design:retail - March 2015 - (Page 44)

searching for steve jobs 044 Remembering Rodney ROBERT HOCKING RETALE MATTERS robert@retalematters.com @rhockinguk A NYONE INTERESTED IN retail design lost a great advocate and ally on Oct. 20, 2014, when Rodney Fitch passed away. Rodney started as my boss at FITCH, and ended as my friend. I knew him to be compelling, thoughtful, worldly and, at times, a curmudgeon, but always a gentleman. He had presence without being ﬂashy, and he wasn't an archetypal creative type, neither trendy nor a style guru. In fact, I admired him for always being comfortable in his skin, never feeling like he had to don a uniform the way many do in the creative industries. But, despite how laid back he seemed, he never was casual where retail was concerned. To explore his impact, I reached out to some leading thinkers from the design industry. Michael Wolff, Tim Greenhalgh, Ibrahim Ibrahim, Dilys Maltby, Callum Lumsden and Rune Gustafson were kind enough to share their thoughts. All referenced Rodney as one of the ﬁrst to give the retail design industry credibility, to make it a "profession," and that his voice gave design a serious seat at the client table. According to Maltby, "Rodney thought of design as a fundamental business strategy, an imperative to commercial success. He pioneered the idea that retailers were not merely distribution channels for third-party brands, but were brands in and of themselves." As Wolﬀ says, "Rodney was remarkably straightforward and enthusiastic; no BS, just plain good sense. And this made him a designer clients would easily trust and rely on." At its peak, Rodney had created a business that crossed over and housed retail design and architecture, alongside product and packaging design. But, MARCH 2015 DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM regardless of the discipline, he always understood that design was at the service of something greater than itself. Gustafson, a long-time colleague and friend, commented that Rodney was always thoughtful and inherently curious, and that he encouraged those traits in others. He believed in "thinking design" as opposed to simply seeing design as visual output. Lumsden always admired his passion for creating environments that touched the lives of ordinary people. "He was never Bond Street, he was always Main Street," Lumsden says. Whereas for Ibrahim, Rodney was a design purist and "consumer advocate, who acted on behalf of the shopper right down to the human scale of the experience. Rodney talked about 'place making,' the role retail plays in bringing soul and life to development. He uniquely saw retail on a bigger scale." Everyone I've spoken to has described Rodney's generosity. He was a compassionate, kind and generous person, and that spirit of generosity was reﬂected both in his business and in the results of his work. I've personally witnessed his genuine interest in dealing with clients as readily as the cab driver that brought us to a meeting. But of all the people he chose to spend time with, designers were the ones he seemed to favor most (although he was generally that way with anyone he thought was clever). For Greenhalgh, one of the most illuminating things was to walk through a retail environment with Rodney, to understand how he could see things others would miss. His conviction around what constituted great design was infectious, and he'd make you stronger in the belief that if you had guts, you could take on anything. "He didn't lead by the example of he himself trying to come up with the best ideas," Greenhalgh says. "The example he set was by creating a culture and belief system of people who would be supported and driven to do it." The consideration of legacy is a hard thing. Rodney undoubtedly changed design, but retail design is temporary and, of its own accord, moves on. He was probably the first designer to bring creative thinking into mainstream populist retailing, and that will live on for as long as "oﬄine" retail experience is an integral part of people's lives. But even more, his eﬀect will live through the many people who lead other design agencies and who model some part of what they do on what they learned from him. As Greenhalgh puts it, "In his presence, Rodney allowed the zoo of creativity to ﬂourish." And what a zoo it was. Rest in peace RAF. ROBERT HOCKING IS A LONDON-BASED RETAIL BRAND CONSULTANT WHO LOVES RETAIL BUT HATES SHOPPING-AND CONTINUES TO SEARCH FOR STORES THAT WILL CHANGE HIS MIND. Photo courtesy of FITCH http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of design:retail - March 2015

Editor’s Note
Show Talk
On Trend
We Love This!
Designer Picks
Innovation
Postcard
Before & After
How’d They Do That?
Have You Heard?
Perspectives
Visual Eye
Searching for Steve Jobs
Markopoulos Award 2015
GlobalShop 2015: The Ultimate Show Guide
Las Vegas Retail A look at
McMillanDoolittle
PIRCH
WH|BM
T2
Verizon
Hedonism
Design Leaders Listing
Products
Backstory

design:retail - March 2015