loader
Open / Close Nav

Interview: Brandon Walker, Design Assistant

This October, Stylex welcomed Brandon Walker to the design team. He joins Stylex having participated in two momentous group shows this year: the Furniture MFA Graduate Show at Rhode Island School of Design and a group show at WantedDesign called Furthermore, which put the work of eight RISD graduates in the spotlight alongside that of international designers. Brandon’s background balances fine art (he has a BFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art) and design, as well as digital fabrication—he was a teacher’s assistant in CNC technologies at RISD and the manager of the rapid prototyping studio at California College of the Arts.

You’ve had an interesting year in which you showed work at WantedDesign as part of RISD’s MFA show—what were the most rewarding and challenging parts of that whole experience?
It was a crazy, intense, but rewarding year. The Furniture Department at RISD requires its grads to put together a show outside of the RISD Graduate Show. My fellow grads and I applied to exhibit as a group at WantedDesign in New York. The challenge was to create two events in two different cities that opened the same weekend. It really tested our ability to work as a team and manage the logistics of setting up two high-profile shows simultaneously, let alone having the work to display. I did not sleep.

To show alongside such talented and forward-thinking designers at both shows was an incredibly valuable experience in terms of both exposure and connections within the art/design worlds.

What is it about Stylex that drew you to the company. Also, what are you looking forward to learning and bringing to the job?
I was drawn to Stylex for its clean, approachable, modern product line. Simply put, it was important for me to contribute to a company in which I like the work and the people behind it. The position was also an incredible opportunity to learn more about the contract furniture industry and the challenge to contribute my skills and ideas to work that speaks to a broad audience. It was also an opportunity to push my ideas by melding art object with functional design, all while collaborating with the design team to come up with intriguing, forward-thinking products.

Tell us about your favorite Stylex design?
I am partial to both the Nestle and Allround designs. It is hard to pick a favorite because I love the versatility of both and the wide range of options and functionality. They are both very user friendly in the way they can be “optioned” to suit the client’s vision and space. They are simple and sophisticated while retaining a playful attitude.

What everyday object have you always appreciated from a design standpoint?
My Opinel pocket knife. My wife gave it to me for Christmas one year, and I have loved them ever since. They are high quality, durable and beautiful. I love how the blade is locked in place by a simple metal band that twists around the top of the handle. I am drawn to simple things. I often reference old tools to find durable design solutions.

Interview: Brad Ascalon

Born outside of Philadelphia, Brad Ascalon was immersed in the world of art and design from an early age. His grandfather was a noted sculptor and industrial designer, and his father is renowned for his large-scale art installations throughout North America. Ascalon earned his Masters’ degree in Industrial Design from New York’s Pratt Institute in 2005, and that same year was recognized by Wallpaper* magazine as one of the “Ten Most Wanted” emerging designers in the world. For his first collaboration with Stylex, the pair sought to create a timeless, but universally usable, product.

Tell us briefly about the formative design goals behind Nestle.
Nestle is designed not just as a chair, but also as a platform to receive different bases that allow it to function across different settings. It’s a unique benefit to contract environments because you can use the same body with whatever base suits the space without sacrificing a uniform look. Stylex worked extremely hard to finesse the chair so that all the design details mesh flawlessly with each base.

The chair brings to mind a classic, mid-century look. What makes its appearance special and different?
With Nestle, there’s this great dialogue between hard and soft, organic and geometric. We played with these contrasting elements so that although it recalls and pays tribute to classic mid-century elements, it really is a timeless, elegant chair.

How did you get your start in the industry?
My grandfather was a designer/sculptor/inventor/artist, and my dad was an architect. At first I was in the music industry, and then on my way to becoming an architect, I stumbled across industrial design. I love this field because it’s a problem-solving industry. And, once you master all the rules, you can break them in super creative, innovative ways. There’s always something that hasn’t been done before, and it’s exciting.

How did your collaboration with Stylex start?
One of my former professors from Pratt, and a personal design hero, is Mark Goetz. He’s designed multiple products for Stylex and won numerous Best of NeoCon awards, so it was exciting for me to be able to follow in his footsteps with my first Stylex design. And I loved working with Stylex. They’re based close to my hometown, which was cool to find out when we started working together, and I love that it’s a made-in-America company, supporting the local economy. They’re American artisans. It was a great first time around, and we’ve already received a lot of positive interest and feedback from NeoCon.

Interview: Perkins & Will

NeoCon will serve not only as the debut of our new collections, but also as the debut of our redesigned Chicago showroom. We spoke with Perkins + Will Design Director for the project, Tim Wolfe, and Project Designer Liz Potokar to learn about the space’s conceptualization and execution.

1.    What was the design goal of the new Stylex Chicago showroom?

a.    We wanted to focus on Share and its modularity and contextualize it in a modern office environment. Workplace trends are moving away from traditional settings and are now providing the freedom for people to work as they like.  The office trends we are seeing take place in three distinct areas: focus space, collaboration space, and social space. Share works especially well for the second two, where people can use the units to come together and work in a collaborative environment or share in a kind of ‘serendipity moment’ where they interact with other groups from the office, around social spaces. The new showroom demonstrates the breadth of Share by using its modularity in many different ways. We also designed a large wall graphic to show the product in the context of an office space.

2.    How did you create the wall graphic?

a.    We created a 3D model of the showroom space, which includes the Share product, and then modeled a virtual space adjacent to it, which included office workstations.  The wall graphic is a perspective view into this virtual space to show the Share product in an office context. I think it adds a really dynamic feel and a sense of greater space than there actually is.

3.    What’s your favorite feature of the showroom?

a.    I think there’s a great clarity to the design. Our team did a great job of understanding the breadth of the Share product, choosing sophisticated finishes for it, and demonstrating how many different ways it can work.

4.    What are some of the different ways you were able to use Share?

a.    There are two different heights, so towards the front, we use lounge height and then, we move up to task height with more of a meeting area. Share is also able to work in food areas, so near the bar in the showroom, we created banquettes. There’s an element to Share that has a higher screen, which is its most private execution, so we used that to create a collaborative zone in the back.

5.    How do you see the showroom as being distinct from others in the building?

a.    I would say for a small showroom, it feels spacious while getting in a lot of product. We give movement and circulation throughout to experience Share from all angles. We’re really trying to showcase the product in its best light.

6.    Other than Share, what are some other exciting features to the showroom?

a.    The serviceable coffee bar is a great touch. We also used SAVA, in the showroom as well as on the wall graphic, because it’s a signature product Stylex is known for. We tried to be playful with the brand, too, like the three-dimensional letters on a coffee bar shelf.

Interview: Iskos-Berlin – The Allround Chair

While at NeoCon, we had a chance to talk with Boris Berlin and Aleksej Iskos of Iskos-Berlin Design about their new company and the design process behind the Allround Chair, a first for them as Iskos-Berlin. (more…)

Interview: Paul Brooks

NeoCon will see the launch of the Brooks chair from international designer Paul Brooks. Stylex is thrilled to be working with Brooks on this new versatile, stackable seating solution. We asked Brooks some questions to set the stage for the launch… (more…)

Interview: Sava Cvek

Sava Cvek has been an important part of the Stylex story over the past decade. In this interview, he talks about his relationship with the company, his design process, and more. (more…)

Interview: Aodh O Donnell

This past Spring, Stylex hired a talented young designer, Aodh O Donnell, to join its in-house development team.  He made an early splash in the design industry as winner of the 2009 Wilsonart Challenge based on the creation of the iconic Armadillo Chair. O Donnell will be working with the Stylex stable of designers as well as designing chairs of his own.  In addition, he has assembled a group of young design students to intern in a kind of design incubator at the Stylex HQ.  We talked with Aodh to learn about the road traveled from Ireland to Delanco, NJ. (more…)

Interview: Talking With Mark 2 Designer Mark Goetz

Mark Goetz is an award-winning designer, professor at Pratt Institute and founder of the design firm TZDesign. In his 20-year career, he has designed numerous collections of iconic furniture including the Goetz Sofa for Herman Miller and more than 60 unique chairs for Bernhardt.

What was the inspiration behind the Mark 2 collection?
The intention was to create something very simple: A pure modernist statement through the use of comfort. Many American seating companies import European parts with narrow frames and slim dimensions, but we designed Mark 2 with generous proportions and roomy dimensions. To give the chair a classically modern appeal, we added a strong, rectilinear frame and a dramatically curved plywood back.

How has the collection evolved?
It was first introduced to the market in 2008 as a non-stacking guest chair with a 20″ width seat. As of this fall, bar and counter stools were added to the line as well as a beautiful new wood finish in Whitewash Oak. Stacking and non-stacking models are both now available.

Have you designed any other products for Stylex?
I also designed the MG Lounge, which was the first lounge seating system for the company. It features arm and armless chairs, 2- and 3-piece sofas, upholstered benches and wood table benches that fit a wide range of interior environments.

Why did you choose to work with the company?
It’s a combination of seamless design, subtlety of detail, and consideration for the environment. Stylex is a company that truly values craftsmanship. They consistently invest the development time required to take products to the highest level of excellence, upholstering and engineering until they’re perfect. With Mark 2, they wanted to create an elegant and beautifully crafted modernist chair – not one meant for mass production. They spent a lot of time getting the frames exactly right – welding and polishing each piece, and especially the joints, until extremely smooth. To create such seamlessly jointed frames in regular production, with this degree of precision and consistency, demands a major commitment to quality and an uncommon attention to detail.