Hotel Hypnos - The Tawny presented by Alys Bryan

The latest episode in the Hotel Hypnos series helps us escape to the country and discover a stay like no other at UK’s first deconstructed hotel.

Set in 70 acres of idyllic greenery and designed to improve guests’ wellbeing, The Tawny offers “a stay like no other” as the UK’s first deconstructed hotel, taking the best bits from a traditional luxury hotel experience and combining them with naturistic design and complete privacy to offer a stunning country escape.

The video is the latest episode in the Hotel Hypnos series brought to life by luxury bed and mattress pioneers, Hypnos Contract Beds, and provides insight into the range of bespoke elements that form part of a unique and relaxing stay in rural Staffordshire.

Featuring an in-depth conversation between Alys Bryan, and The Tawny General Manager, Josh Chadwick, the focuses on the hotel’s commitment to sustainability and guest wellbeing.

Find episode information here

Conversations on design which inform, challenge & inspire, produced by Alys Bryan and published by Method Communications.

Each episode is a conversation between two guests which is moderated by Alys Bryan, this is a new and exciting podcast model.

The engaging conversations take place in person and, as well as being recorded, they are filmed in order for us to share snippets with our audience.

Each Designers’ Voice conversation is focused on an important current topic, aimed at an audience of design professionals alongside a wider audience of those interested in design. Topics include design heritage, materiality, sustainability, people centric design, and design education.

Designers' Voice is a monthly audio series, each episode is recorded in person at a different location. This is a self funded project.

Each episode is presented and produced by Alys Bryan, expertly filmed and edited by Daniel Budda.

Tina Norden, Partner at Conran and Partners spoke with Federico Toresi, Global VP Design, Ultra Luxe, Luxury & Premium brands at Accor at our HIX Event Talk, chaired by Alys Bryan, Editor at Design Insider.

Our conversation focused on The Ultimate Resort, and redefining ‘All-Inclusive’. Having worked together on a substantial piece of research Tina Norden and Federico Toresi had a lot to share on this new direction for the hospitality sector.

Conran & Partners were tasked by Accor with researching and designing a masterplan for the ultimate resort project; based on research into the behaviours, values, habits and desires set to drive the next generation of guests.

Key points raised in our conversation included:

• We must pre-empt how a guest will feel when arriving in their room and consider every aspect of what they will need. Guests don’t take away photographs or souvenirs, we want them to take home memories and build ‘brand love.’

• Enabling a guest to manoeuvre a 500/1000 room resort without feeling like a tiny cog in a large machine is achieved by breaking down the resort into smaller scale, more personal, islands or neighbourhoods of perhaps 50 rooms.

• 15 minute neighbourhoods, inspired by urban planning principle of the 15 minute city, position everyday services within walking distance and require a journey to speciality experiences.

• Child experiences run in parallel to adult experiences, crossing over at certain times, and it is these cross-over points which generate spaces.

• Every journey includes touch points which generate services and inform design. This is an experience driven way to build design guild lines which prompt you on what points to cover and highlight every single opportunity to generate experiences.

• Creating an environment for the team which is equally as well considered gives them a motivating and engaging experience so that they want to deliver a great service structure which supports the guest’s experience.

The Method Touch: Preparing speakers before the event to curate a clear conversation outline which puts the speakers at ease and enables the conversation to flow with ease.

Personal Highlight: Enabling prominent sector leaders to share their knowledge.

Borough Yards is a 160,000 sq. ft mixed-use development on the western edge of Borough Market in London’s Southwark. A new space blending cathedral like railway arches, public squares, and secluded shopping ‘streets’. f.r.a. were appointed to design the wayfinding and placemaking for Borough Yards.

Design Insider filmed Wesley Meyer, Director at f.r.a. speaking about his ‘wanderfinding’ designs for this project as part of the Design Insider Instagram Event on the 6th & 7th July 2022.

Client: MARK

Location: Southwark, UK

Design Team: SPPARC

Size: 116,000 sq ft

Services: Strategy, Design, Placemaking, Project management

Awards: MIPIM 2022 for Best Urban Project

Simon Callaghan Photography for f.r.a.

The Method Touch: This film was part of the pre-created content for a 2 day Instagram event, the first of it’s kind.

Personal Highlight: Speaking with Wesley and having the opportunity to hear him speak so passionately about his award winning project.

Milan Design Week returned for the first time since 2019 to it’s April home, with 2,000 exhibiting brands at Salone del Mobile.Milano and over 1,000 city based venues.

Design Insider Editor, Alys Bryan, brings you our insight into the 2023 edition of the world’s leading design event.

On the following pages we share our event highlights from both the fair and the city, we introduce you to new product launches and previews, and we are thrilled to share the installations which brought delight to our visit. We also share our opinion on the successes and challenges of the event and invite you to join our conversation by commenting on our Design Insider LinkedIn posts or by emailing alys@designinsiderlive.com

Milan Design Week 2023 was brimming with designers and enthusiasm. Every pavement and seating space was full with creative conversation and tired feet. You had to line up to entre parties and wait to speak with brand representatives but there was nowhere else that a member of the design community would have rather been!

Download Design Insider’s Milan Design Week 2023 Trend Report here!

This trend report is supported by global commercial furniture supplier Inside Out Contracts

South Coast Journal is a new, free independent biannual magazine for Chichester and beyond, focusing on creativity, culture and community. Aimed at residents and visitors, SCJ will showcase the beauty of the area, the communities and the stories that lay within.

The intention is to inspire readers and celebrate the hidden talents, individuals and places that make this part of the South Coast such a special place to be. Beautiful photography and design is key, the magazine is perfect bound and printed locally on FSC matt stock.

South Coast Journal is the creation of Method Communications Director Alys Bryan & Julia Grant, founder of Winter's Moon. Alys & Julia also co-founded Design Collective Chichester and are intent on raising the profile of Chichester and beyond as a creative and cultural place to live, work & visit.

The launch issue of South Coast Journal was launched in April '19, this was an enormous and hugely rewarding achievement.

The publication of South Coast Journal stopped in 2022.

Are there events you wish you could attend but just can’t find time in your busy schedule? Are there events you have to rush around and would love to know what you might have missed?

For the Commercial Interiors sector Design Insider publishes in depth trend reports for many leading national and international design events including Milan Design Week, London Design Festival, Stockholm Furniture Fair and Orgatec. These reports cover every aspect of the event from the arrival, exhibitors and seminar programme to new product launches and colour trends.

The most recent event we have covered for Design Insider is the HIX event which is focused on interior products for the hospitality sector, you can download the report here.

Across the two days at HIX our team enjoyed learning about the many new products which commercial suppliers chose to launch at this industry leading event. Within our Design Insider Trend Report we share with you the new product launches which will enable Commercial Interior Designers to answer their client’s briefs and create memory making experiences for their guests. Within the report we highlight the ongoing discussion on sustainability and the varied ways in which the commercial sector is addressing this important topic. We also share examples of the differing ways in which community was created and displayed at the event.

Accompanying our Trend Report is an event highlights film.

Previous Trend Reports include: (click to download)

Milan Design Week 2022

Clerkenwell OPEN 2021

London Design Festival 2019

Milan Design Week 2019

Stockholm Furniture Fair 2019

The Method Touch: We know that when you visit an event you want to know the details of the products but you also want to soak up the atmosphere, in our trend reports we strive to offer both of these things so it’s important for us to mention on only the seminar take-aways but also the quality of the coffee!

Personal Highlight: Being on stage with industry leading designers Tina Norden and Federico Toresi, ready more about our seminar here.

The UK was put into a state of lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. At this unique time our Method Comms team continued our work with online magazine Design Insider, for which Alys Bryan is the Editor, to support and inspire the interior design and architecture community as well as BCFA members.

The Method Touch: Method Comms devised and delivered a series of 30-45 minute weekly webinars where industry leaders were interviewed in depth by Alys Bryan on their area of expertise, the impact of COVID19, new opportunities and the future.

Webinars discussed good business behaviour in the current crisis, creating a caring and profitable business, and sustainability with Claire Menzies, the hospitality sector in this time of crisis, what it will take for guests to return and whether hotels will be ready for the new digital world with Ron Swidler, ideas & inspiration for managing remote teams, how to practice self-care and reduce stress when working from home with Bertie van Wyk, and agile working, the interim and post virus workplace, future workspace design considerations and the impact on employees and employers with Alison Monteith.

Personal Highlight: It was a joy to meet industry leaders and to enable the design sector to learn from their expertise at this difficult time.

Design Insider Talks instigates sector leading, focused and detailed conversations which tackle urgent and gritty questions within Commercial Interiors. Commercial interior designers joined us in Table Place Chairs’ Clerkenwell showroom to engage in discussion and leave with actionable knowledge to apply and share within their team.

Design Insider Editor, Alys Bryan, welcomed an impressive panel of leading speakers to discuss a variety of issues facing the industry, met with a fascinated and thought-provoked audience.

Opening the series, we explored how to successfully balance hybrid working with business needs to maintain a positive culture.

Following from this we spoke about the interior designers role in delivering non-toxic working environments, and delved deeper into the specification of furniture and building materials and how to create a healthier space.

Closing the series, our speakers explored what measures are being taken by the hospitality sector to reach carbon zero, concluding that there is much more than needs to be done.

We are looking forward to announcing our second series of Design Insider Talks for 2023, keep an eye out for more information to follow.

Design Insider Talks 2022 Speakers:

• Nicola Osborn, Creative Director at Basha-Franklin

• Jeni Durksen, Senior Associate, Design EMEA at M Moser Associates

• Neil Usher, Chief Workplace & Change Strategist at GoSpace

• Ben Channon, Director at Ekkist

• Nigel Tresise, Director/Owner at align

• Dan Gillmore, Global Creative Director at Table Place Chairs_

• Sharon Grobb, EMEA Hotels Client Development Director at Tetris

• Lucy Arndt, Head of Sustainability at Dodds & Shute

• Ana Rita Martins, Senior Associate, Sustainability & Design at Woodalls

Design Insider Talks 2022 was sponsored by Table Place Chairs.

Table Place Chairs is a brand that’s born out of their team’s experience, with and for you. Their furniture is designed with you in mind. With your space in mind. With your budget in mind. They are passionate about using authentic materials that will suit any workspace, hotel, restaurant, cruise, any space where there is a community culture. Visit tableplacechairs.com

Photography by Zac Coles

The Method Touch: Inviting speakers who build a dynamic panel where multiple viewpoints can be expressed during the conversation.

Personal Highlight: Welcoming guests from all aspects of the commercial interiors sector into Table Place Chairs_ stunning Clerkenwell showroom.

Days in Sussex was an evening event centered around the life and work of legendary British furniture and textiles designers Robin and Lucienne Day, with a panel discussion including design experts Gerardine Hemingway of Hemingway Design and Charlie Fowler from John Lewis . As the Day's were Chichester residents, it felt fitting to host the event at The Novium, Chichester's newest venue for exhibitions with significant local history. At the event, attendees enjoyed a glass of wine whilst Robin and Lucienne's daughter Paula discussed the inspiration and passions that fuelled her parents life and work, as well as the foundation that she has established in their names. 

The Method Touch: To promote the event and maximise attendance, we created a dedicated website and social media presence where attendees could find more information as well as purchase tickets. For offline promotion we designed and printed promotional flyers, as well as creating a press release to distribute to the local press. With my personal passion for furniture design, I felt privileged to organise such a special event and working in conjunction with both the Novium and Paula for this event was a real pleasure.

Personal Highlight: Combining my love of design and one of my favourite local venues.

There are ways we can make a more substantial impact. Powerful decisions by powerful people and businesses can move us forward to a nourishing future, we just need to work together, understand the facts and use our voice. Commercial Interiors UK and Design Insider are here to amplify that voice and support the discussion towards a more sustainable future.

One way in which Design Insider is actively contributing to how commercial interiors sector is leading in addressing sustainability is through their Sustainability Leaders interview based editorial series. This series shares the varied ways in which the UK’s leading manufacturers of commercial interior products are tackling the environmental impact of their production and products.

Sian Berkeley, Group Sustainability & Environmental Manager at Ocee International

For the past few years, a lot of my focus has been on the internal aspects of the company to ensure we are not greenwashing. Whilst we had an EU Ecolabel certified product, this didn’t necessarily certify us as an overall sustainable company and we needed to have company actions to illustrate our holistic approach to sustainability.

Some of the actions launched are:

• Training of Mental Health First Aiders in work

• Launch of a UK Take Back Scheme which rehomes furniture reaching its ‘end-of-life’ with customers to avoid it going to landfill

• Carbon Neutrality to Scope 2 through various offsetting schemes – 472 trees were planted in the UK to offset our 2019 group emissions; 300 tonnes of carbon were offset with Verified Carbon Credits focusing on a carbon avoidance project in a section of the Amazon, Labrea, Brazil

Rachel Bartlett, Sustainability Expert at Astro Lighting

We have also invested in a Product Life Cycle Assessment tool (LCA) which our product development team are using to monitor the complete lifecycle of our products (design, in use, transportation and end of life) and what impact each stage has on carbon emissions, energy consumption, water eutrophication and air acidification. With this information, we will be able to set ourselves targets to improve our environmental performance. Another key project we have undertaken this year was to calculate the carbon footprint of our headquarters in Harlow, Essex. To start reducing the emissions we are creating, we have installed over 460 solar panels across the roof of the building which generate the same amount of energy that we consume.

Design Insider’s Sustainability Leaders series can be found here.

The Method Touch: Identifying Commercial Interiors UK members actively striving to lead the sector in addressing their environmental impact.

Personal Highlight: Providing a platform for knowledge sharing through which the whole commercial interiors community will benefit.

March 2017 saw the BCFA – Design Insider launch their first ever BCFA Open Spring Design event in London. As part of a series of events from the BCFA in 2017, the Spring Design event saw some of the biggest names in contract interior design come together to showcase the latest products available. Members attending the event could take part in hands-on workshops, as well as attend a keynote sessions and panel discussions by well-respected thought leaders in the design world.

The Method Touch: As part of our involvement with the BCFA we were asked to source and organize a key note speaker and a panel discussion to appeal to multiple sectors. To open the ‘Creativity Reviewed’ seminar, we invited fashion and design icon Wayne Hemmingway MBE to discuss the origins of his creativity; his inspirational journey into design and how being resourceful can result in truly rewarding career that takes unexpected and exciting directions. Designers David Smalley, Richard Stevens, Scott Barwick, Adrian Weidmann and Claire Richmond were invited to speak as part of the lively panel discussion. The logistics of a panel discussion involved much coordination behind the scenes prior to the event, to make sure each of the speakers had an online profile on the event website and to ensure the chair and all panel members were fully briefed before the session.

Read more about the key note and panel discussion

Personal Highlight: Events on this scale always require huge amounts of organization, patience and contingency plans. Despite last minute changes, the session went off without a hitch.

Lucienne Day OBE, was one of Britain's most influential post war textile designers. Having also designed china tableware and table linen, what better way to celebrate what would have been her 100th Birthday, than with an Afternoon Tea party? The setting for this celebratory centenary tea was the Pallant House Gallery restaurant in Chichester, one of Lucienne's favourite galleries to visit during her time living in the area. During the event guests were able to view a collection of some of Lucienne's textile designs whilst enjoying a traditional afternoon tea with prosecco.

The Method Touch: For such a special event, every attention to detail was taken care of. We designed invitations and promotional leaflets to distribute at Pallant House Gallery, where people could by tickets for the party, as well as writing a press release to alert the local press. In conjunction with Lucienne's daughter Paula and with permission from the foundation, we arranged for a commemorative limited-edition cotton napkin to be made, featuring a rare Lucienne Day print. Each ticket holder was given a napkin as a complimentary memento of the occasion. As the event required catering, we arranged for a traditional afternoon tea to be served with dietary requirements taken into account, as well as the provision of alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. All tickets also included access to the Pallant House Gallery, where the newly launched Lucienne Day 100 Designs centenary poster was available to purchase.

Personal Highlight: This event was a sell-out and being able to offer guests such a rare limited edition memento to take away was an wonderful opportunity. 

Julia from Winter’s Moon, a local studio selling modern and vintage furniture and homewares, approached us to help her create a blog series. She wanted to work with brands she felt a kin-ship with, whilst also finding a wider audience for her business.

The Method Touch: Together with Julia we discussed the concept of the blog series that we named ‘Small Business Show and Tell,’ in keeping with Julia’s informal and welcoming vibe that would speak to her faithful followers and engage new readers. During this project we created the framework for a blog post formula which included penning the questions for Julia to ask, as well as communicating with the chosen brands. Once we had all the details we had the tough, yet enviable task of editing and formatting the final copy and images to be uploaded onto the Winter’s Moon website. You can see the very first post in the series here featuring Winter’s Moon.

Read the Small Business Show and Tell Series so far

Personal Highlight: At Method Communications we love all things design, so getting to work with these brands and businesses first hand and hear their stories was a real ‘not-so-guilty’ pleasure.

‘Working with Alys was such a positive experience from start to finish. She came up with lots of ideas as to how to approach the project and delivered all the content really efficiently. The blog series has been great for increasing traffic to my website and growing my social media following, by sparking engagement and interaction with new audiences. I look forward to working with Method Communications again in the near future.’ Julia Grant, Owner, Winter’s Moon

During the extraordinary time of the COVID19 lockdown all of our lives changed. The Coronavirus brought with it tremendous difficulty and sadness but has also allowed for new experiences. Method Communications launched FISHBOURNElife, an opportunity to document how residents in our community have experienced this period of time.

FISHBOURNElife is a collection of photographs taken by our community between 23rd March and 4th July 2020. All Fishbourne residents were invited to take part in this project by uploading their images directly onto the FISHBOURNElife website.

’One day, our insights will be invaluable to future generations and historians, let's make sure that Fishbourne is part of this future learning.’

For this initiative Method Communications:

• Devised and instigated all aspects of the project.

• Designed and built the FISHBOURNElife website including the ability for participants to upload their photographs and details.

• Promoted this project to local residents across local social media groups and pages.

• Contacted local groups to invite residents of all generations to participate.

• Worked with our local school to invite their families to be part of the project.

• Researched national records which FISHBOURNElife could be part of.

• Researched future events and exhibitions which FISHBOURNElife could contribute towards.

The UK Web Archive collects millions of websites each year, preserving them for future generations and is a collaboration between all of the UK Legal Deposit Libraries:

• Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University

• British Library

• Cambridge University Libraries

• National Library of Scotland

• National Library of Wales

• Trinity College, Dublin

FISHOURNElife has been accepted to be archived in the Coronavirus collection which will be available under the Pandemic Outbreaks Collection.

In 2017, the BCFA – Design Insider held its first ever BCFA Open Spring design Exhibition, which took place in London’s trendy Shoreditch, at The Old Brewery. Renowned for its industrial alternative edge, the venue was the perfect backdrop for BCFA members to feast their eyes on the latest in contract interior products. Members like to get their hands dirty and as such we were enlisted to organize a creative workshop to get the creative juices flowing.

The Method Touch: With the mandate set to deliver an inspiring and hands-on session for members, we worked with the event organisers to arrange a Surface Pattern workshop with creative duo Chris and Suzanne Carpenter AKA ‘The Patternistas’. In order to fulfil the brief with high expectations, we worked with The Patternistas to create a workshop that would excite and delight BCFA members and allow them to get to grips with simple tools and immerse themselves in the rhythm of repeat pattern making.

Find out more about the event on the BCFA Website

Personal Highlight: We scheduled 2 workshops to run on the day and both sessions were sold out prior to the event. The success of these workshops has led to the BCFA making workshops a prominent feature at future events. 

For one night only the entire space at Pallant House Gallery will host a fun, free and informal summer celebration of the vibrant talent of Design Collective Chichester members. There will be great music, delicious ice-cream, local gin and at the heart of the event will be the Design Collective's creative project Wish You Were Here.

Design Collecive Chichester members were set a brief, inspired by the Ivon Hitchens exhibition, to interpret their favourite destinations in and around the city as a postcard image. The results will be revealed in a unique set of more than 50 postcards, generously gifted to visitors to the event, highlighting the charisma of Chichester and its flourishing creative community.

Our team at Method Communications knew we could have fun answering this creative brief and began by enjoying a short trip out one sunny morning to our chosen destination, the Green Bridge in Fishbourne. We chose this location because of its industrial aesthetic, the emerald green metal against the clear blue sky was striking and we all enjoyed taking photographs from different angles to capture the bridges often under-rated features.

The Green Bridge connects Fishbourne with Chichester, linking our residential suburb with the city we love. As a Fisbourne resident we find ourselves walking, but most often cycling, over it several times a week. Making connections is also something that is essential to our work at Method Communications and we had a lively ideas session on how this could be represented in our postcard image. We settled on the concept of using Instagram to promote a place as a destination, realised through a successful 'location' profile for our chosen place.

We are skilful at helping clients to create connections with their audience, whether that be across social media platforms or in the form of newsletters, blogs and on-going marketing campaigns. Our strength comes from our personable team that although small in number, is big in passion and knowledge.

A full set of Wish You Were Here cards will be available at the event in return for a £4 donation.

Pallant House Gallery, 8th August 2019, 6pm - 10pm

Our Director Alys is honoured to be the Editor of Design Insider, a resource which includes an online magazine serving those in the world of commercial interiors. She regularly writes articles and produces content for the publication, by talking to those at the coal face of commercial interior design and bringing their views to the attention of the readership. Two very popular examples include an interview with Michael Marriott and a feature on Female furniture designers.

The Method Touch: For both these articles we needed to talk first-hand to the designers. Alys made the trip to Hackney to Michael’s studio to document their discussion face to face. As the piece on female furniture designers involved speaking to seven different designers, for efficiency, these interviews were conducted by phone or email. Regardless of time or logistics it’s important for us to uncover real stories and opinions, to connect readers to the topic at hand. Alys’ experience in furniture design comes into it’s own with projects like these!

Personal Highlight: As a female working in the design industry it was of personal significance to Alys to find out the opinions of industry leaders on the results of the Furniture Makers Company 2016 Design Guild Mark Awards. Interviewing Michael was particularly special as he has been of great personal inspiration to Alys since being taught by him during her design education.

Chichester, an historical Roman market city, is full of culture which is often much celebrated, however what was lacking was support for the growing population of creative businesses. Often run by freelancers, these businesses frequently run in isolation, with owners working from home and trying to promote their business whilst learning new skills - connecting with other like-minded people whilst running a business can be tough, so an initiative was needed to bring these creatives together to support each other.

The Method Touch: Method Communications Director Alys, co-founded Design Collective Chichester with fellow local business owner Julia Grant, owner of Winter’s Moon. The group is open to any local design led business owners who want to meet, share experience and skills with others. To bring people together Design Collective Chichester regularly host events such as the Skillshare – an opportunity to learn more about aspects of business such as branding and marketing or more practical skills, as well as social gatherings that promote friendly networking.

Personal Highlight: Design Collective Chichester is supported by so many of its members. On August 8th 2019 Design Collective Chichester hosted Wish You Were Here at Pallant House Gallery, a project and event celebrating Chichester, and its enterprising and creative community.

For one night only the entire space at Pallant House Gallery will host a fun, free and informal summer celebration of the vibrant talent of the Design Collective Chichester. Inspired by the Ivon Hitchens exhibition, favourite destinations in and around the city have been interpreted by individual members of the group and revealed in a unique set of more than 50 postcards, highlighting the charisma of Chichester and its flourishing creative community.

We are fortunate to work regularly with the BCFA on projects for Design Insider, an online hub for all things interior for the commercial sector. For this project we were asked to create and develop an initiative for encouraging interaction and communication from the BCFA members and the wider interior design community.

The Method Touch: Members of creative communities thoroughly enjoy a good discussion so we decided to provoke conversation with “Have Your Say” a monthly question posed to the community, in keeping with a current design related topic featured on the Design Insider. Each month a new question was posted on the Design Insider website. To support this main activity, we encouraged BCFA members, interior designers and architects to participate in “Have Your Say” including prompts on social media using statement images, as well as targeting key PR agents to help raise awareness of the initiative.

Take a look at the questions we have asked so far

Personal Highlight: Hand in hand with design comes a natural curiosity, so of course we were keen to find out who would take part and discover their thoughts on the questions we posed. My favourite question to date has been, “Who are the revolutionary designers of the past 70 years?”

Our Director Alys, regularly contributes articles to Larson-Juhl’s 4 Walls magazine. Larson-Juhl UK are an innovative framing business, they’ve spent the past 40 years perfecting a stunning range of crafted frames and mouldings to suit all their customers needs. 4 Walls Magazine is their guide to the world of art and framing and they have over 30 issues.

The Method Touch:  Alys, using her furniture design background has written various trend reports for the magazine. She breaks down the key interior design movements, taking into consideration colour palettes as well as the finer details of each to provide advice on how these trends can be translated through framing.  For her first article covering the trends for 2018, Alys covered the  Art Deco, Natural and Maximalist trends that were prominent across hospitality, home and workplace settings. The 2019 trend piece focused on Yellow, Bauhaus and Sustainable Design. Her latest article, for the magazine, covers the relaunch of Heritage brands such as Race Furniture as well as the colour trend of Soft Green and the rise of Botanical as an interior trend.

Personal Highlight: It is a real pleasure to work on these articles, not only because of Alys’ own personal interest in the design industry but because of the freedom given to choose the trends that speak most to her.

UK based design consultants BroomeJenkins have a wealth of design experience and expertise, putting people and the way they live and work at the heart of their unique design methodology. Method Communications are engaged to increase awareness of BroomeJenkins in the contract furniture press, both in print and digital publications.

The Method Touch: BroomeJenkins’ designs encompass personality and the human touch and when scoping out press opportunities, we knew we needed something different.

We identify opportunities for knowledge based editorial as well lighthearted features which allows the team’s personality to shine through. We have secured coverage including a curated music playlist for OnOffice Magazine, a consultancy profile and feature in Mix Interiors Desert Island Desks series, as well as a Q&A interview for Design Insider. We have built ongoing relationships on behalf of our client with the industry press.

Personal Highlight: Working with a design consultancy with such passion and personality, and securing the perfect editorial opportunities to showcase the BroomeJenkins ethos, was immensely satisfying.

The Weald and Downald Living Museum is a collection of historic buildings that are brought to life in the beautiful setting of the South Downs. The museum is a popular family destination which attracts a wide demographic.  Here at Method Communications, we strive to engage with all of the Weald and Downland followers, making our posts and content friendly and relatable.

The Method Touch: December is a very busy time for Weald and Downland as they host a wide variety of special events over the festive period. These events included their extremely popular Christmas Market, Green Father Christmas and Tree Dressing. The challenge for Method Communications was to reach and inform the Weald and Downland audience about the many events without them feeling overwhelmed at the number of posts and volume of information. We did this by making our tone relaxed and approachable whilst remaining professional. We created a large number of specific imagery and graphics to create variation and encouraged audience interactivity.

Personal Highlight: Weald and Downland has an extremely active social media community who enjoy interacting with the museum across all of their social media platforms. We have enjoyed encouraging this engagement by inviting followers to share the museum’s hashtag, this has enabled us to share visitor content and respond quickly to comments building online conversations.

‘Alys is a professional. She is proactive and very responsive to our needs and has increased our engagement across our social channels in a short period of time. I have, and will continue to, recommend Method Communications to any business which values it’s social media communities.’ Emma Keen, Marketing Manager, Weald & Downland Living Museum