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. Continue reading
Filed under London Design Festival 2012, 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.
Bad design is an inevitability, and and in one way designers should be thankful for it: for good design to be recognised as such, we need bad design.
But, for those of us who believe well-designed things make the world a slightly better place, encountering bad design can be painful.
What’s worse is when bad designs come back to haunt us. For example: weren’t NHS spectacles bad enough the first time?
We live in a risk-averse world. As time rolls belligerently onwards, less and less of the things we do and the decisions we make are risky. Playgrounds are safer; we have health insurance and smoke alarms.
This is mostly good news – where we sacrifice nothing, reducing risk is common sense. For example, few would argue that the addition of airbags and crumple zones to our cars has been a bad thing.
But risk has benefits, too. Doesn’t dating lose a frisson of excitement if we have found out everything there is to know about our date online beforehand? Would skydiving hold the same appeal if the sport wasn’t inherently dangerous? From marriage proposals to angel investments, the riskiest decisions are often the the most lucrative. They are also often the ones that change the world.
Over the years, companies have spent more and more money on market research, the so-called science of probing the hopes and dreams of the consumer through polling, panelling and psychological profiling. Their objective is the reduction of risk.
No doubt, the techniques have become more subtle over the years, but the success of market research – or ‘consumer insight’, as it is now more sexily known – is at best sporadic. A quote attributed probably apocryphally to Henry Ford illustrates the problem:
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
The point is this: consumer behaviour tomorrow cannot necessarily be inferred from consumer behaviour today, because people don’t know what they want.
Roger Mavity, CEO, Conran
At Conran, we think there are serious limits to what market research can do. In fact, to designers, market research present its own kind of risk, because the work of a committee seldom has the spark of the work of an individual. The product that is rigorously research-tested may well end up inoffensive to everyone, and brilliant to none.
Our CEO, Roger Mavity, spoke on this very topic at the Cheltenham Design Festival last month. Taking to the stage with Stephen Bayley, co-author of his bestselling book Life’s a Pitch, Roger gave a passionate defence of risk.
As John Steinbeck put it, “the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world”.
Emma Booty is the Creative Director of Conran Studio, our product and brand design team, and resident brand-building expert.
Last month, she spoke at the Interior Motives China conference in Beijing – a major gathering for the Chinese domestic car design industry.
Cutting through the petrol fumes with typical panache, Emma regaled a 350-strong audience with a story about coffee.
Bear with her…
“…un piccolo momento di piacere” – in drab English, a small moment of pleasure.
As designers, we’re interested in transforming items of necessity into such moments.
But how?
Britons, on average, spend £3 a day on takeaway coffee.
£3 a day makes a £5 billion business, and a greater household expense than the gas bill.
Until 1994, the coffee shop market was relatively immature – the baristas wore baseball caps, and served lacklustre pints of weak, sweet, American-style coffee. Did you know that the French call American coffee jus des chausetttes – literally, ‘sock juice’?
Then something changed. There was an infusion of Antipodean personality into the British (and especially the London) coffee scene. An infusion of social ease. The emphasis was no longer on the utility of a caffeine fix, but the luxury of a moment of pleasure.
Coffee shops started to say something about us: bright, confident, sexy, energetic. The market diversified – not just Italian-American, but Australian, British and Scandinavian. There was a new confidence in national personality.
With it came a natural increase in quality.
The American stalwarts took note of this shift – and tried to inject a little personality of their own.
What does this mean for the Chinese car market?
“…un piccolo momento di piacere” – a move away from necessity.
Cars are more than appliances, more than status symbols. They represent a way of living.
As the Chinese car market matures, cars will evolve from necessity to lifestyle choice.
How will China influence the rest of the world?
By infusing design with Chinese personality – with themes of economy, family values and respect.
Just as Australian social ease was an authentic fit for coffee shop culture, so these Chinese values fit plumb into the new, leaner automotive industry.
Following on from this morning’s post, we look at the key trends and the best stands in Milan.
Silas Swinstead, Franchise Manager, Conran Shop
Top three installations/stands
1. La Cura by Studio Toogood
La Cura by Studio Toogood at MOST lingers most in my mind. The installation was an enjoyable and memorable sensory experience – plus it was a genuine pleasure to be put in touch with my personal creativity again, even if only for 20 minutes! Faye Toogood’s spade chair was my favourite piece of furniture at the show: beauty in simplicity and remarkably comfortable.
Spade chair by Faye Toogood
2. COS popup shop
The COS foldaway popup shop at Ventura Lambrate was beautiful in its simplicity and utility. It emphasised how the Scandinavian aesthetic remains at the heart of the modern concept of ‘good living’.
3. Tom Dixon’s Stamp Lamp production facility
I know Alice has already picked one of Tom Dixon’s lamps, but I’m afraid my heart was stolen by another. The Stamp Lamp is a metallic ‘snowflake’ which can be bent into a three-dimensional – and quite beautiful – lampshade.
Tom set up an on-site production facility for the lamps – they are created by the metal-stamping machines used in car factories. The steam locomotives decorating the space added plenty of drama!
Here’s a video of the stamping machine:
P.S. I also have to point my guilty pleasure: Lee Broom’s crystal bulb. It’s an ingenious evolution of his Decanter Lights into a usable, replaceable standalone fitting. Well done Lee!
Jared Mankelow, Senior Product Designer, Conran Studio
Top three changes in product design
1. Process
Companies like Kartel and Zanotta strongly featured process – sketches, models, prototypes – as well as finished products. . This is a great way to communicate what goes into developing a product – and perhaps sell more product on that basis.
What’s more, it keeps designers happy! We love to know the development process behind products we see, and we love getting such detailed credit for our own designs.
2&3. Junctions/connections and leg details
This is about high-end manufacturers showing off the build quality of their work – and thereby justifying their price tags. There was a sharp focus on how different materials butt up against each other and the mechanical fixings and structure behind furniture.
A lot more of the key elements to products are being exposed and manufacturers are finally starting to embrace this. Forms are flush, robust and sturdy with the visual language starting to affect how products look.
Paul Middlemiss & Eleanor Davies, Buying Team, The Conran Shop
Top three big trends
1. Reimagined classics
A lot of the big names were exhibiting redesigns of classic pieces, like Charlotte Perriand’s 50s shelves (by Cassina), Joe Colombo’s 1965 chair, and Richard Scultz’s Petal table (from Kartell).
You could call it celebration of classic design, or lily-livered conservatism – though the pieces were too nice to complain too much.
2. Technology
Whether it was Domus’ The Future in the Making event (complete with canapes 3D-printed from Nutella), or the very placement of Tom Dixon’s MOST show in the Museum of Science and Technology, tech was just about everywhere in Milan.
Dixon punched furniture from sheet metal. Assa Ashuach demoed his Digital Forming software, we may or may not turn traditional product development on its head. Dominic Wilcox raced a 3D printer to make a model of the Duomo (he won, just). Not since the Industrial Revolution has such pride been taken in the manufacturing process itself.
3. Colour
Debate rages on as to whether orange or yellow is the colour of the year (we know what Pantone think), but one thing was clear at Milan: bright is alright.
So there you have it: Milan, via Conran. Anything we missed?
Shad Thames was a ghost street last week, as the more fortunate Conranners downed tools and jetted off to Lombardy for the 2012 Salone Internazionale del Mobile (aka the Milan Furniture Fair, or simply Milan Design Week).
To make sure they didn’t have too much fun, we set them some homework: to report back on their ‘top threes’ from Milan.
So, here goes: an esoteric tour of the best of Milan, in two installments, brought to you by Conran’s design and retail experts. First up, Conran & Company gave us their favourites.
Jill Webb, Brand Development Director, Conran & Company
Top three new designers/brands to watch
1. La Chance
La Chance is a new furniture and lighting company which debuted at MOST, Tom Dixon’s five-floor extravaganza in the National Museum of Science and Technology.
Jean-Baptiste Souletie and Louise Breguet, the designers behind the startup, say that La Chance “epitomises their vision of French design”. The people they’ve worked with, though, are defiantly global: 11 designers representing 7 countries.
The collection, Jekyll and Hyde, present two executions of each piece: an understated ‘Jekyll’ version in oiled wood, neutral tones and softly-brushed metal, and a Technicolor Hyde alternative.
French or not, it’s a playful and eye-catching collection – fortunately backed up by great design. Check out the Borghese sofa by Noé Duchaufour Lawrance, for example.
The sober Dr. Jekyll…
…and the eye-catching Mr. Hyde.
2. Objekten
Next up was Objekten, also over at MOST (definitely the place to be). “Powered by influential new media entrepreneurs and innovative designers” they may claim to be, but their designs were much better than their copy.
3. Y’a Pas Le Feu Au Lac
Y’a Pas Le Feu Au Lac – a French expression meaning ‘no need to rush’ – was born of a collaboration between Grégory and Marie Bodel and design house FX Balléry in 2011.
Their new collection consists of a range of small, simple, functional wooden objects. Each piece feels like it has been plucked straight out of a dolls house – and they are all uncommonly beautiful.
Alice Walsh, Designer, Conran & Company
Top three new product ranges
1. CAST 001 by Sally Makereth
Like most of Milan’s highlights, Sally Makareth’s CAST 001 collection was found at Tom Dixon’s MOST.
Sally is an award-winning British architect, and CAST 001 consists of a range very sculptural outdoor furniture.
The pieces are made of reconstructed stone with patinated metallic finishes, lending them an unusual, semi-reflective quality.
2. Tom Dixon’s lamps
As Steve Carrell puts it, ‘I love lamp’. Tom Dixon was master curator in Milan, and his own designs didn’t disappoint, either.
His Etch Web lampshade is a wonderful, geometrical thing made from digitally-etched, copper-anodised aluminium. It comprises 60 irregular pentagons which throw savage, spiky shadows in every direction.
3. 1616 by Stefan Scholten and Carole Baijings
Stefan Scholten and Carole Baijings teamed up to create my Milan highlight: 1616, a colourful range of tableware for Japanese brand Arita.
Clean, simple shapes let colour do the talking: great swathes of pastel and dashes of bright yellow and orange.
Lovely stuff.
The Conran Shop‘s beady-eyed buyers will be unpicking the big trends and the best stands in Part 2, later today.
More from our teams on their LDF 2011 travels. Alice Walsh from Conran & Company had a good run around! If you missed part 1 click here
Mind over Matter at Kemistry gallery on Charlotte Road in east London was one of my fave spots. The exhibition brings together a collection oforiginal material and notes from Alan Fletcher’s archive, documenting thirty or so years of attentive curiosity. A small space but I found myself there for a good hour perusing the sketches filling the walls. Definitely worth a look.
Another favourite was Continue reading
Filed under Conran and London, London Design Festival 2011
It’s all happening tonight at The Conran Shop Chelsea- where they’ll be unveiling a fab new layout and some wonderful new products for London Design Festival 2011
Join us for drinks and check out what’s new tonight from 6-9pm.
Click here to get your Design week E-INVITE
The team from Conran & Company took a quick break from working flat out on our new Conran branded range for M&S to take a look around last week’s shows and exhibitions at Clerkenwell Design Week.
A quick whirlwind tour of rainy Clerkenwell last Thursday saw us scampering from venue to venue sheltering from the rain. God bless the estate agents handing out free umbrellas…you can never be too clever with a marketing initiative….
It’s always great to see Russel Pinch’s beautifully and deceptively simple looking products in the flesh, as we did at The Farmiloe Building.
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