It’s Labor Day and I’m celebrating swatch card layouts, a key service I provide clients. One may wonder if swatch cards are even relevant in our increasingly virtual world. Within the wonderful world of commercial interiors it is still critical to use physical samples to make specifying decisions regarding textiles and finishes. Color, texture and finish bring a product to life and these attributes can only be experienced through a physical sample.
Recently, a couple of programs I worked on over the winter have officially launched with marketing campaigns and swatch cards. My involvement in such projects varies, but in the case with the images below, collaboration with office furniture client, AIS, included programing and card layouts.
Newly launched swatch cards for AIS grade A & B standard upholstery program.
Along with memos (roughly 8” x 8” fabric samples), swatch cards are a tool manufacturers use to showcase a standard surface materials statement of line that is readily available applied to their furniture. With so much migrating to the digital realm the last several years (which now has escalated due to recent pandemic), physical samples remain an important specification tool. In addition to communicating color accuracy, scale and true texture, a manufacturers’ swatch card shows, at a glance, the breadth of tried and true options that have passed rigorous application testing and in many cases are stocked to support quick ship orders. A well executed offering and swatch card program supports market expectations and speaks to the manufacturers’ brand direction. A well executed swatch card program will save billable hours by easing specifying decisions, making designers more efficient.
Work in progress. Mock up of a swatch card layout. Laying out a swatch card is a puzzle.
Additions must bring a program together to make it whole and cohesive, while driving the entire portfolio forward.
The launch of a new swatch card represents a finished product of several months of development. At the heart of this development are market expectations to stay current and keep evolving. Bringing in new materials or colors are not decisions to be taken lightly and these decisions are not made in a vacuum. There are numerous considerations at various points in a project: sifting through sales history of an existing program to understand volume drivers and duds. Decisions regarding what to keep and delete in an old program can have monumental impact on customer standards and inventory position.
Ultimately, the swatch card is a go to tool box for designers to use in the specification of a manufacturers’ product.