26
www.thedesignermagazine.com Cover Feature
have tons of machines with loads of CAD
and all that... I find it quite fascinating,
these contrasts between what people
think and what you actually are.”
But the products have to be 100 per
cent what they seem? “Yes, and of course
we take ourselves and our work very
seriously.”
Hecht added that his company has
always worked abroad – “for other
markets and other cultures” – which
explains why many things in the show
cannot be bought in Britain. “The
exhibition is great for us because you can
see things normally not available in this
country.”
However, for many visitors, this is
deeply frustrating, as the catalogue does
not say what we can or cannot buy, nor
give any contacts through which we
might find out.
background notes
Hecht himself is a Londoner. Through his
father’s work as a salesman, he had access
as a teenager, to a constant supply of
usually faulty electrical appliances, which
he enthusiastically took apart. By his early
teens, he was even ‘mending’ them.
He went on to train in industrial
design first at Central St Martin’s, and “DESIgN WILL ALWAYS BE THE
then at the Royal College. Now he lives in
a modernist (and completely modernised) SERvANT oF CAPITALISM”
house in Primrose Hill, and has two
young sons.
Back in the studio, impressive
and tiered rows of volumes range
from catalogues to serious design
histories, reviews and analysis. There is
a cerebral side to Hecht and a tendency
to intellectualise, on his website, in
the exhibition catalogue and in the
notes alongside items on display. These cleanly to the chase. He says it is not “We have to think about common
writings can somewhat blur the clarity of ‘celebratory’ but nevertheless it is joyous sense for the person and then to market
Hecht’s design, with such references as a because it is so demonstrably democratic. it. Common sense has to be pulled
‘context of use’ and ‘spatial, cultural and Hecht is on our side, the side of the away from the desire to sell.” However,
performative landscapes’, and ‘elevating end user. And, boy, do we need him – references to common sense, and indeed
the vernacular’. and anyone else who cares to pitch in. the visual - and therefore perceived - Above: smooth and
Leave this aside and concentrate on Marketing departments may demand simplicity of Hecht’s products, obscure
durable kitchen knife
simpler yet invigorating aims (elsewhere flashy-dashy products to seduce us in their underlying complexity. For they
expressed), such as ‘the job of a designer a shop or on the web “but marketing embody extensive and demanding
is to make life better’ and ‘our role... is to is not about common sense, it is about research into technology and materials.
achieve something friendly and reliable, making money,” Hecht observes wryly. Early on, there is a careful and
with minimum parts and not harmful to Nevertheless he is a realist: “Design will prolonged examination of how and –
the environment’. always be the servant of capitalism.” This importantly for Hecht – where a product
For Hecht’s work invariably cuts however, is the challenge. will be used. “I work almost like an
anthropologist or archaeologist,” he says.
tokyo in a bag
Information is gathered from detailed
for Muji market research, and from focus groups.
The design process may further involve
tiring international travel, endless
consultations, frequent brainstorming,
and constant and often hands-on
fabrication of prototypes.
Products may be radically re-
shaped in the process. Industrial Facility
concluded that a fan should be beautiful
in the round, because it usually sits in
the middle of a room. But getting rid
of an ugly back involved a complete re-
configuration of motor and gear system.
Sometimes there is simply a Eureka
Sam Hecht p.indd 26 22/7/08 10:37:33
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