Chris Jackson Interview

*Chris Jackson, of Northwards Design Studio and founder of
design exhibition and collective TEN, talks us through his work.*

Give us a quick run down of your design history.
I am originally from the north of England, from a small mining village near Sheffield. I completed a BA (Hons) in Furniture and Product Design at Nottingham Trent University in 2000 and then an MA in Furniture Design at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University.
After completing my Masters in 2002 I opened Northwards Design Studio in London and began working for a number of different companies including Innermost, Dark, Marset and Habitat, where I worked for six months under Tom Dixon.
In 2006 I organised and curated the sustainable design exhibition and collective, TEN. I’m currently a Lecturer in Industrial Design at Massey University in Wellington.

How do you turn an idea into a product?
My design process is different for each project. If it is a self-driven project, then often this is just a development of an idea that has been bubbling away for a while. When working with clients, it depends on the company and their requirements. I like to work full size quite quickly, so mock-ups and prototypes are important to get an idea of form, size and scale. My process is generally fluid, from sketching, prototyping, engineering drawings and computer- generated visuals, there are no hard and fast rules – unless I make them!

What has been a highlight in your design career so far?
Probably the TEN project. This began as a reaction to all the ‘greenwashing’ that was out there about sustainable design.
I wanted to get a group of designers together that design objects, and get them to respond to the issues of sustainable design with three-dimensional ideas. This won two awards at 100% Design in London in 2006, including Best Contribution to Show. Since then, and in my absence, the project has happened every year. In 2008 we worked with the Crafts Council in the UK, and retailer TwentyTwentyOne, and we have just finished TENXYZ, which uses digital technologies as a tool to ask questions about sustainable design and design practice in general.

You teach design as well as practise. How does this influence your work?
I think, more than anything, it keeps me fresh. I feel that I learn a lot more than if I was just in my own studio, on my own. I have the best of both worlds in a way. I am still very active with clients, and producing my own design work, yet I am also learning from my students and colleagues about facets of design in which they are experts. Since being in New Zealand, I have learnt a lot about design research in its many forms. I’m looking forward to developing this and seeing the results filter into my commercial work.

What are you trying to achieve with your designs?
The best end result for the particular brief. As I develop as a designer, my perspective of what design should and could be has evolved. I am growing more interested in design as a critique of contemporary culture – objects that consider and question how we are developing as human beings. My commercial work has always been about objects with value. I like developing objects and a body of work that has integrity, and is not driven by fashion, but by function, economics and aesthetics.

Do you dabble in design outside of furniture?
I regard myself as a creative person. I don’t like to pigeonhole myself. I’ve designed furniture, products, lighting, homeware and spatial schemes, as well as curating, project management, writing and teaching.

Whose design work do you admire?
I have been reading a lot about Bruno Munari recently. Munari was a visionary in the fact that he didn’t take any notice of disciplinary boundaries. He was an artist, sculptor, graphic designer, industrial designer, social commentator, writer – impossible to classify.

What are you working on at the moment?
I’ve just completed some work for Umbra, which should be launching in early 2010 and am developing products, lighting and furniture for various international manufacturers including Bodj, a UK-based ethical maufacturer. I’ll be donating my royalties from this project.
I will be getting more involved with New Zealand companies through the industrial Design Research Centre, Affect.

www.northwards-design.co.uk
www.researchandobject.com