Tom Dixon

Went to the Tom Dixon lecture at the V & A tonight- was part of their Friday night lecture series. It was a really interesting presentation he gave and the discussion after was also insightful. The lecture focused on the opening of his own "brand"- as hes now producing his own stuff through his own company. After going to his show at Milan furniture fair last year it was nice to hear the story behind it.

I found that he thought about things in a very similar way to alot of people I have spoken to- and struggles in a way that I do with the concept of design. He spoke very eloquently and humbly (if that's a word) about what interests him- that he is interested not specifically in crafting an idea- but the entire process- so from raw material to the consumer.

He also discussed what is meant by "Britishness" to him. This is a subject that I have been thinking alot about recently- as I am working on a range of projects with a friend of mine who is German- and I find he has- in many respects quite different approaches- and we think that this is cultural in some respects.

Dixon spoke about a heaviness, and an honesty to British design- and also it being less "wizzy". He thinks that's British design focuses on what the thing has to do, and how it will be made- and applies style based on this. He spoke about differences in aesthetic between different design cultures.

He also said that design is not a "thing"- it is something that everyone does in some way- and also talked about the links with his musical past- in terms of entertaining and performing- and discussed how most of his best ideas come from his mistakes.

It really has inspired me and revived my interest in design- as if someone of his stature struggles with some of the issues surrounding "design" then maybe its not such a bad thing. I think that trying things and experimenting is such a positive thing- and I am going to continue to follow in this vain.

It was really interesting- and he was a very charming, reserved and modest gentleman.