Update 036.
The Importance of Space
I’m 2 weeks late. I’ve always given myself a little flexibility around my monthly release date but never this much. It has been an incredibly busy month and the end of the academic year hit hard - endless assessment, Degree Show prep and celebrating our students success with them.
Before we dive in - if you're in London on the 29th June, our graduating students are showing at New Designers (an annual showcase of graduating British designers). Reach out if you fancy a meet up :)
This update marks 3 years of Balance and it’s had me in a reflective mood all month. I started this newsletter as a means of holding myself to account. Accepting that with a full-time job in design education and a young family, it would be slow moving to push forward with my own work. Writing these updates for the last 3 years has been an incredibly rewarding outlet for me and has resulted in launching a number of products I am incredibly proud of. More than anything, it’s connected me to people like you - and in a world pulling hard for your attention in every direction, I don’t take that lightly. Thank you for being on this journey with me.
(There’s also a new side project this month, I’ll tell you about at the end. Make sure you get there.)
The Importance of Space
I’ve always believed you can tell a lot about someone’s work by the room they make it in.
The spaces we inhabit shape us in ways we rarely stop to examine. They set the tempo, lower the barrier between thinking and doing, and tell us without words what kind of work is possible here. Researchers call this the threshold effect:
Entry rituals enact separation from habitual roles and signal the suspension of routine. Turner, V. (1969). The Ritual Process
Crossing that threshold communicates to our brain before we can make sense of it ourselves. The space primes you before you’ve lifted a finger.
I’ve always been a hands on designer. I learn through making, and I need to hold an idea in three dimensions to truly understand it. For years after graduating I dreamed about having my own studio - missing the possibility of the workshops I’d had as a student, feeling their absence in every role I had in industry. So eventually I stopped dreaming about it and built one.
The Plan
When we moved into our home 4 years ago, we developed a plan to build a home studio and workshop in our garage. It took months to design and build - making sure that every small space was fully optimised and that ultimately it felt like a place I actively wanted to spend time in. Not only did it have to function as a studio and workshop, it still had to act as a functioning garage.
Once we fine-tuned the design - producing the obligatory rendering of course (which proved incredibly useful in working with my wife to plan what we needed this space to do), we committed to the build. It was slow moving in evenings and weekends but slowly came to life.
The Studio
The goal? Create a studio that calls out for your to spend time in. A studio where I could grow my business. A space to design and prototype. A space to feel inspired. A space to store stock. A space to photograph and film content. A space to store project work. All of this, in 5m2!
This studio and workshop have transformed the way I work. The space has evolved over the years, through use, and upgrades slowly added along the way and I feel inspired every time I’m in this space. I can hit flow state almost immediately and ideas flow freely.
That final rendering before we committed to the build, now sits on the wall, proudly framed. Every detail in this space matters.
The Workshop
The workshop - a 3 second walk from the studio - is set up test ideas and produce final products. A flexible space that can be a wood shop one minute, a silicone tooling workshop the next to a Ceramics studio. An ever evolving space.
A Small Ask
Did this months focus resonate with you? Do you own one of my products? Can I kindly ask you to consider writing a review on my website? Your feedback helps others trust in my little brand. It only takes a minute and means the world.
Want to listen to this update as a podcast?
Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.
Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)
My Products, My philosophy
I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.
I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot. That incense holder that sits next to you throughout the day, reminding you to take a break. The coffee cup that feels just right in the hand and encourages you to savour every sip.
Objects designed to help you notice the moments you’re in. Support a small independent designer :)
I’m down to my last few sets of Mμ and Laminar with no plans to restock soon, so get yours while stock lasts.
As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (10% off).
Last months most clicked link: The Layup Chair by Nathan Martell.
My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:
1.
The Power of Storytelling. It’s never a tool that impresses me. It’s always a tools ability to help communicate a story. As a designers, I strongly believe our role is to tell compelling stories that resonate with people through the products we design.
2.
Adam Savage Meets Imagineering’s Star Wars BDX Droids. The pace of change with animatronics is incredible. This is the type of experience that would make me want to go to Disneyland. Where technology and design come together to create magic.
3.
I Don’t Think You Understand Just HOW Fast 1:59:30 Is. A record many thought was impossible under race conditions was broken at the London Marathon. This video does an incredible job at showing why running a sub 2 hour marathon is superhuman.
4.
The many lives of Taiwan. I’ve recommended Search Engine quite a few times now. Taiwan produces around 90% of the world's most advanced chips - this episode does a great job at expanding on how Taiwan pulled this off.
5.
What I told designers graduating into the AI era. A slightly long read but a really positive take in a world filled with doom and gloom around our economy and AI by Kevin McCullagh.
Vizcom Challenge
Product design visualisation is an industry that is rapidly evolving. 2 years ago it would be hard to believe that Keyshot could be knocked off its perch. Keyshot entered the scene during my masters and instantly blew me away. What used to take days, could now be done in hours. I will continue to use keyshot for the control but having invested time into Vizcom over the last 2 years, it has crossed the horizon for me over the last few months. When Vizcom announced their latest design challenge in partnership with Corkway, I knew I had to take part. Moving from ideation through to final visuals for this project took 3 hours. It builds on an idea I had previously and adds a much more playful twist.
Honestly, I know it won’t win - it’s possibly a little too ambitious for what the challenge was looking for but I feel strongly that it’s a product that deserves to exist.
Introducing Grounded Rituals - a stacking stool set designed for homes that are asked to do more with less.
Inspired by Japanese low-sitting culture and its links to connection, balance, and wellbeing, Grounded Rituals is a set of four low stools that stack into a single sculptural totem. Something worth looking at for the 60% of the time it isn’t in use - and something worth gathering around when it is.
As our homes shrink - urban flats are on average 15% smaller than twenty years ago - the objects inside them need to earn their place twice over. Grounded Rituals does this by being honest about what domestic life actually looks like: long stretches of quiet punctuated by moments of gathering. The stool set holds both.
Low seating brings people physically closer. It encourages conversation, warmth, and the kind of unhurried time that a sofa at arm’s length doesn’t quite allow. Grounded Rituals is a design cue for a different rhythm - slower, more intentional, more human.
A New Side Quest
A few updates ago I shared a photo of a van we converted into a camper. A camper that stood for adventure. We have been craving adventure now that our family is a little more grown up and we’re excited to explore the world with them. After months of exploring our options we finally bit the bullet and bought our next side quest!
We’re going to take our time converting it and will do most of it ourselves. I love a design challenge and designing for small spaces so I’ll be sure to share updates along the way, right here on Balance. The balance is well and truly shifting more positively.
oh man, your space is great