Will Sampson talks about how technology and fashion are inextricably intertwined. Then he interviews Jesse Collins, marketing manager for the furniture solutions division of REHAU, talking about trends in surfacing for the woodworking industry.
This episode of the Woodworking Network podcast was sponsored by the Executive Briefing Conference. It’s really easy for woodworkers to stay stuck inside, focused on their shops and production. But over the last couple of years, the pandemic has forced them be even more isolated than usual. And it’s even harder if what you want is to network with the top-level executives in the industry. Where and how can you do that? The answer is the Executive Briefing Conference coming this September at the spectacular Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. This is an unparalleled opportunity to boost your business with intelligence on techniques, tools, and technology and to feed on inspiration from real leaders in the industry. Not to mention take in all the high-altitude hospitality, beauty and recreation offered by the Broadmoor. Learn more at ExecutiveBriefingConference.com. See you there.
Woodworking Network is a home for professional woodworkers, presenting technology, supplies, education, inspiration, and community, from small business entrepreneurs to corporate managers at large automated plants.
You can find all of our podcasts at WoodworkingNetwork.com/podcasts and in popular podcast channels. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. Thanks again to today’s sponsor, Wood Pro Expo. If you have a comment or topic you’d like us to explore, contact me at will.sampson@woodworkingnetwork.com. And we would really appreciate it if you fill out the survey at woodworking network.com/podcast-survey. Thanks for listening.
Intro music courtesy of Anthony Monson.
The intersection of technology and fashion
Two of the biggest drivers of change in the world are technology and fashion, and despite what you might think, they are not unrelated.
From our perspectives as an industry that largely manufactures practical goods, there likely is a tendency to downplay the importance of fashion in moving the industry forward. After all, products such as cabinets and furniture are meant to be used in practical ways to store goods, support our bodies in work and leisure, and to pragmatically solve some of the problems that life throws at as, like how to cook dinner. Isn’t fashion just fads and frivolousness? Not really.
The reality is that seemingly down-to-earth products such as chairs and tables have for centuries been as much about fashion as technology. While there has always been a baseline of minimum functional requirements for furniture even going back to the first rock or log someone sat on as an ad hoc chair, there just as quickly followed trends to dress up that practicality with shaping and coloring. Let’s face it: As much as we give lip service to architect Louis Sullivan’s edict that “form follows function,” we really like that form to be pleasing to the eye. And what pleases the eye changes over time. That’s fashion.
On the technology side, we are constantly inventing new materials, machines, and methods of work that expand the limits of what we can do. Today, additive manufacturing, often called 3D printing, has the potential to revolutionize many industries like woodworking that have for centuries been dependent on subtractive processes. Synthetic new materials change both the structure and look of furniture and cabinets. Some of the latest synthetics do an amazing job of mimicking the look and feel of wood. And more furniture and cabinet designs incorporate mixes of wood, metal, and synthetics.
Fashion has long embraced a constant chase after the next new thing. That’s true in clothing, furniture and cabinets. Because technology drives what is possible and fashion drives demand, it is often hard to tell which are doing the most to drive trends. Are soft-close drawers just a technological advance or a fashion trend? Do new finishing materials and techniques drive demand for different kinds of surfaces and sheens, or is it the other way round?
Current concerns about the environment and global climate change are spurring both changes in customer demand and technological changes in how we make things to last and have less of a negative effect on the planet.
Personally, I confess I am more fascinated by the impact of technology. When I see all the annual press releases about designers choosing the “color of the year,” I mostly chuckle. But I can’t deny that color trends affect our industry. Did somebody say gray?
No, neither fashion nor technology can be ignored. That’s why manufacturers need to keep abreast of both technology and fashion. That’s why designers and architects need to pay more attention to technology as they create what will become the latest design fashion. We must recognize that the reality of Sullivan’s advice in today’s world is that form follows both function and fashion.
Before we get to our chat with Jesse Collins, let’s pause for a word from our sponsor.
It’s really easy for woodworkers to stay stuck inside, focused on their shops and production. But over the last couple of years, the pandemic has forced them be even more isolated than usual. And it’s even harder if what you want is to network with the top-level executives in the industry. Where and how can you do that? The answer is the Executive Briefing Conference coming this September at the spectacular Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. This is an unparalleled opportunity to boost your business with intelligence on techniques, tools, and technology and to feed on inspiration from real leaders in the industry. Not to mention take in all the high-altitude hospitality, beauty and recreation offered by the Broadmoor. Learn more at ExecutiveBriefingConference.com. See you there.
Now, let’s talk about surfacing trends with Jesse Collins.