EDITOR’S NOTE: Haven’t read PART 1 of this insightful interview with Brian Graham? Then do so quickly because we’re going to jump right in…
Please give our readers a little insight into the multi-step process you go through from manufacturer collaboration, conceptualization and design to creation, production and distribution into the marketplace.
Assuming I’ve either had a conversation with a client or received a design brief, I’ll dive into the problem at hand. If I know the market, and I’m familiar with the application, then I can get started; if it’s a new area for me then I might begin acquiring some relevant knowledge, which can be as formal as reading through research or be as informal as surfing the web or meeting with end users who sue the product or designers who specify it.
From a conceptual standpoint, for me it always starts with a sketch. My goal is to capture the images I have in my mind into some form of visual notation.
After that my design process is akin to an infinity symbol, where I’m reading and reacting, drawings and reflecting. Then I’ll bring the client into that process, and they’ll read and react to what I’ve drawn, and the design evolves.
After we come to an agreement on the design direction we have full-scale prototypes made. This is an important step because for the first time we’re able to see the scale and proportion of these elements as they’ll appear in production. Usually there is quite a bit of tweaking at this point, because something you think was too thick in a drawing is too thin in reality, and vice versa.
Depending on the manufacturer, there will be a series of reviews where the product is evaluated through various engineering, manufacturing, marketing, operations and/or financial metrics.
If after all of that you have something close to what you started out with you turn your attention to sales training and product launch. I have learned over the years that these two areas are critical to the success of your product, so I am fully engaged in conversations with the salespeople and dealers about the reasoning behind the design, the applications it addresses, etc. They are truly the first market that I need to address, as they will influence greatly the ultimate success of the product.
If there ever is one, what is a typical day like for you?
When I’m in San Francisco I’ll usually get to the office between 9:30 AM and 10:00 AM and work till 7:30 PM or 8:00 PM. Before I’ve gotten to the office I’ll have already responded to emails from the East coast.
I typically have three to four projects going on at any one time, and they are all at different stages of design or prototyping, and so it’s a balancing act.
I try not to be too email-crisis driven, but sometimes that cannot be avoided.
On a good day I’d estimate I’m on the phone 50% of the time, discussing things with clients, participating in conference calls, or web-based collaborations, which are really fast becoming a acceptable substitute for travel, at least at the schematic level of design.
The best time of the day for me to sit down and produce is between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM, because the phone has stopped ringing for the most part and I can crank up the music and draw.
What was biggest work-related mistake (at any time in your career) that you have ever made and how did you deal with it?
As a lead interior designer on a law firm project I was responsible for specifying the limestone for the floors and walls, and traveled to Portugal to pick out the slabs. Sounds good, right” Problem was, I had never done that before, and so I was ignorant about the limitations of the stone I was looking at and selected these beautiful limestone slabs that looked great, but did not hold up very well when they were installed. It was a terrible mistake. I should have heeded the advice of the stone contractor, but I didn’t.
Early in my furniture design career, I designed a table that was very nice looking, but was really hard for the factory I was working for to make efficiently, which added to it’s cost. I remember several conversations where the engineers and plant managers complained that the design was a problem and that it needed to change, but I dismissed those comments…and of course they were right. They couldn’t make it efficiently, it cost too much, and the product was a major disappointment.
The lesson from both of these is that in any design project there are people whom have more expertise than you do in a given area and their thoughts and concerns need to be understood. You may not agree with them all the time, but you’ll certainly learn something in the discourse.
What did you learn in design school that continues to influence your work – whether related to process or aesthetics – to this day?
Two things:
1) My design professor at CSULB often talked about FSE – Function, Structure and Esthetics – so that is never far from my mind.
2) Another design professor, who upon learning that I would not be applying for a Fulbright Scholarship, accused me of being lazy. He was right, although I was actually more intimidated and was acting disinterested so I could avoid having to do it. So whenever a new challenge comes along and I’m feeling a bit intimidated I remember his words and try to act accordingly.
What’s the best advice that you could give someone who is thinking about pursuing a career in furniture design?
First, and foremost, this is a business of relationships and results; one leads to another in a very direct way. You need to gain an understanding for what a market, and a manufacturer needs three, four, five years from now, because chances are their pipeline is already full for the next two years.
Second, is to develop a broad portfolio of designs. Too often I see designers who have created a single table and want to sell it to a manufacturer; it rarely works that way. I’d suggest that what they should be doing is selling the manufacturer that you are a great thinker and that table is only one example of what you could create if given the opportunity.
Last, but not least, is to develop an expertise. My inspiration has and continues to be Florence Knoll. She was an interior designer who created fill-in pieces based on what she needed. Interior Designers today are no different. As many products as there are today they still need something that doesn’t exist, so who better to design it than the designer who intends to specify it?
Is there any other information that you would like to mention that we haven’t covered here?
With the economic situation that we find ourselves in and the employment situation where it is, it’s hard to stay positive and upbeat. But, you know, things don’t make themselves, they have to be created. So if you accept the notion that everything is designed, we’ll have plenty of work to do for a long time to come. So I’d urge everyone to hang in there and remember that design, at its very core, is an optimistic act.
Now for the lighter side…
What time of day are you most productive and why?
I’m the most productive between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM, but I’m the most creative the first five minutes that I’m awake.
What’s the last book you read and would you recommend it?
I typically don’t read books, I just wait for the movie to come out, but the last book I read was The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage by Roger Martin. It was a good read, and quick, so yes, I would recommend it. But honestly, I think most business books are too long…you can get their point in the first 50 pages, you don’t need the last 200. That being said, I read a lot of magazines, and have a self-imposed mandate to pick one magazine every month that I’ve never read before, and it’s eye opening to get that different frame of reference. I enjoy reading Fortune (my dad bought me a subscription 25 years ago because I need a business magazine to counter all of the design magazines I was reading…good advice), Fast Company, any and all design periodicals. My new favorite magazine is Monocle.
What are your favorite kinds of Halloween candies to sneak out of your bag when the kids come trick-or-treating?
I’m a Butterfinger man, myself.
What is one thing that you wish you knew more about?
Love…or golf; I find the attributes for long-term success in both to be elusive.
