Scarborough people: Designer Richard Seymour
SCARBOROUGH-born Richard Seymour is one of the world's top designers. His company Seymourpowell is responsible for ground-breaking designs such as the world's first ever cordless kettle and pocketable mobile phone. Reporter Susan Stephenson caught up with Richard on a recent visit to Scarborough, where he presented a fascinating talk on his work at Scarborough Library.
RICHARD Seymour is not backwards in coming forwards – especially when it comes to design.
Some of the changes he has witnessed during visits to Scarborough over the years have left him less than impressed.
One of the "greatest sins" according to the 55-year-old design genius is the loss of the Floral Hall, which was bulldozed and replaced with what is now Scarborough Bowls Centre in North Marine Road.
While growing up in the North Bay area of Scarborough, Richard would spend his summers working backstage at the Floral Hall, so its loss is particularly poignant for him.
He said: "That building was in a terrible state, but it was a fabulous thing, and then it was replaced by this dreadful, faceless brick shed object.
"It's not just a shed – it's a cheap shed."
But despite his disdain for certain later additions, Richard is full of praise for Scarborough as a town and its architectural roots.
He said: "Scarborough was architecturally planned superbly in Victorian times – its great crescents, its South Bay, promenades and esplanades. It was an absolute masterpiece and hardly bettered I think, certainly anywhere else in the UK.
"Then people who don't seem to understand things came in and chopped it to bits, so I'm afraid I'm very critical of much of what's gone on."
Richard set out on his creative path while studying at the "Tech" – now Yorkshire Coast College – or the "egg box" as he liked to call it at the time. But it was not always easy, as people tried to push him in other directions.
He attended the boys' grammar school, as it was then, and found that design was not top of the list when it came to career choices.
He said: "The careers officer couldn't even spell designer, never mind know what it meant. They thought it was something that people who don't have academic brilliance do.
"I actually remember being confronted by the headmaster at one stage who said 'So what do you want to do?' and I said I want to go into art and design.
"He said 'Well you might as well leave now then' as if you are part of the detritus of the town. I don't know if he still thinks that now!"
But despite the lack of encouragement in the beginning, Richard found what he was looking for while studying at the Technical College and his creativity was able to flourish.
He said: "All around me at that time were fiercely creative individuals. The British are very creative anyway, a very inventive nation, and I don't think Scarborough is any less so. It was bursting out all over."
Richard has now made a name as one of the most creative and respected designers in the world, along with his business partner Dick Powell.
The pair founded Seymourpowell in 1984 and now head up a London-based team of 65 people.
The company has some amazing accolades to its name, such as the world's first pocket mobile phone in 1986, the first ever cordless kettle in 1985, and more recently, a new style of moulded bra called Bioform.
But Richard reveals that the inspiration behind the ground-breaking kettle design came from an accident he witnessed at home with his mum.
He said: "My mum was making Sunday
dinner and she pulled the cord out of the kettle, which was live, and it fell into a bowl of gravy. It kind of exploded everywhere and melted the polystyrene ceiling tiles.
"I thought there must be a better way of doing this."
This thought has really become Richard's mantra whenever he is working on a new design. He said: "My definition of design is making things better for people.
"If it doesn't you really should be running a sweet shop or something!"
The company is currently working on some incredible projects such as the interior design and structural plans for Virgin Galactic, which will offer the world's first affordable space flights (if you have $200,000) as early as 2009, and an amazing combined aircraft and hotel is also in the pipeline.
But as exciting as Seymourpowell's projects may be, Richard explains that much of his time is spent preparing businesses to accept the changes brought about by new technologies or ways of working.
He said: "The new is a very violent thing – it scares people. They say 'we want innovation' and when you give it to them they go 'err, it's far too scary' and they don't want to leave go of the side of the pool.
"Much of my work involves preparing others for what I call 'the violence of the new'. It's preparing people to accept that this is going to be a tectonic shift in what they do."
But where does Richard get the inspiration for his design ideas? "It's all about observing people," he said. "The things you spot when it comes to people are very interesting because that's where the future lies.
"I like to watch for emergent behaviour – it's what happens when you're compensating for something, or when you come up against something unfamiliar and try to find your way round it.
"Men don't read instructions on products – we laugh about it but it's true. They try it first, then, in despair, look at the instructions.
"Women do it the other way round. We're different – our brains are different, we function differently, our agendas are different and what we care about is different.
"That's the thing that fascinates me – how to make things better by watching behaviour."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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