Creative Energy with the Established Designer of Flos

Originality, ideas, meaningful collaborations. These are the words that came up many times during our discussion with Michael Anastassiades. One of the most creative designers of his generation, Michael has a unique distinctive style of his own that makes his work recognizable immediately. He explains here how he achieves that.

BY NIKOS KONTOPOULOS

ORDINAL DINNER TABLE FOR CASSINA.

How did you start experimenting with light, what was that fascinated you?

I have always been attracted to light because it is a very poetic medium. After spending many years exploring my approach to design, in 2017 I decided to set up my own brand. At that point I focused on lighting because it was easier for me to manage. Then, in 2011 Flos approached me, because they really liked what I was doing, and they suggested that I created a line for them and more light came to the picture. So it was by chance, I may say, that after all these years most of the people know me as a light designer.

What was the biggest challenge you faced when establishing your brand in 2007?

Starting from scratch, that was the biggest challenge. I didn’t have any financial support and I knew that I had to do it all by myself. It was a risk but at the same time I decided that this was the best way forward. At the time I was already in the design world for 10 years and I had realized that no brand is willing to work with a designer who is unknown, they needed the safety of working with an established designer as they wanted to sell the name as much as the products. So after many years of efforts to break into that circle I realized that I was wasting my creative energy. It was clear I needed to evolve, to let my work shift to the next level and the only way forward was by actually producing my own pieces. It was a conscious decision. The very first pieces that were produced at the time were pieces that I strongly believed in. Most of them became indeed popular and this is how it all started.

Establishing your name while working for a big company. How do you manage to juggle the two?

For me both are equally exciting. In the sense that as a designer I don’t differentiate between the work. The sole difference I see between the two is that with Flos I try to implement a project that technologically is far more ambitious. Projects that require bigger investment are easier to take place through a big brand – they simply can justify high production costs, and they implement challenging projects.

In the last couple of years you have also been working with a number of other companies, not just in the lighting area. Are we going to see more work in this direction?

The first brand that invited me was Herman Miller. Then Cassina and B&B followed. It has been 3 years now that I am developing different kinds of objects in the field of furniture. I am interested in meaningful, thoughtful collaborations that make sense, I am not interested in spreading my name. When I feel that I can contribute with something new, that the challenges are there and exciting, then I do it, otherwise there will be always somebody else who can do it.

BEOSOUND EDGE FOR BANG & OLUFSEN.

Do you follow the work of other designers?

I try to, but it is very difficult to find the time to invest in that. Usually on my own free time I choose to see artists’ work. That is what I find mostly inspiring, since most artists possess a certain level of freedom when it comes to their work.

Why would you say this is so? Is it because design is a more commercial form of art?

Not only that. The design world these days is oversaturated. There are so many companies and so many designers out there, and it seems they are running out of ideas. And when they realize this, they start looking at what people did in the past. The pressure of producing more objects is so big that I think in the end everything looks the same because people simply have run out of ideas. At the same time, companies try to pursue a language that seems to be popular. This lack of originality is very sad. When companies sense the success of another company with a specific product, they focus in developing something “in the style of”… This is why we end up with so many objects that look alike.

Is there also lack of risk?

Lack of risk, lack of imagination and lack of commitment to hard work. I believe that great ideas only come after hard work. As a designer you have the duty to believe in your work and actually breathe the real you in the product.

What would you like people to think of when coming across one of your products, when coming across your work?

I want them to really feel individuality. I want them to see originality, to see the real me. This is something that I really try for.

5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1_ Michael was born in Cyprus and studied in London, where he is now based.

2_ He launched his studio in 1994 and set up his own brand in 2007.

3_ Michael’s work is featured in the permanent collections of MoMA New York, V&A London and MAK Vienna.

4_ He has worked with leading design companies like: Flos, Cassina, B&B Italia, Herman Miller, Salvatori.

5_ There are two exhibitions about his work this season: One in NiMAC museum in Nicosia and one in Taka Ishii Gallery in Hong Kong.