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Why we stopped numbering our collections

For years the catalogue was a list of numbers. Changing that was a small decision with a surprisingly large effect.

Ritzlane Workshop1 min read
Why we stopped numbering our collections

Why we stopped numbering our collections

Ritzlane collections are identified by name — Wicker, Corbett, Nordiq Forest, Zen Garden, Luxury Collection, Sunrise in Desert — rather than by catalogue number. Names carry the intent behind a design in a way a reference code cannot, and clients remember them, which numbers were never going to do.

A number tells you nothing

The old catalogue listed collection 4 and collection 7. Both were good designs. Nobody, including the workshop, could tell you which was which without checking.

A name carries the brief

Corbett was designed after a hotel asked for something that would survive a decade of guests. Zen Garden exists because a rooftop client in Ahmedabad wanted the skyline rather than the furniture. Sunrise in Desert was engineered around forty-five degrees of Gulf summer. The names carry those briefs; the numbers carried nothing.

It changed how clients talk to us

The clearest evidence came from architects. Enquiries stopped saying "the one on page 12" and started saying "something like Nordiq Forest but deeper" — which is a far more useful place to begin a conversation.

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