Downunder but not forgotten

I’ve long been an admirer of the work of Matty Logan. This proud Aussie was a great favourite of his clients. Sadly I learned recently that Matty had fallen victim to Alzheimers and had passed away. Although his work output had tailed off in recent years, we will see no more of his flair in the more affluent suburbs of the UK. Despite the initial reluctance to his style back in the 1970s, his fortitude saw him through some very lean times and he bounced back into the market through the ‘80s and early '90s. His work is now praised for it’s stunning simplicity. His skill was to blend multiple aspects of design to become one visual image, and he was the master. His clients loved him while some people in the industry generally considered him a bit brash. Certainly he was never one to be shy. He was rumoured to have told a extrovert member of a certain pop group exactly what to do with his Yucca plant back in the 1970s. Personally, I like his work and I admired his attitude to life. The market is going to be a quieter place without his input. Wherever he has ended up, I hope peace seeks him out.

Techno Doom

Stating the obvious, we live in an immediate world. I dread to think to what greater degree this will be true in 25 years time. It appears to be the norm these days to expect a dialled mobile to be answered, straight away, every time, as if the future of the world depended on it. Well, surprise surprise, it doesn’t. I’ve lived a good two-thirds of my life so far without a mobile. I survived as did my parents and my grandparents. People had a social life, businesses managed to operate and even make a profit. I do have a mobile and use it as a phone plus the odd text. No social networking, no video calls. I even try to discourage design colleagues at work from using the number. They are told to use the landline and if I’m not there, to call back. On occasions when I give it a thought, I wonder if we are being led somewhere we really don’t want to go, and do we even realise that we are the ones holding the stick with the carrot dangling on the end. Our reliance on systems and technology will all end in tears, mark my words. As if anyone is likely to mark my words.

Forward Vision

Recently I was standing on the new concourse of Kings Cross Station in London, waiting for a Saturday train up to Peterborough, off to attend a family birthday. My aunt was celebrating her 92nd birthday after a full life. She had been on the staff of Countess Mountbatten in India during the last days of British rule. She had hunted tigers on the back of an elephant, she had seen the great wealth and the extreme poverty of the sub-continent, and she had met both Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohandas Gandhi, the renowned Mahatma, in Ahmedabad. She remains a remarkable and active woman. Anyway, I digress. Waiting for my train, I did what I do on such occasions to relieve the boredom, I watched the people around me. Individually, people are fascinating. As a group, they become irritating. One encounter I was close enough to witness involved a middle-aged man, tall and bulky, and a young woman, probably in the 18-22 age range. The man walked past me heading towards the St Pancras exit while the woman was heading towards him and the train platforms, a ubiquitous takeaway coffee in hand. As the two neared, she raised the cup, tipped back he head and took some coffee. In doing so, she lost her view of the way ahead and walked into the man. Big guy, small woman . . . she lost. The man muttered something and continued walking. The collision however caused the coffee to fall to the floor. After a few steps, he looked around and was greeted with a sarcastic "Thank you" from the woman. He responded " You just walked into me", and turned back on his way. He was right, I saw it. Perhaps he could have offered some sympathy for the spilt coffee but his demeanour said “this is the last straw”. Crowded London can sometimes be a place for experiencing the worst of people. Do I mean the man or the woman ? Perhaps either, or both. This reminded me of an article on BBC News a couple of weeks ago where a woman in Birmingham had fallen in the canal while texting on her phone. Luckily she was rescued by a passer-by. This is not a new phenomenon. Forty years ago, my youngest sister walked into a lamp-post while looking in a different direction. Many tears ensued but she was only about 6 or 7 at the time. I don't recall her ever doing it again. It's all about paying attention to what is important. There are so many distractions today that the phrase "taking your eye off the ball" has more relevance than ever. I keep on eye on my surroundings, or at least I think I do. Stating the obvious, multi-tasking can be dangerous if one of the tasks is walking. Concentrate on what you are doing, unless you want to lose your skinny latte or fall in a dirty canal. Be warned.

Celebrate Lucky 13

I’ve had a blog holiday and it’s been great ! I just couldn't blog anymore. I had developed blog-phobia. Virtually a whole year without putting pen to virtual paper. I revelled in the Diamond Jubilee, dived into the TV coverage of London 2012, and even managed to go to the closing ceremony of the Paralympics at Stratford. It was a great year full of optimism . . . and rain. At the end of the year, work dictated that I should attend several trade-based exhibitions, a couple at NEC in Birmingham, and one in London. It used to be an adventure, but these days my aching feet tend to take the edge off things. Anyway after visiting the 100% Design Exhibition at Earls Court last year, I took up an open invitation to revisit the premises of Ella Jade Interiors in North London. They had a large stand in a central position at the show which was by all accounts one of the highlights of the exhibition. The latest project of long-time designer Paul Bitton (see previous entries), Ella Jade is an extension of the achievements of his well-known British Bathroom Centre. They have taken the core business and bolstered the design side of things to create a stylish new organisation with new displays, innovative design, and an enhanced client experience. That last sentence is their words, not mine, but from what I saw, it’s accurate. They have taken a former bank premises and turned it over several years into a stunning 3 floor showroom. You would struggle to not be impressed, especially with the kitchens on display. It’s vital for the economy that businesses like this which employ up to 100 people are actually moving forward, making investment and continuing to offer employment. It’s important that areas like Staples Corner in North London are used for a diversity of businesses to attract local employment, not just for cavernous warehouses with minimal staff. Businessmen like Paul Bitton are playing an essential role in bringing the country back from the brink, and there are small-medium companies throughout the land which haven’t given up, which are investing, which are optimistic. The “nation of shopkeepers” phrase is a bit of a stereotype but there is definitely a ring of truth about it. When economists are hinting at a triple-dip recession, we need something to bolster our spirits. Let’s seek out these people who are keeping us going as a country and give them all the honours, rather than the bankers and retired civil servants. Time for a bit more recognition for business acumen. It’s what puts money in your pay packet.

Turning Point ?

My last post was back at the end of March but time marches on and we are now halfway through April. Easter came and went and was pretty much a non-event for me, not helped by the dodgy weather. Now we are two weeks from the May Day bank holiday and once that is out of the way, it’s full steam ahead to the Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 London Olympics. Works are underway all over London to “tart up” the place for both the Royal milestone and the juggernaut that is the Olympics. We may be just about be coming out of recession, depending on who you listen to, but there seems to be an awful lot of our money swilling around to pay for these when there is still an awful lot of hardship as well. This is more a comment from me than a complaint as I will be out there making the most of both occasions, as will most people I suspect. I will be beside the Thames in June to see HM on her barge, and I will be joining the throng at Excel in Docklands to watch a session of the wrestling. The latter however does not involve the Queen and wrestling was not my first choice. These are in fact the only tickets I could lay my hands on at an affordable price. My view is that most people, even those with a negative opinion at the moment, will get swept up in these two great events. I also believe that there will be a benefit to the country, part financial but also a great boost to the national morale. A shot in the arm, a kick up the bum, a wake-up call, a sign that maybe things are getting better. I do hope so because this scepter'd isle we call home has been a miserable place since September 2007 when there was a run on the Northern Rock bank. Maybe things were on the wane before that but in the mind of many, this was the event that signalled the decline in the UK. I hope people do get involved this summer and more importantly feel involved. We have just passed the 100 day mark to the start of the Olympics, and the momentum to the Jubilee is building, albeit at a slightly more sedate pace. These are both important events for the country and hopefully they will both be enjoyed and remembered for the right reasons.

A Splash of Roman Colour

I took advantage last week of an invitation to a trade viewing of new displays and a range of designer paints at the British Bathroom Centre HQ at Staples Corner, North London. We get many such invitations in the post and most are filed in the dustbin on the other side of the design room. I decided to go to this one as I had bumped into owner Paul Bitton back in November last year. I was intrigued as much as anything to see what he was up to. For the record, his new Ella Jade Interiors kitchen display is impressive in my view. As a design team we tend to stick to “safe” colours when choosing paints, allowing the furniture and flooring to make the statement. Future projects may just be a bit more colourful after my visit to Paul’s three floor showroom. On display were stunning designer paints brought in from Italy and by a company called UCIC (www.ucic.it). Some of the finishes have been available for years but the range of colours and effects available from UCIC is staggering. The colours are so rich that they ooze opulence, particularly the metallic finishes. I was put in mind of the gold Courtauld bathroom at Eltham Palace. These paints really must be seen to be appreciated, although even for me some of the colours are a bit too bold. Paul Bitton was ever the genial host. He seemed quietly confident that the UCIC paints would become a firm favourite with his clients. Always one to back his ideas with cash, Paul was at pains to explain his commitment to this new range, with investment in training for his staff and a strong investment in stock. It is heartening to see that new products continue to be sourced from abroad and from the UK by enterprising individuals.

Bowled Over

The glass is dead. Long live the glass ! Or to clarify, the penchant for glass bowls in UK bathrooms has thankfully dried up. Now glass is back with a vengeance but in the guise of mirrors, dividers, and enclosures. Of course it never really went away, but the current popularity of the material must have buoyed the glass industry in these troubled economic times. Ten years ago glass bowls were all the rage, either perched precariously on stainless steel brackets, or balanced on chrome collars on any available flat surface. They were novel, they looked great, and they were totally . . . impractical. They were not stable, not durable, and they showed watermarks. Infamously, they were an accident waiting to happen if children were around. And there was always an issue with hot water. This glass was not Pyrex yet users filled them with water hot enough to take the skin off a rhino. Not surprisingly, some cracked. This no doubt resulted in blazing rows and court cases in bathroom centres up and down the country. And all as a result of a fad. What silly people we are sometimes. Sadly when the next fad trundles along, we will be just as gullible and just as forthcoming with our hard-earned cash. As a race, our ability not to learn from our errors is nothing short of staggering.