The designer Patrick Frey on the art of ending up with the energy and freshness of your first idea in the finished product and how his design in the Finion collection combines the qualities of wood with ceramic. INSPIRATION REQUIRES CURIOSITY Inspiration does not just come to you. Curiosity is a prerequisite for recognising details and connections. You can find inspiration in so many different places, which are often also unusual. Obviously, these places can also be exhibitions, concerts and trade fairs. Or it simply comes in conversation with other people. CREATIVITY NEEDS INVESTMENT A creative process is never rigorous, instead it consists of alternating phases where ideas flow or are practically at a standstill. It involves a lot of discipline and work to take this creativity and come up with a good idea for a design project and then to add it to the finished product. Way too often, the energy and freshness of the first draft are lost during the implementation. But I can still recognise many of my first ideas in Finion. THE PRECISION OF CERAMIC I was amazed by the accuracy and complexity of the production process – simply how time-consuming it is to produce the forms and the controlled shrinking of the ceramics during the firing process. All that needs to be considered when you are developing a design. WORKING WITH THE MATERIAL You can only create a compelling collection when you have a deep understanding of the special properties of ceramic. My design idea comes from my aspiration to create something in line with the materials properties and this means working with the potential of the ceramic material. Finion took my aspiration even one step further as the hardness of the ceramic needed to fuse with the warmth of the wood. “EXPERIENCE” I was quickly captivated by this mysterious shine and the precision of these surfaces. I first had to learn that shrinkage during the firing process turns a straight edge into a curve. Conversely, maintaining an exact right angle or a straight edge during the firing of the ceramic takes much more effort. It requires a lot of experience. CERAMIC WARMTH I am a furniture designer by nature and normally work with warmer, softer materials such as wood, leather and fabric. Ceramic, on the other hand, is very hard and smooth and looks cold very quickly – my aim was to present the warm, soft side of ceramic. So the real challenge was to create cosiness and a feeling of softness and warmth even with ceramic. FINION FLOWS As a furniture designer, working with “cold ceramic” was an inspiring experience, which motivated me during the creation of the collection. It was important to me to combine the warmth of wood with the haptic qualities of ceramic. The TitanCeram material, with its slim dimensioning, plays a key role in this collection. It was the only way to make these precise yet flowing designs for Finion.
