We spend a lot of time thinking about why we do what we do. To turn our client’s visions into reality; to enable our clients to run a profitable business; to create a space that is both practical and beautiful. These are all valid, however they are all outcomes of something more fundamental.
Think back to the most memorable experiences of your life. You’ll remember the place, sometimes even more so than the people you were with. It’s not so much the physical reality of that space that you’ll remember, but rather, how that space made you feel.
We connect with our environment on a deeper emotional level. We’re not necessarily conscious of it, but it’s like this; you know when something just feels right, you can’t quite put your finger on why but it just does.
Take a restaurant as an example. You go to a new restaurant, it seems to tick all the current ‘on trend’ boxes; reclaimed timber, industrial and quirky fixtures and fittings; but, for some reason, it just doesn’t quite ‘click’. On the face of it, it may have everything you would hope for, but still there’s something missing.
... good design can connect with people on an emotional level.
This happens a lot, seemingly ticking every box but somehow missing the point. The reason is this – its creation was a superficial exercise, concerned with how it looks rather than how it feels or how it connects with our inner psyche.
That’s not to say that it can’t work, but it can never be truly great. At best, it can be good; and who in the super competitive world in which we live aims for ‘good’?
It all starts with a vision, a vision that must be borne out of a higher cause. This sounds grand, but it can be as simple as ‘the most authentic South American cuisine in a stylish and relaxing space’. Whatever the cause is, there must be a genuine desire to add value to people’s lives. It can’t just be ‘we want to make loads of money and roll this out across the globe’.
With a clear and authentic vision, the design of the environment can become an integral component of the experience. So rather than using the latest style trends to inform the design, we have a richer pot from which to pick.
The great thing about the world in which we live now is that we're surrounded by evidence of people sharing their lives on social media. This is great for us, we get to hear about and see our spaces as they were intended (and why you'll see Instagram posts of our projects throughout this site).
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