Excerpt: United Kingdom-based interior designer Yasmin Chopin was spending precious hours researching local suppliers, highlighting a need that has since become the springboard for her project to help other designers save time and promote local artisans. Debuted last year, Chopin’s Select a Maker, a digital directory of design professions, includes suppliers, makers and craftspeople—all locally available. She chats with EAL about her inspiration, and goals, for the designer-focused directory
How did you develop Select a Maker?
As anyone in the profession well knows, the time taken to find a specialist craftsperson or to hunt down the perfect item for a project is far more than most people realize. A broad range of quality contacts who can produce bespoke customized work is one of the key features of a successful interior design business. It is for this reason many interior designers don’t share their contacts list.
I live in Cambridgeshire [a county in England] and my ‘patch’ is geographically wide, taking in all the surrounding counties. This means I spend a lot of time researching local suppliers for my clients. I’m very keen to use local resources, support U.K. business and help new businesses whenever possible….
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