At this time of year, the UK brims with fresh young talent as designers leave the UK’s colleges and universities in their thousands with dreams of becoming the next Tom Dixon, Barber Osgerby or PearsonLloyd. Although it’s fair to say the office sector isn’t as well represented as other areas, onoffice has tracked down a selection of designers near the start of their careers to get their take on designs for the workplace. In Head to Head on page 75, we canvas academic and manufacturer opinion about the relationship between young designers and the world of workplace design
John Slater
John Slater graduated from Buckingham Chilterns University College with a BA in Contemporary Furniture Design and won last year’s BDC New Designer of the Year at Part Two of the New Designers event, praised by the judging panel for his well-rounded, rigorous and inventive approach. He was one of ten winners of the British Council’s annual student design competition and exhibited at its exhibition in Milan this year. He is 27 and based in north London.
Tell us a little bit about your work.
The Frank writing desk was a response to a brief we were set to take a traditional piece of furniture that had fallen out of popularity and look at the reasons why. I decided to focus on the idea of the traditional writing desk or bureau. It’s made from 12mm MDF with a paint finish to give a leather-like effect.
Why design for the workplace?
Today, it’s often about communicating via email and with Frank I wanted to try and develop a piece with the quality of a writing desk and bring that sense of occasion every time they use the piece, as they would with sitting down to write a letter. It’s designed as a place where people can work without any distraction. The light also folds down as I wanted to find a more contemporary way of having the opening and closing mechanism of a bureau. The FiftyFifty table, which is made in solid beech, was the result of another brief we worked on from Ercol about looking at a kitchen/dining area and how it is used more for office work at home now and so I developed storage for your laptop.
What are your aims for the future?
At the moment I work in Shin Azumi’s studio for three days a week and then with regards to developing my own products, I’m currently looking into working with a manufacturer.
Do you have any particular design gurus?
I particularly like what the Bouroullec brothers are doing and also the work of Konstantin Grcic.
Luke Jeffs
Twenty-three-year-old Luke Jeffs caught the attention of onoffice back in January, when the results of his MA in Furniture Design at BCUC were exhibited at Vitra’s London showroom. There he presented a stylish-looking smart workstation and storage unit in response to a brief devised in collaboration with office furniture manufacturer KI, researching issues related to today’s working environment, entitled Smart Office 2. Prior to embarking on his MA, he completed a BA in Furniture Design Craftsmanship, also at BCUC. He is currently based in Peterborough.
Tell us a little bit about your work.
The workstation offers an alternative solution to existing office desks with a raised platform for laptop computers, which ensures the computer screen is raised to an ergonomically correct working height that lowers the strain placed on the body and therefore helps to reduce unnecessary office injury. Buffalo leather was used on the desk surface, desk underside and storage units, with rubber inlays on the desk surface and storage unit compartments and birch plywood for the desk and storage unit construction. Every aspect of the desk and unit is designed to encourage movement and to promote the need to touch or feel the furniture. The upholstered surface and mixture of materials hopefully draws the user’s attention whilst offering a softer alternative to more traditional office furniture.
Why design for the workplace?
I actually didn’t consider designing for the office before the Smart Office 2 Project, but that really got me interested in that area of design. My final design offered possible solutions to the problems of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), Upper Limb Disorder (ULD) and Cumulative Trauma Disorder (CTD), which are often caused by badly designed office equipment, uncomfortable working without adequate breaks. The luxurious and curvaceous design is a direct result of research into office furniture and its environment and in particular the Wills Faber and Dumas Headquarters in Ipswich, designed by Sir Norman Foster.
What are your aims for the future?
I am forever designing and developing new products and pieces of furniture for the office sector and my immediate aims are to follow up the commissions I have for these pieces already as well as develop further ideas. I am also doing some work in the design department of a secondary school and am really enjoying working with younger designers there. I’m also considering progressing down the teaching route.
Do you have any particular design gurus?
I’m interested in the art versus design approach and follow the work of designers such as Marc Newson, Philippe Starck and Allen Jones. I also love the cleverness and playfulness of Shin and Tomoko Azumi and the witty elements of Alessi.
Gee-d
Gee-d is Jarod and Paul Griffiths, both 24, who graduated from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design in 2005 and were part of last year’s One Year On section of the New Designers show. They also exhibited the Ikon sofa, V table and Solo chair at the On the Cusp show in Shoreditch as part of the London Design Festival in 2006. Based in Stourbridge, West Midlands, the twins have collaborated on their designs for the Slot and Apt chairs with nearby manufacturer Sagal, which Gee-d is now continuing to evolve, along with a number of other pieces.
Tell us about your work.
We feel products for the contract market need to have functionality, subtle detailing and timeless style along with high-end, high-quality manufacturing, and that is also what Gee-d is all about. Most of the time, we get inspired from just bouncing ideas off each other – we discuss what we think is missing and where we feel there is a niche in the market. Each product will be approached in a different way, so you can be inspired by something completely random.
Why design for the workplace?
Many of our products are designed for the workplace because we enjoy creating products that have a function, and from university level we were always taught that a successfully designed product has to fit into a market area. We met Sagal at the Furniture West Midlands show after New Designers in 2005, and at the time some of our products from our portfolio fitted into what Sagal was doing, so we just approached them to see if they wanted to take anything on. We thought this was the best way to gain some much-needed “real world” experience.
What are your aims for the future?
We’re going to continue to develop our existing products and design new ones, working with several West Midlands and UK manufacturers in the process. We’re also going to start retailing more of our own products. Our main aim is to be successful in everything we do, though that’s easier said than done. We just want to be recognised for producing good design and high quality products and earning a decent living is also a plus.
Do you have any particular design gurus?
To be honest, it’s the up-and-coming designers we admire most. The people that are coming up with fresh ideas and looking at things from a new perspective. We also admire the classic work by Eames or Bertoia, and you’ve got to admire anyone that has been successful in what they have chosen to do.
