Following the publication of design duo Barber and Osgerby’s monograph last year, we speak to the studio’s co-founder Jay Osgerby about 20 years’ of furniture-making, coming up with original ideas and why designers should always consider the environment.
Design Week: Why did you decide to publish your monograph Projects?
Jay Osgerby: It’s the third book we’ve published, following our first book in 2011 and one we self-published in 2015, which was a photographic exploration of our work to date with no words or explanation. We made our first piece of furniture over 20 years ago, so we wanted to explain the evolution of the studio, go into detail on the projects and tell the stories behind them. Along with Phaidon, we felt it was time to capture the essence of both books in a new one that was written by someone who was more objective.
DW: Which project are you most proud of?
JO: The Tip Ton chair, which we designed for Vitra in 2011. It’s not the most glamorous one, but we managed to find a new mode of use for a very standard object. It’s a one-stop-shop plastic chair with joined front and back legs, which allows the user to tip the chair and sit back at an angle in a comfortable position. It’s like an inverse rocking chair and allows people to exercise their core. It’s an answer for people sitting still for hours, like in offices, and is good for their backs. We designed it based on research in ergonomics.
DW: How has your style as furniture designers changed?
JO: We’ve never really had a style, it’s always been an approach. We look at each project as if it’s the first time we’ve ever done anything. There are stylistic connections to our projects, but I’ll leave it up to the people who get the book to draw their own connections. It’s hard for us to find relationships between projects, they’re so diverse.
DW: So what approach do you take?
JO: In a way, we’re in the worst profession in the world. All of us are guilty of promoting the idea of consumerism when that’s the last thing we need. We have a duty to make sure we create furniture and objects that bring something new and valid to the market but also have a long-lasting legacy.
People shouldn’t need to buy so many things; we should buy things that can be kept for a long time, won’t break and will give you joy every day you use them. You should have a connection with these things and they should form part of your life permanently. Our approach is that a project has to really justify itself before you can let it be born. It’s much more fun to be an inventor than a designer, in that sense. It’s not just about styling something, it’s about seeking new ways of doing things.
