Film: Muse, Speak! Inspiration in design
What does “inspiration” in design mean? How do practitioners get inspired in their work; does it matter if original inspiration is legible in a final design; and what’s the difference between “story” and “inspiration” when it comes to communicating your practice?
These were some of the questions addressed by Muse, Speak! Inspiration in design, a panel discussion hosted during the London Design Festival by Disegno in conjunction with BLOND.
The panel took place during London Design Festival and brought together speakers from across the design industry: V&A curator and journalist Anna Bates; material designer Ella Bulley; BLOND’s founder and creative director James Melia; and designer John Tree. The event was moderated by Disegno’s editor-in-chief, Oli Stratford.
Everyday objects in the BLOND LABORATORY exhibition (image: courtesy of BLOND).
Muse Speak! was created to accompany BLOND LABORATORY, an exhibition staged in Shoreditch that saw a series of designers create new objects in reponse to a collection of found, everyday objects collected by Blond: Maddalena Casadei transforming a mallet into a flashlight; Jon Marshall borrowing elements of a whisk for a candelabra; Form Us With Love rendering a corkscrew as a bottle opener, and many more.
The event, which coincided with the launch of Disegno #38, was recorded on the night and we’re happy to now share a film documenting showing the full conversation. For anybody unable to join us for the talk, we hope the film can provide inspiration for further thought!