The Carrot Concept
Our Story
In 2007, with foreign investment from the United States, El Salvador launched Contempo, its first national furniture exhibition and design competition. Its purpose was to promote Salvadoran designers at a global level, with the intent of providing both exposure and business opportunities for local designers, products and producers. Product designers from El Salvador have since participated in the annual Contempo program, which is sponsored by Salvadoran business leaders and the American furniture company Bernhardt Design. After several years, it became apparent that more needed to be done to help El Salvador’s nascent design industry prosper, by creating self-sustaining opportunities for local designers and producers.
In 2012, a group of Salvadoran and Latin American architectural practices came together with graphic, furniture, textile, and interior designers to form a solution. The problems identified were: (a) the lack of both local and international business opportunities to support El Salvador’s growing design community; and (b) the need for a physical space to exhibit designer’s work and maintain the creative momentum generated by Contempo. The idea was simple: to succeed in the global market it was essential that we join forces and work together. By sharing ideas and pooling resources, we could create the critical mass needed for El Salvador to compete in the international market and establish a stronger local design and production community. Also, the creation of a physical presence or ‘home for design’ was crucial to fostering creativity as the ‘face of design’ in El Salvador. Thus, The Carrot Concept was born.
Who We Are
We believe in the potential of sharing our work and ideas, as it improves our professional skills and provides an opportunity to learn, collaborate and develop world-class work
The creators envisioned a space in which design objects, work and leisure could complement each other. The Carrot Concept is a physical space that serves as a common home for art and design. It is a place for designers to share ideas and trends and a venue for visitors to relax, explore the design process and purchase Salvadoran products. The Carrot Concept promotes new ideas in product design, interiors, art and the environment. The process drives creation and production practices that generate commercial products available to consumers. This concept has a clear objective: to transform Salvadoran design into a disciplined and systematic method for value is enhanced and production time can be reduced. The objective is also to expand and elevate local manufacturing by involving producers in the design process. Our goal is to bring design into the lives of the public through education, work and social interaction. The central area in the space is a shop in which a selection of design objects, lighting, furniture, paintings and other works of art are exhibited and available for purchase. The Carrot Concept also houses two architecture studios, a graphic design/illustration studio, a textile and stamping workshop and an organic food store that develops and sells nutritious local products. This “gathering of imaginative minds” can help innovative design ideas flourish in El Salvador, and welcomes all designers, artists and the public to find their own creative space within its walls. To this end, The Carrot Concept needs people like you, whether you are a designer, teacher or accountant to help shape, support and further promote design concepts born out of El Salvador.
