We are Conran, and we have a new blog…

‘What’s Going on at Conran?’ was launched in spring 2010 to show off everything we do at Conran, and what goes into it. Over time, it’s expanded to much more than that – a place for sharing our opinions as well as our work; for talking about our love of design, our favourite designers, galleries and places to eat.

To do justice to this, a new blog was needed, and we’re delighted to pull up the curtain on We are Conran. We hope you like it.

We’re on the lookout for guest contributors to the new blog – if you’re interested, or have any other feedback, let us know.

Finally: if you’re at a loose end tonight, do come down to The Conran Shop Marylebone from 5.30, where we’re celebrating our new Ten Green Bottles collection for Gordon, as well as our shiny new blog.

The Design Museum breaks new ground

“This is one of the best days of my long life.” So said Terence Conran at the ground breaking ceremony for the new home of the Design Museum at the Commonwealth Institute, Kensington.

The Museum’s leading lights – including Deyan Sudjic, the current Director, Terence, the founder, and John Pawson, the architect behind the Institute’s conversion – gathered to celebrate a new phase in the Museum’s history.

Benjamin Hubert and Natasha Daintry at The Conran Shop

Missed out on The Conran Shop’s RED design talks last week, or enjoyed them so much you’re hungry for more?

You’re in luck. Next Saturday, The Conran Shop will end its London Design Festival festivities with two further talks, from acclaimed furniture designer Benjamin Hubert and ceramicist Natasha Daintry, at 1.30pm and 3pm respectively. 

White goods no longer

Jared Mankelow, Senior Product Designer at Conran Studio, spent last week amongst the fridges and flatscreens at consumer electronics show IFA Berlin. He kindly offered to share his thoughts on where are homes are headed.

Gordon’s Q&A with Terence Conran

To celebrate the launch of our Ten Green Bottles collaboration, we went over to Diageo HQ for some lovely elderflower and strawberry G&Ts.

Here’s the Conran work in pride of place in Diageo’s reception:

The Ten Green Bottles artwork at Diageo HQ

Whilst we were there, Terence answered a few questions about his history, and the world of design in general.

Introducing…Ten Green Bottles

In 1962, a young Terence Conran took on one of his first independent design projects. The chairman of wine merchant Harveys of Bristol, George McWatters, asked Terence’s Conran Design Group to review their entire brand. The work encompassed the look of Harveys’ shops, off-licenses, bottles, packaging, vehicle liveries and offices. Conran even created one of the world’s earliest ‘brand books’ for Harveys.

Fifty years on, history is repeating itself.

RED designer talks at The Conran Shop

We spent this morning in a post-Olympics doldrums, wondering what on earth we are going to do with ourselves, and then remembered: London Design Festival kicks off this weekend!

At Conran, we’re pulling out all the stops to make it an enjoyable week. We’ve already mentioned The Conran Shop’s RED exhibition, and today, we have another reason for you to head to Chelsea.

D&D London’s big month

Caterer and Hotelkeeper has a big interview with Des Gunewardena and David Loewi, the men at the top of D&D London, in their latest issue.

The focus is firmly on South Place Hotel and the Old Bengal Warehouse, both of which open this month, and both of which feature the hard work of Conran’s interiors designers and branders.

Friday Tip: A little show in Mayfair

Today’s tip is for an exhibition opening next Tuesday at 54 The Gallery, Mayfair, and comes from Hannah Cowley, an architect at Conran and Partners’ Brighton office.

Seeing red

We’re delighted to announce RED, an exhibition The Conran Shop will be holding throughout the 2012 London Design Festival, which kicks off a week tomorrow.

A peek at The Conran Shop’s RED exhibition