DIGEST: MADE IN BRITAIN SPECIAL, LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL, MIDDLEPORT POTTERY, HIUT DENIM

The FT had a Made in Britain special recently:

Made in Britain, part one: lighting

Building on the country’s strong heritage in industrial engineering, designers are experimenting with new materials and modern techniques. In addition, higher costs and demand for locally sourced products has increasingly seen the production process shift back to the UK from Asia.

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Made in Britain, part two: furniture design

British designers are in demand throughout the world for their skills and high quality craftsmanship. Events such as the London Design Festival and Clerkenwell Design Week attract increasingly large international audiences keen to see, and crucially, buy what UK furniture makers are producing.

This video that features furniture designer Sebastian Cox discussing the closure of furniture courses and Zeev Aram on the absurdity of exporting UK trained talent only to import their designs is also worth a watch.

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Middleport Pottery and its workers

Some may wonder why saving Middleport is so important, given that it is merely one of many factories in the area. The fact is, though, that Middleport is special. It is the only factory left that still uses the finest method (apart from hand-painting) of applying decoration – the 19th-century underglaze transfer printing method, which depends upon hand-engraving the patterns on to rollers.

Image above: Keith Flynn of Middleport Pottery taken by David Severn

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A recent video from Monocle visits Hiut Denim in Wales, as well as a lavender farm

DIGEST: GLOBEMAKING IN LONDON, A VISIT TO CROCKETT & JONES IN NORTHAMPTON, KENNETH GRANGE

Peter Bellerby - The Globemaker from Cabnine on Vimeo.

Above, a fascinating look into Bellerby & Co. Globemakers in Stoke Newington, north London (via Huh Magazine)

At the Kodak factory in Harrow (Marko & Placemakers)

A visit to Bespoked, a bike show in Bristol (Umbrella Magazine)

Canteen restaurant furniture makers Very Good & Proper interview (Port Magazine)

Behind the scenes at Linton Tweed in Carlisle (Jigsaw)

At Crockett & Jones in Northampton (Make it British)

A David Mellor day out, with biographic notes (Manchester Modernist Society)

A visit to Downing Street: is the government doing enough to support small British manufacturing businesses? (Make it British)

In discussion with Kenneth Grange, talking trains, TX1s and The Killing (Port Magazine)

A short documentary about the recovery of a Victorian press (Tom Stokes)

British made denim: Fallow, Albam, Hiut and Tender (The Chic Geek)

Events:

The New Craftsmen have a few events going on at London Design Festival, from the 17th - 21st September

A pottery trail in Cornwall, from mid-late September (Leach Pottery)

LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL : A BRIEF PREVIEW

The London Design Festival officially begins today. Here's a few of the highlights relevant to British design and manufacturing (please feel free to add any I may have missed in the comments):

The Living Room (at Luna & Curious on Calvert Avenue in Shoreditch) plays host to a selection of British design; from Another Country to Young & Norgate

Many British brands exhibiting at designjunction (at Victoria House on Southampton Row, WC1): from Hitch Mylius to Very Good & Proper

At Tramshed2011 (on Rivington Street in Shoreditch) Barnaby Tuke will be exhibiting some Welsh made lambswool blankets and Miranda Watkins' bar ware (made by A.R. Wentworth of Sheffield) will also be on display

Lee Broom's debut upholstery collection is on show at his studio (also on Rivington Street in Shoreditch). "True to Broom’s signature style and ethos the polished collection has been created using traditional British craftsmanship" the press release states.

Vitsoe is celebrating its UK manufacturing with Made by Britain, a show at its shop in Marylebone

British-ish at the V&A is spotlighting the work of up and coming British designers

Wood & Woad at Few and Far (on Brompton Road in South Kensington) is showcasing a collection selected from small British companies. "We have searched for British companies that make beautiful hand made products that last – out of quality materials and only in Britain," they say.

Aston Martin is showing at Multiplex at The Dock (on Ladbroke Grove, W10)

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London Design Festival, 17-25 September 2011 / londondesignfestival.com

REDESIGNING DESIGN, REMAKING MAKING AT LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL

M&I was lucky enough to attend a fascinating talk on manufacturing and its future on Friday afternoon at The Tramshed.

First up was Luis de Oliveira, principal of Portugese company De La Espada who talked about ‘decentralised companies’; using local production, small runs and frequent innovation. Oliveira believes this business model to be ‘a decade away.’

Furniture designer Matthew Hilton then told a story about one of his early products - a candlestick made in Charlton, packaged in felt bags from Hackney, sold through the UK retailer Joseph. (If anyone would like to give us one of these, do feel free.)

Hilton now works for Habitat and has a global perspective on manufacturing. He illustrated his experience with a video of some Sri Lankans making a chair to his specfications. Being versed in more traditional methods, the Sri Lankans couldn’t quite create the modern style required. ‘Older manufacturing is more forgiving than new methods’ concluded Hilton.

Theo Williams, creative director of Habitat gave a compelling talk on bridging the gap between design and development, stating that it is ‘essential.’ Williams suggests that we need to move closer to the Italian design model - quicker reaction times, locally produced products.

‘Communications need to get stronger and more focused. We need to understand better what the consumer wants,’ Williams said, warning of giving over too much power to the consumer, ‘There needs to be a parameter for consumers to work within.’

‘Customisation to customerisation’ is taking hold and this is partly due to design, development and manufacturing moving closer together. Williams also gave examples of Habitat making certain products in the UK. Sadly there were no illustrations of this but he referred to a ‘small guy in Cornwall.’ He rounded off his section mentioning that Robin Day can get on a train to his supplier - ‘a big thing.’

Thanks to the parties behind London Design Festival for bringing such a good group of speakers together.

Picture from Matthew Hilton Tear Sheets - De La Espada