Story Trumps

With the down economy and continued proliferation of product, at this year's Coverings, I presented the importance of telling "your story." Today, I found the perfect "story" for a finish product - Interiors and Sources Magazine has a story about the design of Parterre Flooring Systems' product called "Scrapyard."

The story told may or may not be the way the product "happened" but it works as both a believable and memorable story. In the product cycle, it is a catch-up product, as I remember making one of my clients walk back through the full length of CERSAIE in 2004 just to see what would become one of the most popular and trend-important porcelain tile looks - Tau's new product "Corten." We had seen numerous real metal floors in the booths, and I wondered several times, when the tile equivalent would show up - and of course, there it was in the Tau booth. Italy may own the technology for the entire tile industry, but Spain is always a step ahead on gorgeous finishes. They have a history of glazes that harks back to the centuries of Moorish influences.