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"For our students, there's often a misconception that they must land their ideal design job immediately after graduation. Every designer I know started somewhere different from where they are now".
That’s what atelier thirty four co-founder Harry Hasson shares with his Product Design students at Ravensbourne University, alongside fellow co-founder Dave Britton.
Harry’s approach to product, furniture and lighting design is holistic, working closely with every aspect of the creation, from model-making in the Plus X Innovation workshop to the factories where their designs are eventually produced.
“A core part of our process is model-making and prototyping. Understanding how things are made and developing a sense of proportion and tactility help us refine our final products.”
Leading By Example
Harry and Dave share this design ethos with the students they lecture to. Harry tells us,
“Our students often ask us how to break into the industry. Our advice is always the same - get involved in any way possible. There’s no better way to learn than by doing.”
During the development of their latest project, a side chair with sand-cast aluminium legs, they apply scrupulous attention to detail of every element of the process.
“Sand casting creates a very tactile, textured finish, allowing the material to tell the story of its making.
We start with a design and then create a positive pattern, which is pressed into sand to form a negative mould. Molten metal is poured into this mould to make the final cast piece. The first step in this process is crafting a 1:1 pattern.
In the past, we would design everything digitally, send files to CNC machining services, and receive the finished product at a high cost.”
Creating with Ease
After discovering the facilities at Plus X Innovation, Harry stopped outsourcing aspects of model-making and prototyping and instead created these more efficiently himself in the workshop.
“The facilities at Plus X Innovation allow us to be deeply involved in every stage of the process. There’s a mix of traditional tools like bandsaws and pillar drills, alongside modern technologies such as laser cutters and 3D printers. Having access to these resources has significantly improved our model-making capabilities.
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