Interview with Clive and Tina Bullivant

Things that don't do what they are supposed to irritate me, and things that are beautiful inspire me.

I chose to become a designer as I am a maker at heart

I design homewares but my background is in high end silverware and jewellery.

Keep engaging with the world, draw, investigate and above all never accept the mediocre.

Consistency and the ability to adapt. A natural flair also helps.

A good design makes you want to use it, to pick it up enter it, own it. It provokes an emotional response.

Good design drives things forward and can change the way we see and interact with the world.

I would love to design something which made youngsters want to put all their technology down and do something in the physical world for a while

I work with luxury goods most of the time and would love to execute a commission for one of the big international institutions.

Balance. Achieving harmony in the design even if working with conflicting criteria.

Frank O'Gehry, Georg Jensen, and Ross Lovegrove, and the work of Curventa Design and Seymour Powell.

I love Phillippe Starck's ghost chairs because they established a unique trend, as well as being comfortable, practical and super cool.

My Gold Award winning design for the Goldsmiths' Craft and Design Council for a silver table centrepiece that recycled unwanted Bic Crystal pens. It showed that disposable items can be given a desirable new life.

You just have to keep challenging what is around you. I can never go around a shop or department store without picking products up and critically evaluating them, it drives my wife mad!

I would love to have been involved in museum restoration.

Design makes changes. It is what moves culture forward, everything we use and accept today is affected by design.

Probably The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.

The patience of my family, and persistence.

It is a very overcrowded profession, just getting noticed is hard.

I like to show thought processes through initial ideas, through to developed designs using digital modelling.

I am currently investigating lighting in the home.

Just to keep being relevant

Don't know you would have to ask them.

It should be inclusive and improve situations wether through function or just in style and looks.

I am currently designing a range of products that highlight endangered species.

I think my 'Bear Hug' wine cooler, it was practical, made good use of materials and most of all great fun.

More opportunity for small independent designers and less chasing celebrity.

Where it always has been I hope, driving change and improvement.

It depends on the project. Some can be realised in a matter of weeks, while others may take months to resolve. It all depends on scale, clients, and manufacturing partners.

Always with sketching. You have to clarify the thing in your head first.

Do it anyway.

Good design should set trends, if you are just reacting all the time nothing innovative will ever come about.

It helps plan and present work and ideas but most importantly developing technology opens up new ways of doing things.

I work with 3D CAD programmes that allow me to connect to rapid prototypers or directly to manufacturing systems.

These are essential as they are what people connect with and respond to.

What the inspiration was.

I get genuine pleasure from seeing or handling good design, I like to see it context and think about what the next direction could be.

I enjoy collaboration, it is important that people with different skill sets have input into a design challenge. For me that means talking to engineers.

Students, they have an automatic can do attitude.

Not sure they do.

Practice, practice and more practice across a range of products and materials.

I would love to meet Frank Lloyd Wright.

I don't think I am famous. I enjoy the awards for their challenge and variety

Blue, Rome, fish, spring, E-type Jaguar, but don't like brands.

I was taught to forge steel for a cutlery design, by a blacksmith from the Royal Horse Guards. When I reviewed the finished work I had to change the knife design as I had inadvertently made lethal weapons. The set went on to be shown at the European Silver Triennale.

Positive client feedback

No, I wanted to fly aeroplanes

Change is so fast and radical I wouldn't even try to think that far ahead. I do believe that we will find a need to return to designs that require more of the user rather than continuing to push the technology.

I truly believe we have responsibility as designers to think about the consequences of the things we design, whether that be use of finite resources, pollution or looking after endangered species, or affecting the thinking of those people we aim designs at in a positive way not just for financial gain.

I work in partnership with my wife, we have both always been freelance designers working to commission. We recently started CNBconcepts which aims to provide concept development for entrepreneurial innovators

It’s become a cliché to say you only notice good design by its absence which puts an emphasis on operation and functionality, I believe it goes further than this. Good design should also provoke an emotional response, a connection between the product and the user increasing its desirability enormously. I also think we have an increasingly sophisticated user base ready to make that connection.

I like decorative pieces and retain a love of the refined functionality of silverware.

My most favourite design was created to recognise 50 years of the design classic the 'Bic Crystal' pen. It is called 'Rags to Riches' and utilizes the spent plastic barrels of the pens as a structural component for a desk/table centre and flower holder. It uniquely brings an often neglected disposable product together with precious materials to form something unique and different.

In my early career I worked in graphics and advertising and my first design work was to produce the logo and corporate identity for a property developer.

My favourite material would have to be metal. I get great personal joy from working it by hand or machine, both hot and cold, and I have become a huge fan of using new technologies such as laser cutting and welding to realise products with high precision.

I feel most creative when surrounded by inspirational objects and when talking to other creative people.

Aesthetics and visual impact have always been my main focus. It is after all what provokes the initial, emotional response from a user.

I find designing exhilarating and exciting. I can get lost in a my work and lose track of time and the world around me.

I always feel a sense of achievement, but have yet to be entirely satisfied with a design. I will always find some aspect I could re-do differently.

A good design has to fulfill a need whilst being economical and ethical. Whilst doing this it must provoke an emotional response in the user, it has to have desirability and longevity.

The quality of materials and manufacture and the overall aesthetic. It goes without saying that it has to do the job it was designed for.

I strongly believe that designers should be leading the way on ethical issues. Modern technologies are allowing us to re-use and recycle much of the material we employ in products and this must be a prime consideration for any designer. My own experience in teaching has proven that design and designers have an important role to play in educating consumers and guiding them towards a sustainable future. With increasing access to new energy efficient technologies and a broader understanding of how and where materials are sourced we really have no excuse.

I believe that designs are becoming increasingly innovative both in the way they solve problems and the technologies that are employed in production. Perhaps for consumers the pressure of technological change and the bombardment of brands and products have resulted in a trend towards 'retro' design. I don't think this is a bad thing as it forces individuals to reappraise classic design periods and we have the opportunity to do things differently with our current understanding of modern materials and manufacturing techniques.

I last exhibited in a group exhibition for the Goldsmiths' Company Craft and Design Council in February 2011 at Goldsmith' Hall, London. I have no firm plans for my next exhibition at the moment.

The principle source of inspiration for my designs is the natural world. I enjoy being outdoors and draw from the shapes and forms of animals and plants, and the rich colours and textures I find there. In contrast I am also fascinated by the made world and iconic architecture and engineering in particular.

I would like to think that I produce elegance in my designs with the forms of products themselves being ornamental rather than relying on applied decoration. I always try to achieve balance and harmony in my designs whether they are free in form or derived from a more geometrical source.

I live in England which of course has a rich history of it's own which has always benefited from migrations from the near continent. It is difficult and wrong to generalise about design in my country but I would say for me that our architects have lead the way in grasping the opportunities that modern living present. There are of course very notable exceptions and we have outstanding product design companies however when visiting trade fairs I too often see run of the mill products presented as the best of British which rely on some contemporary surface decoration to make them in anyway different. I certainly feel more that my more flambuoyant approach is more suited to cultures further south in mainland europe.

I am happy to work on individual projects and submit work to competitive briefs. I also use a range of professional contacts to be able to offer more substantial product development if required.

You have to look at a designers portfolio and choose in the knowledge of their style. It is also important to prepare the designer thoroughly with the expectations and constraints on their work, preferably in face to face meetings.

I have always drawn extensively for it's own sake. I have built up a resource that I turn to for inspiration and continue to experiment with materials and textures. If working to a specific brief I will always do some research to analyse what is at the root of the task which in turn leads on to further research and testing, exploring current products and trends. I like to pursue my initial ideas in discussion with partner designers or client and will test these to get feedback before developing them using CAD. It then becomes the client's option to take the design further themselves through in house R&D or I will move to mock-ups and prototyping for them.

My favourite pieces of design are my Isamu Naguchi coffee table, Koziol Leaf salad bowl, Joseph Mortar and Pestle, Starck Ghost Chairs and Bjorn Weckstrom cufflinks.

This is really hard as There is little routine about what I do. I try to organise administration for early mornings and will break for some fresh air before settling to any design work. I feel most productive when working into the evenings and produce my most imaginative work late in the day.

Keep looking! Visit outlets and venues with the express intention of looking at design in any field, not necessarily your specialism. Stay on top of technological developments and be open to unconventional ways of employing these.

For me the positives of being a designer are the opportunities it brings to engage with people and objects creatively and the chance to use my imagination productively. The negatives are the pressures of time and constraints!

Never allow 'perceived wisdom' or convention to stop you exploring radical pathways.

Designers have to be real problem solvers and be able to recognise where and how a situation can be improved. They need to be to be good communicators both verbally and graphically and above all be resilient.

I use Rhinocerous 4 with a Flamingo rendering package. I also have more books for source material than is probably healthy and I keep a good collection of found objects from sea shells to bits of machinery for inspiration.

I am not a great time manager but I believe that it is important to be realistic when setting deadlines and then stick to them, even if that means a lot of late nights!

Too many factors influence the time spent on a design, it changes quite radically from product to product, and I am seldom working on just one project at a time.

How much will it cost!

I would have to say designing and manufacturing a presentation piece for H.R.H. the Queen Mother's 80th birthday for Smith and Stevens Enamels.

I actually like designing for domestic kitchen and dining, although I have built a reputation for designing silverware and jewellery. I really enjoy working with CAD packages and the speed with which you can identify and solve practical problems in a virtual space.

I have spent a long time in education and am looking to move back into full time design. I am happy to work for a company or organisation but enjoy the freedom and responsibility that comes with being freelance.

I work with my partner designer for CNBconcepts and we will bounce ideas off of each other, but I have to say that I develop most of my ideas myself.

I am in the process of designing a range of all weather garden planters which will be effective in the dormant growing season. I don't believe that anything like these pieces exist and am hoping to attract the growing market for outdoor living.

People can contact me by email at CNBconcepts@yahoo.co.uk, or clive.bullivant@btinternet.com. They can also contact me by phone on 07833777598, contact details are on my website CNBconcepts.co.uk