Category: 10 questions for designers

With their vast experience, Cohda stay one step ahead of competitors, inventing exciting products and new technology for world leading brands. Based in the UK Cohda use the latest technology, materials, tools and software to deliver unique product solutions. With an impressive array of clients, including Tom Dixon, Zumtobel, Foster + Partners and Louvre Abu Dhabi, to name but a few, they bring world-first products and technology to life. They recently designed our Kepler lights which have been gaining much interest in the industry.

We spoke to Richard, Founder & Creative Director of Cohda, to find out a little more about their inspirations, experiences and recent projects with our big 10 questions…

 

1. Who would you invite to your dream designer dinner party? (Let’s call it your ‘innerparty’)
Let’s call it a dream inventor party. If so then it would be Trevor Baylis, Sir Clive Sinclair, and my Grandad Horace Herbert Liddle. A dinner party full of strong opinion, ideas and probably pipe smoke.

2. What is your favourite piece of architecture?
Has to be the Tyne Bridge. I cycle past it most mornings and evenings, and it’s truly irreplaceable.

3. What would you name as the most useful piece of tech? Or alternatively the most pointless..?  
Most useful must be our 3D printer and CNC milling machine. The hardest working machines in our prototyping shop. Most useless is the blender we have at home. I won’t mention the brand name, but it’s just pointless. It’s on my list to redesign.

4. If you could take any found object and make it into a lamp, what would it be?
You can put a bulb in anything, but I don’t believe repurposed or found objects make great lamps.  Unless you’ve found an old lamp?

5. What’s your favourite object from childhood?  
A Sunburst Red Ford Escort. I oddly bought it as a child with money earned from a milk round and spend most of childhood taking it apart, then reassembling it badly.

6. What’s the funniest or weirdest thing a client has ever asked for or said in a meeting?
The most common thing we hear, is “that’s not possible, is it?’. Which has become a bit of a running joke in the studio. It’s generally a positive and means we’re onto something new, but we hear it alot.

7. At innermost we are big fans of the Negroni. What’s your favourite cocktail?
Chilli Gin and Tonic. Must be Makar Glasgow Gin, Fever tree tonic, lots of Ice, finely sliced Green Chiles and Lime. It’s worth falling off a bar stool for.

8. What’s the last thing you designed or exciting project you worked on?
Creating a child with my wife. It puts all other projects in to perspective.

9. If you could choose your teachers at Fantasy College – who would you choose to be taught by?  
Joni Mitchell, Charles and Ray Eames, John Martyn, David Bowie, Verner Panton, Ingo Maurer and Spike Milligan.

 

Thanks Richard! Find out more from Cohda’s website.

(No one noticed that was only 9 questions… right?)

Steve Jones studied Industrial Design before starting a career in consultancy in London. With experience as diverse as ladies shoes, books, toys, and even naval architecture, his interest in design spans all aspects of material and production. He worked extensively in the furniture industry before moving into lighting and forming Innermost with Russell Cameron in 1999.

His influence can be seen in the varied aesthetics of the Innermost ranges, and his involvement in the process is not just a studio based one. Steve is passionate about bringing designers into industry and of ‘keeping the industry relevant and up to date’, something he sees as crucial in the face of social and technological change.

We grabbed him in a rare quiet moment to ask these 10 big questions…

1. You most recently designed Panel. Nice one! What inspired you?
I had created a piece for a restaurant that used a ring structure and brackets to attach a ceramic plate design.  It turned out really well and that gave me the basic structure. Sometime ago I was working with a jewellery designer friend from Nigeria and she taught me about matted and brushed surfaces on precious metals.  In some ways Panel is a bracelet or bangle but huge in scale.

2. Who would you invite to your dream designer dinner party? (Let’s call it your ‘innerparty’..)
I’d like to pair people up for interesting conversation, Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen would be seated next to John Pawson, Tom Dixon next to Karim Rashid as I’ve always wondered who was taller, Anna Pretty (ex Tom Dixon and Phillips Stark, designer not GF) at my end of the table with Michael Young as we all drink at the same pace and tell loud bawdy stories.

3. What is your favourite piece of architecture?
The blue tiled building down the lower end of Wardour St.  I don’t know what it’s called but if you look up its got lovely details on the top floor. It was built about 1900 I’d guess.  Tama Art University by Toyo Ito is beautiful. It’s built about 10 years ago and it’ll be contemporary and special forever. Finally Alvar Aalto’s house in Helsinki which I was fortunate enough to be shown around personally, it’s full of his life, little things he made, prototypes that never made it.”

4. What would you name as the most useful piece of tech? Or alternatively the most pointless..?
Most useful would be voice control anything. For environmental reasons I dislike products like shoes with LED lights inside, mostly they are not possible to disassemble and recycle.  I don’t mind frivolous and fun but if it’s going to go into the ground batteries, circuits and all to poison us then I think whoever made it should be made to go and dig up each and every one of them.

5. If you could take any found object and make it into a lamp, what would it be?
Can i do the opposite? Could I just get one of Ingo Maurers Campari lamps and crack open the bottles to make Negronis?  I think it’s such a brilliant design and I’ve always loved that light – genius.

6. What’s your favourite object from childhood?
My Space 1999 Eagle Transporter. Awesome, best space ship ever made.

7. What’s the funniest or weirdest thing a client has ever asked for or said in a meeting?
‘If this thing can’t at least find Saudi Arabia you are fired’. We were designing a clock that helped worshippers of Islam know prayer times and find the right direction for Mecca. I was straight out of college and working for a consultancy in London.  It was a wonderful project that sadly never went into production but had a lot of very passionate people working on it. It’s probably an app now. They were joking when they said it.

8. At innermost we are big fans of the Negroni.. What’s your favourite cocktail?
See my answer to question 5 and desire to deconstruct Campari lamp.

9. What’s the last thing you designed?
I’m working on wall lamp options for Panel right now and smaller versions to be made into table and floor lamps.

10. If you could choose your teachers at Fantasy College – who would you choose to be taught by?
Alvar Aalto, Sir Jonathon Ive, Ettore Sottsass, Florence Knoll and finally Marimekko founders Vilijo and Armi Ratia.  This combination of minimalism, humour, innovation and commercial savvy would be great teachers.

You can connect with Steve on Linkedin for more insights and lighting industry articles.

Having studied at Manchester Metropolitan University and working with Innermost for nearly 10 years, James Bartlett has designed multiple products from our range. Participating in every stage of production, James’ expertise in manufacture allow him to push the boundaries of design, adopting a practice of experimentation with material and process. We caught up with him to find out a little more…

1.Most recently you designed the Brixton lighting range for Innermost. Nice one! It’s a beautiful collection that has a timeless appeal. What inspired you?
–I’m obsessed with Geometry.  I love edges.

2. Who would you invite to your dream designer dinner party? (Let’s call it your ‘innerparty’..)
–My close friends.  No matter what your career we are all designers in some way or another.  We have all misused an object in an inventive way.

3. What is your favourite piece of architecture?
–Right now I’m fascinated by The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank.  It was partly made from recycled parts from WWII War Ships (including the rotating gun turrets) and stands out wonderfully on the Cheshire Plain.  Its nice that from brutal killing machines they managed to create such a fantastic scientific tool that isn’t bad to look at either!

4. What would you name as the most useful piece of tech? Or alternatively the most pointless..?
–The Lock. Keys and Locks are amazing bits of kit.  Or the Shipping Container.

5. If you could take any found object and make it into a lamp, what would it be?
–The curved airflow intake from a 1935 Chrysler.

6. What’s your favourite object from childhood?
— A huge American Flathead Screwdriver my grandad managed to get hold of from a US Engineer in the War.  Its about a foot and a half long,  beautifully made and looks as if it could open anything.

7. What’s the funniest or weirdest thing a client has ever asked for or said in a meeting?
–’Can we have it finished and landed in Europe in a month?’

8. Of course we‘re all big fans of the Negroni at innermost… is that your favourite cocktail?
–Currently it’s a Sazerac.  I like a cocktail that punches me in the face then calls me a taxi home.

9. What’s the last thing you designed?
–A 3D Zoetrope for an Art Installation at a Music Festival.

10. If you could choose your teachers at Fantasy College – who would you choose to be taught by?
–Hmm, Probably my Grandad, he was an engineer by trade and made me and my brother the most amazing toys in his workshop, sadly I was too young to learn from him when he passed.  Hella Jongerius – her use of colour is beautiful.  Naoto Fukasawa – his subtle references to existing objects are a delight.  Jasper Morrison – to find out how he makes chairs so comfortable.

Thanks for answering our 10 questions!

With a background in Silversmithing and Metalwork, Tom Kirk’s dramatic pendants and chandeliers are truly show-stopping. Having been featured widely in the international design press and been included in publications such as Designing the 21st Century and 1000 Lights, Tom Kirk is an important name in contemporary lighting design. Kirk’s designs reflect over a decade’s experience in manufacturing processes and we caught up with him to ask 10 big questions… With a background in Silversmithing and Metalwork, Tom Kirk’s dramatic pendants and chandeliers are truly show-stopping. Having been featured widely in the international design press and been included in publications such as Designing the 21st Century and 1000 Lights, Tom Kirk is an important name in contemporary lighting design. Kirk’s designs reflect over a decade’s experience in manufacturing processes and we caught up with him to ask 10 big questions…

1. You designed the Facet pendant and wall lights for innermost. Great job! What inspired you?

The lights were originally adapted from some designs for Christmas window displays, which were never realized. The idea was to create a surface that reflected and bounced the light internally and externally, in as many directions as possible.

2. Who would you invite to your dream designer dinner party? (Let’s call it your ‘innerparty’..)

Too many to choose from so I’d have to say the designers who originally piqued my interest in the late ‘80s:- Philippe Starck, Richard Sapper, Achille Castiglioni, Ingo Maurer…

3. What is your favorite piece of architecture?

The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

4. What would you name as the most useful piece of tech? Or alternatively the most pointless..?

Bluetooth / wireless technology [most useful]

5. If you could take any found object and make it into a lamp, what would it be?

Flotsam or jetsam/ something washed up on a beach

6. What’s your favorite object from childhood?

A mysterious wooden box from India- a gift from my grandparent

7. What’s the funniest or weirdest thing a client has ever asked for or said at a meeting?

Somebody always mentions Only Fools and Horses- when Del and Rodney are hired to clean some chandeliers…

8. At innermost we are big fans of the Negroni… What’s your favorite cocktail?

Caipirinha

9. What’s the last thing you designed?

Other than lighting, a domestic shoe storage rack

10. If you could choose your teachers at Fantasy College – who would you choose to be taught by?

Grace Jones as course leader, Freddie Mercury as a tutor and Heath Robinson as a technician.