Big Picture - November/December 2019 - 32

INTERIOR DÉCOR & TEXTILES

corporate
INSPIRATION
by Anya Rao

BIG PICTURE

November/December 2019

Susanne Andrey spends her days beautifying office interiors with digital print.

32

Susanne Andrey, director of inspiration at Infuse Ideas
(infuseideas.com), says her job is akin to a producer on a
movie set. "I put the team together to produce the project and
I manage the production," Andrey says. She walks her
commercial interiors clients through the design concept phase
for their workplace environment, she bids out what the
company needs from her trusted list of vendors, and she

manages the project through fabrication and installation. "I'm
a turnkey solution for branding, graphic identity, signage, and
decoration. Once the carpet is down and the walls are
painted, anything that goes on the interior I can handle, even
custom furniture or millwork," she adds.
Andrey's interiors projects frequently center around
wide-format digitally printed artwork, wallcoverings, and
graphics. She's not a fan of vinyl. "It belongs in sports
stadiums; I don't think it belongs in offices or restaurants," she
says. Instead, she prefers Monadnock Envi paper. For
wide-format printing, she often uses California-based Smart
Levels Media (smartlevels.com) and K & L Wide-Format
Digital Printing (knlprint.com).
With the growing trend toward creating appealing and
inspiring corporate interiors - especially in California where
tech companies are competing for employees with the likes of
Google and Facebook - Andrey's clients are often willing to
do a photoshoot specifically for the imagery that will grace
their walls. This type of customization and focus on the
artwork is a boon for Andrey, who started Infuse Ideas in 2008
when she moved to California from the East Coast, where she
previously owned a similar company serving tradeshow and
retail clients' graphics needs. "I find I can do more creative
things at the corporate level and we have better assets to work
with," she says. "In retail, they only need it for five months so
they would just take anything. But in architectural interiors,
they ask you to have more longevity and beauty and something that is more finished."
Andrey is no newcomer to the printing industry. She started
her career working for a small ad agency with a printing facility
and was immediately drawn to the wide-format projects. In the
1980s, when photographic processes were the only game in
town, Andrey convinced the photo printing company she
worked for to open a large-format facility in Boston. "I saw a
market for them in tradeshows," she says. Andrey worked for
them until the company was sold, which is when she struck out
on her own. She's been carving her own path ever since.
"My job is to go out and find the best resource for this
particular job. That makes me an advocate for the end user,"
she says. "I'm not a printer and I don't want to be. I sub
everything out and I feel every print shop has a different
strength, so I want to hire the right shop for the right job."
http://www.smartlevels.com http://www.knlprint.com http://www.infuseideas.com
Big Picture - November/December 2019

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