Why do you travel so much?

I wrote recently about meeting Martyn Lawrence Bullard, a respected interior designer based in Los Angeles, and he told me that he feels we, as designers, owe it to our clients to travel as far and wide as possible.  Travel broadens anyone’s mind but travel also educates and inspires.

As a designer, inspiration comes from many sources, but travelling to places such as Iceland, USA, Japan and many other countries exposes the architectural culture of a country.  Interior design is an integral part of everyone’s life, from the interior of your car to your bathroom fittings, they have all been designed by someone and good interior design is essential for good living.

By visiting different countries, one becomes more aware of how the design history and the design processes are vastly different from one place to the next.  This opens one’s eyes to the possibilities of translating certain aspects of what has been seen, often just a single colour or motif can send one’s mind into a trajectory of new thoughts, created by an idea long since dreamt up by past designers, architects and craftsmen.

In my own experience, returning from a trip, I find myself being drawn (almost unwittingly!) to integrating elements that I have been privy to see in far-off places.  I remember coming back from Scandinavia and working on a project in coastal Queensland being drawn to the simple forms, shapes and colours that I had seen in rural Norway!

So, I agree with Martyn, we do owe it our clients, and to ourselves, to experience as much of this amazing planet as possible.  The more people travel and learn about different cultures and customs the less suspicion there would be about people from other lands.  It also gives us, as designers and craftsmen, greater scope to broaden our design philosophy and practice.