Sometimes when you know, you know. This was the case for Stephen Patrick, owner of Stephen Patrick Design, an interior design firm in San Luis Obispo. As a kid, Stephen possessed "the eye for design." Growing up, he would rearrange the interior of his own home, realizing the impact that interior design has on aesthetics. Stephen went on to study and pursue a career in interior design, helping people "feel comfortable in their homes." My childhood escapades didn't come to fruition for me like Stephen's did. I guess being the greatest NBA player of all time wasn't in the cards for little ol' me. If it wasn't for that damned sprained ankle I suffered in high school, things might look a little different. Fast forward to today, where I found myself walking into Stephen Patrick Design (the firm) for my 6th consultation – not quite the same feeling as entering a packed arena to MVP chants, but hey. Instead of lacing 'em up, I got to meet with Sawyer! Sawyer works for Stephen, assisting in design.
I started the session by introducing Sawyer to Claude – I explained how Claude would partake in the discovery process with us. First, I learned that the firm focuses mostly on high-end residential projects, but not entirely, occasionally designing venues and other large gatherings. The firm works on some of the nicest homes in the area (Shell Beach, Pismo Beach, Cayucos, etc.). The firm's projects include everything from furniture selection to entire remodels. Here are some of the day to day tasks that make these projects possible: managing orders, taking measurements, color theory, coordinating with contractors, and lots of communication with customers. This led me to ask about how the firm markets their services: "We lack real marketing presence, but Stephen does really well with word-of-mouth." Last night, I did some research and created some prompts that I thought might be useful. Based on just the first five minutes of discovery, I could tell that a lot of the prompts that I created would prove useful.
Sawyer explained that the firm recently completed a large project that took place at The Madonna Expo Center, designing the venue for the SLO Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner. Because they work on so many great, singular projects, I felt that the firm was unique in that these projects could lend themselves to such great stories. Stories that should be marketed, promoted, and shared with others! We began by feeding Claude the specifics of what went into designing the Madonna Expo Center: "We did the drapery, lighting, flower arrangement, and table setting for the entire expo center. This was a 600 person dinner that lasted 3 hours." We then created a newsletter around this. We prompted Claude by asking it to focus specifically on storytelling. The result was a concise and compelling newsletter that took seconds to create which could be accompanied by photography of their work. Currently, the firm showcases their work through flyers (which are attached at the bottom of this page) that are sent to clients and can be found at his store. We also prompted Claude to create social media postings based on this project. Claude suggested several compelling ways to tell the story - from showcasing the transformation of the Expo Center, to highlighting intimate design details that brought the space to life. Each suggestion focused on engaging potential clients through visual storytelling, something that could elevate the firm's current marketing approach beyond traditional printed flyers.
Something that continues to get significantly better in the world of AI is text to image generation. The best tool here is Midjourney. Just by giving Midjourney a few sentences describing the image you want to create, it can generate photos so realistic that they're nearly indistinguishable from real ones. This tool seemed particularly valuable for an interior design firm. It could help designers visualize concepts and spark creative ideas before implementing them in real spaces. To demonstrate this tool, I attempted to recreate the fully decked out Madonna Expo Center. What we received was a photo that was almost identical to the real thing. At this time, Stephen was busy putting out fires, but that didn't stop Sawyer from pulling him away: "You've gotta see this Stephen!" Stephen showed me printed out photos of the expo center and I will say, the resemblance was uncanny. After this, we spent some time thinking creatively with Midjourney, asking it to create images of sleek modern kitchens with waterfall islands, minimalist cabinet designs, and dramatic pendant lighting. Sawyer was particularly excited about the tool's potential – he plans to use Midjourney to help build a collection of designs that could serve as inspiration for future projects.
The firm doesn't currently have a website because it's not really urgent – the firm does very well. This has been a common theme so far when working with business owners. They spread themselves so thin running their businesses that non essential business functions like marketing can get left on the backburner. Prior to AI, there might have been no way to address the issue of not having enough bandwidth to cover all the bases. I explained to Stephen and Sawyer how by using Claude/any other LLM, a website could be created with no prior programming experience. This could serve as a portfolio that showcases the firm's work. The session ended with a discussion about how these tools could provide some immediate assistance to the firm. Stephen was open to the idea of working together in the future, focusing mainly on creating a website for his business. Stephen also serves as the President of Downtown SLO, a nonprofit organization with the mission of "fostering an economically vibrant downtown." I was glad to have met with someone who cares deeply about the local community. Despite his packed schedule, Stephen graciously made time for our meeting. I hope that this can be the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for Stephen Patrick Design!