WEEKLY DIGEST

Short film on British Design in 2012, promoting the recently opened exhibition at the V&A (OEN)

Interview with Bristol based bike frame builder Robin Mather (Rapha)

Buying British (Guardian)

Olympic torch wins Design of the Year award (Creative Review)

Airbus and Boeing boosted by passenger jet boom (Telegraph)

Inside a Glaswegian letterpress (Form Fifty Five via It's Nice That)

Creatives are manufacturers (Computer Arts)

BT to sell off iconic K6 phoneboxes (FT)

Interview with furniture designer Michael Marriott (Spitalfields Life)

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Photo of Michael Marriott from Spitalfields Life

KENNETH GRANGE : MAKING BRITAIN MODERN

A retrospective of the work of Kenneth Grange opens tomorrow (20th July) at the Design Museum in London.

The exhibition is full of Grange's work for the likes of Kenwood and British Rail. It is evident that he has maintained an impressive work rate over his lengthy career.

From the stripped back clock and barometer designs for the likes of Short and Mason (pictured above) to the ubiquitous Platignum pens - you can't help wonder just how many of us have come into contact with his work.

The show also serves as a great documentation of the boom period in which he worked. How many of the companies that he produced designs for exist today? A cursory search shows that only Henry Hope & Sons and Venner (who Grange designed the parking meter for, top of page) are no longer in business. Therefore Kodak, Wilkinson Sword, Henry Milward & Sons, AJ Binns, Parker, Morphy Richards, Stanley Garden Tools and B&W Loudspeakers have all remained resilient and adapted to change. More positive than some might expect.

But back to the design. Compared to the praise heaped on the work of Dieter Rams it would seem Grange has not been championed enough. As you wander around the neatly curated show you realise how the Pentagram co-founder's ideas were for the masses rather than the cognoscenti. Perhaps this stems from his commitment to undertaking design research himself - he mentions talking to shopkeepers about teapots in an interview from Design magazine in 1983. That's commitment.

Making Britain Modern gives a great overview of Grange's career but does suffer from certain products lacking context. This is not the case with the InterCity 125 or Wilkinson Sword razors - the former is illustrated with original models and drawings, the latter has a display of his prototypes - a nice way of showing the development of the work.

Prototyping is vital to Grange - since working on the Chef mixer for Kenwood in 1960 he has never presented without a model. "You're a fool if you romp into production without being as informed as possible," he says.

Overall its dedication to making his designs as good as they can be for the user that shines through. Grange's proximity to all aspects of the process is admirable - as one piece of text states in the show, 'through his relationships with a range of major manufacturers and their experienced and talented technicians, Grange learnt about production costs and the economic use of materials.'

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Making Britain Modern is at the Design Museum from 20th July - 30th October. The exhibition is designed by James Irvine and Jasper Morrison, with graphics from Graphic Thought Facility

WEEKLY DIGEST

The week's manufacturing, designing and making stories of note:

MPs of Britain this week revealed their favourite products made in the UK. Sadly the interactive map got some locations wrong

A short preview of Kenneth Grange's forthcoming retrospective at the Design Museum (opens 20th July)

Speaking of Grange, he tells RIBA Journal that he's working on a chair for use in residential homes and that he would love to work on bus design

Luxury car maker Bentley talks up apprenticeships

An interview with lingerie maker Ayten Gasson touches on her commitment to manufacture in Britain

And finally, there's a nice interview on Style Salvage with Becky French, the lady behind UK tie maker Marwood

Image of Grange on his Edith chair for Hitch Mylius from the company website

KENNETH GRANGE IN MONOCLE MAGAZINE

There is a great interview with Kenneth Grange in the latest issue of Monocle. Here are a couple of choice quotes:

'When you have companies buying the best equipment and tools to make things as good as they can be made then you get the finest partners for designers to work with. When these things don't exist, when cost and quantity become more important than quality, as has happened in Britain, then designers look elsewhere for partners and the industry falls to pieces.'

'One of the biggest rewards as a designer is knowing how to make something. If I were Chancellor I would give big tax incentives to small firms providing a fantastic service or making something beautifully. In 10 years this would create a platform of makers again.'

We could not agree more.

The Design Museum in Bermondsey, SE1, will hold a retrospective of Grange's work this summer.

Image from Monocle

'INSPIRING AND DEPRESSING'

Before leaving work this evening I tore a piece from The Daily Telegraph. I believe it is by Rupert Christiansen but my clipping technique left me with only his forename.

In this sidebar piece Rupert (apologies to Mr Christiansen if it was not his work), talks of 'German industrial excellence' alongside the British manufacturing culture that 'is one of corner cutting and quick profit, which ultimately leaves the landfill sites full of broken down plastic rubbish.'

Rupert ends by stating that 'the best travel clock, the best food mixer, the best iron, with the clearest dials and crispest switches are German every time.' One would like to point him in the direction of similarly crisp and clear designs from the likes of British manufacturers Anglepoise and Dualit.

However, I do admit to having a large soft spot for the work of Dieter Rams and therefore am permitted to include the picture above.

DESIGN IN BRITAIN

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Thank you to Wallpaper Magazine (once again - a fine source of information.)