Archive for May, 1972
Who is behind DesignYouMake
Profile for DesignYouMake, 2007.
Jeremy Walton is English and was born in Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey. He has a practical hands on approach to design. Observations of how people live and even people themselves have predicted his designs for over a decade. He moved to Denmark in 1998, where he now lives in Copenhagen together with his young family. Cycles a bike that has three wheels and enjoys danish life, while trying to gain recognition from his allotment association (kolonihave). After years of denial, he is now learning school level Danish and becoming an integrated emi/immigrant and weighing up the use of a British passport.
Profiles – Jeremy Walton regarded highly.
2006 Profile for Hyggelys candle with matchbox.
Jeremy Walton is regarded highly as an inspirational and original thinking designer with an ability to develop and realise ideas and solve problems creatively.
As a designer maker, he has developed his own range of products. These have been presented internationally, most notably in MoMA The Museum of Modern Art stores in New York, Japan and Korea.
He works together with clients, offering design development and creative services. He has been working with other designers and alone on projects for design exhibitions both in Denmark and internationally. Interest in his work has lead to seminars in Denmark and Sweden and to teaching workshops.
Bibliography
Background Bibliography
Education: I am graduated from Central Saint Martins college of art and design in 1996. Having studied product design.
During my degree I also learnt Sociology at night school out of interest.
I also spent a lot of my spare time drawing two old donkeys over the back of the field. The donkeys belonged to gypsies and instead of focusing on the main issue at large, I observed instead the less confrontational subject of the donkeys and have continued in this same practical more than intellectual vain ever since. However I didn’t fail to observe that the old donkeys looked a lot happier and more regularly used than the pet horses fenced in in the private field.
Previous to my degree, I attended Reigate School of Art completing an art foundation. Completed A level college at Esher College after having gained a National diploma in mechanical engineering at Kingston Technical College, along with a YTS year spent working as a car mechanic.
Experience:
2007. DesignYouMake.com
In 2006 I decided to pull myself away from developing and producing my own ideas. This was helped by engaging myself in a danish language course and beginning DesignYouMake, as a way to continue my creativity.
While I integrate myself into danish society, the spare time I do have, I can use focused on my creative process rather than production, sales, packaging….
1998 – 2006. Walton.dk designer maker.
Drawing on my early experiences from business studies at college, I should have, in the very least, have learnt not to go into business. But living in a foreign country and not at the time being fluent in danish, I was gifted the opportunity of not having any better alternative, so I started producing my own products.
The range of accessories and lighting grew to an extent, and then stopped growing to an extent, as the logistics of production took over.
It has been a very valuable experience for me. Being a one man band meant I quickly learnt to pull and push a number of things at once. It also meant I learnt to consider the whole process, gaining a small understanding of marketing, sales, logistics and even accounts. I now draw on that experience and remain conscious of it, while working on the design of an object. This consciousness partly inspired DesignYouMake.
Through producing my own products I have achieved recognition by selling my work through MOMA retail stores in New York. Internationally in museum shops and design stores from Estonia to Japan. As well as on NBC American national television and DR2 and TV2 in Denmark.
I have exhibited at trade-shows, such as 100% London, Milan, Stockholm and Copenhagen furniture fair. A number of my products have been represented by Danish Crafts at Ambient Fair and the New York ICFF. In 2002 my products were chosen to represent Denmark at the Design Biennale in Saint-Etienne France.
2004 & 2007. Teaching and seminars.
I have had the opportunity to teach and organise workshops at Krabesholm Højskole. In 2006 I began a workshop based around the DesignYouMake concept, introducing the students to the ideas and possibilities of design as knowledge not an object. Other workshops have focused on originality and inspiration.
I have also had the pleasure to give talks about my work at Trapholts design symposium 2004 and at the Röhsska Museum in association with Craft in dialogue in 2005.
2000 – 2006. Cofounder Culture Corporation.
Working together with Ditte Hammerstrøm and Claus Bjerre as Culture Corporation, our projects and experiments in social and unpredictable design have been shown in various art and design museums including The danish Design Centre, Trapholt art museum, Nordjyllands art museum, The Art Hall Brænderigården and at Röhsska Museum of Decorative Arts & Design, Göteborg Sweden.
Working together as a team has given us the chance to work on larger experiments.
Brainstorming and developing ideas as a team is refreshing and enables one to be more distanced personally and allow the project or object to take center stage. In much of our work the project or object predicted its own form while we distanced ourselves more and more from dictating the form. Allowing one thing to lead to another, we took pleasure in observing the results and challenging our own ways of looking. Back to the donkeys again.
1998 – 2006. Client work product designer.
I have worked together with small design firms like Urbanite Copenhagen, being involved in the whole development of a product from idea to packaging, communicating with factories, engineers and overseeing quality. In contrast I have also worked together with larger international firms such as Levi Strauss & co. Working in relation to their own brand identity and seasonal concepts. I am involved in various creative services such as brainstorming, development, problem solving, technical drawing, illustrations and even translating Danish text to English.
2003. Exhibition architects, SE-Remix.
In 2003 Ditte Hammerstrøm and I were invited to be exhibition architects for the SE Remix exhibition at Kunstindustrimuseet, involving designing the concept for the exhibition and catalogue. Coordinating with the designers and manufacturers to complete the exhibition on time and to budget.
1996 – 1998. Asia
After graduating in 1996 I embarked on a working tour, taking me to Singapore then Hong Kong, before a non working tour through China, Mongolia, Siberia, Russia.
Hong Kong, Artistry Design and Construction.
Design of products for Artistry’s own production and design on interior projects. Mainly in stainless steel.
Singapore,Sony International and Batey Advertising. Freelance designer.Working on point of sale display systems.
CV exhibition list
CV Exhibition list
