http://www.textilesource.com

Textilesource.com is a comprehensive web site encompassing all areas of textile design and study. There are over 7,800 company listings encompassing the textile, fiber and yarn industries. It is set up in user friendly sections so that anyone can easily find what they are looking for, whether it be textile properties, new magazines, designers or industries, or if you are just curious to see what is happening in the textile world.

Textilesource.com has the standard "Hot Links" and recommended reading material to help you gain knowledge, but also has lots of information in their 12 helpful channels. The database allows you to search by products, yard and service, fiber type, keywords or location to find information for projects. The "What’s Hot" section is devoted to recognizing unknown textile designers and companies. This section also encourages submissions from independent artists. A "Trade Publications" channel also hooks you up with the newest periodicals relevant to the textile industry and provides links to their website.

This is a great resource to stay on top of trends because their information is constantly updated. The "Textile Trivia" is a fun channel that asks off-the- wall questions of certain textile properties with surprising answers. Lastly, the "Message Board" lets people in the industry or textile aficionados to exchange information, job leads, and tips. This is a helpful site and is very current with the information it provides. Probably its most outstanding feature is the concise information that is delivered in a straightforward format. Textilesource.com is a web site well worth logging on to!

Reviewed by R & RC Staff Member ° Marytza Rubio ° O.C.

This magazine, which premiered July 2002, is a feast for the eyes. It combines two venerable publications, Store Planning and Design Review and Views and Reviews into one brand new magazine featuring remarkable photography and top designers. When I first saw an issue of this magazine, I thought it looked remarkably like a Martin Pegler book. Martin Pegler edited a number of books including the Stores series (Stores of the Year, Store Windows) and in checking out this magazine, you find that Mr. Pegler does indeed have a major hand in this publication as well. Each issue is like a smaller version of one of his books, and features articles, and of course beautiful photographs of store designs, exhibit designs, showroom designs, window presentations, visual merchandising, as well as reviews of recent trade shows.

In every issue you will also find an interview with a featured designer and their responses to questions posed by the magazine regarding the putting together of their presentations. In a recent interview, Christine Belich of Sony Style, a high-tech electronics store, gave insights into her inspiration, visual tricks she used, and what exactly goes into doing a store window. Coupled with the vibrant photographs of the displays, the interview comes alive and allows the reader to choose from a variety of ideas.

My favorite section of the magazine is the monthly "Behind the Scenes" which highlights a project, and gives you inside information on the goings on of a particular display or the launching of a new design. A recent issue featured the prize-winning interior design of a McDonalds unlike any you have seen before. This franchise, which opened in a 1904 New York building, used the 17,000 square foot area to create a showplace that is Broadway inspired yet does justice to the building’s roots.
Always entertaining and informative, enjoy this feast that is the new Retail Design and Visual Presentation!

Reviewed by R & RC Staff Members Melissa Thorne and Marytza Rubio – O.C.

If you are a gardening enthusiast, Breaking Ground is a marvelous book that is sure to inspire you. Even the weekend gardener will find this book informative and worthwhile. Featured within are ten American and European Designers, each giving a wealth of detail and vision as they describe each garden project they undertook. I really enjoyed all the bold and beautiful photographs that literally fill page after page of this exquisite book.

Breaking Ground Examines Gardens From Such Unique Regions As:

Provence, France
Northern Maine
Southern California
New York City
Phoenix, Arizona

An underlying theme of this book, repeated by the designers over and over is that it is possible to design a garden in a manner that is environmentally friendly as well as creative. An unusual and practical feature of the book is the afterward by Page Dickey in which she describes how she is applying what she has learned from each designer to her own garden in New York State. This would be a useful book to choose for all nature lovers. I am giving two thumbs up to Breaking Ground!

Reviewed by R & RC Staff Member – Delois de la Peña