Contract - December 2015 - 16

PHOTO: MEG WALTON

EDITORIAL

Please Be Original

As 2015 comes to a close, Contract presents our December issue, with
a selection of product highlights of the year as well as our annual Brand
Report survey (page 76) in which you, the readers, tell us your favorite
brands across a variety of product types. Over the course of the year,
as we reviewed a multitude of product introductions in person-from
NeoCon in Chicago to ICFF in New York to Salone in Milan to Cersaie
in Bologna, and everywhere in-between-we became even more
conscious of the need to support originality in design today. And this
heightened awareness was coupled with the growing profile of the
nascent Be Original Americas, an organization advocating for original
design and the specification and purchase of original products.
Contract is pleased to be a Media Sponsor of Be Original Americas,
and to back its mission of "informing, educating, and influencing
manufacturers, design professionals, and individuals on the economic,
ethical, and environmental value of authentic design while preserving
and investing in its future." We want all of our readers-designers,
manufacturers, and related professionals-to be advocates for original
design and to know Be Original Americas. The organization raises
awareness through an extensive program of lectures, workshops,
and roundtable discussions in various cities across the country.
As a Media Sponsor, Contract moderated two Be Original
Americas panel discussions this year, one on each coast, and
both with a mix of designers and leading product manufacturers.
Managing Editor Murrye Bernard moderated a discussion at Gensler
in Los Angeles, and I led the other one at Herman Miller's showroom
in New York. Rebecca Dorris-Steiger, the 2014-2015 president
of IIDA New York who is an associate partner at ZGF Architects,
was a panelist at the event that I had moderated. She shared her
thoughts, through the lens of a design practitioner, on the stakes
of the issue today: "I believe that it is our job as design professionals
to create bespoke design solutions for our clients. Providing
original design options, for any type of design, requires an investment
of time, research, and money. Copying the work of others and
specifying knockoff products devalues that whole process, stifles
innovation, and often pushes dangerous, irresponsible products
into the market."
For product designers who are developing sought-after original
offerings and bringing them to market globally, the problems with
16

knockoffs can be far-reaching. In April at Salone in Milan, I met with
Tom Dixon, who has seen multiple knockoffs of his own designs
of lighting, furniture, and accessories. I asked Dixon how his company
pursues its battle against the fakes. He said it comes down to five
key steps that his studio must take proactively: (1) more money spent
on tooling with unique connections and features, (2) industrialized
components that cannot be easily replicated, (3) legal action when
necessary, (4) be fastest to market, and (5) communicate the values
and qualities of the products.
For interior designers and architects individually specifying
products, you know the advantages of choosing original products
and the consequences of selecting cheaper knockoffs. But, not
all of your colleagues share the same level of awareness. For more
significant, wide-scale impact, I urge large firms to establish firmwide
policy for their designers to specify original products. In addition,
dealers and others involved in the process must be accountable
to maintain the original specification, and ongoing conversations
with clients and project partners are needed. That communication
will help prevent, for example, clients from taking custom designs
to a third party to be "copied" and fabricated-damaging the original
designer's integrity and ongoing business. A multi-pronged
approach involving every person related to a project is necessary.
Visit beoriginalamericas.com to learn more, and to even see
images of knockoffs compared to originals. Be Original Americas will
be ramping up its activities in 2016 with more sessions in various cities,
and an annual member meeting planned for February 4 in New York.
In the big picture, education and advocacy efforts must continue.
Respecting the originators-and investing in original design-will
ultimately value you as a designer, and support your design profession
and industry integrity.
Sincerely,
John Czarnecki, Assoc. AIA, Hon. IIDA
Editor in Chief
Visit contractdesign.com/editorial to read all of Editor in Chief
John Czarnecki's editorials
contractdesign.com 	

OCTOBER 2015
DECEMBER
2015
http://www.beoriginalamericas.com http://www.contractdesign.com/editorial http://www.contractdesign.com
Contract - December 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - December 2015
