“We are thrilled to present for the first time in USA through the Accent on Design A+”, Marie-Pier Guilmain and Maud Beauchamp
Noblivity Spotlights Emerging Designers Marie-Pier Guilmain and Maud Beauchamp
Designers: Marie-Pier Guilmain and Maud Beauchamp
Company: Loyal Luxe
Designer Background Summary: Industrial designers who graduated from the University of Montreal’s Faculté de l’Amenagement
How did you get started?
After university we wanted to create something together. At that time we didn’t know what, but we definitely had a craving to create and manage our own products. In 2008 in Mont-St-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada, our trade mark, Loyal Luxe, was born from the idea that products for pets should be different. We believe that our animal friends and their owners should have access to products with a more sophisticated and modern design.
What inspires your designs?
Our company wants a fresh and modern approach to products intended for our four legs friends. In order to do this, we develop products in line with the present needs of customers who are concerned not only with the health and the well-being of their pets, but also with new trends in terms of design and sustainability.
To achieve this, we put all our focus on a contemporary and specific approach based on our expertise and creativity. As life-long lovers of animals, we intend to rethink the aesthetic and practical aspects of products made for living creatures — either with fur or feathers — with which share our lives. Inspired by the behavior of our own cats, we went ahead in this entrepreneurship journey with enthusiasm and fervor.
How would you describe your design style, design signatures and who is your targeted customer?
Our very first product, which distinguishes itself through its innovative design and its humoristic theme, was inspired by the Canadian-style chalets and their associated symbolism; it has already made its way all across Canada and got a pretty good response from both the media and consumers. We are now thrilled to present it for the first time in USA through the Accent on Design A+: the young designers’ platform of the New-York International Gift Fair.
What obstacles did you have to overcome?
Being designers and entrepreneurs in the same time is not always easy; we have to wear a lot of hats every day and to learn to be good in a wide range of disciplinary. From finance to maintenance, everything had to be covered by ourselves. We do all this with a small budget which also means we have to calculate every move.
How did you overcome them? We try to be resourceful and take every relevant class we can find to help improve our managing skills.
What has been your greatest moment on your journey so far?
We can tell that one of the best moments is when we realized that our small business makes enough noise to appear on TV and in Newspapers. It’s also always a nice moment when someone calls your head office just to tell us that he likes what we do and that it changed their pet’s live.
If money were no object what would you do right now?
We would definitely run the same kind of design business but probably with more products coming out and a bigger team surrounding us. We would travel more around the world in search for more inspiration, and we might also do some projects in collaboration with other designers and organizations.
What are the best and worst things about being a designer?
The best thing is you have the freedom to create and hopefully improve the material world. The worse is often, when you try to change the way things are, people tend to look at you like you are the “crazy ones” and are not necessarily open to changes. But when you think about it, being seen as the “crazy ones” can also be pleasant sometimes!
Describe your typical day? There is no typical day.
What’s your philosophy of life? Inspire and Expire.
If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently? Nothing. We like to think that we have learned from our mistakes.
When will you know you have made it? This is really hard to say… Never I guess! Craving for new projects will always be there.
