An inspiring podcast on everything you need to know about color!
Happy holidays to all our listeners! See you back here in January with a brand-new podcast with Brazilian creative Michell Lott.
S5E09 Design Activism with Fernando Laposse
Fernando Laposse is not only a true inspiration but a great storyteller. His designs are constructed throughout deep levels of culture, challenges, heritage and his great love for his home country Mexico. During our interview we talked about the essential importance of provenance, material, natural pigment and showcasing the story of indigenous communities and their daily struggles through his design work.
Fernando Laposse is a Mexican designer with a degree in product design from Central St. Martins. His practice is material driven and focuses on transforming humble materials into refined design pieces, promoting their regenerative possibilities and tackling environmental issues. For Fernando, the material source and cultural context is of extreme importance. This has led him to forge a long-standing collaboration with Tonahuixtla, a community of Mixtec farmers in the south of Mexico. Rather than working with existing craft, Fernando develops new techniques from scratch which are then taught to members of the community. This in turn creates new sources of employment that revitalise traditional agriculture. Fernando’s projects also strive to communicate the complexity of issues like the loss of biodiversity, erosion, indigenous rights, migration, and the negative impacts of global trade on local agriculture. He does so by documenting the problems and announcing possible resolutions through the transformative power of craft and design. Fernando Laposse focuses on using lesser-known plant fibers like sisal, loofah, totomoxtle, and avocado in his work. He invests time in research to create pieces that not only showcase these materials but also highlight their connection to the culture and history of specific places and their people. Laposse works with indigenous communities in Mexico to help create jobs and bring attention to the challenges they face in today's world. His projects aim to educate and inform, addressing issues such as environmental decline, loss of biodiversity, community breakdown, migration, and the negative effects of global trade on local farming and food traditions. Laposse leads the way in documenting these problems and suggesting solutions through the power of design, showing how design can help make a difference.
Rethinking Color with Anna Starmer
Anna Starmer talked to TCA about her vision on the future of color being more value-based where homogenous colors have no place and we select colors that fit our values, that are beautiful and endure the test of time.
Anna Starmer has been guiding brand colour direction for over 25 years. Her colour library, client palettes and Luminary colour publications reveal the future thinking that will shape the future of colour and materials. She is a board member of the British Textile Colour Group, Intercolor and Interfilliere Salon de la Lingerie Paris. And sits on the colour futures panel for Dulux Paints.
Beyond her books, Anna works directly with brands and retailers, manufacturers, organisations and universities. She understands the technical language of colour, from materials for Dualit or Volvo, to colours for Triumph Lingerie to Ikea. Communicating and visualising colour for brands and manufacturers, Anna has developed colour libraries for clients, from Manolo Blahnik to Marks and Spencer.
Luminary Colour is the bi-annual publication and colour library, founded and created by Anna Starmer. The books and colour swatches are hand made in the UK to an exacting technical standard. Luminary has evolved organically from a future colour forecasting service with a 2-3 year ahead season, into a non-seasonal platform of inspiration and innovation; today we collaborate with botanical dyers, wild dye plant foragers, waste food pigments, waste material specialists and bio-colour innovators – featuring emerging colour swatches in every book.
Colour and material futures sit at the heart of our creative practice, yet beauty is so much deeper than surface level. Our stories have deep rooted connections to the origin of colour and long-term future intentions, way beyond a single season. Our work visualises a regenerative future, exploring a wiser, more intuitive ways of making and creating.
Speaking Material with Chris Lefteri
Chris Lefteri invites us to the mysterious world of CMF. How do you bridge the gap between material industries and designers. Why does the material come first in the creative design process and what role does color play? What innovation is happening in the intrinsic world of materials and how does this relate to topics of circularity and recyclability? Material guy Chris Lefteri gives insight on how he builds stories around materials and the challenges he encounters in a world in search of sustainable materials.
Chris Lefteri is an internationally recognised authority in materials and their application in design. The work of his studio and publications have been pivotal in changing the way designers and the materials industry consider materials. His books include Materials for Design and six other titles in the Materials for Inspirational Design series. Chris Lefteri Design has locations in London and Seoul and works with multiple Fortune 100 companies. His studio is widely recognised as one of the leading studios working in the field of materials & CMF. In 2018 he launched FixIts, his first materials driven brand.
Complex Design Realities with Formafantasma
Together with Formafantasma's Simone Farresin we talk about GEO-Design, the design of the future, what design skills are increasingly important and how the two designers are trying to create awareness about true sustainable design and more importantly, bringing along solutions to businesses that can create the much-needed change in design thinking. What role does color play in this new era of design? Lastly but not least how can smell influence new design thinking?
Formafantasma is a research-based design studio investigating the ecological, historical, political and social forces shaping the discipline of design today. Whether designing for a client or developing self – initiated projects, the studio applies the same rigorous attention to context, processes and details. Formafantasma’s analytical nature translates in meticulous visual outcomes, products and strategies.
Since founding the studio in 2009, Italians Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin have championed the need for value – laden advocacy merged with holistic design thinking. Their aim is to facilitate a deeper understanding of both our natural and built environments and to propose transformative interventions through design and its material, technical, social, and discursive possibilities.
The Future of Mobility with Stefan Ytterborn
In this very frank conversation with Stefan Ytterborn we talk about the future of mobility and the importance of transparency within the motorcycle industry but above all his electric motorcycle brand Cake. Stefan has spear-headed multiple successful companies that all were purpose driven, where does he get his inspiration and how does he know when the time is right to set-up a new innovative business? As a rather new entry into the conservative industry, Stefan mentions the challenges he faces to produce the lightest electric motorcycle in the market without making compromises on the selection of materials, finishes and colors while taking into account a zero emission option in the near future. And last but not least, what is next for Cake? Listen to our conversation and find out his love for roses but yes also a bowl of coloured M&M's.
Stefan Ytterborn has a long background as entrepreneur, promoter, and strategist within contemporary and industrial design and communication, covering all segments of the value chain when being responsible for developing more than 2,000 consumer products, my current work combines previous experiences with interests that matter to me and that I am passionate about.
His latest venture is Cake, an exciting ride on the journey towards a zero emission society. The company develops high-performance electric off-road motorbikes, launching in 2017.
Dutch Design Thinking with Piet Hein Eek
Piet is famous for his reclaimed design that travels the world and during my interview with him he reveals in detail his design philosophy, his view on sustainable design and how he selects colors while using the materials that he is surrounded by. How did his Dutch upbringing influence his designs and how come he works in an opposite manner as the rest of the world, never knowing what the end result of his designs will be like? Listen to our talk and find out also who was the main inspiration for his new paint color range!
Piet Hein Eek was born in the Netherlands in 1967. He graduated from the Academy for Industrial Design in Eindhoven in 1990. While at the Academy, he gained attention for his exam project “Scrap Wood Cupboards”. He sold all of the cupboards and used the money to start his own design studio in 1992. The following year he went into partnership with fellow designer Nob Ruijrok, establishing Eek en Ruijgrok v.o.f. Today, they continue to work in a 10.000 square meter multi-purpose space in Eindhoven, which includes a restaurant, a shop, a gallery, a showroom, and a studio.
Piet Hein Eek has built his business around old materials, saving discarded pieces of wood and working outside the circuit of mass production. His instantly recognisable work considers the tension between modernity and tradition, waste and sustainability. Piet Hein Eek’s work is sold in numerous galleries worldwide.
He has exhibited at venues like the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Milan Furniture Fair, Italy.
The Fast and Furious with Dominik Eisend
Dominik Eisend steers & drives Merck’s global Pull Marketing activities within surface solutions, always focusing on design & technology at automotive OEMs. He introduces new trends and stylings and listens closely to what is needed in the market to be able to present the right creations at the right time.
Dominik has a background in transportation interior design focusing on materials and CMF. Prior to his role at Merck he has worked for several OEMs such as Mercedes-Benz, AMG and FORD as well as for a German-Chinese automotive start up called BORGWARD where he was leading the Color&Trim design team.
He loves to work with materials or to experiment with new technology to generate material driven design experiences. He looks at color and surfaces to play an incremental role for good product design. In his eyes the material design will play the most influential role in the future of mobility. Dominik currently resides in Stuttgart, Germany.
The Natural Flow of Color with Laura Perryman
Laura will give insights in the world of materials and how specifically plastics relate to product design and yes color. She believes the world of color design is adapting to seasonal color flows, letting go of the need to control color in design and letting it flow naturally. An interesting talk about creating natural colors in labs, neuro-aesthetics and where the future of design & color is moving.
Laura is an experienced colour and material designer and trend forecaster, who thinks strategically, has a user-centered mindset and brings inspiration, clear actionable insights, and design directions for brands and organisations. Her ethos is colour and materials should be integral but above all have a positive purpose for applications, products, or services. Working with companies, she navigates future opportunities and creates intelligent, empathetic, and planet-aware palettes and designs, demonstrating aesthetics are key to all levels of experience.
Her in-depth background in colour, knowledge of materials in manufacture, and critical understanding of the trend prediction process have enabled the creation of innovative design directions, brand colour guidelines, and material development for globally renowned and respected companies.
Her work experience encompasses diverse industry sectors, from industrial product design to digital platforms; she has created unique CMF design for future-forward innovation firms in-house at Arrival, Nokia, and Speedo, and has consulted with brands such as 3M Post-it, Sainsbury’s, DuPont Corian, and HP, to create category leading colour identities for new products. She’s led strategic future forecasting projects for clients such as Panasonic Europe, Antron, Comex, and Procter & Gamble and created engaging and insightful reports for trend forecasting agencies including WGSN and Beautystreams.
Laura currently directs Colour of Saying, a UK-based CMF Design Studio, focused on future-forward circular and emotionally-connected colour and material design, insights, and experiences for brands and organisations. Most recently showcasing an exhibition and series of workshops entitled ‘Colour Via:’ on how colour can drive and be an agent for change in advancing sustainable design practices. She is currently on the board of trustees for The Colour in Design Awards, a non-profit organisation that supports new graduates and designers to explore colour further in their practice.
Laura is the author of The Colour Bible, published Autumn 2021, a succinct book covering 100 significant colours and their pertinence and potential for use in the world around us.
“Excellent series about color. It’s a complex topic and Judith approaches it from a variety of angles with her guests. Always entertaining and insightful. I look forward to listening to each episode and learning something new about color and the visionaries in the color world.”
— Review Apple Podcast