2 INTERVIEWS
From page 1...
A furniture product has got to be beautiful and comfortable. - David Fox
After that I caught up with Connection in Milan
and, perhaps they realised I could be a good designer
because from then on they kept commissioning seating work, making me so busy I didn’t have time to
concentrate on other brands, which is how we grew
the Connection portfolio.
Does designing furniture now give you the same
kick as your former spray-painting
activities must have done earlier in your life?
Yes, it’s still exciting and I still enjoy it. I’d never
change my life for the world. You get a hit out of seeing your stuff produced but an even bigger hit from
seeing a wider audience buy a product I’ve designed
and subsequent commercial success for the client.
Helping a client to grow and adding value to their
brands by successful product design is very
rewarding.
We are adding new products to our website all
the time, but of the current crop of furniture
designed by you that features which is your
favourite and why?
There isn’t one that I like more than any other.
They all serve a purpose, appeal to a different
customer and are suited to a manufacturer’s requirements. I’m hypercritical of my own work
and there is always a minor modification that
you feel you might have made better given more
time. You think ‘no one would really notice’ but
in reality development could go on infinitely.
Maybe I should find a cure for my OCD!
You’re a lover of motorcycles. If you could
ride anywhere in the world right now where
would you pick and why?
I discovered that one of your designs used to be called
“Magic Mushroom Stool”, which we as sume was not experimentally-inspired?
We used to race motorcycles but I’d like to
ride through India on a Royal Enfield.
[David laughs] It was a magic design and it was based on a
mushroom... When we did the mail shot to prospective clients I initially got banned! I was blacklisted by Google! We
had to shorten it to “Magic” very quickly. It would have been
a great name from a marketing perspective though!
How do you come up with the names for your
designs? Kruze is particularly eye-catching.
What, if anything, did you design in your final year at
Teesside University?
The final pieces were: a self replenishing bar fridge which
dealt with the problem of stock rotation [Edit: my favourite
answer so far!]. It was a 3 drawer system; the bottle would
be placed at the back of the fridge and it would roll to the
front. It was always full and the beer was always cold!
Surely that would be a commercial success in itself
wouldn’t it?
Picture courtesy of Bob Michal (not David’s work).
Do the manufacturers you work with give you full
licence and creative autonomy with your designs
or do you work closely to their brief?
Well, it was a novelty concept but it was a bit expensive. The
other piece was an injection moulded modern day shopping trolley, which was a bit trendy, produced in plastic and
snakeskin. A modern interpretation of a Grandma`s shopping trolley if you like.
It’s a bit of both but most of the designs we’ve created first and then approached prospective clients
to take them on. All of the pieces that have made
an impact have been self created and then offered
to the market: Korus, Kruze, Magic – all of these
concepts were created in this way.
You’ve got to tick every box. A furniture product has got to be beautiful and comfortable. It’s
got to serve a purpose and to hit a price point if
there is one. You’ve got to understand the needs of
the customer; there’s no point in producing something that won’t sell. There’s a great understanding
in the client brief of where they are in the design
game.
THE
Finally, where do you see furniture design heading in the
next few years?
Kruze Chairs were rejected by manufacturers - now a
success story. Kruze Bar Stool and Kruze Tables also
available.
At the time a company did a product made
of plywood that was used on a cruise ship. So
it was the first thing that came to mind. I’ve
got an affinity with the letter “K” if you hadn’t
noticed! I think it’s powerful with the sound
it produces.
WEATHER
Heatwaves and mirages
aplenty this month...
What I’d personally like to see is a re-emergence of designing beautiful products that have functioned for years and
will continue to do so. Specifically, the traditional armchair
with a back; there is still a lot of scope in this sector and I
never tire of doing them.
There’s a lot of high back collaborative seating out there
which is a popular trend at the moment, but I’m I loner, so
I prefer isolated tranquil spaces to work or fiddle with those
handheld windows to the world.
cute as a button