Design Thinking: Maison Plage

(Image courtesy of Maison Plage)

In Graduate School, one of the buzzwords professors love to discuss is "Design Thinking." Design Thinking is an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding (Dam and Siang). Design Thinking enables a company to understand consumer needs to serve their audience better. For this project, I contacted different companies to learn how the organizations apply Design Thinking into their market offerings. I had the opportunity to talk with Samantha C. to learn more about Maison Plage.

(Image courtesy of Maison Plage)

1. What makes Maison Plage different from other brands on the market?

Maison Plage is an ode to the meeting of unlikely things—images, artifacts, artworks, ideas—and to the transportive possibilities revealed when they’re collaged. We are a women owned brand that helps those escape and dream. Maison Plage stretches beyond the typical book store by offering rare, out-of-print and new coffee table books, along with custom book stacks curated to your personal aesthetic and interests. We also consult with private individuals, stores and brands, curating bespoke collections and reference libraries.

(Image courtesy of Maison Plage)

2. Where does Maison Plage draw inspiration from during the design process?

Culture, our travels, and of course books!

(Image courtesy of Maison Plage)

3. How does Maison Plage incorporate its mission and vision into its product offerings?

Our vision is to source and provide coffee table books from around the world that encourage escapism and inspiration when opened by our readers. Traveling wide to source books that fascinate, we hand-select titles that represent avante-garde visuals and stories within the art, fashion, design, travel and photography realm.

(Image courtesy of Maison Plage)

4. What is the future of the company?

In the future we see Maison Plage coming to life beyond the screen with plans to host local and abroad pop-up shops that physically invite you into our world. We are working to expand our services beyond book stack curation to creating personal libraries for individuals using our original sourcing process of rare, out-of-print and new titles.

(Image courtesy of Maison Plage)