The Design Guild Mark continues to go from strength to strength and to complement the two existing categories, 2020 will see the launch of a brand new Lighting Design category.
In the latest in our regular features where we meet the Design Guild Mark judges, we spoke with John Tree, who will be part of the inaugural Lighting Design panel.
John Tree is a designer currently dividing his time between Jasper Morrison’s office and his own. Since leaving his role as a Senior Designer with Sony he has worked with Jasper for over 17 years, designing products for some of the worlds leading brands.
Through his own practice, John consults for tech-based startups and develops his own products for manufacturers such as Very Good & Proper, Deadgood, and Deacode.
John has been a guest tutor at both the The Royal College of Art and Ecal where he has been an external assessor for the Masters course.
What first turned you on to a career in the design world?
My father was a carpenter so I think spending a lot of time in his workshop seeing raw materials being turned into functional objects made me realise the exciting malleability of the world.
What inspires you?
Opportunities presented by new materials and technologies.
What does design excellence mean to you?
Design excellence for me is when an object balances both form and function while developing its own unique character that avoids trends.
What outside factor is having the biggest impact on design at present?
Growing social awareness of the impact objects which follow fashion cycles, are disposable and are not reparable have on our planet.
What trends are you noticing in lighting design at the moment?
The transition from older less efficient and fixed format incandescent light sources towards the flexibility and freedom offered by new technologies such as LED light sources.
What are you hoping to see from the 2020 Design Guild Mark applications?
All of the above.
