The Crit #32: James Melia
Welcome to The Crit, a podcast from Disegno where designers cast judgement on their past projects.
For those new to the show, each fortnight Disegno’s editor-in-chief Oli Stratford invites a leading designer to Kef Music Gallery to review their own work. 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 thirty-second guest on The Crit is James Melia, accompanied by show host Oli Stratford.
Episode #32: James Melia
James Melia is the founder and creative director of London-based design agency Blond, whose work focuses on research and strategy as well as reductionism and sustainability.
Having trained in product and furniture design at Nottingham Trent University, Melia cut his teeth in design in roles at transportation design specialists PriestmanGoode and other studios, before founding Blond in 2015.
In the subsequent 11 years, the agency has offered design and strategy work to clients ranging from established technology and engineering brands such as Bosch, Samsung and Mitsubishi, to start-ups such as refillable deodorant brand Fussy and financial technology company Revolut. The studio has also become known for a series of self-initiated projects and exhibitions interrogating its own process, from studies of the impact of AI on design to investigations into their sources of inspiration.
During his crit, Melia talked about the story behind the agency’s name, the challenges of designing refillable packaging, and his dream of designing a catheter.
Show Notes: James Melia
Best design: Fussy refillable deodorant
Worst design: A desk he designed for his final project at university
Most successful design: An upcoming packaging design for a US brand
Most impactful feedback: His colleague Dana Salmanzadeh asking why James is the only person in the studio who pitches and presents projects to clients
Dream design: A catheter
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.