5 Questions For: Alison Kent + Cindy Yu, Joue Design

Cindy Yu and Alison Kent of Vancouver's Joue Design

Names: Alison Kent + Cindy Yu

Title: Co-Owners/Lead Designers, Joue Design

Company: Joue Design, Inc.

Which of your projects are you most excited about right now?

AK: Oh, so many! I'm thrilled with our latest Summer Capsule Collection of printed silk watercolor pillows with hand-painted accents, but I am also very excited about the various collaborations we are working on for the coming seasons—both in our ongoing throw pillow collections and in expanding our lines. We are looking into bedroom and kitchen textiles, and hope to have new product out in the next year or two. As for specific details, you'll have to wait and see! We work on our upcoming designs about a year in advance, so our heads are all over the place; it’s a very exciting time for Joue Design.

CY: I love the direction we're headed creatively, and I’m proud of the steps we've taken so far with our latest collections. There's so much we're excited about for the fall and next spring that those seasons can't come soon enough. 

Tell us three words that embody your design philosophy.

CY:  Original. Art. Textiles.

What is your favorite place in the Pacific Northwest? Why?

AK: The beaches! I've always loved the beaches up and down our beautiful coasts. There’s something about the colors, waves, and clean, fresh air–even the sand is interesting! We're incredibly lucky to live here in the Pacific Northwest.

Who or what are you inspired by right now?

AK: Cindy and I were fortunate enough to take another "Joue Partner Trip" to Paris this past spring during Fashion Week. We've always loved France— Paris especially, so it's great to enjoy it together while being inspired and making time to plan our year ahead. Personally, I've just returned from a family trip to Amsterdam and Greece, which was beautiful. I was especially inspired by the history and stories behind everything. In future "Northwest" collections, I see this trip inspiring me to layer elements and ideas. I also took time during my trip to sit and paint. Sometimes, time away means time to work on stretching my artwork abilities.

CY: The environment around me always inspires me, and luckily, we live in one of the most beautiful corners of the planet. There's a catharsis in observing life around you –the colors and textures of nature and all forms of wildlife. It always brings me back to the most fundamental thing–feeling and embracing life as a human being.

What do you think of the color gray?

AK: It's very west coast! Grays, greens and blues are prevalent colors in the natural environments around us, and I love them. This will always be my home.

CY: It is a color that is abundant in my own home. Most often, I don't see life as black or white–rather, in various shades of gray. My decor is a reflection of that: a gentle, softer perspective on life. I also find that it's the color that's easiest to match with most hues –especially since every hue has a gray version.

Image Courtesy of Joue Design. 

Product of the Week: Flyover Collection by Kirsten Southwell

This week we're spotlighting Portland-based artist and designer Kirsten Southwell. "Flyover," her latest collection of modern quilts, was inspired by a November trip Southwell took to Toronto. The bird’s-eye topography of different locations, spotted out the plane window, gave the three quilts their names: Oregon, Ontario, and Illinois. We're loving the resurgence of contemporary artists designing quilts and reviving the medium for a new audience.

Southwell will be among the Portland designers exhibiting at this year's WantedDesign Manhattan. To read more about the Portland presence at Wanted, as part of the feature "Portland Outside the Box," go here. Images courtesy kmsouthwell.com.

Editorial note: Items featured in GRAY’s Product of the Week posts are solely the choice of our editors and are not paid for in any way by anyone associated with the product.

Product of the Week: Ladies and Gentleman Studio Mega Doily

This product-of-the-week is a bittersweet one. This piece is not brand new, nor will it help your space look completely cutting-edge (though it will still make it look utterly delightful). It's the Mega Doily from Ladies and Gentleman Studio, and it was one of the first things that we saw, all those years back, that made us fall in love with Jean and Dylan's work. The duo just announced that they are in the process of moving themselves and their studio to Brooklyn from Seattle, and we are bereft. Along with JOIN Design, which they helped found in 2008, L&G Studio was a visible part of the Pacific Northwest's contemporary design renaissance. They constantly received international attention for their artistic, sophisticated, and exciting designs.

Their Mega Doily signaled instantly that L&G Studio was going to be a contender. It was blogged about and copied everywhere, and, for those of us who have followed their work, it now feels somewhat iconic. 

We wish them the best of luck in Brooklyn, and look forward to all their future success!

Product of the Week: Driscoll Robbins Carpet Collection

If you want something done right, sometimes you've got to do it yourself. Seattle fine carpet fixture Driscoll Robbins now has 16 designs in his own line of carpets, with ten more slated to debut in the coming months. They are handwoven in Nepal, and each one features a bit of silk woven in to impart a gorgeous luster. This graphic design caught our eye today, and we're eagerly anticipating what Driscoll will design next!

See more from the collection, here!