I met James Tattersall in a little corner of the House of Detention at Clerkenwell Design Week and was keen to find out more about the way he works and what matters to him. We talked morning coffees, Heath Robinson and overcoming creative block…
What’s the most important thing to know about you?
I love taking things apart.
What inspires your designs?
Structure, shape and how things work. I love a simple solution to a difficult problem. There’s also quite a bit of early modernism mixed in if you hadn’t spotted that already!
Talk me through your design process from initial idea to final product.
1. A spider diagram of ideas, followed by sketching, researching and folding paper.
2. Then I start making a mock-up with whatever I’ve got in the studio, I have drawers full of samples, offcuts and random fixings.
3. It’s back to drawing with the mock up in hand, this way I can look at how the process of making will change the design.
4. Finally I make a prototype in the chosen material. I use it, abuse it and see what falls off. My great grandfather was a furniture maker and apparently he’d jump on his work to see if it was strong enough, I don’t take it quite that far…
How do you overcome creative block?
I start making something even if I don’t know what it is, the tools themselves can influence the work so much that sometimes a piece can design itself.
Describe a really good day and a really bad day in the life of James Tattersall
Good day: morning coffee followed by sketching some ideas and then machining lots of wood in the afternoon, basically the perfect balance of designing and making.
Bad day: no time for coffee, followed by sorting receipts and using excel. I can’t sit still for very long before being distracted by something more appealing.
What are you most proud of?
I’m afraid I’d have to say I’m most proud of the jigs I use to make everything. A jig is like a template for machining or holding the work piece. They tend to be very Heath Robison and often have as much complexity as the finished piece.
How do your products make people’s lives better?
I hope people enjoy using them day to day and appreciate good quality materials that age well.
What advice would you give to someone who aspires to do what you do now?
Start making something, do it wrong. Make it again and again until it works.
And finally, what’s your favourite colour?!
Barn Red, like the oxide primer they use for rusty farm machinery.
