Three Layer Cake

 
At first I was concerned by the serious expression Susan Bradley was wearing when I shook her hand at the Hidden Art stand in April.  But as we began the interview, she immediately revealed how delightfully easy she is to talk to with, from football (soccer) to dogs.  Intelligent and insightful, composed and kind, during her interview Susan shared where she’s been and where she’s going.  Clear in her vision and approach to design, she’s definitely not a one-hit wonder.

 
“Find something you’re good at, and stick with it,” was more or less the message Susan Bradley’s father gave her.  Had she stuck with her abilities and interests in the natural sciences, who knows when or even if someone would have developed Outdoor Wallpaper^TM?  Outdoor Wallpaper^TM is Susan’s design which has been on the pages of interior design magazines across the world, and which has gained her a tiny little slot as a trendsetter for 2007 for some trend analysts.  It’s what has catapulted Susan Bradley to headliner, and more importantly, trendsetter status, just one and a half years after graduating with her second University degree.

  
Susan did her A-levels in geography, biology, and chemistry.  Because she was good at it, and because, as she explained, that’s the way the British school system works (generally you continue at University in what you’ve tackled for A-levels), she went on to complete a degree in geography.  From there, the most probable path for her would have been in environmental management, or teaching.  Instead she went on to do exhibition management in IT, and then into web design as a project manager for a web design agency.  The more she worked with web design, the more she realized she liked ‘creating’.  As her satisfaction with the creative side of web design grew, she knew it was something she wanted to explore on a more formal level for her own personal enrichment and applied to a different medium.  At 26, she enrolled in a three-year Bachelor’s degree program in Furniture Design at the London Metropolitan University.  

 
As part of her studies, she developed Outdoor Wallpaper^TM.  The idea, she said, grew out of the urban reality of domestic outdoor spaces, no matter what size, which are frequently unused because they are overlooked.  The fact that they are overlooked, Susan reasoned, makes them “public” spaces.  She thought it might be nice to offer a product which could render these spaces attractive to onlookers and to the owners as well, but with a function, not just another pretty accessory.  Outdoor Wallpaper^TM is a laser-cut design made of a range of materials, and sold in individual panels, with no minimum order—you can buy one small square or twenty.  It can function as a trellis or simply a decorative element both indoors and out.

  
Although Susan has also created other products, like the Creep table, the Dressing Up Mirror, or Mirror, Mirror side tables, concept and design behind the Outdoor Wallpaper^TM best capture her creative and applied capabilities and also hint at her professional trajectory.  Her sense of humor and personality are perhaps better reflected by the new Drip shelf and Puddle tables she presented during Salone Satellite as part of the Hidden Art Milano collective.  At first, I thought the ‘drip’, which runs down the side of the shelf represented melted candle wax.  I made a joke with Susan about it looking like blood, and she smiled and confirmed it is in fact blood!  “Everything I’d done until now was really feminine and floral.  I wanted something more ‘sinister’, gorier.  I even wanted to leave a toy dagger on the shelf, but thought that may be going too far.”  The shelf is available in a range of colors – Oil, Blood, and Milk!  Susan also presented a new pattern for her Outdoor Wallpaper^TM called ‘Vine’ which fits into the 2006-7 design season’s “graphic design” styles.  Its multiple termination points allow the user more flexibility in placing it in a décor as a motif, or even just a border.

 
Susan’s experience in marketing prior to going back to school for design has helped her to be certain that designing is what she wants to do.  During her studies, as she saw other students grapple with the business and marketing side of the design process, she also realized that her professional experience put her a little ahead of the others in that respect.  She feels on top of most aspects of being a designer, including the difficult marketing aspect, but admits she would still like to have a little help with the day-to-day administrative tasks that take away so much time from the creative process of designing.

  
Notwithstanding her success with Outdoor Wallpaper^TM  (Elle Decoration features her work this month (May 2006) and named her a British talent to watch)  Susan has enrolled in a Master’s program and divides her time between being a designer and being a student.  Her focus for her Master’s is “What furniture can learn from clothing”, in other words, which techniques that are applied to clothing can also be applied to furniture.  There’s something in the way she explains her fascination with the topic and the twinkle in her eye that lets on that she’s got something really grand up her sleeve, but she’s not ready to share it just yet.  So where else is she going?  Over the coming months, she and her partner are moving a little outside of London in order to get a dog and have more space for both of them to work (he’s a prototype maker).  

Susan Bradley design philosophy:  What you want each person who sees/purchases one of your creations to know about you, the story they will tell to their friends who see the object?
I combine the familiar with new ideas and technology to create original products relevant for today. I trained in Furniture Design but my work spans interior and exterior products and accessories, textiles as well as furniture. I love this diversity and experimenting with different materials and techniques.  My designs tend to have an immediate visual impact - but also make you think a little bit and be slightly quirky. For example wallpaper for outside? Stiletto heels as coat hooks? Cosies for technology?  There’s always a real function though.
 

How did the idea of Outdoor Wallpaper come to you?  What’s the genesis of the idea?
I became interested in designs for outdoor spaces in 2004. I was looking at domestic outdoor spaces and how, especially in urban areas, these can feel quite public and exposed. I wanted to bring something familiar and ‘homely’ to these spaces to make them feel more welcoming and comfortable. That’s where the idea for Outdoor Wallpaper^TM came from - taking something so iconic from indoors and reinterpreting it for outdoor spaces. I also like the idea of finding something unexpected - wallpaper - in an outside space. I really like the way the piece combines traditional wallpaper designs with cutting-edge technology, to create an entirely new concept.  I have a number of designs I make to order in the material, size and colour the customers chooses, offering a bespoke service. I also work to commission on unique designs for private individuals and commercial companies. 

Outdoor Wallpaper ^TM can be used in outdoor spaces of any sizes and is ideal for the smallest balcony or roof terrace. It provides an immediate impact and required no watering or pruning, and won’t wither through neglect - perfect for people who want an instant garden with minimal effort! Because the wallpaper panels are fixed a small distance off the wall, wonderful shadows are created and plants can trail up and around the pieces, integrating the designs will nature. Or you can simply let the Outdoor Wallpaper^TM be a striking decorative statement.  It's ideal in areas where plants are hard to grow - many people have used it on walls directly outside windows in basement flats - to create an instantly improved view.

 
Any designers or mentors who have shaped you/your ideas?
I am a great fan of the work of Hella Jongerius. Her Polder sofa for Vitra has stunning detailing, and her new lights (also for Vitra) with terracotta and felt based are beautiful. I think it’s her attention to small details, like the buttons on the Polder sofa, that I really love and her use of unexpected materials in really strong.

What are you working on now?  What would you like to work on?  What’s next?
Currently I am looking at clothing’s relationship to products and furniture – its where my White Stiletto Hooks and Dressing Up Mirror were developed from. I’m designing some lighting and shelving, and doing lots of experimenting so we’ll see what other fruits it bears! The designs should be ready by the end of the year. 

Other than that I am working on my plans for 100% Design in September in London and on various commissioned pieces.
 

What food/dessert best describes your design style?  How has it changed over the past three years?  What would you like it to be in five years?
Much of my work is made to order, allowing the customer a choice of material, size, finish, colour etc so perhaps a personal chef who creates a meal specifically for you would be an appropriate analogy. In the future I’d like to combine this with more retail/off the shelf pieces – a set menu in effect. 

The first thing you notice in a restaurant?
The atmosphere, simply how it feels when you walk in. Lighting and music are particularly important. And obviously the (hopefully) wonderful aromas too. 

Eating what food brings back the best memories?
My Grandmas homemade apple pie, it reminds me of Christmas morning – as a treat I was allowed it for breakfast! 

If money were no object, you’d buy what for your home?
I love chairs, so I’d have lots of original designs – work by Prouvé, Panton, Jacobsen and a La Chaise by Eames. 

Last piece of art you placed in your home?

Company/place/institution you’d love to leave your mark on.
I’d love to ‘Outdoor Wallpaper’ a well-known building, even as only a temporary installation – perhaps the Tate Modern, or the clean white walls of London’s Design Museum. Large scale commissions are something I really would love to move into more. 

Place you go for design inspiration?
Getting out of the city and away from anything overtly ‘designed’, allowing you to clear your mind and back to nature I guess. In particular I love Cornwall, the wonderful landscape and especially the sea – heavenly. 

Magazine you can’t live without.
I enjoy reading the magazines in the newspapers at the weekend, The Guardian on a Saturday and then The Sunday Times Style magazine, ideally with good coffee and a highly calorific pasty or cake! I also love graphics magazines and adore Magma bookshop in London – I could loose whole days in there. 

Celebrity you’re inexplicably intrigued by.
This question is WAY too hard!!  Male scottish actors, anyone from Ewan McGregor to Sean Connery - its all in the accent.

You’re most proud of your collection of…
I don’t collect anything in particular, I just collect things I like whatever they happen to be – I tend to be most proud of resisting rather than buying! I do love second hand shops and markets, and also buying work by individual designer-makers direct from their studio, there’s some great places in London like Cockpit Arts and Clerkenwell Green Association, you can even get pieces made specifically for you to make them extra special.