WAS THE NEWSLETTER #52

I’m Paige Wassel. WAS the Newsletter is your weekly dose of design inspiration, where great friendships make the best pillows.

A TALE OF TWO BESTIES

In anticipation of the next WAS pillow launch on 12/8, today let’s walk through what it takes to make the drop successful.

Over the past few years, I’ve launched a few products for WAS. Some of them were solo launches and some were collabs with other local artists. All of these have been amazing, but I have to say the launches with Kate are my favorite. We’ve always worked so well together because our styles mesh really nicely.

Kate and I met in the dorms at our freshman year at Michigan State. She’s a fantastic collaborator because while we creatively align, it’s not so on-the-nose that we don’t have differences. Whether it’s an interior design project or creating home decor, we see one another’s vision because we’re both prop stylists and production designers. I feel like together we produce our best work because we’re always bouncing ideas off each other. She’s the Wozniak to my Jobs, the Gayle to my Oprah (or vice versa).

Bottom line, it’s just more fun to work with her. The bonus is, we always have a good outcome and you can shop that outcome on 12/8.

ROUND 1

Not going to lie, we were a lil’ clueless the first time we collaborated on the initial pillow drop. We had to figure out everything as we went along. I sort of love that we didn’t know everything that would go into launching a product, so we never got overwhelmed; we just learned it on the fly.

We had to source the fabric, design the product, determine the details like piping and insert material and fabric content, plus come up with pattern specs to give to the manufacturer, who we also had to find. Once we found them, we ended up going back and forth with them on the design. There was a lot of trial and error. A lot.

I had to build a website from scratch and figure out the shipping logistics, which entailed sourcing and designing packaging. Every little decision and detail led to another decision and more details, culminating in a garage office packed to the gills with pillows.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, because there was a lot more to do before we could stuff them in those yellow WAS-branded mailers.

We had to figure out the photo shoots. Where would we go? What would we use for backdrops? How would we light everything? TFG we have the background that we do, or we’d have been lost on how to make the product look good. I mean, you can have the best pillows in the world, but if you don’t present them well, you’re stuck with a garage full of pillows.

My long-time client Joybird was a godsend. They let us use their studio on the weekend. I hired a good friend of mine, Julien, for photography and he did the shoot in exchange for some product. We legit had no budget. (We no longer pay in pillows, FYI.)

The first go was a massive learning experience and it helped us figure out timing for future shoots. We learned that we needed the walls to be easily de-constructable, so we leaned into using carpets and drapes. The first time provided us a map of how to do it again, bigger and even better.

ROUND 2

This time around, we were back at Joybird and they were kind enough to let us store some product there. We weren’t total novices; we had a better sense of what to do and what we wanted. While keeping a similar vibe to the first shoot, we wanted to mix up the walls. Among other backdrops, we spray-painted some blinds… which we did not love, yet we were still elated over the end product (whew).

We rented chairs from a prop house, as well as using some of mine. Again, this is where we’re lucky to have the background we do, so we knew where to source the chairs. We also changed up the background with walls from a place in LA called Recycled Sets. What’s cool is you can get old walls from movie sets or other photo shoots, so you can really pick and choose to set the mood you want.

We learned a lot from the first run and incorporated those changes into the second time. Again, we were stoked for the results. Obvi.

ROUND 3

We tried something different for the third drop, now having more experience and some actual budget. This time, we rented this cool little motel that already had freestanding walls and carpet, so we didn’t have to bring in as much, which was a plus. We figured we’d save a ton of time not having to construct and reconstruct sets.

The minus to this plan was that Julien, our photographer, had to relight every space, so this wasn’t the great time-saver that we’d anticipated. Hey, it’s a work in progress. But we added bolster pillows, bed pillow covers, and a mini-pillow and those were a huge hit, especially since we offered some fringed options. You can’t be unhappy with fringe. Fact.

ROUND 4

They say the third time’s a charm, but that’s not true. In this case, the fourth time will be the charm. For this shoot, we’re bringing in my friend Yaro to actually production design the shoot and going back to having sets.

For #4, everything’s coming together because we not only have the budget, but we also have the benefits of more time and better experience. We’re really balling out this time. We’ve got cool carpet and we rented a bunch of gorgeous chairs from another prop house. That shoot is coming up and we’re really excited for those images. It will be our best yet, bet. We found new places to get fabric and we’ve streamlined our processes. Plus, we’ve added new styles. There’s a long lumbar pillow in the mix and we’ve played with different types of piping. It’s all going to be a lot of fun!

As for Kate and me, I can’t say we’re becoming pillow moguls… but I can’t say we’re not. What really shines through in the design and the images is how cohesive she and I are as a team. I love being able to collaborate with not only my best friend, but also the person who has the best taste.

Seriously, everyone wins in this scenario.

P.S.—Stay tuned for next week where we give you a sneak peek of Round 4, as well as behind-the-scenes images from the photoshoot and process of creating our next pillow launch!

KATE’S PAINT COLOR OF THE WEEK

Benjamin Moore: Rusty Nail

Finish: Any

Room Light Level: Mid to Low

Check out Kate’s paint consultation business here!

xx,
P