About the designer maker's

QUEST: THE 10 DESIGNER MAKERS


Fiona Davidson (East Midlands)
www.fionadavidson.co.uk
Fiona Davidson says, `My approach to design is concept-led, and therefore not restricted to a single material, process or market; this design ethos allows for diverse responses, often collaborating with manufacturers, to produce innovative, thought-provoking outcomes. I enjoy collaboration, and working outside of my ‘safe’ practical knowledge; where projects demand intuitive and intelligent interpretation of process, empathy for the materials at hand, and sympathetic examination of context. My work is experimental and investigative; although the concepts can vary widely, from questioning cultural and human interaction with objects, through to exploitation of process and material, there is always a clear ideology that drives each project.

Clients include DuPont Corian, the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers, and creative agency Wieden + Kennedy.

‘Quest presents an opportunity to take the collaborative process to a greater level; a far more fluid and experimental relationship will be encouraged, with designers and manufacturers learning from each other through a genuine exchange of ideas and methodologies. I hope Quest will help to establish design as a valuable commodity to the manufacturing industry, where it is often viewed as a bought-in service, at odds with the commercial context in which manufacturers work, rather than as an integral part of their process.’

Chris Kabel (Netherlands)
www.chriskabel.com
Chris Kabel describes himself as a surgeon. He takes objects apart and dissects their meaning - one of his signature pieces is a parasol where the shadow is the meaning: giving shadow a new form. Rotterdam-based, Kabel's designs leave the consumer to do a bit of extra work, such as finishing the piece, or working out how to use it. His designs are sold by Droog and Moooi and commissioned for projects such as Lille's European Capital of Culture project.

Chris says, `I'm looking forward to the collaboration with foreign designers and manufacturers. This will broaden my network and definitely offer new opportunities for the future. I am eager to contribute to an international design discourse with my fellow colleagues from the UK and The Netherlands, and offer valid solutions for the British manufacturing industry. I hope this will lead to some long lasting design related 'love' affairs.'

Ursula Lavrencic (Netherlands)
www.megla.org
Ursula Lavrencic received her architectural degree from the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana, Slovenia and her master of arts from the Design Academy Eindhoven. She worked for number of mainly communication design studios gaining skills in graphic, web and identity design before she founded Megla in early 2003. Her very diverse set of skills enables Megla to offer out of the box thinking and cross disciplinary approach. She strives for socially and environmentally responsible design.

Ursula says, `It is very challenging to participate in a project where creativity gets an open stage to generate fresh and innovative perspectives, and where design gets the room to consider values beyond shape and function. I am a cross-disciplinary designer and I get especially motivated by projects where non-formal layers are addressed: from cultural and social context, future scenarios, consumer behaviour, production process to economic placement. I enjoy working on holistic concepts and I believe that the international set up and the concrete yet open brief of this project will result in a very fruitful collaboration.'

Michael Marriott (London)
www.michaelmarriott.com
Michael Marriott is an award winning, cutting edge and highly respected young-ish designer, working in lots of different areas and at lots of different scales. Born in 1963, Michael Marriott was brought up in Dartford in Kent, spending much of his childhood fixing and making things, including bikes and go-carts. He completed an HND in Furniture at the London College of Furniture in 1985, then took on a range of design jobs that included shop-fitting, lighting, graphics and interiors, but continued to focus on carpentry and furniture-making. He graduated from the RCA in 1993 and set up his own studio, working mainly with furniture and organising the production of his own designs as well as designing for other manufacturers, including Inflate and SCP. In 1999, Michael's growing reputation was established by his winning the first Jerwood Furniture Prize.

Michael's designs focus rigorously on function, an approach that leads to objects, such as his Post Card Light (1994) or Mobile Table (a side table designed in 2002 that can be moved around by picking it up in the same way as a bowling ball, using the three holes in its top), that are deceptively simple solutions to a particular need or problem. This utilitarian aesthetic also translates into Michael's choice of materials, which suggests a resolute celebration of the ordinary. Alongside producing products and furniture, Michael continues to work in other areas, including exhibition design - most recently, 'You Are Here', an exploration of information design at the Design Museum - creating site-specific installations in both galleries and public spaces, and, increasingly, writing.

Michael's involvement in Quest will open up an opportunity of working with real industries and dealing with real everyday issues.

Carl Silvester (East Midlands)

Carl Silvester's low cost, accessible and conceptually critical view for `experimental' products arose from being frustrated with the limitations of conventional roles for the industrial designer in the development of technological artefacts. He also has an interest in combining the new psychological and behavioural possibilities offered through technological products. His overall aim is to improve interaction and create a personal relationship between object and owner.

Carl says, `As a designer I like to interact with people who are coming up with new questions, new viewpoints and new ways to look at things in the context of new product applications. Dutch designers have been the forerunners of working in this way in recent years. The challenge of Quest is to highlight the value of their approach but apply this to a broader international perspective.

`By using design I am able to develop something that makes an essential contribution to society, which resolves everyday problems or reflects or comments upon them: perhaps in the form of a product but sometimes a system or guide to tackling familiar things differently. I have enjoyed collaborations previously with musicians, lenticular manufacturers and the Dutch government - with outcomes including products made using selective laser sintering as well as illustrating a new role for a person in society.'

Sebastiaan Straatsma (Netherlands)
www.researchdesign.nl
Following his education at the Design Academy Eindhoven where he worked on projects with Gijs Bakker (Droog) and Mark Gabbertas (London), Sebatiaan Staatsma has been working solo and in collaboration in various fields such as material-research, concept-, product-, furniture-, light- and interior- design. Clients include Droogdesign, OMA Architects, Essent energy, Rabobank, Gijs Bakker Design, Leolux, Bombay Sapphire, Poulmann, Vasd ontwerpers and Proef Rotterdam. In 2003 during the Milan Furniture Fair, he launched his first self-produced collection `Random Industry Upgrade' about using elements of the industry for upgrading products in an ever-changing environment. This was featured in the New York Times.

Sebastiaan Straatsma's work is part of the Booijmans van Beuningen Collection in Rotterdam and was part of international exhibitions at the V&A museum `Brilliant', SF Moma `Recent Dutch Design' and Museum fur Angewantekunst Koln `Design for Industry'.

Sebastiaan says, `The Quest project will give me a chance to discover and meet British industry. It will be an opportunity to operate in an international partnership, solving design issues for a new global environment. It will develop my view on industrial and consumer needs abroad.'

Andrew Tanner (East Midlands)
www.andrewtannerdesign.co.uk
In June 2005 Andrew Tanner was awarded Young designer of the Year. His collections of sculptural yet functional ceramic collections have seen Tanner's pieces becoming some of the most recognisable products to emerge from a British Designer/Maker.

Andrew Tanner graduated from the University of Brighton in 1997 and started the award winning design collaboration HUB with his business partner in 1998. To continue his journey and to produce bespoke pieces for individual clients, Tanner started his own design studio in 2002 in Brighton where he works and lives today.

Tanner's in-house design collections include the recently launched bone-china range titled `Off the Wall'. This hand produced, bone-china collection, which includes a large vase, a small vase and a centre piece bowl, has been created to combine the sculptural forms associated with Tanner's designs whilst utilising the rich colours and patterns of Cole & Son's widely acclaimed wallpapers from the New Contemporary and Waldorf Collections.

Andrew says, `Quest will offer the chance for me to collaborate with established manufacturers and encourage new developments and outcomes for my practice. Quest will blur the boundaries between traditional manufacture with contemporary design whilst actively encouraging me to challenge my ideals of a process and stretch my imagination in the creation of new approaches, explorations and processes.'

Jason Taylor (East Midlands)
www.jasontaylor.co.uk
‘I began my working life as a fitter and turner in a shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. After my apprenticeship I went back to college and this resulted in a Degree in 3D Design, 1st Class Honours. This led me to set a business as a Designer and sell a range of interior products through the web, galleries and exhibitions such as 100% design.

‘I have worked to commissions from clients such as Siemens and project managed events for Liverpool and Manchester Design Initiative. Since 2000 I have lectured on Art and Design courses at Liverpool and Manchester. I recently attained a Masters Degree in Enterprise in Art & Design.

‘My work has centred on the familiar and challenging preconceptions of objects and their function. I have carried on the tradition reuse and misuse of mundane products to the extent of giving them a new life as contemporary products. I try to strike a balance between humour, interaction and style. I also consider the impact during the design process that my products have on the environment, which has led me to set up a social enterprise, called Junkstop.’

Marjet Wessels Boer (Netherlands)
www.studiowesselsboer.nl
Marjet Wessels Boer graduated in 2001 at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Product Design. Since then, she started her own studio working with trainees and freelancers on various projects. Next to her own collection, which varies from warm lab-lamps of homemade felt, porcelain or silver t-spoons, stainless steel clothes hangers to thick doors with hidden spaces, Marjet works on commission. She developed concepts for Fiat en Rijkswaterstaat, furniture for Hajenius, restaurant Segugio and several private people, and designed products for Fair trade shops, Royal Delft and Spiridon.

The balance between the rational and emotional aspects of design intrigues Marjet. Her designs are not only functional; they play with their background. She investigates the peculiarities of materials, products and companies and our association to them. She wonders what meaning a specific object has for people now and what her context was in the past. She analyses why some objects tell more than others. She tries to find out what defines the soul of an object. This research leads to worth full inspiration for new designs. By using the history of objects from several cultures and our association with them, products get rooted. The products relate to their environment and the user. They are less anonymous and more poetic. The work sets in this way a strong identity in details, meaning and material use. “Products” are given a soul.

Marjet says, `Quest attracts me for several reasons. The work I have seen by British designers is very interesting and I would like to discover more. To work together with an unknown person for an unknown company, yet in a serious setting, puts me in a position, which asks for a professional approach. This challenges me. It gives me an opportunity to work for companies which are mostly quite hard to reach as a young designer and I will have the possibility to show that I am good at it!'

Philip Worthington (London)
www.worthersoriginal.com
Philip Worthington completed his Masters in Interaction Design at the Royal College of Art. Philip has a strong design background, having studied Graphic & Media Design and Typographic Design at London College of Printing. Having worked on graphic, product and interior design projects, his work now is focussed on large scale and tactile interactive experiences, both for exhibition and retail space. His work has been selected for exhibition, most notably at the V&A and Design Museum in London, as well as overseas design festivals, and features in industry publications, including Icon, Creative Review and Design Week.

In 2002 he co-founded Az2 Lab, a graphic/interactive design studio focussing on experimental on-screen work/branding/live events (Diesel, VentureThree). He has consulted for Sony Computer Entertainment to examine the future of various product lines, including PSP and Eye Toy. Philip also works as a visiting lecturer on the Graphic & Media Design degree at London College of Printing and has run short courses at Central St. Martins College of Art & Design. As well as a predominantly design orientated career, he has spent time working with IBM in their Collaborative User Experience research group in Boston, looking into new ways to visualise information. Worthington's designs inject spirit and humanity into our increasingly technologically driven society.

Philip says, `It's important to keep growing as a designer. The quest project is an opportunity for me to widen my experience and apply myself to a new and interesting problem. I hope that my approach will inspire the organisation I work with and spawn some interesting ideas with the potential for being taken forward.'