WHERE ARE THE BLINDSPOTS?
Appliance manufacturers:
offer some of the ideas but not all of the answers.
They develop their products according to perceived demand and observations of societal and behavioural change.
Brands may work to ‘nudge’ behaviour toward any change that they anticipate or desire, and they have an overall imperative that drives their process – sales!
Given half a chance:
they will present a full set of features for a full range of products that they have an interest in promoting.
Some of these may be relevant, useful, or attractive, and some will be expensive red herrings, solutions in search of a problem, and/or way too much to contemplate.
Appliance manufacturers train the designers who sell their products, and market those products with an intention to influence – with all that may imply for the ‘who is leading who’ of ‘market trends’ and indications.
Kitchen Design:
is not a monolithic practice
It comes at different prices to access, and with differing priorities that will apply. There are:
–those who primarily design or sell furniture, who may take little interest in appliances,
–those who supply appliances that are exclusive to their brand
–those who may supply in combinations of belief, budget, and brand allegiance.
There are designers who care more, or less, about ideas of function and/or ‘sustainability’, and/or who may be able to define their terms of engagement with either with any clarity.
It’s reasonable to suppose that most designers have a great deal of specialist ground to cover, and equally unreasonable to expect them to cover all of it at the same level as each other.
There is a weak-spot – for an industry that employs large number of designers with little practice in, or enjoyment of, using kitchens – where the appliances can fall between the cracks of the very best of the rest of their expertise and experience.
The more we are attuned to identifying our own priorities, the clearer we are about what we value, the more we will find agency and voice, and the better appliance manufacturers will be able to respond to an emerging zeitgeist – it’s a win-win!