I am a big fan of all the amazing independent designers out there, therefore- Three cheers for Amy! Three cheers for the re-cycled and the re-claimed!Her designs hold an element of consciousness, supporting the fact that, terms like Recycling, Eco-friendly, and Nature Conservation no longer serve as road blocks but instead seem to propel the design process further. Her art influenced furniture pieces rise above the clichés .
In an effort to get inside the mind of this creative designer and find out just what makes all of these creative types tick, I present to you an interview with Amy Hunting
Radhika- What inspired you to create this special product (the patchwork series) and what was your intention behind it?
Amy– My starting point for this project was to make something useful out of the factory waste. I contacted lots of factories and got some wood leftovers I could work with. It was a challenge for me to design something and the material was there right in front of me and now I had to make something out of it.
After lots of experimenting and drawing I came up with the chair,this was the first product and I went back to the drawing board after this. I tried to make products that were functional, I think the book box works really well and you can basically store whatever you want in there, flip it around or use it as a coffee table.
I have just moved to the UK after living in Norway and studying in Copenhagen, Denmark for three years.
I think there are lots of exciting things happening with furniture design in London and hopefully consumers will start taking advantage of this too. And maybe the designers have to become more approachable in their work too.
Radhika-When you design a piece, does the image just pop into your head fully-formed? Or does it come in pieces? How do you create?
Amy- I think it’s a mix, I never had a fully functioning piece of furniture pop up in my head. I think I would be the happiest person in the world if I could do that. The work I find can be really hard, and there is always a process behind it. It either starts with a purpose i want it to serve (to store books perhaps), or it could be a shape, but I try and make things functional and practical and also keep things very simple at the same time.
But I try lot of things in the process and I stick to it until it works and I’m satisfied.
Radhika-Which is your favourite project till date, out of your repertoire?
Enunciate the reason as well? I hope you won’t mind sharing your
wildest dream design here?
Amy- My favourite project till date? I kind of hate everything when I have completed it. When I work on something for so long like months together, I feel a bit sick, every time I look at it and I just want to throw it out of the window. But as it gets out of sight I start appreciating it. I think that my favourite project is always my next one, and I have no idea what that would be!
Radhika- What creative challenges designers face these days? I’d also like to know about your biggest creative influences?
Amy- I think the biggest challenge is: How on earth can we create something utterly fascinating? So much has been done, and every time I visit a furniture fair like Milan, I get discouraged because there are so many talented and clever people out there. The greatest challenge is to re-invent all the time and to come up with something unique. I studied in Denmark, and they have such a long design history with icons and classics from the 50’s. It’s actually quite intimidating, because they were so great. But I think Denmark has relied on that for too long and younger designers are suffering because people would prefer buying an Arne Jacobsen chair, rather than some work coming from a novice. I found lots of inspiration in dutch design, I think in a way there is more freedom in the design industry because they don’t have this heavy design history which is quite traditional in Denmark. It’s what design should be, simple yet elegant.
Amy, thanks a lot for sharing your opinion with us.All the very best for your future ventures and carry on with the good work.
