“From my point of view as curator, I thought the filmed studio sessions were very revealing.  Initially I had thought the filming could be intrusive and limiting for the development of good relations between the exchange partners but it proved to be the opposite.  The French designers were obliged to formally present and explain their work very obviously to their partner making their situation very clear in a very short time.  Also when the cameras were switched off, it was interesting to hear their unguarded remarks and to see the work put away that they didn’t want filmed (i.e. what they didn’t want to present publicly).  It was also noticeable that the filming situation engendered immediate sympathy between the exchange partners as they were equally subjected to the pressure of it.  Most of the interesting discussion that followed during the visit seems to me to have been initiated during these initial filming sessions.

It was very interesting to understand how the French designers keep their industrial design practice and their personal creative practice separate, in a way that designer-makers have no need to do.  Almost all the French designers we met pursued more artistic work privately and more than one of them explained that they feel a need to do this in order to inform and develop their commercial work.  On the other hand the British designers were amazed and impressed at the amount and variety of commercial work the designers were offered by businesses, as this something very rare in Britain which would normally be done by in-house designers and not on a free-lance basis.

Although initially the commercial focus of CD+ seemed to be slightly at odds with the designer-maker focus of Designed and Made, on closer inspection the designers seem to be even more alike than expected, with both sides beginning to appreciate that their differences can largely be explained by the restraints and opportunities engendered by the different cultural and commercial systems in each country.

All the designers from both countries remarked on the benefits of the collaboration in not only bringing them together with diverse designers from another country but also in introducing them properly to other designers from their own organization with whom they would not necessarily normally have any dealings.

All the designers, both French and English participated and cooperated very willingly and actively during the visit, despite some of the French designers being very busy with work during the biennial.  In spite of their differences in approach and practice all of them are excited and motivated to progress the project and develop work for the exhibition stage.”

CHARLIE ARNOLD