What’s behind the continued success of Arcam’s design evolution? A close relationship between the designer and senior decision makers in the client business is vital, but all too rare, says Adrian Stokes.
‘It’s happened three times for me since I set up my own business in 1984. In each case the companies were run by strong individuals with a great instinct for their markets but also a sense of how design connects with the target audience, which they see as being as important as any other factor. It’s quite unusual. As the relationship develops, they can pinpoint with incredible precision any element of the design that doesn’t work.
‘As a designer, sending out brochures until you’re blue in the face has its place, but making connections is more about luck than marketing, and we’ve been lucky. Any orchestra needs a great conductor and at Arcam Charlie Brennan is just that. He draws the best from everyone he works with inside and outside the company and he’s a client who truly understands and appreciates what we can do for the business – the sort who makes this job worth getting out of bed for.’
Stokes also feels very strongly that industrial designers should engage with the whole process from research and idea generation to the detail of product engineering and manufacturing, not least because it can yield ideas in itself.
‘The manufacturing process can be a wonderful catalyst for ideas,’ he says. For instance, when working with Carlton our research into textile moulding was the basis for a complete change of direction and new ranges of products that used the technique. This opened up avenues and opportunities in their market that they hadn’t explored. The process drove the design.
‘Our input with Arcam doesn’t stop at providing a CAD visualisation of the product. It demands that the product is engineered elegantly and efficiently too. Most hi-fi is constructed in a certain way – a box with a fascia and a metal case at the back – but it’s obsession with detail, engineering and manufactured quality that makes good design great and the experience of the customer a pleasure and not a disappointment.
Design isn’t just a cosmetic exercise. Most industrial designers worth their salt will get stuck into challenging the whole process, not just the styling.Charlie Brennan, Arcam
'We must all keep pushing on - no one can afford to stagnate, and being involved in this way with Charlie and his brilliant team has meant we have all benefited from the relationship.’
Brennan agrees: ‘Design isn’t just a cosmetic exercise. Most industrial designers worth their salt will get stuck into challenging the whole process, not just the styling.’