Tag - Travel

Tulip field with words overlaying reading A Creative Week in Holland
14Jun

A Creative Week in Holland

In the spring of 2022, I joined a group of thirteen women on a Local Flora Field Guides trip to Holland. The trip was led by Kimberly Becker, Lauren Pignatello, and Susan Becker with the goal of experiencing the country while learning about the local flora and creating field guides. Each of the three hosts had something different to offer. Kimberly, an artist and designer, taught watercolors and embroidery. Lauren, a farmer and herbalist, taught all about the local...

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03Mar

Kauai Inspiration: Flowers, Pattern & Color

How do you turn your inspiration into something tangible? Of course, sometimes you don't need to. Inspiration for the sake of it fuels our creativity whether or not there is a direct line to a piece of art or project for work. But, it's also helpful to save inspiration to use as resources when you need them. When I travel, in addition to keeping a travel journal, I'm constantly snapping photos of beautiful colors and patterns. When I get...

By Color, Pattern Design, Comments Off
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24Feb

Travel Journal Prompts to Bring Inspiration Home

For a lot of creative people, traveling can be a huge source of inspiration. Different scenes, smells, sounds, all heighten your senses and seem to open a door to new ideas. Once home, how can we take that inspiration and use it in our work? I recently got back from two weeks on Kauai, and all I kept thinking while there was that everything seemed more intense, brighter somehow. It was more than just the sunshine. After so much...

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14Jan

Designing a Connection to Italy

I think lots of creative people will probably agree about how fun the journey is from inspiration to finished product. I love running my own business because inspiration from my personal life often finds its way into new patterns in the Design Pool library. For example, a book I read about codebreaking turned into The Cryptology Collection. Recently, our partner LDI Interiors reached out with a specific request for a pattern with a “connection to Italy.” The request came...

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04Jan

Alphonse Mucha at NC Museum of Art

On a recent visit to North Carolina, I visited the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh to see their exhibit Alphonse Mucha: Art Nouveau Visionary. This exhibit is on display through January 23, 2022. When I lived in North Carolina in the 1990s, this museum was one of my favorite spots to visit for inspiration. In fact, during that time there was an exhibit of Mucha’s work. I loved the show so much, I bought a small poster...

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30Nov

Vending Machines & the Touchless Trend

This fall Team Design Pool did a lot of traveling. First, we headed to Chicago for NeoCon 2021. Then it was over to Cleveland for HCD Expo + Conference. Between both of us (Kristen & Kristin), we traveled through six different airports: Providence, Boston, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland. After a long break from traveling, it was interesting to see how travel has gotten even more touchless. Touchless travel was already becoming the norm, but as we adapt to traveling...

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18Jun

International Folk Art Market, Tips & Finds

Some time around 2013, I was watching CBS Sunday Morning and was sucked into a feature on the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. By the time they went to a commercial break, Santa Fe was on my bucket list. There are many reasons to go to New Mexico, but there was something about this market that finally got me to buy a plane ticket. What is the International Folk Art Market? ...

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08May

Traveling in Italy; Food, Art & Family History

Growing up one of three girls, time alone with my mom was not something that came in big doses; but was always savored. Our interests didn't always align perfectly, but browsing through dusty antique stores or wandering through museums were always activities we could count on doing together. So when we first started thinking about traveling somewhere together, Italy felt like the natural choice. Traveling with my mom in Italy would have history and culture, as well as family...

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28Feb

Spanish Tiles Are a Must for Pattern Inspiration

If you're a pattern and design lover like we are at Design Pool, Spain needs to be on your bucket list. Narrow that down even further to southern Spain, where the decorative Spanish tiles used in the architecture will blow you away. On a recent trip to Seville, it was inspiration overload walking through the impressive Real Alcazar, the winding streets of the Jewish quarter, and (seemingly) all the public spaces. When you're in Andalucia, you can see and...

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20Dec

Learning Navajo Tapestry Weaving in Santa Fe

Georgia O’Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1917 and said later, “From then on, I was always trying to get back there.” New Mexico can have that effect on people. The big sky, the clear air, the piñon trees dotting the landscape, it’s no wonder so many artists flock to New Mexico. And then keep returning. When Design Pool founder Kristen Dettoni needed a creative escape to unplug and be inspired, she came across an Ace Camps trip to study Navajo tapestry...

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