"People just won't put up with poor design these days," says director of exhibitions at The Design Museum, Dr Eric Kentley. "All designers are under pressure to create more attractive, more sophisticated designs, which improve the quality of our lives. Good design is an integral part of any product and consumers are continuing to drive design standards up - this is real 'people power'." Here, WFI asks key players to define the essence of good design. So, next time you buy a jar of pasta sauce, choose a new kettle for your kitchen or step into a restaurant, remember that design will inform your choice.
Keith Hobbs - Restaurant Designer
Thousands of amber beads hang from the windows of Ubon, above. "This softens the light without obscuring the spectacular Thames view," explains Keith Hobbs. His designs have redefined the eating-out experience; he also worked with Conran to create Quaglino's. The style of Hobbs's own company, United Designers, is defined by use of durable natural materials. "We're taking British style overseas, and we're proud of that."
United Designers, 27 Shad Thames, London SE1.
Tel 020 7357 6000.
Seymour Powell - Product Designers
Best known for the Bioform bra featured on Channel 4's Better By Design, Richard Seymour, and Dick Powell, have designed everything from trains to shopping trolleys, and are now making an impact in the kitchen. They were behind the cordless kettle and a revamped toaster for Tefal as well as a prototype smart pan with adjustable burner and integral time/heat control. "We work to make things better to use. It's as simple as that."
Seymour Powell, The Chapel, Archel Road, London W14.
Tel 020 7381 6433.
Flo Bayley - Packaging Designer
"The art of good packaging design is about finding a graphic way of suggesting deliciousness. As you can't taste or smell what something is going to be like just by looking at it, my challenge is to encapsulate what's on the inside, on the outside," says Flo, who studied graphic design at the London College of Printing before going on to work for Conran's design emporium in the Eighties. "The prince of gastronomes, Curnonsky, said, 'Food should taste of what it is.' This is the basis for a good definition of packaging design: it must evoke what it is. If the product is Mediterranean, the packaging design must say 'Mediterranean'. If it's organic, it must look organically produced." One recent project that Flo feels particularly proud of is the new Waitrose own-brand Italian pasta sauces. "I like the mushroom on the label of the jar of tomato sauce with mushroom. I can taste it."
Flo Bayley, 176 Kennington Park Road, London SE11.
Tel 020 7820 8811.
Alberto Alessi and Ron Arad - Product Designers
"Good design is a work of art," explains Alberto, managing director of Alessi. The Italian company was set up by his grandfather north of Milan in 1921, and has since become synonymous with stylish everyday items, particularly houseware. The latest creation to emerge from the Alessi stable is its first item of clothing - the Cappellone hat designed by Professor Ron Arad, right, one of Alessi's UK designers. Sporting a fetching Cappellone himself, Alberto continues: "I thought we should test our capability in a fascinating area - objects for the body. Design is the most typical art form of our times, and it can be one of the best examples of the culture and spirit of our times. Alessi is not a mass-production company - it's an industrial research lab in the applied arts field. Our role is to act as mediators between the best possible expressions of creativity in design all over the world, and people's dreams."
Alessi, Via Privata Alessi 6, Crusinallo, Italy.
www.alessi.it.
The Alessi museum at this address can be visited by prior appointment only.
David Linley - Furniture Designer
"The inspiration for our latest collection - including this chair - comes from St Petersburg," says David Linley. "We visited the city in November 1999 and were completely swept up by its atmosphere and romance. I was particularly inspired by pieces in the State Hermitage Museum, housed in the Winter Palace. We've pared down the lavish detail and decoration so that our designs fit into modern-day living." Viscount Linley started his career in furniture design in 1982 when he hired a workbench in a co-operative in Dorking, Surrey. Today he employs some 40 people. His latest book Design and Detail in the Home (Little, Brown & Co, £30) explains Linley's approach to the world of interior design. "I try to combine practicality, beauty and sturdiness. If I'm designing a dining room table, for example, I find myself watching people at dinner parties and seeing where they put things."
Linley, 60 Pimlico Road, London SW1.
Tel 020 7730 7300.
'Design and Detail in the Home' is available from the WFI Bookshop, £25.99 plus UK p&p.
Nina Campbell - Interior Designer
Functional, inviting, and in keeping with the Edwardian period of the hotel: all key elements in Nina Campbell's brief for her project to create The Connaught hotel's new 34-seat drawing room. Judging by the response of guests, she certainly succeeded. "Style evolves with experience. I've been told I have a style that makes people feel at ease," she says. "After all, rooms are for living in." Photographs of celebs who've been guests at the hotel - from Humphrey Bogart to Ava Gardner - pepper the sideboards, while antique bookcases are stocked with old books. Whether you are a resident or not, the drawing room is open 18 hours a day, for everything from continental breakfast, to traditional afternoon tea and post-prandial coffee, but be warned: seats nearest the fireplace are always at a premium. As WFI went to press Nina had just been commissioned to work her magic on the hotel lobby, the small lounge and the American Bar. And, over the next two years she'll be remodelling the 92 bedrooms of the old lady of Mayfair.
Nina Campbell, 9 Walton Street, London SW3.
Tel 020 7225 1011.
The Connaught, Carlos Place, London, W1.
Tel 0207 7499 7070.