Nood Victoria sells knock offs, Herman Miller says "Get Real"
The following video real (ly) represents the best 2 minutes and 28 seconds I’ve "wasted" in a real (ly) long time. I came away with a huge smile on my face.
I came into this business through a trade school in upholstery, was hired as an assistant to the teacher at that school and when that school was taken over by a local college, I borrowed $10,000 (Yes, I had to get my mother to co-sign the loan, but then I was only 21 years old) bought most of the equipment from the original school and opened my own upholstery shop.
That was half a life ago.
I never received any kind of formal training, but, when you’re 21 years old and you have to pay rent and a client comes into your business and asks you if you can do (fill in the blank), the answer is always YES !! and at that age, you just figure it out for yourself.
I taught myself to design and build furniture out of a necessity and I think I became pretty damn good at it. I look back over the years and not everything I did was a masterpiece, but there are several pieces that we are still making that I think are pretty amazing.
It just seems to me that knocking off the designs of others and mass producing them at a lower quality, from sub-standard materials and usually not even the correct proportions is a real kick in the (again, fill in the blank) to who ever actually came up with the idea, concept/design. It also seems really slimy to me.
Don’t get me wrong. If you decide one day that you would like to attempt to make your own version of some famous design for your own use, well go ahead, that is different. But, not unlike the idea of stealing music and then printing CD’s for sale, the unauthorized reproduction of these designs for profit, is unacceptable. It is not something I would want my business model based on, that is for sure.
So, what is the point of all of this?
Well, If a high school drop-out like myself, (I did go back and get er done the next year) can learn to conceptualize, design and build unique original designs that fulfill both form and function and are of the highest quality to be found, (in my humble opinion) surely these massive companies with the means, can come up with something unique.
So, if you’re thinking of buying a knock-off, I’ve just got one thing to say, forget it !! Go and buy something unique that you can afford, or buy a vintage piece that you will cherish forever, but don’t support these kinds of business practices. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, A KNOCK-OFF WILL NEVER BRING THE PLEASURE TO YOUR HOME, THAT AN AUTHENTIC PIECE WILL. The minute it leaves the store, it has no value.
One day you will throw it out. If you "GET REAL", one day, your children will fight over it.
Maestro!!!?
Video by www.fairlypainless.com
I came into this business through a trade school in upholstery, was hired as an assistant to the teacher at that school and when that school was taken over by a local college, I borrowed $10,000 (Yes, I had to get my mother to co-sign the loan, but then I was only 21 years old) bought most of the equipment from the original school and opened my own upholstery shop.
That was half a life ago.
I never received any kind of formal training, but, when you’re 21 years old and you have to pay rent and a client comes into your business and asks you if you can do (fill in the blank), the answer is always YES !! and at that age, you just figure it out for yourself.
I taught myself to design and build furniture out of a necessity and I think I became pretty damn good at it. I look back over the years and not everything I did was a masterpiece, but there are several pieces that we are still making that I think are pretty amazing.
It just seems to me that knocking off the designs of others and mass producing them at a lower quality, from sub-standard materials and usually not even the correct proportions is a real kick in the (again, fill in the blank) to who ever actually came up with the idea, concept/design. It also seems really slimy to me.
Don’t get me wrong. If you decide one day that you would like to attempt to make your own version of some famous design for your own use, well go ahead, that is different. But, not unlike the idea of stealing music and then printing CD’s for sale, the unauthorized reproduction of these designs for profit, is unacceptable. It is not something I would want my business model based on, that is for sure.
So, what is the point of all of this?
Well, If a high school drop-out like myself, (I did go back and get er done the next year) can learn to conceptualize, design and build unique original designs that fulfill both form and function and are of the highest quality to be found, (in my humble opinion) surely these massive companies with the means, can come up with something unique.
So, if you’re thinking of buying a knock-off, I’ve just got one thing to say, forget it !! Go and buy something unique that you can afford, or buy a vintage piece that you will cherish forever, but don’t support these kinds of business practices. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, A KNOCK-OFF WILL NEVER BRING THE PLEASURE TO YOUR HOME, THAT AN AUTHENTIC PIECE WILL. The minute it leaves the store, it has no value.
One day you will throw it out. If you "GET REAL", one day, your children will fight over it.
Maestro!!!?
Video by www.fairlypainless.com