As president and creative director of Bernhardt Design for the last 20 years, Jerry Helling has led the industry in nurturing young talent. The design-centric North Carolina manufacturer is an active supporter of the community, sponsoring exhibitions like America Made Me, establishing an educational program at the Art Center College of Design, and creating ICFF Studio, which introduces a small crop of emerging designers each year during New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Because America lacks the infrastructure for promoting design abroad—we don’t have trade associations like 100% Norway or the British Design Council—Helling believes it’s imperative to provide that exposure for young designers whenever possible.
How do you find out about new designers?
The usual suspects. I’ve seen their work, either in print or online, or I’ve met them at an exhibition. If I’m being honest, somebody usually comes to my attention from the press in some way or another. Online, I read Co.Design, Dezeen, Core77, Nowness. There are probably only two print sources that I pay attention to: Fast Company and Wallpaper. I pay the most attention to Wallpaper. The third one would be the furniture magazine Intramuros. She [the editor, Chantal Hamaide] has an incredible eye, supporting young people that you’re going to see before they hit the mainstream.
I also go to a lot of exhibitions and trade shows where I might see a product for the first time. The two must-sees are the London Design Festival and Milan. And then I mix it up from there. The next best is probably Maison et Objet, in Paris, but I don’t think it’s as strong as London in furniture.
What kinds of design are you looking for at the moment?
At the moment I’m looking for design that’s integrable into large, undivided spaces. Everywhere you go now, whether it be the airport, a shopping mall, a stadium, or offices, it seems like barriers that used to be able to divide space and create different moods are gone; instead, there’s an openness about everything. For a product to play well in those open spaces, and be integrable with other things—that’s a different aesthetic than just admiring a standalone object. I used to be more influenced by how I felt about a design as an individual object. Now I’m more influenced with how I feel about it in context.
At this month’s London Design Festival, Bernhardt Design will launch the Oslo Chair by Angell, Wyller & Aarseth.
The Oslo Chair is AWAA’s first commercial product launch.
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