tx: style design challenge 2012

The CMI team has been busy creating new designs and corresponding inspiration boards for the tx: style design challenge 2012. Mannington Commercial, sponsors of the contest, are looking for new inspirational patterns and are developing the winning design into a full carpet collection! They are also sending the lucky finalists on a trip to New York, Chicago or Milan. Help the team by voting for your favourite designs at tx:style. The finalists are chosen based on online comments and your votes, so vote often! There will also be a panel of judges so feel free to give us some positive feedback. New designs are being added daily!

You have until February 19th to get your votes in!

Ange

Illumbra

Lofty

Inscribed

Undulate

Diffuse

Carol

Tossed Salad

Kaleidoscope Ripples

Blackboard

Whimsical Movement

Effervescence

Tiffany

Lacy

Sheer

Flutter

Blaze

Intertwined

Leah

Gold Leaf

Sparkle

Elizabeth

Spanish Tile

Confetti

Damask Graffiti

Donna

Golden Stamp

Retro Landscape

DOMOTEX 2012: Custom Design in, Mass Production out! Hanover Jan 14-17

DOMOTEX was a great success for Creative Matters Inc., with approximately 45,000 visitors at the 4-day trade show; we had a large amount of exposure. We were one of 1,371 exhibitors showcasing designs from around the world and because more than half the guests were from abroad, we had an opportunity to present our products to a global audience. The main theme of the event for 2012 was customized living so we had no problem fitting in! It was fabulous to see flooring and textile play such a significant role in interior decorating: carpets have become works of art and are making statements on their own! We’re back in the office and have recovered from jet lag – fresh ideas inspired by the international trends seen at DOMOTEX should be expected in our next collection!

Souk Deluxe - Selected Carpet Design

Souk Deluxe is a juried exhibition showcasing high-quality hand-made carpets from companies presenting modern designs. Selected carpets are displayed at Domotex Germany for buyers and industry members to view so they are able to experience the latest innovative products and techniques that designers are experimenting with. This is a great way to get an overview of the carpet industry and see the latest trends. If you are heading to Domotex Germany 2012 this year, be sure to check out the Souk Deluxe show.

Creative Matters was accepted and is exhibiting Art Day Carpets Hand-Knotted #74 and Kilim #111.

Art Day VI

The year is off to a great start for the CMI team with our first Art Day of 2012! It was all about creating designs with light and shadow. With transparent found objects we experimented with lighting to cast interesting shadows onto waiting blank pages. We then traced the shadows with different mediums: thick & thin markers, acrylic paint, crayons, india ink, oil pastels, chalk...etc. The resulting patterns have already been scanned into our computers and are ready for our designers to develop them into new and original carpet designs.

(Art Day VI instructions by Tiffany)

We had our first art day in January 2011 and after this first session we set a goal for ourselves to design 500 new carpet concepts by the end of the year. We are proud to announce that on December 23, 2011 we designed "Concept 500" which means we reached our goal! We are very proud of our 500 concepts and are excited to have fresh designs to add to our archive. Some of these ideas became our new line that we will be launching in Germany at Domotex next week.

(The CMI team hard at work creating)

(Maddy creating some interesting shapes & shadows)

We have decided this year to set a goal to create another 500 new concepts by the end of the year. We did it last year and are more than confident we will make it again this year!

To view more photos please visit our Facebook Gallery for Art Day VI!
To view our "art day" line see our website www.creativemattersinc.com

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone a happy holiday, and a prosperous and peaceful 2012. From The Creative Matters Team - Carol, Donna, Abbey, Ange, Ana, Elizabeth, Erin, Jane, Julie, Leah, Maddy, Tiffany.

(photos from the children at Hamro Ghar - Goodweave Home for rescued children, after "Art Day")

Art Day Excitement!

As the year closes we are getting ready for the holidays and preparing for the Domotex exhibition in Germany in January 2012. The new "Art Day" collection is well under way in Kathmandu.

(103 - Graffiti on the loom)

(123 - Platinum on the loom and almost completed)

(13 - Platinum on the loom)

We are excited about the new line, a preview was seen in New York in September to great enthusiasm. We look forward to seeing some of the rugs in larger format.

We wish everyone a healthy and prosperous 2012.

Cover Modern Carpets & Textiles For Interiors Winter 2011

We were delighted to be featured in COVER Magazine "Creative thinking" (Winter 2011). Katie Loux really caught the spirit of Creative Matters in the article - the excitement of our team, our passion for textiles and specifically rug design.

Donna and I have been building Creative Matters for almost 25 years now, and it's wonderful to get this recognition in one of our very favourite magazines.