Inside Discover Design returns with a look at Natural Home Products, a company that puts the environment ahead of all else and it shows with the design of their products. Bill Mitchell was kind enough to share some of her thoughts about the concept of design moving forward in the housewares industry and how making sustainability of the utmost importance impacts the brand.
Marie: What is the inspiration behind the design and functionality of your products?
Bill Mitchell: With our mission to make products using the highest standard of sustainable materials with the lowest environmental impact, the result is products with a more artisanal look that mimics nature. Furthermore, we look for designs that offer enough differentiation from our competition while not sacrificing eye appeal, structural integrity or cost.
Marie: What makes a design “great”?
BM: In our opinion, the three most important aspects of a great designs are those featuring current (or even ahead of time) color schemes, practical utility with clearly excellent structural integrity.
Marie: How much does cost influence design?
BM: The material, vs. the design, influences us more in terms of cost. The material is chosen first and the design is influences by what makes sense for that material.
Marie: What does your company offer the Industry?
BM: Our main selling point is that we source products with the highest level of standard for sustainability that are also sleek in design at extremely affordable price points. Our business is also part of a much larger media company that invests in marketing to drive consumer sales.
Marie: How do you see design impacting our industry five years down the road? 10? Longer?
BM: Design with functionality will become increasingly important as consumers get over the design for design’s sake mentality. Not only should something look good, but it must work. We continue to keep both in mind as we design and produce new products because without the unique marriage of functional design, a brand will simply fail.
Marie: How much does the use or function of a product play into the design of it? Do your products follow a similar design throughout the line or does the influence differ from piece to piece?
BM: For us function is a very large part. Therefore, we maintain a similar design throughout the line.
