If Bert Frank were a classic British car it would, without doubt, be an Aston Martin - luxurious, innovative and built to stand the test of time.
Launched in 2013 by designer Robbie Llewellyn and lighting manufacturer Adam Yeats, Bert Frank has garnered universal praise for its luxurious take on industrial lighting with accolades including the 2016 Elle Decoration British Design Award for Lighting and the Best Product Award at the design et al International Design Awards.
Keen to take a test drive, we asked Robbie to lift the bonnet on the brand and reveal the inspiration behind their table lamps, floor lamps, wall lights and pendants launching as part of Heal's new Spring / Summer 17 collections.
Beginnings
“I studied product design at university, after which I began working for an antique lighting dealer just off the Kings Road. It was there I gained my education in the expansive history and world of antique lighting. After a few more years at larger companies working on more bespoke lighting, I felt ready to start my own collection.
Meeting Adam was the perfect tipping point. We have a genuine respect for one another’s skills and are both truly motivated to create designs that look and function beautifully. The name itself is pretty simple really, it's just an amalgamation of my nicknames. Bert comes from ‘Robert,’ my first name obviously, while Frank stands for ‘Francis,' my middle name.”
The studio
“We are based in Worlds End Studio, Chelsea. Our space doubles up as an informal showroom so it is always busy, welcoming and creative. We're surrounded by lots of other small creative businesses from fabrics to furniture, so the vibe is great plus Chelsea Design Centre is just down the road so we are close to the hub of interior design.
Life in the studio varies from day to day as you never know what exciting job is going to come through the door – from a bespoke chandelier in a private property in Mayfair to lighting the whole of a first class lounge or new chic Hotel in Amsterdam.”
Our ethos
“Our ethos is to make things in a better and more beautiful way rather than take the most cost effective route. An example of this is our table lamps whose bases look and feel so much better machined out of solid brass, so that is what we do.
The material, quality and attention to detail is key to us - we care what the light looks like from above, below, how it feels in hand and to touch. There's also an industrial influence, but rather than purely industrial style I’d say I love mid-century design with industrial forms. It’s the honesty of industrial that resonates with me.
Rather than hiding fixings or functional features they are celebrated and given as much design consideration as the rest of the form, if not more! There is such beauty in that idea.”
My first design
“The Shear Table Lamp had been in my mind for a long time and I’d already had a few prototypes in various sizes. However, working with Adam at the factory we took it to a place of real beauty. Utilising clever manufacturing methods we ensured that from every angle, even the inside of the shade, it looked beautiful...
In all our designs we use a great mix of high technology - laser cutting and CNC machines - and the more traditional methods that require a highly skilled workforce, such as hand spinning shades.”
British made
“All our pieces are made by a close-knit team in a Birmingham factory. A family run factory, they have long been established as UK manufacturers of superb quality focusing on luxury lighting...
I go there each week to talk through my new designs with the team, so it’s a real combined effort between designer and manufacturer. Designing is a hands-on, creative process so it requires a lot of dialogue. We often get bespoke orders or requests for customised designs, so the fact we can talk face to face with a team that has such a wealth of knowledge and experience makes all the difference...
We also try not to be limited by production methods, but rather push the boundaries by doing things a different way. More often than not, we end up with a better solution.”
Ones to watch
“The Shear will always hold a special place in our heart being the first in the collection, but the Riddle Pendant in brass and black is a real standout piece – a cluster of these pendants becomes a real focal point and makes such a statement in a room.”
Luxurious? Check. Innovative? Check. Crafted to last? Well, this is Heal's after all.
Shop the full Bert Frank lighting range and our new Spring / Summer 17 collections at Heal’s online or in store.
[ INSPIRATION ]
Behind the design
PINCH us, we must be dreaming!
At least that was our thought upon arriving at Russell Pinch and Oona Bannon’s studio, workshop and showroom in sunny south London (Clapham North to be precise). For this is truly a furniture lovers paradise, packed full to the rafters with much loved and brand new PINCH pieces many of which feature in our new Spring / Summer 17 collections.
Not interested in mass-produced, volume-based business, Russell and Oona have a real love for furniture, the design process and overseeing every aspect of how a design translates into reality. Founding PINCH design studio in 2004, the couple are no strangers to Heal’s, having previously won our Heal’s Discovers Prize all the way back in 2008 for their Yves desk.
Almost a decade on and we’re celebrating yet another triumph with the launch of their new Wallis Sofa alongside selected upholstery and furniture from their ever expanding collection.
Take us back a few years to how PINCH all began.
Russell Pinch: I trained as a furniture designer at Ravensbourne College and then worked for Terence Conran for five years as a design assistant. After that, I headed up the product team for Conran, so there’s obviously a big Conran link throughout my early career. I always refer to that period as the apprenticeship of a lifetime, because I was able to work completely cross-category on all kinds of products.
I mean, it’s a designers dream because someone’s paying for you to design and fund the development of those pieces. So, from pens to watches to ceramics to different types of glassware to cutlery, furniture to upholstery to lighting. Despite it being fantastic, I left there to set up a branding agency, which is where Oona and I met.
The agency became quite a big business very quickly, which we in turn sold to an advertising agency and that’s when we decided to set up PINCH.
Oona Bannon: At that time I was still working in the branding world, but then we both kind of got to point where we found it very trying. Working in branding people often asked you to make this look like this when it’s not really that at all.
So when Russell said “I want to go back into furniture” we really thought long and hard about how we wanted that shape of our business and our future to be. We knew we wanted it to be based on integrity and what people wanted from a piece of furniture.
RP: That’s so true, it was the absolute opposite of the world we were operating in. I remember saying “do you know what would be really nice? Just to make a dining table for a real person. For a real person that loves their dining table and actually eats at that dining table.
In the branding world, you refer to customers as consumers. They’re not real people, just numbers who spend money in your stores. I hate all of that! So PINCH was kind of a reaction to that fake world. I mean it works, we know that capitalist consumerism relies on that, but there is also a place for having some integrity and designing pieces that are well made, carefully sourced, using fantastic materials and then sold in a way that you’re passionate about.
That’s why it’s so important for us to work closely with Heal’s as we want everyone to feel as passionate about PINCH design as we do.
OB: I think the other thing about our designs, which is a terrible business model but actually feels right, is that we're kind of anti-obsolete. We want people to buy a dining table from us in the knowledge that they’re not necessarily going to need to buy another dining table for a number of years.
That’s kind of a counter-consumerist concept and means there won’t be a yacht at the end of the horizon, but that’s absolutely fine with us.
Was it hard going the first few years of setting up the studio?
OB: So we started PINCH in 2004 and have kind of grown organically. It was really natural and really simple because, whilst we aren’t naïve about how business works, we were very clear that we didn’t want this to be based on loans from the bank that will put lots of pressure on us to deliver a certain margin.
We were realistic as to how we could grow the business organically and didn’t want a mega brand immediately. The success of one thing takes us to each new stage, so we were actually able to start with a completely blank sheet. We ran it from home for 5 years, which was lovely in that we had our children to look after. It really was quite idyllic, especially coming from that money driven, branding world.
RP: It is, it is. You notice things like being able to go for a walk first thing in the morning, see the sky, see trees! It sounds ridiculous, but basically making sure you're having a life as well as work. At the beginning, we also spent a lot of time defining what we wanted the business to be about.
OB: Writing your own briefs was a big one wasn’t it?
RP: Yeah it was wasn’t it!
OB: Which is such a departure now in terms of having worked on a Heal’s brief! (laughs) But it’s great that we have arrived at a point where people actually want to buy into how we design rather than dictate to us.
Whereas in our previous professional lives there was this sense of “oh god we have to make that terrible thing look like it's real food!” we know that everything we design now is our vision.
RP: It’s driven by creative need or creative expression and there are absolutely pieces within our collection that have become the “hero products” because they were born out of creative need rather than a commercial one.
When did you move into your current studio space?
OB: It was December 2010, so seven years ago now. I remember first opening doors and it was completely covered in pigeon poo. It was in a real state!
RP: Yeah it was totally derelict with a broken-up floor. So we cleaned it up and then when next door became available we knocked a hole through the wall into there. Then when the studio across the hall became available we knocked another hole at the top to build the mezzanine linking the two spaces.
Basically what happened was, we had a new member of staff and there wasn’t anywhere for her to sit so we had to build the whole of this for like one more member.
OB: Back in the day the whole space used to be open, so these walls didn’t even exist. It was a train shed so you can still see the tracks running through the middle.
Coming to your studio, it’s surprising just how much of the designing actually goes on here.
RP: One of our strengths is that we like to be involved in loads of aspects of the business. It means you can get your hands dirty, from the model making to styling photo shoots.
OB: It’s a tiny team. So we have two design assistants as well as an intern, who’s just broken his arm, and then we also have three sales staff, two finance staff who are part-time. So in total, we have 10.
Because it’s a small team there’s more exposure for each project. It’s a very rare thing that a product hasn’t had everyone to chip in to some degree or level, which is great because as a business it means everyone has an opinion.
On that point of design development, how does a PINCH piece start its life?
RP: We work very well together, so often Oona will say she envisages something vague like part a particular fashion design mixed in with an artist and also a bit of a building that we saw on the side of a road, and I will know pretty closely what Oona is describing.
There’s always going to be a margin of error - so someone says “I think it should be green” and you go “yeah it should be green” and then you’re thinking of a completely different colour - but we both have this thing where I understand what Oona is saying and we play it back off each other.
In a way, that 10% of the unknown feels like the most exciting bit because that’s where Oona will go “ooh I didn’t quite mean it like that, but that’s interesting” or the flipside where I go “oh I didn’t think you meant that colour!”
OB: The “brief,” as it were, starts with a conversation, and then your sketch is done quite quickly because you don’t like sketching much do you?
RP: No it’s the weakest thing I do in terms of bringing the design to life.
That’s really interesting because when you look at something like the Wallis, it’s all flowing lines and curves so one would immediately imagine that comes from a sketch
RP: It would of definitely have started with a sketch of some sort, but that would have been so rough that it doesn’t mean anything to anybody apart from me in my head. Then it’s between me Tom and Mike to start modelling things - whittling bits of wood, sanding corners, ripping them off and then sticking them back on. It’s a constant dialogue between Oona and I. It never gets right to end and we think “oh no Oona!”
OB: I think also that transition from 2D to 3D is huge, so much can change. We’re both quite impatient and want to express what we are thinking of quite quickly, so model making is a complete fast track. We have 14 different manufacturers that make for us, so even if you do the best drawing in the world if they can’t get to grips with it’s worthless.
But when you’re model making there’s nowhere to hide. There’s a lot of finessing isn’t there, because then we go into the real territory of taking a millimetre off here, taking one off there. I like a millimetres difference, don’t I?
RP: Oh god you do!
How many prototypes were there say for the Wallis?
RP: Well that’s slightly different because it’s the only piece that we don’t make full size before we go into production, so all the other pieces, well not all of them but a lot of them, we attempt to make a full-size model in our tiny workshop. It’s only things like card, wood and a real combination of materials, nothing pretty but we all know what we’re looking at and again there are no surprises when you get your first prototype.
So for the Wallis, we couldn’t make the piece but we did a full-size drawing, which is the next best thing. It’s a massive piece of paper with a full-size drawing of the sofa and the reason for that is you can pin it up against the wall and get a better idea of the silhouette.
There's definitely a PINCH signature style, but could either of you pinpoint your main influences or design heroes?
RP: The good thing about our style is that everybody sees it in a different light. To some people, it’s very Scandinavian and then others will say it’s British, very classical or very contemporary etcetera, etcetera. I think the strength is that despite that eclecticism our designs always manage to hold onto that PINCH handwriting.
OB: Regarding influences, it likewise varies from piece to piece. There’s some Flemish style, then there’s Georgian panelling and then there’s mid-century inlay, so it’s is a bit mad. I also think it is true to say that it all comes back to one main focal point and that is strong shape, texture and craft.
So many of us go to the high street to buy whatever and we just buy it for immediate need. I mean why would you consider the resources that have gone into a piece from cutting the timber to the oxygen needed just to grow the trees.
We know we’re in the business of putting more stuff into the world and using up resources by doing so, but we should do it a bit more respectfully and honestly.
RP: Whether it’s in our studio or in Heal’s stores, I hope it does come across that every element of this furniture has been made with passion and really from the heart. There’s nothing that doesn’t really matter. It’s the same with our whole team, everyone who works with us.
There’s a real commitment to making sure that this stuff is made really well, it’s not because they just won’t get paid it’s because, like us, they want it to be perfect.
OB: Our manufacturers love making our stuff. We get Christmas cards from them and they are so delighted that they are making such classically crafted furniture.
RP: We do get quite a lot of feedback, and it’s really interesting that people bother to take the time. A lady who bought a cabinet from us wrote to recently saying “the best thing is I walk down the stairs every morning and it just makes me smile.”
That is just some of the best feedback. It’s like what a wonderful thing for someone to tell you that basically, they felt the piece was uplifting.
You mentioned some of the suppliers you work with. Could you tell us a bit more about how the different elements of a PINCH piece are made?
RP: We have 14 suppliers in total and they all have very different skill sets. Even in the cabinet making shops, we have some who are good with solid wood and some who are good with painted lacquer. There are woodworkers who are solely specialists at turning wood, nothing else, and then you have people who are particularly good at volume.
The hardest part of our job is getting the design made to the quality that we need it and the price that we need. It comes back to what Oona was talking about earlier about needing layers of interest in a piece. I think some of that is achieved by not taking the easy option and building that through different skills and crafts.
OB: I think that’s what makes the difference, if we were purely a business we wouldn’t do that.
We’ve touched on the Wallis, but I wonder how does it feel to see the Yves Desk back at Heal’s after won the Heal’s Discovers prize way back in 2008?
OB: When it was all happening in 2008, the business felt quite young and the ambitions for the business were still sort of forming. It’s so important you have external forces saying you’re doing well and you’re not just a pair of nutters.
It was an acknowledgement that we needed early on in the business to know that we were heading in the right direction. It’s a piece that’s definitely continued to have relevance for us and will be a future heirloom for whoever takes it home.
Following on from Heal’s Discovers, what words of advice would you give to any designers starting out now?
OB: Stick to your guns!
RP: Yeah that is the most important thing.
OB: Also work closely with your makers because the product is just as much about how it’s made.
RP: It’s a partnership. The designer is not the designer, you know? They are just one part of the whole thing coming together. You must also create your own style. I mean it’s hard, none of it is easy and even when you have the most amazing designer in the world it can be really hard to get noticed and all the rest of it. But if you are really really good it will work.
Shop the full PINCH range and our new Spring / Summer 17 collections at Heal's online or in store.
To the curators and craftsmen of King & McGaw, a bare wall is nothing but an empty canvas. Purveyors of the finest art prints and frames, they bring a selection of limited editions, rare exhibition posters and designer stationery to Heal’s with the launch of their latest concession at our flagship store.
Since founding the business from a Brighton basement in the early eighties, King & McGaw has grown to become the go-to for art prints. Working with the world’s top museums, galleries and cultural institutions, the Sussex based business sources the best in original pieces and faithful reproductions from the likes of Warhol, Hockney, Picasso and many more.
Launching online as part of our Spring/Summer 17 collection, shop the full King & McGaw collection by visiting Heal’s Tottenham Court Road store.
One of the “faces” of London’s street art scene, we caught up with artist Anna Laurini to talk graffiti, Fornasetti and her latest exhibition at Heal’s Edizioni Italiane.
Born in Milan, Anna is well travelled having studied at studied at Central Saint Martins alongside regular jaunts to New York. The one constant throughout this journey has been her expressive paintings, the spontaneous brush strokes, bold lines and vibrant use of colour all recognisable trademarks of her work.
More recently Anna’s work has gained international recognition thanks in no small part to her “faces” series of street art dotted in and around central. A trip to Anna’s Finsbury Park home-come-studio only confirms her love for her practise.
Whether it’s a canvas, sketch or even the kitchen cupboards, paintings adorn every surface from floor to ceiling, the instantly recognisable motifs staring back at you from all angles. Having taking it all in, we sat down with a cup of espresso hot off the stove (naturally) ready to chat to Anna about her work as she fizzed around the room.
Your “face paintings” have become recognisable across London’s streets. How did you get into street art?
It was more by chance. A few years ago when I was hanging out in Shoreditch I would say to my friends that I kept seeing the same street art and graffiti around. They told me that if I was bored of seeing the same thing I should try it myself.
So, one evening I tried it out and it became an addiction! At the time I was also spending a lot of time going to and from New York due to my studies. In a sense the city itself became my art school, as there is so much creativity and artwork in the streets. I make sure to go at least once a year to absorb the vibes, the energy and recharge my creative batteries.
A number of your paintings are accompanied by quotes and sayings. Are you trying to get across a deeper meaning for each piece?
I’m not the best at expressing myself verbally, so I’m always on the look out for quotes from activists, writers and philosophers. When I read something that strikes me personally or I think like “that’s exactly how I feel” I note it down.
Then when I’m painting on the street the quote will pop into my head and I’ll make it a part of the piece. My dream is to write out a poem, but I think the police would probably come and catch me in the time it would take!
Have you ever got into trouble because of your street art?
It depends on the police. You do have to be careful about where you do it, say if it’s private property such as a house, which I obviously don’t do. I mainly paint on construction sites, but even then I understand the risks. I’ve been stopped a few times and given fines but that’s just the price of being an artist in London.
“My dream is to write out a poem, but I think the police would probably catch me”
Do you get many commissions from stores and galleries to create pieces in a similar style to street art?
Actually, yes! Some even provide me with those MDF wood panels you find around construction sites to replicate for their houses! They really like the texture and look, so it’s become a part of my work.
Tell us about how your paintings will feature as a part of Heal’s Edizioni Italiane?
I’m trying to make this body of work according to the same colour scheme and style of the designers featured in this season’s campaign. This combines not only my faces and figures but also my abstract paintings, pairing the artworks with different pieces of furniture from the collection.
You’re originally from Milan, what made you move to London?
I came here years ago to learn English and fell in love with London at first sight. So I stayed and did a two-week intensive course before I went back to Milan to save as much money as possible to come back and live here permanently.
Do you find your Italian roots play a part in your practice?
Well, Italy is aesthetically a very beautiful place both in terms of its natural scenery and architecture. My dad was also a bit of an artist, so growing up I was always surrounded by examples of beauty. Fornasetti was a big inspiration. He was a painter, sculptor and interior decorator and similar to me used the motif of the face of a woman.
“The beauty of Italy is that you can’t really go wrong.”
The Italian influence crops up in subtle ways. There’s this beautiful blue serum metallic that is made by an Italian brand and I’ve tried to find something similar here but it’s just not the same. I miss going into any shop in Italy to buy this particular blue, so when I go back every couple of months I fill up my luggage with it.
Finally, are there any places or hidden gems in Italy that you always tell your friends to visit?
The beauty of Italy is that you can’t really go wrong. Everywhere you go, you will always find something beautiful!
Make your friends green with envy this season with our new Wallis sofa – an exclusive collaboration with renowned British designer Russell Pinch.
Launching this February as part of our spring/summer 17 collections, the Wallis sofa has all the flair of a classic mid-century design. Shown here in Designers Guild emerald varese velvet - bang on this season’s green trend – this glamorous three seat designer sofa will also be available in a selection of Heal’s own and designer fabrics.
Want the Wallis?
With the press falling head over Heal's for this exclusive Russell Pinch design we recommend you get your order in early. The Wallis sofa launches February 2017, but for full details of upholstery and foot options contact Heal's Advice team on: 03332121914 or advice@heals.co.uk.
Featured in:
Pinch design at Heal's
Having won Heal’s Discovers back in 2006 with his Yves Desk, Russell Pinch has since gone from strength to strength, founding his own label Pinch Design with partner Oona Bannon.
This season the desk makes a welcome return in an exclusive new finish, alongside a host of Pinch pieces including the Pendel Sofa range, Leta Chaise, Iona mirror, Rodan coffee table and Harlosh side table. For a sneak peek of the new Heal's collections see our SS17 Press Preview.
We brought together the movers, shakers and tastemakers of interiors for a special preview of our new SS17 collections. Take a sneak peek for yourself.
To showcase Heal’s SS17, we chose the beautiful setting of Mary Ward House in the heart of Bloomsbury. This grade 1 listed building is not only a stunning example of arts and crafts architecture but was also designed by Cecil Brewer, the man responsible for the 19th century extension to Heal’s Tottenham Court Road store which includes our infamous spiral staircase.
Each season we're asked what exactly is it that sets a Heal’s piece apart? Our answer, quite simply, is the details. A staunch belief in the power of good design and quality craftsmanship runs throughout the SS17 collection, which continues our long tradition of supporting British designers and makers.
One such luminary is renowned designer Russell Pinch, whose Wallis Sofa has been designed in collaboration with Heal's and launches alongside an exclusive new finish of his Yves desk – the winning design from Heal’s Discovers 2006.
These mid-century inspired silhouettes are echoed by his Pendel armchair and two seater sofa, each of which is available in classic upholstery options or bold, botanical pattern GP& J Baker.
The focus on ‘made in Britain’ continues in lighting with an extension of the Lyngard ceramics range, glamorous designs from Bert Frank plus our new mix and match shades and bases.
Create your own pendant, floor or table lamp by pairing one of the exclusively designed solid wood bases with a choice of 130 designer fabric shades. Alongside home-grown talent, we are also showcasing leading lights from Denmark such as the monochrome Fabian and mixed material Cora and Casper ranges.
For our SS17 home accessories collection, print, pattern and playful forms come into bloom. Marble and two-tone glazes adorn a range of vases and decorative designs, while exotic cushions from Suzi Bellamy, KL Design and Bonnie & Neill provide accents of colour.
In dining we add spring hues to the table with our exclusively developed ISTLondon tableware range and showcase the best in British craft with a curated selection of designer ceramics from 1882 Ltd.
HEAL'S DISCOVERS
HEAL'S DISCOVERS
Ed Heritage
As part of this season’s Heal’s Discovers initiative, we’re delighted to introduce Ed Heritage, an award-winning UK-based designer whose signature style of clean geometry and playful details is reflected in the beautiful lamp he created.
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