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Tour the Retail Design World in 40 Minutes

Designers from around the globe share international inspiration

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$37,669.53: That’s just an initial estimate of travel costs you can save by attending the International Retail Design Conference presentation, “40 Designers, 40 Cities, 40 Minutes” (not to mention the invaluable burst of energy and inspiration you’ll experience viewing neighborhoods and shopping destinations from around the world through the eyes of your colleagues, all while in sunny Miami Beach).

Years ago, the only way to see beautiful things and become inspired by the nooks and crannies of faraway places was to pack your backs, schlep through the airport and book foreign hotels, sight-unseen. Or you had to read a textbook.

Magazines were edited months before they hit the newsstand. Nothing was ”of the moment” like it is now. In the 40s, designers took photos of their collections, waited weeks for the slides to be developed – hoping that they got a good shot – and mailed the photos to various publications because there was no design press, no blogs, no Pinterest – yet.

Designers created a “look book” of their own styles. Obviously, time and technology has changed this dynamic. That’s the beauty of the Internet – of connectivity. It’s why “street style” and style blogs have taken over the industry and now influence fashion. No longer do we wait for something to come from above, but rather, we drive trends or inspire our circle with fast Instagram snippets and daily blogged thoughts.

Bill Cunningham, a street-style documenter and fashion photographer for The New York Times says, “We all need to go to Paris at least once a year to train the eye.” He understands that there is a method to creating an interesting composition; a learning process that needs to be practiced, tested for creative minds that need to be fed.

Allison Westrick, founder of Sketch Blue (Columbus, Ohio), and I are longtime instigators and design colleagues coming together to spark some new inspirations and collaborations. Our shared and dynamic network strives to deliver what people might not have the time, ability or inclination to track down on their own.

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That’s why our upcoming IRDC session is about seeing cities through the trained eye. These designers are picking these specific places to be and live in, when they could live or be in any city – and they’re sharing those scenes with us. It’s more than a random Google search or Yelp review.

It’s about getting up, getting out and looking at your everyday world differently. Every designer’s city is an education. They are teachers, artists, thinkers and creators. We know there are lots of trend and design firms out there, but what we’re bringing to IRDC 2014 is faster and unfiltered. It’s captured right at the point of creation, a pulse of what's happening — right now. We're all on the street documenting (whether we pull our iPhones out to grab a shot or not), and it doesn't have to be proposed, approved, then posted.

So, come see us at IRDC. Come see all of us.

For more information on “40 Designers, 40 Cities, 40 Minutes” please visit irdconline.com or 40designers.com.

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Faith Bartrug of FBD Studios (Columbus, Ohio) has more than a decade of experience in transforming national brands. Her background includes brand strategy, environmental design and visual merchandising, and she has been able to practice what she preaches with leading design firms and clients such as Neiman Marcus, JCPenney and Mark Pi’s.

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