the Designer Pages blog

Over the past few months you’ve probably noticed some changes across DesignerPages.com (we’re particularly proud of our new Carpeting search platform!), but bigger and better updates are on the way. Early April brings the launch of DesignerPages.com 2.0, the first MAJOR update since our 2008 debut!

First and foremost, DesignerPages.com 2.0 promises more interaction among users. Basic DesignerPages.com users (FREE) will comprise a public community, complete with a News Feed to keep you up-to-speed on what’s cool in the design community and help kick-start your product discovery. Concurrently, Designer Pages Pro will launch in closed private beta for designer firms Gensler and FXFOWLE. DesignerPages Pro is a paid, firm-wide product management platform for design firms enabling co-workers to better collaborate on product search and specification. This Pro platform will open to additional firms in upcoming months, so stay tuned!

What do these changes mean for you? Workspaces will be replaced by a new feature, Projects, available to Designer Pages Pro users only. Accordingly, as of March 25 your existing Workspaces will no longer be accessible. We encourage you to print and/or archive any information you've previously saved into a Workspace. Need assistance? Contact help@designerpages.com. We promise we won't leave you hanging!

In DesignerPages.com 2.0, all users will be able to store their Favorite content for easy access. Check out our sneak peak below… along with insight into what you can do as a Basic User.

What you can do as a Basic User (Early April)

• Browse and Search all product information
• Request Product Information from Manufacturers, such as specifications and samples
• Mark your Favorites This is the content you want to be easily accessible whenever you’re logged into your DesignerPages.com account. Products, Brands, Categories and Projects – identify your favorites by simply starring them! *See visual of “My Favorites” page above
• Share Stuff You can share Products, Brands, and Categories with friends and colleagues. Just click the “Copy Link” button in the upper right, above the search bar, and paste it into an email, your live chat, etc. 

Users who currently have Workspaces will receive an email this week to make sure everything is in order before the big shift. More info on Designer Pages Pro will be posted in upcoming weeks!

Please share your feedback and concerns with us in the comments section below, via email (feedback@designerpages.com), Twitter!

Our sites will be down for scheduled maintenance tonight (Feb. 28th) starting at 10pm EST. The updates should last no more than 1 hour, at which point the sites will all be back up and running!  

Thank you for your patience.

Hello 2012. Good bye 2011, though you were a fabulous year! A lot of new engine parts under the hood, and I mean that quite literally. Beyond our new mobile property, Showrooms.com (apps for iPhone and Android), nearly all of DesignerPages.com has been reconstructed, that which you see, and more importantly, that which you don’t.

In this third year of development, we’ve had an opportunity to step away from the scale and maintenance responsibilities of the period we’ve labeled the “terrible twos” and return to our core promise: to re-invent the product and material search experience for the architecture and design industries.

Introducing Category-Specific Product Search

After much consideration and research, we realized we need to delve deeper: every category of product or material deserves “an inch wide and mile deep” approach. When a designer searches for toilets, lighting, or carpeting, the toolset per body of results needs to dynamically adapt to further facilitate information consumption and help the designer narrow in on just the right product or material.

It Starts with Carpeting

It’s with this philosophy that I’m proud to unveil our new carpeting search platform, which addresses the widespread challenge of identifying the right carpeting solution through a sophisticated search experience. Designers can easily select the brands whose products they want to see with an improved on/off mechanism, and can narrow results by color, pattern, type and soon even more technical facets such as fiber, density, backing, construction, pile height, etc. We’ll continue to revise and iterate until every designer agrees that searching for carpeting begins and ends at DesignerPages.com. That’s our vow!

What’s Next?

Once we’re comfortable with our triumph over carpeting, we won’t kick back and relax. Instead we’ll apply the same philosophy to the next category of product or material. While we’re strongly considering lighting and plumbing next, we welcome suggestions. Drop a comment below!

In 2012 we promise a higher quality product search experience all around. A very happy holiday season to our family and loyal supporters. We’re excited for our next chapter together!