Design and Innovation: the driving forces of growth

The last fifty years have seen all kinds of progress – and all kinds of excess too. We are now being forced to produce better rather than more. Thus the concept of sustainable development means that from now on, we will have to respect the principle of eco-design throughout the whole design and production process.
The question we have to ask ourselves is: Isn’t there far too much of the same thing and not enough diverse things suited to our times?

This doesn’t mean that we have to reinvent everything. We have seen over time that some products remain timeless. The issue is recognising the areas in which we have to innovate to create products that can play a true role in their time, either by adapting existing products or by creating new products, so that they become essential in a market where most things that are indispensable have already been invented.

It is far easier to achieve these results if innovation adds new user benefits to a product because it thereby makes existing products obsolete and either leads to their replacement or to an additional purchase. This phenomenon is very common in sectors that depend on technological performance (e.g. cars, hi-fi, telecommunications) and that have to innovate constantly in order to replace products that have become ‘outdated’.

The impact of innovation on the home is slower because every new design is an addition and has to compete with the heritage of objects and furniture that we have acquired over our lifetimes. There is therefore a greater need to demonstrate what extra comfort and advantages a product brings. It is worth reminding ourselves that if we regard furniture as an incarnation of human movements or as a site of the postures we adopt to carry out our everyday activities and the time we spend on them, we have to admit that many products are not – or no longer – adapted to changes in the morphology and habits of people today. It does not take long to realise that design involves creating things that are more suited to our modern lifestyles, whatever their style.

It is easy to see that innovation cannot be restricted to technological progress or to using new materials (an engineer’s natural reflex); they are of course part of this process, but they must also contribute to a whole new approach to design. In the same way, it is no longer enough to see design simply as an aesthetic gesture as is frequently the case now for pure communications purposes.

Experience shows that innovation must be thought through in all its forms; it is the alchemy of the combination that is the key success factor.

1. Before starting to design a product, take a different approach to understanding its intended usage or social function (e.g. Renault’s ‘cars for living’, which are designed from the inside out and no longer from the outside in; Swatch watches, which are no longer just a time-keeping instrument…), taking into consideration how customs and lifestyles have changes and how these changes affect people’s behaviour.
2. Adapt the size of a product to people’s morphology today (e.g. king-size beds, the height of work surfaces, the dimensions of a seat).
3. Use new materials (e.g. fleece and stretch fabrics, micro-fibres, Goretex, Corian, etc.), new technology (e.g. halogen, low voltage, frozen food, the microwave, CDs), and new manufacturing processes (e.g. laser cutting, stereolithography). These offer possibilities to provide the user with extra benefits and to lower the costs of production. This is how the great leaps forward in design have always happened. It is a sector in which people are never reluctant to transfer technology or skills from other more avant-garde industries.
4. Look for new combinations and new blends of materials and techniques, components and materials (Gore-Tex was initially designed for use in artificial veins).
5. Come up with new product designs by working concurrently on packaging, distribution and associated services in order to add value: style/quality/service (e.g. Nature et Découvertes, Zara) without forgetting new sales tools (e.g. catalogues on CR-Rom, e.business)
6. Reveal new signs of prestige based on the cultural symbols and emerging centres of interest of the time. These will find their expression in various formal codes, colour registers, surfaces, ornamental details, and anything else that goes to make up what are called style and fashion movements.

Design innovation can be felt in terms of user benefits such as better performance and improved comfort. It is based on challenging the functional solutions that have been developed to give the product its intended use, taking account of our fellow citizens’ new habits, attitudes and postures, both individual and collective, which are influenced by the different lifestyles and activities of our times. Following this principle, the concept of the ‘multi-purpose vehicle’ came about not just by an exercise in style but as the result of a different approach to car design that looked at the car as a living space between two separate places, whereas previously its form was determined solely by research to improve the vehicle’s aerodynamics. This profound change has of course come about in response to the social environment. The public has accepted a type of car it previously regarded as a purely commercial vehicle because of political decisions to reduce petrol consumption and the number of fatal road accidents.
Nowadays, therefore, the main focus is on developing more spacious interiors and this is what determines the external appearance of a car. Greater comfort and safety have replaced speed. We now await the practical, clean and silent city car of tomorrow.
Innovation in design has also had a lasting impact on the fashion business despite its reputation as one of the most ephemeral sectors. Coco Chanel made her mark on the industry by liberating women. The arrival of sportswear in the 1970s reconciled the body with movement. This was initially made possible by having looser-fitting clothes, but now this design principle is expressed in the use of soft, thin new fibres (Lycra, mono-fibres).
The layout of the home and the habits of the people who live in them has been greatly influenced by progress in technological equipment. Lest we forget, it was the television (from 1955 onwards) that led to the introduction of comfortable sofas and armchairs into the home. Similarly, the presence of new multimedia systems in every room in the house will have two major effects. The first is how this equipment can be harmoniously integrated into the interior decorations through the use of appropriate wall fittings and furniture. The second is directly related to the time people spend using these now familiar tools each day. This should lead to the development of a new generation of more comfortable chairs with dimensions that are customised to fit the morphology of the individual and which allow both movement and relaxation.

New materials (plastics, composite materials, alloys), new technologies (microprocessors, connector technology) and new production techniques (injection, laser and water-jet cutting, stereolithography) can be assessed in terms of measurable performance and the greater possibilities they offer than their predecessors. Since the very beginnings of industrial history, these have always opened new fields of artistic expression. The most striking example of this is perhaps to be found in lighting: first the candle, then the incandescent light-bulb, halogen lamps, low voltage, and inert gas-based cold sources, and now electroluminescent diodes and optical fibres… When these are applied in the context of a new design idea, it is their intrinsic qualities that make them such effective solutions. Micro-fibres make underwear easier to wash as well as feeling like silk. Three-dimensional textiles make it possible to design thinner and more comfortable seats. Polymers and technical fabrics have allowed the development of a new generation of light and ergonomic shoes. The introduction of the microwave (which was invented by accident) led to new eating habits. The CD-Rom and the mobile telephone have revolutionised our behaviour as consumers and users.

Lastly, innovation is inspired by the emerging cultural influences of our times, the ones that forge the zeitgeist. They are brought about by new interests (gardening, sport), new artistic movements and also create a climate among the population. They express themselves in various formal codes, colour schemes, surface appearances, ornamental details and symbols, which all combine to form what are known as style movements. They act as references to give meaning to things and to stimulate new desires on the basis of the perceived value they have in people’s eyes.
In a society characterised by excessive choice, almost anything goes. Designers have been leading the emergence of new currents of creativity. Their names are like brands and reassure people who buy an object or a piece of furniture that they share the same values and the same tastes.

Although all these new developments make the news, many of them set a fashion and some leave their mark on their age, very few go down in history. Being able to see beyond appearances changes how we look at things. If a design idea is relevant and original, it will last, whereas materials and technologies can always be improved upon and even rendered obsolete since progress is constant.
The aesthetic codes, colour schemes, patinas and finishes of the present will age. They are the expression of a particular period – our own – and will help to situate this particular moment in history in the future.

Innovation is based on three things: changes in society; new materials, technologies and manufacturing processes; and the cultural, aesthetic and stylistic movements of a particular time. We now use less material, less products in the product, less techniques that we are considered to have been mastered, less aesthetic aspects that could seem ephemeral (fashion) and in return we have found more meaning, more life philosophy (to tell a potential life story), and more services in the wider sense of the word.

It is also worth noting that there can no longer be a global approach to markets. The market is now a collection of fragmented niche markets. The individual is king. In this type of situation, the aim is to build convincing product ranges that respond to a range of buying motivations that are not dictated by people’s needs (as against product ranges that are divided up according to people’s needs) or to increased customisation. It is an environment that is very propitious for small, flexible companies.
Innovation will be successful if it is intellectually accessible in terms of both its functional uses and its style, and its perceived value will tempt people into spontaneous purchases (e.g. 65,000 Apple iPhones were reserved in France before it was even launched). In this particular case, the price does not have the same value, whereas other products have to take account of psychological price thresholds. People must be able to find out how to use the product through how it is presented, demonstrations, how it is sold, when it is available and being able to use it.
The wider and denser the range of products available is, the quicker people have to be able to understand it and identify the product they want.

Whereas manufacturers and retailers sell products, customers buy services. This is why we are more and more sensitive to the immaterial content of things. Progress is always driven by people’s search for greater comfort and – in the final analysis – pleasure. Even high-tech products increasingly seek to position themselves on the market using sensory, emotional items; for if they don’t, there is a risk that they might be less successful or even be completely rejected by their potential users.

Following this logic, although it is clear that major creative leaps are always based on the application of new ways of thinking, new materials or new technologies, we now know that it is essential to consider how they can make the user’s life easier and improve his comfort and well-being if they are the final products are to attract the public.
Since today’s markets are saturated with products, innovation means going beyond simply satisfying essential needs in order to make people want products that are essential because they will give him extra benefits, extra services and extra pleasure.

“The relationships between men and objects have to change. We have to design object-friends that use their intelligence to benefit the people whose lives they share.” (THOMSON advert)

To conclude, here are a few suggestions that don’t cost much to implement and could help a lot:

1. Watch the people around you to adapt existing products to how they live today. Concentrate on improving comfort, customised solutions, mobility, adaptability and practicality. Don’t hesitate to consider yourself – and your children – as a representative sample of society.
2. Take account of any social phenomenon that is likely to have an impact on interior design: longer life expectancy, children living with their parents for longer, working from home, blended families, etc. Don’t try to resist irreversible processes.
3. Adapt the dimensions of your furniture to new standard morphologies, especially when they have to carry people’s weight (10% of teenage males are over 1.90 metres tall). Check these readjustments with the FCBA’s ergonomics department.
4. Adopt willingly the new technological equipment that are becoming common in our homes and which must be built into furniture to make them more comfortable or easier to use. This has always been the case in the kitchen, but now it will be increasingly common in the living room, the bedroom and the bathroom.
5. Keep an eye on new ideas developed by your competitors and in related industries.
6. Make the most of materials libraries to find more effective and more practical solutions. Do not hesitate to import technology and skills from other sectors.
7. Have an opportunistic attitude towards the concepts of sustainable development and eco-design. On this note, reducing the amount of material used is considered to be the most environmentally friendly step one can take, the exception being wood, which stores CO2; this is undoubtedly one of the reasons why this material is proving increasingly attractive to designers.
8. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you can do everything by yourself. Call on outside expertise – it doesn’t always cost as much as you think! – and use tools that have been funded and developed by the profession.

Above all, be bold and remain true to your decision to innovate. Design and innovation can’t be bought from a catalogue. Their effects only really become visible over time.

Gérard Laizé, Managing Director of the VIA