We held the Retail Institute Design night in our Waterloo showroom the other week. For those of you who missed the intro post about Ryan and his work, you can check it out here.
A small group gathered and Ryan shared a little about his approach to design. What he looks for, what inspires him and how he goes about the design process.
> Take inspiration from outside the industry.
> Aim to create emotion and feeling within a space. Sometimes with a hammer, other times with a velvet glove.
> We try to create a unique design response which is technically sound and functionally robust. Everything we try and do as designers is unique, it only becomes a trend because someone else wanted one…
> Have local thoughts. Take a worldly view.
> Get buy in from the client team [with one project they gave each staff member $60 and asked them to buy a boardroom chair].
> Make them sticky. Create spaces which people want to hang out in.
> Thoughtful design is inherently sustainable. Re-imagine. Re-Use. Re-frame.
> Re-use what you can.
> Bigger is not always better. In fact, sometimes being quiet is the best disruption.
> Social ownership = longevity. How can you create shared ownership?
> Remember that community spaces are not “shops”. They are part of the overall fabric of a community, social, environmental and retail. Think about the social impact of what you do – on people, on the street.
This is just a taste of some of the things he talked about. I really enjoyed listening to his approach and it’s a pleasure to hear someone who is undoubtedly great at what they do, distill what it is they do. A great night was had by all. Oh and the delicious roast suckling pig rolls with chutney from Bistrode were a delicious accompaniment. Thanks Jane and Jeremy. Again.
