abercrombie fitch models: Ballard Designs and chatting with designer James Swan

Interior designer James Swan relaxes in a room he designed for Ballard Designs.

I've always been a big fan of the Ballard Designs catalog. The products are pretty and right up my personal style alley! In this day of down and out-sizing, the folks at Ballard have been creating cross promotions and relationships that are actually quite unusual for a mail order business. In the last year, they had developed a relationship with the lately lamented Domino Magazine - showcasing the Domino Editors' catalog picks. Smart. The hip folks at Domino brought a level of relevance to a catalog that might have started seeming too niche. Unfortunately, with Domino out of the scene, it would seem a big loss to the marketing of Ballard. But, as I said, they seem to have some pretty smart and creative people on staff.

Their latest project is to partner with Beverly Hills designer James Swan. James has a nation wide clientele and is quite media savvy on his own. Ballard brought in James to design a series of rooms using nothing but items from the Ballard catalog - and they did these room designs in a real home. Now, designing a room using the goods from a catalog seems very obvious - and not unique. But, there is clearly something unique when a working interior designer is on the job as opposed to a photo and product stylist. While Ballard often uses real homes for their photo shoots, this project clearly took things to that next level - to create a mood and a whole, livable space. James also brought in a new, more masculine, perspective to Ballard's products. Smart.

Here is an example. The first image is a standard Ballard Designs roomset for their home office products. Pretty, uses a lot of products and the open windows really help create a sense of place. But still... fairly standard catalog fair.

And here is James' take on the Ballard home office. There is an attention to detail that comes from someone who works with real people. It feels like the owner has just stepped away.

James Swan's take on the home office

I had the opportunity to have a nice phone chat with James last week, which I hope you will enjoy. Just please, forgive my scratchy voice! I was getting over laryngitis.