All Mix Blog

There is a great interview with Kenneth Grange in the latest issue of Monocle . Here are a couple of choice quotes: 'When you have companies buying the best equipment and tools to make things as good as they can be made then you get the finest partners for designers to work with. When these things don't exist, when cost and quantity become more important than quality, as has happened in Britain, then designers look elsewhere for partners and the industry falls to pieces.' 'One of the biggest rewards as a designer is knowing how to make something. If I were Chancellor I would give big tax incentives to small firms providing a fantastic service or making something beautifully. In 10 years this would create a platform of makers again.' We could not agree more. The Design Museum in Bermondsey, SE1, will hold a retrospective of Grange's work this summer. Image from Monocle

'It is the combination of quality and craftsmanship and a straightforward, yet elegant approach to the design that attracts me to this particular period of Ercol furniture and has led me to re-evaluate Ercolani's original designs' (Margaret Howell, 2004)

In 1886 Birmingham photographer John Collier documented the Exhibition of Local Manufactures and Natural History. The selection of exhibits was limited 'to the leading manufacturers in their respective branches, or to any firm producing a speciality, with the view of showing the great variety of trades, and the excellence of work produced.' We were very disappointed to learn that we missed a mini-retrospective of the original exhibition last year. However, the accompanying booklet, created by Brighton-based Studio Makgill , is enough to whet the appetite.

Before leaving work this evening I tore a piece from The Daily Telegraph. I believe it is by Rupert Christiansen but my clipping technique left me with only his forename. In this sidebar piece Rupert (apologies to Mr Christiansen if it was not his work), talks of 'German industrial excellence' alongside the British manufacturing culture that 'is one of corner cutting and quick profit, which ultimately leaves the landfill sites full of broken down plastic rubbish.' Rupert ends by stating that 'the best travel clock, the best food mixer, the best iron, with the clearest dials and crispest switches are German every time.' One would like to point him in the direction of similarly crisp and clear designs from the likes of British manufacturers Anglepoise and Dualit . However, I do admit to having a large soft spot for the work of Dieter Rams and therefore am permitted to include the picture above.

YVES DESK JOYCE CABINET IMO STOOL CLEMENT COFFEE TABLE

Published by Conran Octopus Ltd. RRP £45.00p Thank you to Wallpaper Magazine (once again - a fine source of information.)