Dedicated to inspiring designers, inventors & the creative spirit in all of us.

Katie Thompson (Owner & Designer) Recreate

Katie is a South African interior designer who started Recreate, a repurposed range of furniture and lighting, in February 2009. By blending South African craftsmanship with high-end finishes and items of unused or discarded junk, she has created an original end product with a new integrity that epitomizes the very best of South African design.

Explain to readers how you arrived in the design world creating furniture and accessories. After studying interior design at the most fabulous school in Cape Town (Design Time School of Interior Design), I worked in the Interior Design industry with fabrics and furniture for 7 years. I was always drawn to the conceptual and creative side of design. This, and the fact that I am a hoarder at heart with a love of junk, naturally led me to this area of design.

At what point did you realize you were a designer; what was the experience that seemed to be a defining moment? My second job after leaving design school was working for Roger Martin Architects and Interior Design. I was involved in the design of a Thai Restaurant, Kitima. On the first day of installation, three delivery trucks arrived with glass. Roger Martin (the Principal Architect and Designer)said, ‘So Katie, where do you want the glass to go?’

What appeal does Cape Town have to a designer as far as cultural influences, local artisans and available materials. Designers in Cape Town are spoiled for choice when it comes to cultural influences. We are able to bring together various elements of these diverse cultures to create hybrid works. I am interested in the extremes of the art world and enjoy combining high-end art works with grassroots level artistic influences.

You have shown there is a wealth of used objects such as suitcases, cookware and household items. What recycled medium do you look forward to using in creating more work based on reused objects in the future? I don’t usually source an item of junk for a specific function. It is usually the other way around, as the junk tells me what it wants to become in its next life!

I love being able to look at an item of ordinary junk, for example, someone else’s trash, be it broken, old or discarded and see a new function through it. Rummaging through garages, storage rooms, old warehouses and the garbage tip allows me to source endless recycled materials.

To whom do you attribute your sense of style and aesthetic? Is there any particular art movement or artist you consider an influence? Dadaism and Surrealism have been major influences on my work. I studied Art & Art History in school and remember being quite disinterested most of the time until the day we learned about the absurdity of Surrealism and Dadaism. These movements influenced the artworks I was making and allowed me to extend the conceptual boundaries of my work.

The most influential artist I have come across is Marcel Duchamp who signed a urinal and declared it art. I love the questioning behind this. Why should an artwork be on canvas with a brush and paint? Who determines what form a chair should be? Why not a suitcase? Can an old Hoover not be a fully functioning lamp?

What is one thing you had to learn out of school about designing; something only experience could lend? Experience has taught me to avoid over designing.

What is your approach to incorporating ergonomics using found objects? What is compromised when it comes down to it – visual appeal or comfort? Ultimately all of my products have a new function from their previous purpose. So if The Suitcase Chair is not comfortable, or the Milk Bottle Lamp is not shining then the products are not functioning.

They are also designed as high-end recycled furniture items. The same quality fitting you would buy at a high-end lighting store is used on The Milk Bottle Lamp. Similarly, the foam, fabric and upholstery techniques used on a high end quality armchair are used on the suitcase chair.

That said, they are occasional chairs and are not designed for curling up with a blanket and watching a movie.

How do approach designing; is it collaborative, do you have a daily routine, do you sketch very much? Like most creative minds, mine does not follow a linear process but functions more like a washing machine. It is a process of perpetual conceptualization and turbulent creative thinking. I cannot paint, or draw and I can barely sketch. I scribble. And my handwriting resembles hieroglyphics.

Share your advice for people wanting to bring their creative thoughts into tangible objects? Nothing is impossible except falling upwards!

This is the face of an artisan — a genuine glass blower. This man, Tapio Wirkkala, is known for helping to put Finnish Design into the textbooks. His persona is that of an industrious workman of yesteryear; wrinkled brow, inquisitive stare, pipe in mouth.

Famous for ornamental sculpture, Wirkkala’s work was so well conceived, it is still in production today. Of his over 400 designs created between the 1940’s and 1980’s, some are still available through iittala online. Now that is time tested design.

Scottish-born Robert Gair invented the corrugated box in 1890; that is, pre-cut flat pieces manufactured in bulk that folded into boxes. Gair’s invention, as with so many other great innovations, came about as a result of an accident. Gair was a Brooklyn printer and paper-bag maker during the 1870’s, and one day, while he was printing an order of seed bags, a metal ruler normally used to crease bags shifted in position and cut them. Gair discovered that by cutting and creasing bags in one operation he could make prefabricated paper boxes. Applying this idea to corrugated boxboard was a straightforward development when the material became available. By the start of the 20th century, corrugated boxes began replacing the custom-made wooden crates and boxes previously used for trade.
(Information taken from Wikipedia.com)

Corrugated cardboard is what Lincoln’s famous top hat was made from, along with beaver fur. Everyone has had pizza delivered in a cardboard box. Amazon’s ever-present brown box with smiling logo is corrugated cardboard at its best; shipped worldwide thanks to the lightweight design and structural integrity of this recycled paper wonder. And as you just read, invention can be stumbled upon and its effects can change industry as we know it.

Johnny Strategy is the pen name of the author of Spoon & Tamago, a Tokyo / New York based design blog. Raised in Tokyo and educated in New York, Johnny holds a unique design perspective and shares it with viewers by providing a collection of beautiful and inspiring images from Japan, the United States, and across the globe. 

It is easy to see that you are influenced by your upbringing in Japan and your higher education in the U.S. What was your first impressionable moment that involved design as a child? I was never that into art or design as a child, at least not consciously. It wasn’t until high school that I took a ceramics class with a really inspiring teacher, Mr. Nimori. That was when I first really discovered the Japanese aesthetic and everything about it suddenly made sense to me. He set me up to do a mini-apprenticeship with a Japanese master and even sacrificed a weekend to take me into rural Chiba to introduce me. That was an amazing experience.

What is it that you wish to bring to your American viewers that can only be found in the Japanese culture? I guess I’m just trying to share high-quality undiscovered work that I’m sure would inspire people around the world. It would be rad if someone saw something they liked and decided to incorporate a certain theme or concept into their own work. 

It can be difficult to scour the online design world and find content worthy of blogging about. How do you seem to find a selection of such interesting finds for Spoon & Tamago? It is a difficult task and I couldn’t do it without my wife. Ninety percent of what we write about comes from our own independent research. We have an extensive database of designers, design shops and art galleries whose websites we frequent. And everything is so intertwined now that one thing usually leads to another. We are also associated with boheme, an artist collective based out of Tokyo, who we talk to occasionally and exchange information. 

Are there designers who you work with or know in Japan that use your blog as a catalyst to their cross-cultural work? There are a couple gallerists and design collectives that we talk to, but we don’t work with anybody. However, designers have contacted us after we wrote about them, telling us how previously they had close to zero exposure and now have a couple interviews lined up with magazines. Correspondence like that has been one of the more rewarding things about running Spoon & Tamago. 

What is your view on cutting-edge design in the United States compared to the work of Japanese design? I believe that the success of a designer lies in their ability to grasp and understand the future needs of people. And to look into the future one must first turn to the past. Therein lies the advantage of Japanese designers. An accumulation of culture and tradition rests in the past and is an immense resource for creativity and innovation. Their land is overflowing with stories of the past. There are arts and crafts, skills and techniques, religions and practices, all of which have been passed down from generation to generation. Some have complete historical records while others are known only in their current state. Nonetheless, they are all tools of the designer. 

Blogging can be a great release for writers who need an artistic outlet or a great way for designers to share inspiring and creative work. What is Spoon & Tamago for you? It started out as a journal; a tool to catalog everything that I liked and was inspired by. If you go back to my earlier posts you’ll see there is much less geographic bias. However, my blog eventually took on a life of its own. I began to understand that I could really add value and make meaningful contributions because of my background in art (I majored in Fine Art, minored in Art History) and from growing up in Japan. I was able to place these designers in context and that’s when people really started to respond to my posts. And that’s when I started writing not only for myself but for others, as well. 

Who or what inspires you to create and drives you to discover new things? I’m inspired by a lot of things. Lately I’ve been inspired by literature. I’m also inspired by food and the presentation of it, nature photography, animals, rust and other forms of deterioration, just to name a couple. I’m also inspired by my wife and two kids. Having kids has been great because they pull you into their world and you’re able to reunite with your childhood imagination; the stuff you thought you misplaced many years ago.  

Is there any genre of design that interests you more than others – product design, fashion, photography, architecture? I suppose my background in ceramics inclines me towards sculpture. Industrial design, as well, because of the sculptural characteristics.

I can imagine that seeing art and design firsthand is more fulfilling in person than clicking links and searching online. Do you travel much from Asia to the States for your work? I do. I travel to Japan at least twice a year. And I’m always making new discoveries. During my previous trip to Japan I found myself in the corporate headquarters of a company in Shinjuku and I saw they had a small museum. Not thinking much of it I decided to kill some time there. As I was concluding the tour I arrived at their prized possession, which turned out to be the original Van Gogh “Sunflowers” painting! It’s been hiding there for the last 20 years. I thought that was pretty crazy.

Italian manufacturer Boffi is reissuing Joe Colombo’s Minikitchen, a monobloc kitchen on castors, designed in 1963. This is more proof that good design does demand relevance in new times. The all-in-one design would still fit into any small dwelling, or any museum, for that matter.

One of the more famous Colombo pieces is his 5 in Uno nesting glass design. I have seen this before but was just reintroduced to the designer when reading that the Minikitchen was being produced again. I think both of these designs are timeless and deserve recognition for their unique and inspiring qualities.

Joe Colombo’s 5 in Uno glass design.

Judson Beaumont is owner of Vancouver-based Straight Line Designs, established in 1986. Known for his custom wood, fiberglass and mold making, Beaumont enjoys offering a whimsical view into his world through furniture and exhibit design.  Much of Beaumont’s studio work has been displayed around the world and on numerous design sites.

What was your first impressionable moment that involved design as a child?

I never did art classes as a child, it wasn’t until graduating high school that I started to look into it as a profession. I then began to look at design more seriously and decided to take the concept farther by attending art school.

It is easy to see that you are influenced by your childhood; what are the things from your childhood that you wish to pass on to others through your work?

I try to pass on the ideal of never limiting yourself or your creativity, take chances and hold onto the childlike fascination with the abstract.

You attribute your style to people like Walt Disney, Dr. Seuss, Warner Brothers, Pee-wee Herman, as well as designers like Philippe Starck and Frank Gehry. Have you had the opportunity to meet or correspond with any of these cultural icons?

I have met both Frank Gehry and Philippe Stark at various trade shows. I admire the fact that they push the limits more than any other designers, always reaching forward and defying limitations.

How did you make the transition from student to business owner, creating Straight Line Designs out of design school?

I never wanted to leave art school; for me it was the greatest thing I had every experienced. After going through a short trial in the movie industry, I decided to venture out on my own and start my own studio. My plan was to create my own art school environment.

What is the key to your success in your design studio, having worked nearly 25 years with so many clients on so many projects? Is it the atmosphere, the content of your work, or maybe the end result of seeing people enjoying your finished work?

I think it is a little bit of everything combined. The talent of my staff, being able to create such unique products and getting to enjoy the reactions afterwards.

How important is it for you to have sketches and renderings to communicate to your clients before you create your finished designs?

It is one of the most important aspects of design. It is very important for me to visualize the project with the client on paper before it ever begins being built.

You have said that you try to incorporate elements into your designs that make each project un-intimidating, interactive and fun. Is this difficult when working with a medium such as wood?

No, we work with many different techniques to bend the wood and create unique shapes, we definitely push the medium. We also incorporate fiberglass and mold making into our list of materials, as well.

Giving talks and slide shows must be  rewarding, but how do you make time for speaking engagements; do you travel to schools and businesses or do they come to your studio?

It is definitely a little bit of both. I enjoy going to schools and events and talking with students but it is also great to get them down to the studio so they can see everything in a real working environment.

What should an aspiring designer do every single day, with the intention of becoming a better designer through habit?

I would say sketching, and researching are definitely the most important stepping stones to becoming a better designer. Looking into other artists, getting inspired and seeing what others are doing around you.

Joel Escalona of Mexico studied Industrial Design at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Azcapotzalco in Mexico City (2008). Since 2006, he has been designing conceptual award-winning products, as well as home accessories and furniture pieces. He leads his own virtual studio developing simple, practical and innovative designs, always driven by storytelling concepts. Joel is currently working on various furniture and product design projects.

What was your first impressionable moment that involved design? I think I had a lot of impressionable moments, obviously, when I was a kid. For example, at school learning something new, at museums or even when I used to help my dad fixing the car.

For some people, there is a single person or a single moment that changed how they see things as a designer. Who would you attribute to you seeing things with a designer’s eye? It’s pretty hard to say; a lot of people influenced my design thinking. Even things I see or read change my way of seeing objects and, of course, my way of thinking on design.

Do you believe studying Industrial Design at UAM in Mexico City makes your work unique in the design world, opposed to a European or North American influence? I really cannot say with exactitude. Mexico’s Industrial Design is very young; we are talking about 50`s. Obviously design teaching has a lot of influence from Europe and North America. In UAM they have a technical approach to design, which helps me a lot.

What do you consider to be your strongest area of design — architectural, furniture or graphic design? I would say furniture and interiors, as it is the area I work in the most. But I’m very interested in working more in product design; I would love to get involved in technology.

What has been your greatest honor to date, as far as awards and recognitions? I have a lot of great experiences, like winning a contest by Volvo – they took me to their factory in Sweden, which was amazing; and also going to New York in order to show my work in ICFF as a part of ICFF Studio. I have been invited to Milan, and they just invited me to Maison & Objet in Paris. I have had a lot of great experiences in my short career.

Your work seems to have a very clean, polished and glossy appeal. What do you consider an influence in your design style? I don’t know, it is like my design territory.

Do you have any intentions of evolving from product design into any other genre of design work? Yes, of course. I’m thinking architecture; I would love to design houses.

Do you use Twitter, Facebook, Flickr or any other communication networking sites to promote your work or stay in contact with other designers? Yes, yes and yes, I use that a lot. I’m very into networking and, actually, I think I have never used normal mail.

What should the ideal designer do every single day, with the intention of becoming a better designer through habit? Studying and practicing. A creativity killer is ignorance.

Arne Van Oosterom authors the Weblog that accompanies Design Thinkers, a strategic design consultancy in Amsterdam that specializes in business, service and social innovation/ transformation. Oosterom is also a lecturer and chairman of the Service Design Network Netherlands.

1. What was your first impressionable moment that involved design? I grew up in a family of artists, illustrators and designers. So I guess creativity is in my genes and design has been a part of my life as long I can remember. Drawing, photography, writing and making music were things that played a major role in my life while growing up. And they still do. Being creative is a way of life for me. It’s the way my brain works… quickly bored, constantly wanting to be stimulated and always restless.

2. What is service design? Service design is designing and organizing the interaction between (service) provider and end-user using creative tools and methods. An important service design principle says: co-production leads to co-ownership, which turns customers into ambassadors. Meaning: organizations and governments should empower the consumer. Easily said, but in reality most marketers and communication managers have no idea where to start. They are used to only dealing with the cosmetics — the outside. Implementing ideas using this service design principle has major consequences for the internal organization.

But all the new developments happening around us are pushing us to take a look beyond boundaries of traditional media, top-down structured businesses and marketing techniques. Even though organizations and governments usually play it safe and are not easily persuaded to move into another direction, the necessity for change is getting stronger.

This is where service design can be instrumental. While using service design methods, organizations are forced to look into a mirror and deal with realities. Besides that, service design offers methods to use newly found insights for developing ideas, concepts, prototyping, building and implementation. Service design is a holistic approach and looks at the whole system. The back stage and front stage of a service organization.

I believe that service design is a natural response to the changing world, which is fueled and accelerated by new technological developments.

3. What is social innovation? To me, it means adding real value to people’s lives by designing better systems. But personally, I don’t like the word ‘innovation.’ It’s one of the most misused words ever and has lost all meaning. I feel attracted to the word ‘transformation.’ So I would use ’social transformation’ (through the design of systems) or just social design.

A few months ago I started the Social Design Task Force in collaboration with people from agencies and universities in France, Finland, Austria, Scotland, England and the Netherlands. Our aim is to use our creative talents, networks and recourses to improve people’s lives. This means we are involved in a very wide range of projects. For example: We are trying to find a way, a system, to get people (living in cities) to use their bicycle for trips up to 5 kilometers. If the project would succeed it will dramatically reduce traffic jams and improve safety, health and air quality in larger cities. Another project is a crowd-sourcing project for Greenpeace where we try to get young people actively involved in climate change issues.

We are trying to find solutions to problems that affect our lives in a very personal way.

4. You spend a lot of time traveling and going to speaking engagements.  What is the benefit of attending these forums? We, at DesignThinkers, are pioneering and want to be at the forefront of developments. This means we are searching all the time, always hungry for more knowledge, new insights and meeting new people. Being connected and having conversations with professionals from many different disciplines is the best way to keep learning and growing.

In some ways it’s almost an addiction, but I have to keep moving and keep challenging my ideas. I refuse to believe that I know all the answers. Like most people, I don’t know much. But I’m working very hard to find out what the questions are.

If I stay behind my desk there is a chance I would start to believe in my own delusions. I’d start running round in circles. Putting my ideas to the test in the real world, with people who might not agree with me, is very hard, sometimes painful, but always of tremendous value.

5. If you go to just one design conference anywhere in the world, which would you recommend? This is very difficult to answer. In fact I don’t like going to conferences as a spectator at all. Especially those conferences aimed at people like me. Usually the programming is about telling us stuff we already know by people we already know. There is always a lot of agreeing.

That is why I primarily go to conferences to meet people. Initially I go to meet up with people I met before, in real life or online, and I always end up making new friends.

But if you are interested in service design and want to meet and greet the professionals, I have to recommend going to the service design conference 2009 held in Portugal. The conference is organized by the International Service Design Network (http://www.service-design-network.org/), of which we are part, and is a great opportunity for me to meet up with all my friends and colleagues from around the world. But be warned: they are agreeing with each other all the time…

6. Much of what you talk about on designthinkers.eu has to do with innovation and creative thinking.  Who is a good example of executing good business sense pertaining to innovation and creative thinking in the Netherlands? My first thought is TomTom. They showed that with creative thinking and a new approach you can create a whole new market and even be world changing.

And I am a big fan of the way Phillips is trying to integrate creative thinking in their organization. Phillips is a very large and complex organization, so implementing new ideas is not easy. But I applaud their courageous attempts and I’m expecting great things from Phillips in the future.

7. As a product designer, you have to meet the demands of consumers.  Do you believe consumers are more conscious, or ‘smarter’ than, say, the consumers of even 10 years ago, and are demanding smarter designs from today’s designer? People have the same basic needs as 10 years ago. That has not changed a lot.
What I find more interesting is the amazing impact the Web is having on our world. Internet is upsetting the balance in a major way. It makes companies and governments more transparent and vulnerable and it enables people to self-organize.

Everything in our world is organized and structured by the law of networks. And Internet is a new kid on the block, but it is going to have an unparalleled impact. We are witnessing the first symptoms of a much larger phenomenon that is going to restructure everything we know.

The opportunity the Internet gives consumers (or ‘prosumers’) and citizens to self-organize into influential peer groups is going develop into one of the biggest social and economical changes of our time.

8. What separates the designer from the average consumer, and how do you bridge that divide? A good designer is a translator or intermediator (much like an artist).
The designer is the bridge. But in the end we are all just people, and consumers and all people are extremely creative.

I would like to add that I don’t think designers should be put on a pedestal. Lately, people are trying to convince me that designers have super powers. Well, they don’t. As far as I know they are no smarter than the next person.

9. You use Twitter and are registered on LinkedIn.  What do you feel is the best way to reach designers around the world in regard to communication technologies? I do not target designers per se. So I wouldn’t know. I like to connect and have conversations with people. People I can learn from or have fun with.

I’m on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo and everything else because it’s part of my job. I advise customers about social media and so I must experience it first-hand.

I’m always trying to connect all my social networks together. But in general they are unsatisfactory and just crude versions of what is yet to come. I can’t wait for web 3.0 to break down all the walls.

But I must say I’m enjoying Twitter… against all expectations.

10. What should the ideal designer do every single day, with the intention of becoming a better designer? Work hard and make lots and lots of mistakes. If you don’t experiment and try and try again, you won’t grow. Even the most talented and famous designers had to work long and hard and fail miserably many times before becoming world-class.

And last but not least: don’t let anyone tell you what to do. Think for yourself.

John Muhlenkamp is from El Dorado Hills, CA, but has had opportunities that have taken him all across the map. He currently works for the supercharged design firm Astro Studios in San Francisco. John is a graduate of the acclaimed BYU ID program and is always looking to learn new things. John has a love for all types and areas of creativity, with a particular passion for footwear design and soft goods. He also enjoys time with his wife, Melissa, and daughter, Eva, in the San Francisco area. John takes delight in golf, basketball, wakeboarding, speaking Spanish, photography, vacationing and, of course, sketching. He took some time to speak to us about design.

Interview: John Muhlenkamp from Industrial Design Sketching on Vimeo.

Justin Knecht joined the Centre for Design Innovation in Ireland after working for Crayola in the US. Justin has spoken at a number of conferences and company events including SEEdesign, HOW, Hallmark Cards, DMI, Thinking Creatively Conference, Oracle, the Macromedia User Conference and the Allaire Developers Conference.  Enjoy!

1. It’s been some time now since you made your way across the pond, relocating a great distance from your roots in the Keystone State. What is the difference, culturally, designing in Ireland compared to the United States? It’s a much less developed space. The professional design community itself would probably consider itself young by certain standards, which is interesting in a country that has so much history and heritage. The text from Dublin-based Design Factory’s 25-year retrospective spoke to the fact that Ireland‘s cultural identity is largely based upon language more than the visual arts.

For a long time the majority of design talent was leaving Ireland to work in other places, and gradually those people began returning and establishing the professional design community that exists here today.

On a practical note, working with small to medium sized enterprises, like we do at the Centre, is a great reality check. The case studies typically used about big brands just aren’t relevant. Smaller organizations want practical stories, practical tools and practical results.

2. Conferences, blogs and books are vital to the creativity of so many people working in the design genre. What do use as influence when looking for inspiration and motivation when you are designing? It all comes in one big stream through Google Reader these days. I can’t name a single source, though I’ve been inspired by watching various TED Talks. They are a regular 15-minute investment worth making.

3. Your personal blog, Vertical bones.com, is titled “a documented experiment in following your bliss.” Can you credit any one person with instilling that creative, innovative spirit that drives your sense of curiosity and adventure? Well, the quote is most closely attributed to Joseph Campbell. However, I was at a design conference in NYC and Bruce Mau was speaking amongst a group largely composed of corporate creatives. He was drinking water that was recycled sewage, which was a bit humbling following a P&G presentation about the millions spent on the development of a women’s disposable razor. He turned to the audience and said something like, “We have the talent and creativity to do anything. What are you going to do?” That stuck with me.

4. Who do you consider an inspiration to your style of design work, professionally? My life these days is much less about doing actual design practice and working more around the design process, and getting companies to use design effectively to bring products, services, brands and experiences to market. It’s design as a verb, not a noun.

So with that in mind, I’ve been influenced by the IDEO process, or the approach that Adaptive Path is teaching. No single approach is perfect, but I’m most interested in the practical “how”. I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with individuals from the Design Council, and have been influenced by their Designing Demand program and the methodology surrounding its implementation.

5. In your article, creating the right space to foster a spirit of innovation, featured on Centre for Design Innovation blog you share a case study that says there is “an exponential drop of frequency of communication between engineers as the distance between them increases.” How can we bridge this divide so that international offices can work seamlessly without having the tolls of location and distance hinder creativity? I certainly don’t have a solution. My comments were mainly about the importance of space, of a place where innovation can take place and collaboration is facilitated. I’ve often quoted a Steelcase statement that a place can “enable or constrain what takes place in it.”

I also feel strongly that an innovative environment is made up of three components: (Right) People, (Right) Process & (Right) Place. When I was managing a design studio, those were the three strategic themes I always concentrated on.

6. What advice would you give to companies looking to be more innovative? Understand your users. Innovation starts and ends with people. People will reveal the insights you need to create unique solutions, and they will evaluate how well those solutions meet their needs.

7. Is Ireland a good place for innovation? Yes. The same qualities that made Ireland so successful over the last decade will help Ireland innovate themselves out of the current downturn. The workforce is highly-educated, well networked and incredibly resourceful.

8. Is there anything you miss as a consumer, or designer, living in Ireland that you were used to having at your disposal in the States? Tastykake

9. What should any designer do every day, in order to become a better designer through habit? Have a genuine interest in people.