Design Insights: The Importance of materials

'The Importance of materials,' the fifth video in this 'Design Insights' series, features Richard Seymour, co-founder and design director of Seymourpowell, crediting much of his success as a designer from his fascination with materials.
Whether it's a the Olympus Pen, a Navaho canoe, or the bows of Assyrian warriors --these demonstrate "the knowledge and experience and the way you can get performance out of material"
Thus, he's concerned that many young designers are missing out on the richness that comes from working hands-on with different materials.
"The incredibly advanced CAD systems that we use at the moment basically means that we are distanced a lot of the time in the design process," he says. "We're not spending the time in the workshop physically doing. We're not drawing."
The danger, according to Seymour, is designers "end up being able to specify something that works but the romance, the poetry of the material won't come through."
Initially trained as a graphic designer and illustrator, Richard Seymour moved through advertising and film production design before launching Seymourpowell with Dick Powell in 1984. Today, Seymourpowell is one of the world's leading design and innovation firms and Richard one of Europe's most accomplished designers and futurists.
As part of its effort to stimulate dialogue between the business and design worlds, the Eastman Innovation Lab teamed with Seymourpowell to create a series of thought-provoking special edition "Design Insights" videos titled "Into the future."
Check us out each month for the next "Into the future" video.
Produced by Uber for Eastman Chemical company
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