slow design

There is a Slow Down London festival on at the moment encouraging Londoners to slow down their pace of living and appreciate the simple things in life more. There are talks, feasts and 'slow' walks around London.

Our urban interest for all things 'slow' also extends to design. Slow design and what this could mean for designers is being explored by several organisations and thinkers. Slowlab, who seem to be like a 'testing laboratory' for the ideas of slow design, have developed six principles. These include ideas such as reflection ("slowly-designed artefacts which induce contemplation and reflective consumption")and participation ("designs which embrace ideas of conviviality and exchange").

As I mentioned in my last post, there are many products and initiatives which are encouraging consumers or users to participate in the design process, whether its learning how to alter or adapt your existing garments or being able to choose which design you would like printed on a tshirt you are buying.

As part of the Slow Down London Festival, wallpaper designer/maker Linda Florence ran a workshop on 'Slow Printing', demonstrating her print techniques and allowing people to get involved in the screen -printing process.

I was also impressed by an exhibition at last year's London Design Festival, by furniture designer Tom Dixon. He exhibited a collection of chairs he had designed in collaboration with upholsterers George Smith. The exhibit showed the chairs at the many stages of construction, with several upholsterers working on-site. The beauty and craftmanship of the chairs was revelaed in a simple, effective way.

All of these events and initiatives reveal the hunger and inquisitiveness that we have for learning how a product is made or how a craft skill is demonstrated.

Image: www.tomdixon.net