HIGH POINT, N.C. — Outdoor furnishings maker Edge34 will host Nicole Baxter, an international neuroaesthetics authority and NeuroDesign Academy faculty member, to its High Point Market showroom at 4 p.m. Oct. 17 for a talk on “Mapping the Nervous System of a Project.” The interactive workshop is designed to help designers better understand how they, their clients and their professional partners respond to challenges and stressful situations throughout the design process.
Baxter will take the conversation from theory to practice, challenging participants to put pen to paper to map the “nervous system” of a project, identifying specific triggers and recognizing the signals that anxiety or reactivity may be building. From there, Baxter will explore practical strategies for interrupting those patterns before tension escalates, giving designers new tools for navigating challenging moments, strengthening relationships and moving projects toward greater ease, collaboration and, ultimately, a more beautiful outcome. Following the workshop, attendees will be able to spend time with Nicole during a Q&A session and informal cocktails.
“Nicole has an extraordinary way of connecting what we know intuitively about design and human experience with ideas we can actually put to work,” said Kimberly Spencer, co-founder of Edge34. “This workshop asks designers to look at the project itself almost as a living system — where pressure builds, how people respond and where a thoughtful intervention can completely change the experience. It is innovative, incredibly relevant and exactly the kind of conversation we want to make room for at Edge34.”
Throughout High Point Market, designers are invited to make the Edge34 Designer Lounge at 1700 W. Green Drive their home away from market crowds. Refreshments will be available throughout the day, with complimentary cocktails and light bites beginning at 4 p.m.
“As a year-round part of the High Point design community, we want our showroom to be more than somewhere people visit for product,” Spencer said. “Market is exhilarating, but it is also intense. The Designer Lounge gives people a place to slow the pace for a little while — to have a conversation, meet someone they’ve been trying to catch all day or just enjoy a drink and be still for a minute. We want Edge34 to feel like one of those places you’re always glad you stopped.”
