Tom Dixon and London Design Festival
12th October 2015
I have to admit the London Design Festival was quite exhausting but this was because there was an awe inspiring amount of design this year. It’s a great place to get excited about design and craft and after the week my mind was buzzing with ideas for new projects and designs.
As part of London Design Week I had the opportunity to see a designer I have always admired and studied throughout my design education and career. Tom Dixon was speaking at the V&A. He was doing a talk on ‘Industry’ as part of the Global Futures program and I was lucky enough to be able to go.
He spoke about the change in the design industry in London over the last 200 years with reference to his own work. He touched upon the early design and craft industry based in individual homes in the medieval times and the development of design through and as a result of the war. Following this the industry seemed to spread away from the capital to Northern cities and started to be outsourced abroad to places such as China. It was a brief overview but he concluded by discussing how today design is being brought back to the capital because of the introduction of computer technology. Computers and the internet allow not only quick and small scale production by rapid prototyping but also an easy access to an online network of funding, suppliers and customers.
Tom had a great attitude towards design and the industry. In the question and answer session after the talk he spoke about how there will always be a craving and an addiction to cheap products. He admittedly knows his products are not very useful or life changing. What he aspires to create is products that have longevity and as a result an element of sustainability.
Tom Dixon was also curating and exhibiting at The Old Selfridges Hotel at Multiplex: an immersive, multi-sensory shopping experience. I visited the store and enjoyed the trip immensely. The venue was a disused building however it had been brought back to life with lively music, bright, reflective wall coverings and exciting interactive products and exhibitors. Tom Dixon’s product were on display but he had also brought together a variety of other designer’s works which the customers could ‘experience’.
For example ‘Fashion Rive Roshan’ were demonstrating and producing scarfs using UV light and everyday objects. The objects, which could be provided by the customers, created a shadow effect where the colour would not dye the scarf. This meant the design was very personal to the customer and referenced emotional design, something I studied at university. Other products included Haekels Mist Spa, a horticultural spa by Loop.PH. This was a bubble like structure which allowed you to be immersed in a cloud of fragrance.
Not only was the exhibit fun but it made you have a greater understanding of the product as you were often learning more about the construction through the experiences and discussing the product with the designers and creators.
Tom Dixon reminded me that design is not just about creating mass marketed products. This is what interested me greatly about the industry I work in. The consumers personal interaction with a product and their understanding can strengthen a customers relationship with a brand or object.
Multiplex is still on for a couple more days this week. I recommend you go see it if you can or check out his work at…
