We are excited to share this timely and newly released book, The Sustainable Design Book, by Rebecca Proctor.
The book focuses on non-toxic, locally-sourced, quality craftsmanship of a range of products including lighting, furniture, and home accessories. It is the quintessential guidebook to ecological design. The book features over 200 sustainably designed products, including several from products from our range. There are some really wonderful examples of innovation sensibility in this book.
The author was particularly interested in our process and approach, and dedicated some extra pages for us to share some of our thoughts on sustainability and design.
Her interest was our interest, so we turned it around, and sat down with Rebecca and asked her a few questions. We discussed her new book, her thoughts on 'mindless consumption' and what inspires her in her work.
bambu: Why take on this project?
RP: I spend as lot of time researching product and furniture design and I am very inspired by the work that some people are doing. Coupled with that, I am also concerned about mindless consumption, so I like to use my work, as an author, to spread awareness of design that is worth making and ultimately worth buying. I am also the author of 1000 New Eco Designs (published by Laurence King) so I am very familiar with the sustainable market. It is an area which excites me, not only because it is completely necessary and worthwhile but also because sustainable materials are a joy to pick up and use. Natural materials such as wood, cork, and bamboo are my very favourite materials to have in the home, and in The Sustainable Design Book, I have tried to emphasise the way different materials can be used in design.
bambu: Is this a book intended for the casual reader, or the design professional? Did you write this with a specific audience in mind?
RP: It is aimed at both as I purposefully write to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. There is a wide body of work in the book so there should be something to appeal to everyone. I hope that whether you are a design professional or simply a casual reader, you will find several pieces in the book that make you stop, think, and leave you feeling inspired.
bambu: You authored the book, 1000 New Eco Designs in 2009. How are the two books different, and what did you find different in the brands and products with this new book?
RP: I think the biggest difference since 2009 is that designers have refined their ideas now. Before there was a lot of experimentation, now we have great design and brilliant products.
1000 New Eco Designs obviously has a lot of pieces of work in it - 1000 to be exact! With The Sustainable Design Book I wanted to concentrate less on quantity and more on quality. Each item in the Sustainable design book is something I wholly believe in, and every brand featured is one that I would buy and personally recommend - for instance I use Bambu tableware at home. This time I wanted to profile designers that are working in a considered way with excellent materials, and I'm really happy with the way it has turned out.
We thank Rebecca for her passion and dedication toward sustainable design for sharing the discoveries of her work.
The Sustainable Design Book is released on May 5th from Amazon. Link here.
Here is a post about 1000 New Eco Designs, by the same author.
