While this phrase of declaration carries a tone of fear, we embrace this phrase as one of our favorites! If we’re continually trying new things we’re in our happy place! Experience is over-rated, misunderstood. Experience doesn’t guarantee success. Experience just means you’ve done it before. The value of experience is in the individuals response to what they learned from “doing it before.” Experience provides a landing pad for discovery and improvement. 

We’ve completed and are approaching some “never done before” opportunities. Over the course of the coming year, we’ll be stepping into new projects in new spaces to continue the mission we’ve carried since 2016. We’ve always hoped to carry products in a storefront available for the community to purchase. From our own MDCO product lines made by our own designers to vendors whose products we’ve carefully selected, we’re preparing to make these items available in our new location at the Kennedy Art Center!

Marion is full of amazing art learning opportunities from Tashema’s painting classes at Echo Gallery to dance and various art classes at CSA and other studios throughout the city. Learning environments have become so fluid the past couple years. Marion Design Co. and the Kennedy Art Center hope to compliment opportunities in the city through workshops and educational opportunities not yet available. From interior design to graphic design to design thinking and even cooking, we are creating workshops that will benefit our community. If you have a skill you’ve always wanted to learn, please let us know what it is and we’ll explore the possibility of teaching a class on it.

Email us at hello@mariondesign.co with your idea!

We’re grateful for the relationships of individuals and organizations who have entrusted their stories to us. We’re beginning to collect those stories and share them on our website. Take a look at two of Grant County’s most influential organizations who continue to do good things in our community! From brand story telling to design thinking, Marion Health and the Community Foundation of Grant County share their experiences working with us!

Imagine sitting across the street at Ashley’s Ice Cream in Ridley tower peering into the Kennedy Art Center/Marion Design Co. Studio. In the far east window you can see several community members sitting at our 20’ long table redlining plans for the downtown park while a team of interns are creating the next design thinking session from the conference room seen through the next bank of windows. Near the alley, the glass garage door is partially raised to allow fresh air to move through the kitchen where the team is preparing for a cooking demonstration. This is a glimpse of what we imagine as we wait patiently for construction to be implemented. 

The ceiling’s been sprayed with insulating foam for acoustics. The main ductwork and HVAC units have been installed and are ready for the return air and fresh air branches. The conference room frame has been installed and the drywall is currently being hung. Next: electrical flooring, bathroom fixtures and cabinets, and the conference room glass walls.

While attending a conference a few weeks ago one of the speakers said nothing we can create will be an entirely new idea - there is always a bit of recreation or co-creation going on. We as designers - or anyone who thinks - is working with a conglomeration or mash-up of existent ideas or things that have been done. When complete, something new emerges, but it’s built on the back of ideas we may be familiar with. When we think about it, would we actually ever want an idea so original that it has no relation to anything we have ever done? I think not. We as humans are drawn and attracted to a sense of familiarity and need some handle of the known to step into the unknown. 

This idea plays into the way we direct conversations and inspire new ideas. We led a group of students this week in a design thinking strategy of object storming which allowed them to mash-up known objects to create a new and unknown solution. Their ideas were refreshing and inspiring - allowing us to see old problems in new ways and see them make connections they might not otherwise have made.

As we move into a new space, I am reminded of the various spaces we have been. I was telling a friend about the glass conference room wall that will be installed soon and their face lit up with excitement - “Just like the original Marion Design Co.!” I hadn’t thought of that similarity to our two small conference rooms down at 302 - but even there a glimpse of familiarity lies ahead in the unknown of inhabiting a new space.

• Peter Troutner, Chief Creative Officer & Creative Director

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