Thank you for learning more about Design Mart. You'll find some recent information about an industry class we recently welcomed, as well as general company info (below). Please email or call us if you'd like to know more.
News From Design Mart:
Design Mart Welcomes Latest EGA Class
(Left) Mike shows an example of a Maltese Cross used in a CSA plaque, and discusses the modern use of this symbol of protection in fire department emblems. (Right) the group learns about different dating systems used for some Jewish monuments and another type of dating used on some Masonic monuments, as shown here.
(Left) The group learns about symbolism and sales strategy, and then watches as a monument is designed using DMart's Online Monument Designer (Right).
The Elberton Granite Association recently hosted a seminar for more than 20 monument retailers from across the US, according to Bill Hood of the EGA.
“We conduct many of the seminar sessions in our classroom space at the EGA,” Bill said. “But it is very important that the students branch out and see how our members work for them.”
This year Design Mart was asked to present a class on memorial symbolism and how symbolism can be used to create and sell unique and meaningful memorials, according to Mike Fernandez of Design Mart.
“We covered some basic sales strategies, and used our Legacies In Stone book,” Mike said. “This is a book we wrote several years ago, and it has been a valuable symbolism guide and sales tool for many monument companies, cemeteries, and funeral homes.”
By using Legacies In Stone, students in the class learned that there are many options, beyond basic roses, that can be used in monument design.
“It was rewarding to see them discover new symbols to use in sales and design,” Mike said. “Symbols are not new to the monument business, but most of the students had not been exposed to many basic carvings and their symbolic meaning – such as wheat, grapes, dogwood, acanthus, ivy and others.”
The visit to Design Mart ended with a demonstration of Design Mart's new Online Monument Designer, and participants saw a demonstration of how easy it is to create unique designs using some of the symbolism they had just learned.
After lunch the class reconvened at Elberton's historic Elmhurst Cemetery where Mike took the group on a tour that looked at some older monuments and symbols that were used to create unique and personal messages about the faith, family and professions of some of the founding fathers of Elberton, Georgia.
For more information on Legacies In Stone please visit www.designmart.com/site/sales, and scroll down to Legacies In Stone. Books are $34.95 plus $8.79 s&h and may be ordered online at www.designmart.com/site/order-form For more information on browsing monuments in the Online Catalog or designing monuments with the Online Monument Designer please visit www.designmart.com/site/onlinecatalog . You can also call 800-736-7455 or email d-mart@designmart.com to receive a user name and password for a free trial.
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Welcome to Design Mart
When Design Mart opened in 1968 the industry still relied heavily on glossy design prints. As sales strategies changed, Design Mart saw a need for brochures to generate interest for monument companies - and matching sales books to close the sale.
As marketing continues to change, Design Mart has seen the need for CAD drawings and Online Monument Design capability as well as Online Monument Catalogs. If you've never tried our customized brochures, catalogs or online services we hope you'll contact us today for free samples, free demo CAD files, info and a free trial of our Online Monument Catalogs and Monument Designer. Visit us at www.designmart.com or give us a call at 800-736-7455. We look forward to hearing from you.
Design Mart is located at 132 College Avenue, Elberton, Georgia, 30635.
You can reach us by phone at 706-283-6503 or 800-736-7455 or fax at 706-283-4986.
You can visit us on the web at www.designmart.com or email us at d-mart@designmart.com
We are members of several monument industry organizations: Elberton Granite Association, International Cremation, Cemetery and Funeral Association, and Monument Builders of North America.
Design Mart was started by Joe Fernandez in 1968, and it was purchased by Mike Fernandez in 1995.
uneral We have an extensive collection of monument designs dating back to the early 1900s. These designs include various McNeel, Coggins and Comolli books as well as the entire Memorial Design Studio collection, create by the late Andy Dude, which was purchased by Design Mart in the late 90s.
Our new offices were built in 1999 when Highways 17 and 72 were widened and required our three old houses to be moved. We often host classes and instructional CAD seminars, and we have a large viewing area for all of our sales brochures, catalogs and software.