Saturday 17th April // PRIMARY RESEARCH VISIT + CHAT

Vivense Showroom London Visit:

Website: https://www.vivenselondon.com/

The aim of my visit was to find a modern furniture store where I could see which materials and form the designers used to help aid ideation. I found one which was close to the station which I was stopping at. Upon entering, I could tell that the combination of muted/natural and a few bright colours was a huge focus. Other than the colours, I quite liked how Vivense used wood in their showroom. The picture below describes this well. Most of the products were simple in form and looked as if they could be replicated well. This is something that is completely different with traditional furniture. It tends to be more ornate and show that time has been spent. The question is how I can merge those 2 ideals together.

Whilst I was looking around, I had the chance to talk with an employee who was kind enough to tell me about the store and her own history with selling products. Indu told me about how the showroom was new and quite popular in the area. I was surprised to find out about how she first started a degree in Architecture but applied to a job at IKEA. It was fascinating to see what product design meant in the real world. She mentioned how she had different expectations of where her degree would take her and it made it reflect on what I wanted to take from this course and by the end of my degree. I haven't heard a reply from universities as of yet but I should 100% keep in mind all the other options. Indu worked more on talking with clients as opposed to the designing aspect. I find myself more comfortable with the designing than the talking but it is certainly something I should learn better. Compared to last year A-Levels, I do believe I have gotten slightly better at talking through my ideas but I still struggle to explain everything if not through drawing. Having group discussions has helped at lot. It was lovely to talk to Indu and we exchanged contacts so I could message her about the showroom and her experience.

TO DO:

Draw out forms of the furniture on sticky notes and add to sketchbook.

REFLECTION

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