Hi, well first I`m an industrial designer from Colombia… south america… I love coffee, yeah I know! books and music.
It is hard to find any place where designers, artists, architects and any other people who cares about our stuff can go have some coffee, look for new books, buy them, maybe some cds too (not all the music, just some type like chill out, bossa nova, some rock and stuff).
I want to open a store in my country, the things I do want to offer as you can see are, coffee, music, books, and some other services designers and the people I told you could use.
What I need from you guys around the world is to give me some ideas of what you would LOVE to find in this place, you have a project and you are mind blocked so you come and have some coffee and skecth for a while… or you are looking for some books about aesthetics or design philosophy or just a product design book, so you come to the store, look for the book or magazines, if you feel like it well you stay, drink some coffee and read for a while… Or if you want to listen to a CD and then buy it…
PLEASE!! i wand a very simple but really nice and cozy (is it how you write it?) place… give me IDEAS… off curse all of you can use the ideas for a bussiness in your city!!!
…in the us there is a coffee/juice bar in every bookstore and some great overstuffed chairs to boot…everyone has thier ipods and no one bothers you unless you want them to…i can sketch the day away or not.
mancho, stores like MediaPlay and Barnes & Noble have these services built right into the store. They have lots of chairs where you can sit and read for hours.
a big part of my ideation process is helped out by my surroundings… when i used to drink lots of coffee at coffee shops and do my sketching, i loved this one that had a very rustic look inside.
-fireplace,
-totally low lit,
-extremely comfy chairs,
-tables of all heights…
the thing that does it for me the most is the lighting, for me i need dim lighting because i can imagine things much more easily.
and as far as music, they always had music playing, but u need to make some serious choices on that because it can make or break an atmosphere. i always like coming into a coffee shop or anywhere and hearing something i have never heard before and end up liking it.
cool beans if u ask me.
and for my personal preference of sketch ideation music, celtic…haha dont ask why it just gets in my head and i draw away
I was thinking earlier this week that what ‘they’ need to do is make a laundromat that is a coffee shop with wi fi. Then, maybe laundry would be more enjoyable. And good design stuff is cool too, Im just ranting that my laundromat is kinda lame.
“They” made such a place in San Francisco. It’s called Brainwash. Coffee, laundry, and open mic night. They might even have wifi now, it’s been a while since I’ve been there.
First, you do not need a Masters degree or to study ‘urban’ design. You want to learn euntrepeneurship, this is a certificate/associates teaching all the fundamentals of starting a small business. (accounting, hiring, legal issues, etc…)
Second, a bookstore cafe is more than a cool place to hang out, people need to circulate for you to profit. Who is your competition and how will you differentiate from them on an ongoing basis to steal customers and keep them returning?
You could always have periodicle type literature. Bound volumes of graphic design magazines. Stuff that some designers wouldn’t have access to. Maybe have some sort of membership with or without dues. This would encourage interaction with others and maybe a little comradery. I hope this idea catches on.
Hi everybody, well, I just want to say thanks for all the messages you guys wrote.
Some great ideas had come into my mind and I hope sonner than later I can open my place here in Cali, Colombia.
I`ve gone to barnes & noble in the US and yeah, its a cool place to be and read for a while.
Thanks guys, it is great to read what you all think!
Hi, well first I`m an industrial designer from Colombia… south america… I love coffee, yeah I know! books and music.