Fancy getting into design? We interview talented designer Alex Bradley, this may give some inspiration as to those of you planning to get into the field.

1. Tell us a few things about yourself (example: where you live, how old are you, education, and a brief introduction for our readers).
I am 24 year old Industrial Design & Technology graduate from Loughborough University. Since graduating last summer I have interned with Samsung and freelanced for various consultancies in London. During the period freelancing I worked with in house teams, industrial design consultancies and product strategy consultancies.

I am now permanently employed at a consultancy in London whose work covers anything from packaging and consumer electronics to large scale environments such as Hotel’s.

2. How did you get into furniture/product design? How did you come to be a designer?
It was at school where I really identified design as a career path and my passion for the area just grew from there, the opportunities and experience I have had along the way has further fueled my passion for design.

A time of particular significance in my mind was the opportunity to take a year out in my third year of studying, where I did two six month placements. This year was an invaluable experience, with the opportunity to acquire and develop further skills. It was also a great chance to apply the mythology I had acquired from my studies and apply it to live projects.

The Single Person Cooker
3. We love the Single Person Cooker. Tell us a few words about this project and how did you come up with this smart idea.
Leading up to my final year I made an effort to try and identify prominent topics evident in the design world and in the general media.
As a result the following social and cultural trends where established at the front end of the project. They can be summarised as the following:
1) The lack of development in the kitchen and kitchen appliance area of the last 30 years.
2) The rise in single person living and the reduced size of living spaces in these environments.
3) Peoples ‘on the go lifestyle’
4) The prevalence & promotion of ‘living healthy’ and ‘having a healthy diet’.
5) The development of connectivity and a ’seamless environment’, encompassing WiFi technology and network systems.
6) Design trends in terms of form, detailing, colour, material and finish.
Once this framework had been developed further research was undertaken in the highlighted areas with further user based research being carried out.

Added to this the look, or design language of the product evolved throughout this process. Looking to various facets of design (from architecture to home wares) for inspiration in terms of colour, materials, finish and form.

Stages of the cooking process
The result is hopefully a solution that is both meaningful, in terms of its response to social trends, while being a cotemporary piece of design, utisiling current visual and material trends.

4. Is there a chance we will see this product in stores, or available somewhere?
I am currently seeking manufacturers and investment to develop the concept further. There has been a great response from the people at the exhibitions and articles the ‘SPC’ has been involved in, it’s just that ‘next’ step to take it further.

If any body out there would like to get in touch regarding this feel free to contact us.

5. Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
I find inspiration in anything and everything really. I normally have a few things floating around in my head, whether it is projects that I am currently working on or concepts that I would like to develop.
Stimulus for this can again come from anywhere or anything, whether it is things that happen in daily life, or reading publications, websites and other publications.

6. Tell us about some of your other projects.
A futures concept that I produced was the ‘TTT’ (Talking Travel Ticket), this was a Shortlisted Design in the 2006/7 RSA inclusive worlds competition. The concept is a product and a service which provides you up to date travel information specific to travelers needs, all the while being the travelers ticket for transport.

Front end research focused on users who are visually impaired and what problems they face using public transport This was another research heavy project with information obtain from observational studies, interviews and further secondary research providing a framework to work from.

Advancements in technology such as wireless connectivity, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and HD projection were utilised to provide a tailored solution for travelers with various forms of impairment as well as tourists and day to day commuters/ travels. This all facilitates tailored travel information being relayed to the user audibly or visually.

Some other work which is more form focused such as the ‘Test Table’, a side table with a test tube removable vase and the ‘Section Side Table’ where as a result of a furniture brief.

To see further work from Alex go to alexbradleydesign.co.uk.

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