When I started Design*Sponge back in 2004, I had no idea that city guides would become such a big part of what we published. DS City Guides (we have over 300 in our archives!) came about naturally as people asked for design recommendations. As we grew, these guides became another way for us to celebrate […]

When I started Design*Sponge back in 2004, I had no idea that city guides would become such a big part of what we published. DS City Guides (we have over 300 in our archives!) came about naturally as people asked for design recommendations. As we grew, these guides became another way for us to celebrate independent design and the businesses that we were featuring in the form of home tours or studio visits. But I had no idea how much they would teach me about the business of design and what it means to be a conscientious traveler. So I wanted to share some of what we’ve learned from these guides and how we hope you’ll consider using them while they’re still online (for at least the next 6 months).
It’s hard out there for brick-and-mortar shops: One of the toughest parts of maintaining these city guides was keeping up with how quickly indie businesses opened and, sadly, closed. It’s no secret that the web has affected in-person sales, and in some cases stores we’d posted about in guides were closing (or going online only) less than a week after we wrote about them. Every time we got an email about a link being outdated or a shop c...