The Crit, a fortnightly podcast from Disegno, invites designers to reflect on their careers to date.
For those new to the show, each episode sees Disegno’s editor-in-chief Oli Stratford invite a guest to Kef Music Gallery to look back on their past projects. Our guest reveals what worked best; what failed; what pushed their career to new heights; what feedback most shaped their practice; and what they feel needs to be redesigned.
At the end of each episode, to complete their crit, they’ll be asked to give themselves a grade for their career to date: fail, pass, commendation or distinction.
It’s a design-school crit, delivered every fortnight! Subscribe to the show here, or sign up wherever you get your podcasts from.
Our forty-sixth guest on The Crit is Freya Bolton, one of the directors of Mitre and Mondays, accompanied by show host Oli Stratford.
Episode #46: Freya Bolton
Freya Bolton is one of the directors of Mitre and Mondays, the London-based design studio and workshop founded in 2019 by her co-directors Finn Thomson and Josef Shanley-Jackson.
Trained in architecture at the Bartlett and the Royal College of Art, Bolton’s work is now focused on the design and making of objects, spaces and systems that connect people to the material world. The studio focuses on design principles including disassembly, reuse and repair, with its practice examining the the social and environmental impact of materials production.
Ranging across typologies, Mitre and Mondays creates objects and installations whose use of materials and design approach are rooted in contemporary concerns surrounding overconsumption and waste, with Bolton and her colleagues having worked with clients including the Design Museum, IKEA, The British Library, V&A, Faber Futures, Atelier100 and Selfridges.
In her crit, Bolton discusses the importance of hands-on fabrication for conceptual thinking; adapting to the constraints and lifespan of different projects; the importance of not becoming buried in details to the detriment of a project; and the value of working as a studio, not an individual.
Show Notes: Freya Bolton
Best design: A sculptural lighting piece for Common Knowledge, or the display of Future Observatory: Mineral at the Design Museum
Worst design: Hay-stuffed, ackee fruit seating or any design that requires CT1 to succeed
Most successful design: Wood for the Trees
Most impactful feedback: “It’s not a Swiss watch; it’s a bike shelter. Get on with it.”
Dream design: A canteen restaurant concerned with food systems or a water fountain
This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery London.
The Crit’s graphics were created by Leonhard Rothmoser.
The Crit’s music was created by Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki.