Wedgwood Design
Design at Wedgwood can never be an exact science - by its very nature, the skill and creativity of the company’s designers push the boundaries of established design principles to produce unique and beautiful products.
But while the authentic English style of the company rests on intuition and creativity, these Eureka moments are rare.
Design is more often than not considered reaction to well informed and researched lifestyle trend and colour trend forecasting carried out throughout the globe by both Wedgwood and its many specialist agencies. This forecasting is vital to stimulate future projects, not necessarily the product ranges expected to result.
After the brief is written, the designer’s true talents come into play. Their experience and skill in translating the written word into stylish ideas, workable ideas ideal for the Wedgwood brand is paramount to the company’ s future success. Imagination, creativity, knowledge of various materials and their sympathy to the marketplace together with the demands of consumers must all come into play to deliver solutions.
The written word is translated into a series of visuals - termed mood boards - which the design team believe have the potential to be developed into world beating products, incorporating classic and contemporary design of relevance to modern society.
Mood boards are developed because they are less open to interpretation than the written word and form the basis of the next stage of the design process.
If approved, they are further refined through the creation of artwork incorporating key patterns and shapes, often using the latest computer technology side by side with traditional freehand drawing.
At this point, depending on the complexity of the artwork and the importance of the project, artwork is assessed via a number of routes. It could be further market researched with specific customer and consumer focus groups throughout the world to make sure it is targeted and acceptable to the buying public. Or it could move directly into production specific drawings and artwork for feasibility assessment by manufacturing experts.
If alterations are not needed following consumer research of feasibility assessments, a trial production run is commissioned to discover any shortcomings, either of the design, or in the manufacturing process itself.
It is at this point that the design becomes a reality - approval from manufacturing will lead to another classic Wedgwood shape or pattern stocking shelves in shops throughout the world.
The Designers
Designers at Wedgwood come from a variety of industrial and university backgrounds, but all, without exception, are the best in their field. All have studied at Art College to various levels; many achieving Masters degrees in Product Design or associated subjects.
The Design Studio also employs young up and coming designers as well as working with established celebrity designers such as Vera Wang, Barbara Barry and Jasper Conran. This policy is aimed at reinforcing the Wedgwood brand values of authentic English style and luxury lifestyle, while bringing new perspectives, contemporary products and established credibility to specific product lines.
