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| An established family business energized by new blood Maharam is a 100-year-old to-the-trade textile business with 400 employees and 40 offices and showrooms in the US. Recently management passed to brothers Stephen and Michael Maharam and under their stewardship the company has experienced a renaissance which has dramatically increased its market share and profile. |
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| Integrating new graphic standards When the brothers took over, Michael Maharam instituted a complete design standards overhaul of the company. The aim was to create a cohesive, rigorously detail-conscious and fundamentally design-driven new whole. He pursued and began collaborating with notable contemporary designers across many disciplines to create new fabrics. This effort continues the tradition of excellence exemplified by Maharam’s collection of classic Modernist designs by 20th century masters like the Eames’s and Verner Panton. He also recognized that along with graphics standards reform, the Maharam web presences needed to demonstrate the Maharam commitment to design excellence. |
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| New marketing directions and existing data systems Maharam came to B+R with a long list of requirements. As well as a state of the art public web site, they needed a company intranet and an online ordering system. We were to work with the Maharam marketing and IT departments to integrate existing systems and data, adapting existing graphic standards throughout the sites and to add new functionality and imaging to further define the company’s new design-driven retail model. Making sure we tell the story We began by assessing all business needs and qualifying them with company departments. We took marketing directions, which grouped fabrics together under certain criteria and planned how we should tell these stories. We planned photography around ideas of possible fabric animations, and worked the essential qualities of the textiles into the animation themes. The scale of Maharam’s product offering (6,000 fabrics) and their variety of use created further demands on how we should show them. As designers, we feel that all visual conclusions should be formed by the essential qualities of the subjects and their purpose, and we refined the defining material of each one until we felt satisfied that we had achieved that goal. |
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| On time and on budget We began to shoot images and create Flash animations in a process of trial and error, refined layouts and possible functionality over the period of a year, and in regular reviews with Michael Maharam and the marketing and IT departments, built out the sites. Both departments closely collaborated with us on a daily basis to deliver and refine content, and test, integrate and deploy functionality. Their extreme professionalism and ability made for a smooth running partnership, which resulted in the project being deployed on time and on budget. Online Ordering This system is available to Maharam’s premier clients and allows them to order samples and yardage directly from the Maharam proprietary inventory and sales data system via a web interface. Functionality includes the ability to check fabric applications, order samples, track shipping and delivery, as well as to see availability of stock and make concrete orders. The system is password protected and maintained dynamically. |
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| Intranet This networked system contains all of Maharam’s policy and operational documentation and is available to each employee through a web interface on their desktop. |
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| Public Site This complex Flash site includes extended product demonstration animations, company information and dynamic integration with Maharam’s proprietary inventory and sales data. |
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