Alex Swain talks design inspiration with Nest
Hi Alex, please can you tell us a bit about yourself and your company, ByALEX?
I’ve always been very curious about furniture and product design, but it took me years to develop my first project; the A Stool. As a child, I was attracted to the design world through music formats: Vinyl LPs, 12” and cassettes in the 1980s. Then growing up, my creativity was further encouraged by my dad who ran his own architectural practice, designing luxury hotels. In 2008 I studied traditional upholstery – working on Victorian furniture, and I also started teaching design through some workshops at the London College of Communication. Both of these experiences really shaped my hunger for making physical things.
How did you get into furniture design? Have you always had a passion for the design industry?
ByALEX’s motto is ‘Purity by Design’ – can you tell us a bit more about what this means and where it came from?
I wrote a design manifesto last year which explains this idea further… Our ambition is simple: Purity by Design. All our designs are effortlessly functional, beautifully simple and exceptionally crafted. Frustrated with throwaway culture, we are committed to making quality products engineered to last. Considered design that is considerate to the Planet. Making things you can touch is very rewarding… but I think it is important we don’t contribute ill-conceived products to the world. ByALEX is a vehicle to develop products with a positive impact. In other words, Purity by Design is simply a phrase to describe my design approach.
If you weren’t a designer, what would you be?
An Architect? That’s probably not allowed hey?!…well a music producer then.
What is your favourite colour?
Very hard to say as I keep changing my mind. Klein blue always makes me feel alive as it seems to vibrate!
You are based in London, what do you love most about living in the capital city?
London is my cultural home simply because of the energy it exhales. I’ve worked in central London for the last 14 years and it still excites me – although I have a burning desire to build a house and working studio in the countryside. I hear Copenhagen is being called the new ‘design capital’ but London’s rich diversity will always keep it on top. London’s Art & Design colleges offer the best opportunities for design students in all fields; fashion, interiors, product etc… so it will always have the creative edge. Our studio is in Clerkenwell which is by far my favourite area. I remember going there in 2001 and being amazed at how relaxed it was compared to the West or East end, which are so close. It’s busier now but places like The Eagle and Jerusalem make you feel instantly at home.
How would you spend a perfect day?
With my wife; eggs and coffee at Babbington House followed by an exhibition of work by Sol LeWitt, Olafur Eliasson or Richard Serra.
We adore the A Range collection and can’t wait to see what’s next! Can you give us an idea of what’s to come in the future from ByALEX?
It’s a very exciting time as we have just launched the A Desk for the home office and a bench for the hallway. I have also started designing an accessories range called GEO and a dinning chair called Neighbourhood – both collections are continuing my passion for Purity by Design.
