Interview with Christopher Winn, Art Director, Pottery Barn

At Pottery Barn, we’re committed to sharing great design and quality at an exceptional value. We aim to help people create living spaces that are casual and comfortable – rooms that truly reflect their personal style. The tastemakers behind the scenes are dedicated to and passionate about curating a true home experience. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with one of Pottery Barn’s art directors, Christopher Winn, who talks about the work that goes into the catalog, inspiration for creating spaces and tips for creating a stylish summer living experience at home.
 
DM (Designer Marketplace): Tell us about the role of a Pottery Barn art director.

CW (Christopher Winn): Like an interior designer, our job is to provide solutions and to inspire. We imagine and transform a room on a daily basis. The inspiration for our catalog spreads comes from many different places – sometimes a space is developed based on one of our tear sheets.
 
DM: What goes into planning the look and feel of the rooms for Pottery Barn?

CW: Because we shoot far in advance (often six months out), we’re always working at opposite times of the year. We photograph Christmas during the summer months and summer during the winter months. Thinking about the seasons while out of season is both a challenge and an opportunity. It requires us to really examine the lifestyle activities of the season to try and capture them. How does a winter room differ from a summer room? What are the activities that a family would be up to in this room, and how does it vary seasonally? For us, we get to juxtapose a location with the product to make it feel more seasonally relevant. For example, for summer we can shoot all-white furniture in an all-white room and then reverse this for Fall/Winter, using darker walls to convey a cozy, more interior feeling for a fall room.

DM: Pottery Barn is known for their thoughtful approach to the real needs of their customers, creating affordable, long-lasting, beautifully designed pieces. But it seems to go beyond those tangibles – the furniture, textiles and accents really seem to improve quality of life on a daily basis. How do you convey that intangible feeling through photography?

CW: Our customers and their lifestyles always evolve the brand’s style expression. For summer, Pottery Barn explores how to increase living space by maximizing outdoor spaces. Whether you have a patio, a porch or a stoop, taking advantage of living outside is a way of living better, right at home. As mentioned the other week in the Featured Product Summer Picks, this season is all about color and pattern in textiles. Adding pillows to change up your space is not only any easy and affordable way to give a room a facelift – it actually improves your general outlook. Many of our pillows are made from Sunbrella, which adds to their longevity, keeping your outdoor spaces just as they should be: easy to maintain, stylish and fun!
 
DM: We’d love for you to share your favorite summer design tips with our designer readers.

CW:

• Layer a room for visual interest. Consider items like rugs that help define one space from another and have a practical application as well. On the dining table, layer seagrass chargers under basic white plates.
• Integrate elements from nature – the garden or the ocean – throughout the house. Mix shells, sand or rocks inside lanterns. Combine natural elements with silver for a fresh interpretation of a traditional fabrication.
• Baskets are a great storage solution for families on the go. They go from house to car to BBQ simply and stylishly.

 
(Thanks, Christopher!)
 
Want to read more summer picks from Williams-Sonoma, Inc? Click here to check out our featured picks for summer from all of our brands. Interested in joining the Designer Trade Program? Click here for full details and information. We’ll see you next week when for more love from the Designer Marketplace.