Hasta La Ideas

In the next of our movies filmed at Dezeen Live during 100% Design, British industrial designer Benjamin Hubert argues that designers should focus on building their own name as a brand.

Above: “misused” furniture in Brazil

In the movie, Hubert says that “a designer’s name is incredibly powerful” and “designers really need to focus on their own name”.

“Do one thing really well, talk about one thing really well, have a message, have an ethos, and keep hammering it home,” he advises. “It’s a simple process but it’s been really beneficial for us.”

Above: overhead cables in Japan

Hubert starts off by showing a selection of images that inspire his work, including overhead cables in Japan, which he describes as “organised chaos”, and “misused” furniture from Brazil where people have strapped chairs to pillars and trees to create makeshift living spaces.

“They’re sort of used for old boys watching the street, watching the world go by, and I just love this idea that they’ve been customised,” he explains. “It’s these strange ways that furniture is misused and has a second life. I just find this story and the life cycle of a product really interesting.”

Above: Tenda lamps in Hubert’s studio

He then discusses his studio’s new in-house approach to the design and manufacture of some projects. Commenting on the tent-like lighting he launched at London Design Festival in September, he explains: “Instead of handing it over to a third party and essentially having a middle man in the process, we decided that we’d develop the whole thing.”

“It’s just thinking about the idea of tapping into that, and diversifying from the royalty model and the fee model to doing a bit of self production,” he adds.

Hubert presented the Tenda lamps at designjunction this year, alongside a chair made from a T-shirt-shaped piece of bent plywood developed for Portugese brand De La Espada.

Above: furniture by Benjamin Hubert at designjunction

Dezeen Live was a series of discussions between Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and a number of designers and critics that took place at design exhibition 100% Design during London Design Festival this September.

Each of the four one-hour shows, recorded live in front of an audience, included three interviews plus music from Dezeen Music Project featuring a new act each day. We’ve been posting all the movies we filmed over the past few days, and you can watch all the movies we’ve featured so far here.

The music featured in the movie is a track called Witness is Silent by American designer and musician Glen Lib. Listen to more of his songs on Dezeen Music Project.

See all our stories about Benjamin Hubert »
See all our stories about Dezeen Live »
See all our stories about London Design Festival 2012 »

The post “It’s all about brand – a designer’s name is
powerful” – Benjamin Hubert at Dezeen Live appeared first on Dezeen.