Stephen Burks on how to design great sustainable products
What techniques do great designers employ when developing products that people love? How does the iF Final Jury decide which projects and products deserve an award? In this series, we talk with esteemed designers and iF jury members for ideas and insight as to what makes great design.
Today we spoke with Stephen Burks, owner and principal of Stephen Burks Man Made, a design studio based in New York. Stephen was part of the iF Final Jury in 2024.
Stephen, how would you describe your work? It seems like it’s somewhere between design and art, and craft plays a big role, too.
We think of both design and art as cultural production. What matters most to us is how design reflects the will and imagination of communities and of people. Ideas are more interesting to us than form.
By the way, when I talk about our work, I say ‘we’ and ‘our’, meaning the studio, Stephen Burks Man Made. That ‘we’ means everyone who has supported us, because it is not an individual journey. Design is not something done by one person. This 20th century model of the designer as auteur, sitting in the studio and signing products: it just doesn’t exist in the real world.
Weaving culture is one of the few common elements that are present in all cultures on earth. It’s also the basis for furniture by DEDON, our number one client.
I believe that craft is a form of luxury. We really have to shift the perception of craft to attract investment to where the work is being done. When Hermès makes their bags in France, it’s considered luxury. But when weavers in the Philippines do their thing, it requires a European brand to be perceived as luxury.
What is the role of designers in moving towards sustainability?
When you talk about sustainability, there is a sense that it is an individual problem. As designers, we have to look at the bigger picture. When I’m out working in the world, I’m constantly reminded that this is a collective problem. Although you could argue that the Western world got us into this situation, the West will not be able to solve it without the rest of the world. Everyone has to have a seat at the table, talking about what design means to them, and everyone has to benefit from what design can bring.
In the 21st century, the designer has to be a collaborator, a conduit through which ideas flow. If we want the other 90 percent of the world to participate in what design can be, then we have to build bridges. I think that the more we can convince our partners in industry to embrace other ways of making, the more they benefit as well by having access to new markets. If they want to open a B&B Italia in Lagos, maybe it makes sense to work with a Nigerian designer. The more people participating in design, the more people can benefit from the design.
How did your collaboration with DEDON start?
I had just opened my first solo exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York - Stephen Burks Man Made - that’s where the name of our studio came from. Afterwards, I went to Italy for the Salone Internationale del Mobile with my catalog, and someone suggested I stop by the DEDON stand and talk with Nicola Repetti, who was their art director at the time. Right away, I just noticed how exquisitely made the furniture was. I couldn’t imagine it was all made by hand. That was how the conversation started.
I just want to plug Salone for a moment, because it was the most important vehicle for launching my career. As an American designer, I was able to speak directly with decision makers, just walk right up and talk with the owner or art director of a company and have a direct dialogue about design.
What does the process look like when you’re designing a collection for DEDON?
DEDON employs something like 1,500 weavers in peak season, and can produce 300 pieces of furniture a day – by hand. The company is one of the few partners we’ve found that allows us to collaborate with the master weavers in the Philippines where the furniture is being produced. We've developed each of the collections right there, together with the people who produce the furniture. We arrive with ideas and sketches, but we're open to learning just as we're open to teaching.
What was the iF Final Jury session like? How can you tell which products and project are good and great – also in terms of sustainability?
It was impressive to see the iF Final Jury process, which is like a snapshot of design from all over the world. It's one answer to the question: what is the state of design at this moment? Being in this community of designers, amongst all these creative people celebrating design, was a great experience.