've arranged a few photo shoots now for Heuga catalogues and here's some of the people that get involved...

Helen Carey is a stylist and she finds fab real home locations and models for our pictures along with doing all the styling for the shots creating the right atmosphere in the homes.

Helen has done loads of interesting things and worked on some really interesting projects. We bumped into her mate Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen when we went to the 100% Design Show a couple of years ago.
Here's a link to Helen's website http://www.helencarey.com/index.htm

Helen's husband Fraser Cunningham is the main photographer for the shoots and he is a good laugh and great at slecting the best angles and getting plenty of flooring in the shots.

Helen and Fraser live on the Isle of Wight which is a fab place and many of the shoots have been down there on the island.

The next main guy is Eddie Kempster and he runs a carpet fitting company 'E Kempster Flooring' focusing mainly on carpet tiles. He is a fun guy and keeps us all entertained.

It is amazing to watch him and his guys cut and fit tiles in the most awkward of spaces.

In this picture Eddie is sporting our FunkyFeet shagpile carpet tiles on his head and Fraser's glasses.

There are some other great people that get involved and I'll try and get some pics on the shoot.

So, tomorrow I need to order the products, confirm the dates with Eddie and sort out my travel to the lovely Isle of Wight for our next shoot for the 2008 Heuga catalogue. Here's a photo of a beautiful sunset from the beach from the last time I was there. If you look closely yu just about make out the Spyglass Inn in Ventnor which is a lovely little pub where we've eaten a few times whilst on photo shoots.

Back to work!

After a lovely relaxing week off I'm back into the work thing and yesterday I got my broadband set up at home so that means my working day will be spent looking at my laptop followed by evenings of the same - I will have to limit myself on this blogging thing as it is a bit addictive and the temptation of Facebook could be a problem.

So, I've come back to a few problems with Heuga.com which various people are working on to resolve - poor guys may be up all night working on that, but hopefully it will be resolved by the morning.

Also I've got to organise a photo shoot for our 2008 catalogue so lots to sort out there but a great team of people to work with so it should be fun.

Wednesday 8 August 2007

Facts about Holland

As I am still here in Holland I thought I'd find and share some interesting facts about Holland that you may or may not already know based on findings from various websites (so don't blame me if it's not 100% accurate)...
1. The population of Holland is around 16 million

2. There are twice as many bikes as there are cars in Holland - and be warned if you're driving in Holland as the cyclists have the right of way - always! Be prepared for them to ride straight across your path and if you hit one you're in real trouble.

3. Around half of the Netherlands lies below sea level.

This figure varies a lot amongst websites, some claiming a quarter, others a third, others over 50% but I ended up trusting the National Geographic website on the following page...


4. Dutch men are the tallest in the world at an average of 6 feet.

Interestingly in the nineteenth century the Netherlands was renowned for having the shortest men in Europe, with an average height of just 5'4" in 1850.


So, why?

One suggestion is due to the threat of Holland falling underwater and the need to keep one's head above water.

Another is down to the clogs they wear adding an extra 3 inches to their appearance.

But really...

Most likely it's down to the nation's health and wealth. Dutch people thrive on a protein-rich diet (they can't get enough cheese, milk and bread) and they have a national health service that ensures healthy development of their growing kids.

Tuesday 7 August 2007

A regular visit to Scherpenzeel, Holland

I am in Holland at the moment, which is a regular thing for me as Heuga Home Flooring is based in Scherpenzeel in the Netherlands and the rest of the Marketing team are based out here so I tend to come over every other week to keep up to date.
This is the true home of the first carpet tile which was originally made over 50 years ago just around the corner from where I am writing.

It is 10.30pm Dutch time, I am in my hotel room as I write and I am not alone... I have the whining buzz of a mosquito in the room with me and I think I need to try and find it before falling asleep!

This is a picture of our Heuga showroom in Holland where I will spend most of the next 2 days. In here we have a big conference table at the other end of the room and we have meetings and catch-ups in here.
Our design student changes the floor design from time to time. At the moment this floor is a combination of half and quarter tiles of Simply Soft with the main floor in FunkyFeet.

Giraffe Print Floor

We had a nice large order for our Giraffe Print carpet tiles on Heuga.com today and that made me smile as it's a really fun design.

This is a fab product and it has raised a lot of interest amongst lots of people including an interior design tv programme in the UK on ITV called 60 Minute Makeover who will be featuring this product in a show in the Autumn.

One of my Dutch buddies Maarten found a blog going round Holland raving about how funky this Giraffe flooring is and encouraging people to gang up and order samples to make a floor out of them.

For the record, don't bother as we only supply little chips and when the next person asks why we can't send out bigger samples I might point them to this Dutch blog - sorry but this stuff is far too special to be giving it away!

60 Minute Makeover ITV

Giraffe print carpet tiles from Heuga

Link to Technorati - I want some visits!

Hopefully this link will get some visits to my blog!

Technorati Profile

Friday 3 August 2007

Colour psychology and use of colour in decoration

I am genuinely fascinated by colour - why we choose certain colours, what that says about us and how colour can influence our emotions.

Here's some stuff about colours and what is most suitable for different rooms when decorating.

Red
Associations: passion, love, danger, excitement, energy, warmth, adventure, optimism
Rooms most suited to: bedrooms due to the passion and warmth, dining rooms as it stimulates the appetite and promotes sociable and lively feelings.

Orange
Associations: Creativity, vitality and playfulness
Rooms most suited to: dining rooms as it stimulates the appetite, bedrooms - particularly if you struggle to get out of bed in the orning, study/office if you need to be creative and generate ideas







Rooms most suited to: kitchens, dining rooms or conservatories/sunny rooms







Rooms most suited to: bedrooms, living rooms






Pink
Associations: love and tenderness

Rooms most suited to: bedrooms - soft pastel pinks are especially peaceful and restful.







Green
Associations: nature, energy, calming, health, freshness, balance.

Rooms most suited to: bedrooms, living rooms, studies/offices








Blue
Associations: water, calm, coolness, keeps hunger at bay, authority, protection, power
Rooms most suited to: bedrooms, bathrooms, studies/offices





Brown
Associations: security, earth and nature, stability and practicality

Rooms most suited to: living rooms, hallways, utility areas




Black
Associations: elegance, style, rebellion.

Rooms most suited to: if used, it should be combined with something else




If you're interested in colour then there is some really interesting stuff on this site:

Heuga Virtual Room Tool

We have finally got our new Virtual Room Tool up and running on Heuga.com. We have spent ages working with a company to create this online tool where you can try out different floors in a room scene. It is really great and means you can get an idea of how a style looks before buying it.

We know people like to get creative with more than one colour or texture so we've included a combine option so you can add another style and see how the two look together.

If you fancy a play, here's the link: http://www.heuga.com/InterfRoomVisualiser/uk

Here's some I created earlier...

Thursday 2 August 2007

Essential Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom Magazine

I used to manage the PR for Heuga but now this is down to my colleague Antoinet. I still get the cuttings reports and was very pleased to see that we appeared in interiors magazine Essential Kitchens, Bathrooms and Bedrooms (August issue) and this is the shot they featured.

Love it or hate it - you can't help but be amazed by this floor design! This Zebra print floor is great for kids' bedrooms as well as other rooms in your home if you have the courage to do something different!

This photo was taken on a shoot for kids' bedrooms and I wanted to know whether this could work in a different room so we threw a few tiles down in the kitchen/dining room and this was the result. I think it works a treat and there's a magazine editor that agrees!

The red border is done using half tiles of Puzzle Pieces around the edge.

Heres a link to the magazine's website:
http://www.ekbb.co.uk/

Naming my Blog

Naming a blog is quite a challenge and in my search for inspiration I came across this post on the Business Week blog where these guys posted their brainstorm of a load of names...
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/archives/2005/04/how_to_name_a_b.html
I thought I'd do the same (despite working alone!) so I grabbed my Heuga scribbles pad and got a few names down. Here's some of the results:
I had a little help from a friend who suggested the smart 'Carpet Diem' - a play on the Latin phrase 'Carpe Diem' meaning 'Seize the day'. In my ignorance I had to check out the meaning and was very impressed. However I decided to keep it simple and Square-Vision was the winning choice.

Carpet tiles have a bit of an image problem but people are generally really impressed with the concept and design possibilities of carpet tiles once they've seen them in use so this blog is an attempt to share the delights of carpet tile design in the home.

My top 10 blog names: 1. Square Vision 2. Floor Space 3. Floor and More 4. Vibrant Square 5. Carpet Diem 6. Fair and Square 7. Inside Out 8. Floor Project 9. Square Living 10. Square Style