REthinking NEW DESIGNERS 2012

This years ‘New Designers’ showcase marks its 27th year of successfully bringing together education, private and public enterprises and launching the careers of many young designers. For all involved this is an eagerly anticipated event. This year there were 3,500 graduating ‘New Designers’ exhibiting, it is an essential resource for all who attend and an invaluable launchpad for all who exhibit. It offers insightful and original works, some of which are commercial concepts prime for further development prior to licensing  out to industry, others are market ready and self produced by individuals and small teams of designer-makers and then there are those which have very little purposeful intent and are there merely to evoke reaction. A useful marketing technique for the designer but one does have to question the end value of their creative input in real terms. This year we sent down our intern from Northumbria University Rosie Mossey to give us some insight as to what the emerging cohort of innovators were thinking.... As supporters of students designers and graduates alike we thought it would be interesting to get her take on the generation of designers she sits within, heres what she thought....

"This year I was instantly captivated by  ‘The Worlds Premier Live Art Battle’, ‘Secret Walls Pro Series’ which was a live show offering the chance for New illustration and design graduates to battle it out against top industry creatives showcasing their visual communication skills, an effective way to market their abilities in front of a live audience and judges.  Both teams equipped with just a black marker, blank canvas, imagination and skill. Every stroke counts, precision skill and quick thinking were bubbling to the surface for this contest and it certainly made for an exciting encounter upon first entering the halls."

 "There were a lot of thought provoking pieces of physical design work that veered away from the being commercially viable and leaned more towards an art-form, demonstrating a depth and understanding of a humanistic or environmental issue. Many were designed with the aim of sparking debate and stimulate thought and discussion. An example of this was the ‘Doom Stool’ designed by Varpu Laakkonen. This unique take on construction highlights a prominent issue of toy over-consumption (his research indicated that young children play with just 12 of an average 235 toys at their daily disposal). The outcome used to evoke the point was striking, it gives the abandoned toys, a more sustainable future in the home through reconstituting the materials into a new item of furniture for everyday use.

"Ben Sharrat had hand crafted unique storage designs. The quality of craftmanship and thought process behind the work was very interesting. His products are based around the universe: atoms, forces and space-time. He was interested in the conjunction of science and the human psyche. Personally the idea although deep, was a bit toooooo complex and it wasn't really very obvious as to what his intentions were in terms of the concept he was trying to engage us with, having said that he was clearly engrossed by his subject matter and passionate about the inter connective elements in the world in which we exist"

 'Particles' - The object stores represents the human psyche 

'SpaceTime' - The object stored represents life

'Forces' - The object stored represents death

"The ‘Grow Old Series’ Designed by Merve Kahraman has resulted in a range of products that aim to create an emotional attachment between user and product. The designer touches on the fact that excessive consumerism is rife today, people continue to buy and throw away and don’t actually grow attached to products, I particularly liked her light that transforms and recreates itself, always changing promoting a relationship with the user. The heat of the bulb causes the wax move and slowly drip down, so it slowly changes overtime, then its taken out of the pot and the cycle is repeated engaging the user."

"Craig Barrow has designed a system for shaping wood  by lightning strikes. The idea of harnessing an unpredictable and dangerous moment of power is exciting, using nature and exploiting it for potential for design intervention. Provoking questions over the interactions we share with the ever changing world around us."

"Daniel Gaze has re-designed the clock mechanism, it lends fits functionality from remote control aeroplanes. The sections of the numbers move backwards and forwards to reveal the time. Gaze has made it so that the time isnt glaring at you on a daily basis and it is just a subtle framework for how we lead our days structured by time. I really liked it, after Daniel explained the complex electronics I really appreciated the clean and simple design, its quite impressive when its moves aswell, its like its morphing!" 

"‘Maxi’ is a bedside light that Roselle Lam has designed. Sometimes no matter how tired I am I still find time to mindlessly procrastinate sleep either i’m on my phone, laptop or reading. This light is on for 30 minutes at a time and automatically switches itself of alerting your attention to turn it on again, reminding you that time is passing (and to go to sleep!). Also it acts as a shelf to lean your books against."

"A very topical subject amongst designers is re-using and refurbishing materials and trying give them a new lease of life so that they don’t become another addition to the ever growing landfill sites. Trying to be as eco-friendly as possible is the driving force behind a lot of designs in recent years and even still, today. Hayley Rose Burrows’ ‘Eco Frames’ are an example of this, she has found a way to manipulate food waste and create a range of photo frames" 

"Jason Lloyd Fletchers ‘The Third Generation Furniture’ range seeks to contribute to the ongoing dialogue about the re-use of consumer goods and cyclic consumption. The intelligent re-use of materials provides a beautiful solution. Third Generation Furniture products are designed or refurbished with standardized connective parts and sections allowing flexibility and variety in use and re-use over time so that the user an easily replace broken bits or reuse pieces when they are done with the item."

"One thing that disappointed me was the lack of  designers standing nearby ready to verbally represent their products, I found it hard to find any deeper information than that which was displayed infront of me on boards. Because  they are only communicating though standard format statements they are missing interacting with different professionals with varying motive for attending. This limits their ability to connect with different markets and enhance the possibilities for furthering their designs. I learnt at the Pulse trade show recently when assisting with the REthinkthings stand that conversation can really connect someone to the project and help to bring it to life. When I looked over my photos after the show, where I had met people I had a face to place with the product which made it more memorable and I think that can go a long way with people who are interested in your stuff. Having questioned the graduates I did meet on pricing and  commercial distribution it seems that many have yet to consider this prospect and don’t seem to have taken account of the bigger picture of their products potential. I find this very annoying because they have a great platform at New Designers and its really a missed opportunity to not be able to relay the most critical information."

"All in all there was certainly a great deal to see at New Designers. Its good to see how the future minds of design intend to enter the industry and I look forward to exhibiting there myself next year, I will certainly be ensuring my work has a direct application to assist me with launching a serious career in the design industry."

REthinkthings celebrates growth in 2012

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2012 is an exciting year for everyone, with the Olympics and Jubilee its certainly a year of celebration! To mark 3 years in business, REthinkthings has branched free of its supporting sister company 5ml and is going it alone distributing an exciting range of British design-led products to trade independently with a typically British sense of determination. Last month saw the launch of the long awaited Flo standing walking aid at the Naidex independent living show in Birmingham and next month REthinkthings LTD will continue its mission to bring new and innovative everyday products to market by showing at Earls Court London at the Pulse trade show for the 4^th year running. REthinkthings will show seasoned favourites such as Kaspa the eco ghost light and Bauhaus birdfeeder alongside four newly launched products for 2012 Olympian wallshelves, Palette plate, Spiral storage and Flo standing aid.

      

        

With the 5ml design collective having run its course, REthinkthings is REthinking itself with even more innovative new items by fresh new North West faces strengthening the brand and adding to the increasing number of unique and exclusive must haves in the online retail collection. Pulse will be the launchpad for the brand new Bygone clock range designed through collaboration between Liverpudlian Ilsa Parry and Stephen Rimmer, hand made by Stephen in Manchester from reclaimed Woodstock, it carries a beautiful tactile surface created by scorching, treating, polishing and oiling the wood. Also exclusive to the collection will be the origami lamp by Liverpool designer Matt Moore which recently featured on BBC2 programme “Britains next big thing” with Theo Paphitis and Habitat, this clever and funky design fits right in with the REthinkthings ethos of making more with less.

                               

 

                                                 

In just over a year REthinkthings have worked with over 25 retailers to distribute their design led homeware collections through 8 international trade shows and have proved to offer meaningful and quality creative products with a twist, you can see the creative designs on offer at the Pulse London trade show this 9^th-12^th June 2012, trade visitors can register here www.pulse-london.com, consumers can visit the webshop www.rethinkthings.co.uk to place an order and anyone can make an appointment to visit the studio by emailing info@rethinkthings.co.uk to discuss the products in person.

The 1^st of May 2012 was a big day for REthinkthings. We were at The NEC in Birmingham for the Naidex national trade show. This is the UKs largest disability, homecare and rehabilitation event, for us, it meant a huge opportunity and change of approach for the launch of the Flo, the product we have been developing for over three years after the idea was originally conceived on the BBC Design for Life show with a little help from Philippe Starck. Although we have strived to keep interested followers updates since this aired in 2009 through our product facebook page it has taken a while to get it into a near perfect functional form for market testing until now, with over 15 prototypes in a range of materials and several changes to the form for strength and aesthetic perfection it has been quite a journey.

We normally go to design led trade shows when launching new products such as Pulse, Tent, Spring Fair, Maison etc, so Naidex was a bit of a new experience with it being market specific for those seeking innovation in the independent living sector. Flo was to be presented to the public for the first time in a finished form and with the resources to have it produced in quantity should trade partners take interest.

The response we got was amazing. When launching a new product there is always the worry if people will actually take to it and even understand it, especially when you have invested so much time and cash resource into it. But people got it, they loved the unusual form, the futuristic materials and its “snake like” personality. 

Visitors saw how Flo gave the user more personal confidence through its non medical aesthetic and its new visual language which offered a style statement and a sense of individuality. On the stand, it scremed “touch me, try me” to the occupational therapists, physios, end users and other health professionals as it was so different to anything they had ever seen before. A range of user groups tried it out from youngsters with minor mobility problems to older, and somewhat heavier gentlemen, many of whom were wheelchair users, it worked a treat for most, with a little positioning and practise, some needed alternative sizing of course and this is the next step for us in the products development and the vast range of contacts we made at the show including 5 global distributors, a range of independent retailers and several other healthcare professionals will perhaps assist in making this a reality.

With this being our first time at the show we were interested to see some of the other products on display. The variety of solutions on offer was astounding with things as tiny as a straw holder from a company called reallyusefulthings (made up of product designers who set out specifically to make improvements to life for those with physical restrictions), right up to devices designed to lower a person in a specially designed wheelchair into a swimming pool.

Some of the more exciting designs (few and far between at this show) came from the smaller items, often a simple solution to an everyday problem. A company called ‘Gripeeze’ produce gloves, which give the user a stronger grip on tools, and other handheld daily living devices by incorporating a strap from the palm to the knuckles, allowing those with grip problems to continue living independently and doing the things they enjoy. 

Another product that grabbed our attention was from ‘Nathan Smallman of Sculpta.co.uk with his secure grip range, not enough designers, producers and craftspeople consider the independent living market, perhaps because its “not cool” to some, however this attitude seems to be changing as Nathan and reallyusefulthings demonstrate through their work.