01 April 2009

Peer Perspective

Regularly DQ magazine asks a select group of industry members to respond to a question dealing with a current design industry-related issue. This time, the questions was…

Q Are designers paying lip service to sustainability when they continue to design for mass production?

“This is a timely question and a hard one to answer, as the situation is very complicated.

I think there is need for mass production is some areas. To produce en masse is, in some situations, the most sustainable option. Mass production provides all of the efficiency of working in bulk, making the absolute most of every aspect of the production chain.

It is important for us to produce the things we ‘need' en masse, but in these situations it is important to adopt the most sustainable materials and methods available- and these are all areas that can improve.

Thinking about furniture, object designers and the production of things that we want, but don't need, I think that mass production is not all that relevant. What is mass production? Is it the manufacture of more than one hundred thousand units per year? If so, this term does not apply to the majority of furniture and object designers. For those of us designing at the more artistic end of the spectrum, mass production is not something we will ever be involved in, as the demand for the things we design will never be great enough to warrant this type of production.

The small to medium scale production that exists in our industry has some impact on the environment and we should be doing our best to reduce this. We design objects that are arguably important in civilised society; none of these things are completely essential for survival, but they do offer a level of convenience and comfort.

Chairs and lighting fixtures are the types of items most people will continue to buy new, and it is important for designers (as the people responsible for the existence of these items), to ensure their pieces are the sustainable alternatives on the market. It is essential that there are sustainable options available, so that people wanting to make the responsible purchasing choice have the ability to do so.”

Trent Jansen
Trent Jansen

“Ultimately, sustainable design must be mass producible if it is to become the norm rather than the exception. Positive change can only be effected in any greater way if it meets the needs of the larger market. Schamburg+Alvisse promote production practices that are sustainable, enduring AND commercially viable. This is amplifying positive attention on lifecycle awareness in the greater manufacturing industry.”

Marc Schamburg
Schamburg+Alvisse

“Sustainability and mass production need not be mutually exclusive. Actually, one of the best ways to get the green message to the masses is to make products at high volumes using sustainable methods and materials. Customers will continue to purchase products on a huge scale but hopefully they choose only sustainable products and ensure sustainable mass production for the future.”

Tim Collins
Cloud Studio