Designer Q&A with Gavin Bufton

Gavin Bufton, owner of Gavin Bufton Design, is an Australian born Industrial Designer who lives and works in the heart of the Middle Kingdom. Gavin has been working as a Designer in China for the best part of four years. In this time he has done everything from running three of his own design studios to collaborating with start up companies. In this interview he shares some of his thoughts, experiences and insights on being a foreign Industrial Designer deep in the heart of the worlds manufacturing mecca.

Highlights – don’t have time to read the whole interview? Well now you don’t have too! Although you might learn a bit more if you do. Below is a super quick round up of some of the highlights from the design droplets interview with Gavin Bufton.

“you get some good work creeping across the border (H.K) and if you cross the border yourself you can see a plethora of design not to dissimilar to what we are used to, but in China itself, seldom do you see quality and well thought out design resolutions…There is however a fantastic arts scene in China, there are many artists, photographers, painters, musicians and of a descent standard too.”

“Generally speaking, quantity is the biggest concern for the Chinese manufacturers.  I have learnt throughout my time here in china that some things are best manufactured locally, back in Australia or wherever you reside.  Unless you have incredibly high volume, adequate financial backing and the good manufacturers, China is almost a waste of time.”

“I find that international clients are open to the services that industrial designers possess – forward thinking, encompassing all aspects of design from manufacturing details through to environmental impact and marketing strategy, all whilst providing an intuitive or innovative product as the end result. ”

“Networking is paramount, in any country and any business, but essential keys to establishing yourself abroad are some people behind you willing to help and offer the support when you need it.  Not knowing anyone or any place to start can be pretty daunting.”

1.    Hi Gavin and welcome to design droplets. Could you please give us a brief run down on yourself .

Essentially I’m an Independent designer, traveling the world in pursuit of a design career.  The last four years has been spent living in Europe, China, Australia (my origin) and visiting many countries between, studying other cultures and ways of life to offer a direct insight into the needs of consumers.  In a way, you could say I entertain the anthropological side to design, looking beyond the aesthetic and seeing the inner beauty (or lack there of in some cases), the core of a design from concept to the tangible and marvel at the ingenuity.

The interesting part about me is as a designer of consumer product, I myself don’t readily consume – I create.Taking in life and experiences to develop new products with meaning, whilst adhering to the criteria of quality, function, manufacture/assembly (ability to), ergonomics (and even some time a little gimmick!) but at the end of all that, tie it together with styling and aesthetics that flows through my veins.  I am continually expanding lists of things to design, from toilet roll holders to master class audio equipment- I can never stop.  Creativity is in my blood, working closely with my father (engineer/fabricator) as a child resolving issues and making products, I will be a designer until the day I die or else I will become a crack pot lunatic in an asylum- don’t take away my design rights.  Please!

Necklace – Gavin Bufton Design

2. Since leaving Australia several years ago you have been working in Guangzhou, China. Can you tell us a bit about the design scene in China?

Design in China? Certainly it does exist to some degree, but it’s a bit of an acquired taste, akin to eating cockroaches, live baby mice dipped in soy sauce (enticingly called “three squeaks”!) and live monkey brains!  The later of which is now illegal and anyone caught eating brains from a live monkey will be thrown into jail!  No seriously, good design is few and far between, I have lived down south in Guangdong, neighboring the lavish Hong Kong, for 3 years.  Down here, you get some good work creeping across the border (H.K) and if you cross the border yourself you can see a plethora of design not to dissimilar to what we are used to, but in China itself, seldom do you see quality and well thought out design resolutions.

China has many designers (50,000 Industrial Design graduates each year!) but from what I have seen, its difficult to put their work in the same basket as say, Ron Arid, or any design legend you wish to choose (admittedly I can’t put myself in that same basket).  There is however a fantastic arts scene in China, there are many artists, photographers, painters, musicians and of a descent standard too.  It is not out of the ordinary to see some strikingly talented work hanging in galleries and exhibitions, especially up north in Beijing (where everyone seems to go to try and make it big).

It’s a complex issue to explain here, with limited words and without boring the readers, the fundamentals are that design is just not valued here yet. Big names and brands alike are adored, copied, displayed and purchased, but its all about ‘face’; that great Chinese conundrum of being better than someone else or at least as good as, showing off their wealth and power through their purchases.  This does not make for a good indication of design in China as the motives of the purchases are displaying ones wealth and not their design sensibility or even for functional reasons.

NOTE: Those observations are largely speculative and very general for what is a huge population, but to make it simple, I have seen only ONE good bar design in China, which to its credit, is truly exceptional and it baffles me to know how it exists?  I was later informed that a Hong Kong designer came over and set it up, along with a string of fashion boutiques.

3. How has working in China changed the way you design?

We all develop as designers, over time your style, technique, ideas and ideologies, design philosophies and design sense alter and merge.  China has allowed me the time to develop as a designer, but hasn’t really changed the way I design so to speak, but if I was to pin point one area I would have to say communicating my design; communication of how to manufacture and assemble.  I have had enormous trouble trying to get the Chinese to understand any form of standard documentation I throw at them, 3D models, 2D drawings, exploded views, sections, photographs, sketches, even foam models!  The important point to make here is that I have spent a long time finding the right people who can understand and translate standard design formats.

4. Have you found language to be a barrier to working in design in China?

For sure!  Suppliers, manufacturers, and dealing with clients are hard.  Suppliers I think can be the most challenging, trying to achieve a quality and attention to detail that is above their standard and often beyond their desire to deliver.  But, I have overcome the biggest hurdle, as I now have the skill to communicate up to about 70% of what I need/want to communicate for business.  I carry a Chinese/English dictionary everywhere and flick through the pages finding words of importance and make my way through the project, continually having to repeat myself.  Initially, in the first two years I communicated through drawings, needless to say my hand sketching improved dramatically.  Simple things like heading down bolt street to find some self taping screws, id have to whip out the pen and paper and begin to sketch out the screw of interest, luckily I could voice the numeric dimensions required- and “how much?.”

Ringo – Gavin Bufton Design

5. Many young designers often look to China as the mecca of manufacturing, what do you find to be the hardest thing when dealing with Chinese manufacturers? And what advice would you give to designers looking to have designs manufactured in China?

Quantity!  Generally speaking, quantity is the biggest concern for the Chinese manufacturers.  I have learnt throughout my time here that some things are best manufactured locally, back in Australia or wherever you reside.  Unless you have incredibly high volume, adequate financial backing and the good manufacturers, China is almost a waste of time.  Spending some time here you notice the use of second rate materials, backyard style manufacturing process and an almost backward way of manufacturing.

Quality control is probably the second biggest issue; consistency and attention to detail is far from the minds of the factories here in China.  Little to no CNC machines are used to perform what we in the west would consider normal tasks, laser cutting, CNC routing wood for furniture or even die cutting card for paper masks.  Although the high volume and quality manufacturers use CNC (for example IKEA) human labour is used almost everywhere else.  It is the human labour that makes China so competitive. Where you have some labour intensive assembly of parts to create a product, you can save by producing in China.  But if you require high precision, complex parts in small quantities, don’t expect to find a good supplier easily.

6. You have managed to setup your own studio in China. What were the biggest challenges associated with this?

WOW! So many!!  I don’t really know where to begin.  I left Australia in 2005, it’s now 2009, in that time I have had 3 studios, worked with factories, design studios, shared studio with partners, collaborated with start up companies, freelance design and of course my independent work.  I now have a brand new studio (#4) which I have just taken out the lease, this time and for the first time I am going it alone.  I have learnt that you can’t really rely on anyone here, not even your partners.  Getting paid is pretty difficult, to say the least, partners can be a nightmare (experience shows!) and simple task can be soul destroying.

As a foreigner, your challenged daily, just to buy bread and milk can sometimes be stressful enough to make you want to leave – but you get used to this and without these challenges, China just wouldn’t be the ‘Middle Kingdom’ (translation of Zhong Guo, 中国, Mandarin for China).

I guess there is no biggest challenge, as the normal big ones are inconceivably insignificant when put up against what would normally be brushed under the carpet in the West; such as having a binding contract, keeping things clean, moving studio without your furniture being damaged, or even having suppliers not willing to deliver the colour you want- just because!  For me, the most frustrating sentence to hear is; “This is China!  That’s how we do business”.  You can’t expect it to be the same here, but some things just don’t make sense.  But you get that…

7. Doing business in China is certainly very different to doing business in Australia. Do you have any advice on this for designers who are thinking of trying to do business in China?

How to be diplomatic?  Don’t do it would be wrong, be careful would be obvious, don’t get excited would be the unexpected truth.  There is a tendency to think that China is a wonderland of opportunity and if you stay for just a few weeks, even months, it really seems like that.  Stay for a few years, have your bridges burned, wick cut and be left hanging by the skin of your teeth- you’ll begin to realise that the truth is people here love to talk (foreigners included!) and you need to take each conversation, potential client/job with a grain of salt.  You don’t even have to ingest the salt, just toss it over your shoulder for luck and see what comes of it, but do not get sucked in or you’ll end up down the drain and in the harbour.

Teether – Gavin Bufton Design

8. How do you think the global financial downturn will affect Industrial Designers?

Well, in this economic downturn business all over the globe will be looking to downsize, streamline and cut back.  Unfortunately for us- industrial designers, we are not considered as essential tools to the many millions of smaller companies around the globe, however there are a few companies that see value in our skills and will always require the diverse tasks we can provide.  One can only work towards ensuring that there is value in our products or services that can translate to dollars to turn around struggling businesses.  I think that this can be a good time for designers, offering services to those who want an edge over their competitor in such dire circumstances we are witnessing, but the trends are suggesting that this will be an even tougher time for expendables or luxuries like us.

9. You deal with many international clients from your base in China. What advantages and disadvantages has this provided you with in dealing with international clients?

Yes, that’s right, now I only have international clients.  This has derived from the many Chinese failures I have encountered.  Even foreign clients within china can potentially be a problem at times, as they all seem to think with a Chinese-afied mentality, which usually ends without payment, or scrapping all the hard work you have done to end up with a design that is either an exact copy or a bad copy of an existing item.  I find that international clients are open to the services that industrial designers posses- forward thinking, encompassing all aspects of design from manufacturing details, through to environmental impact and marketing strategy, all whilst providing an intuitive or innovative product as the end result.  Generally international clients can be easier to deal with in relation to communication and understanding of the design process and significance it has on the final product, where as Chinese clients don’t yet fully understand the ideas or process of design.  The best part of having international clients is having to go visit them and present to them in their home country, with my highlight of last year visiting Stanley in Tel Aviv unexpectedly early in my world domination travel plans.

10. You are planning a move to Europe sometime in the future. In terms of having already moved from Australia to China and in the future to Europe. What do you think are the biggest hurdles for Designers wanting to move out of Australia and start practicing overseas?

There are many issues for any designer wanting to set up their own practice in any country, even in their own. So I guess leaving out the obvious of having business plans, finances, clear objectives and maintaining a point of difference or targeting a nice market, setting up a practice abroad opens up a whole new can of worms.  Language barriers, cultural barriers and work ethics, work permits and licenses’ are amongst the first things to come to mind.  Networking is paramount, in any country and any business, but essential keys to establishing yourself abroad are some people behind you willing to help and offer the support when you need it.  Not knowing anyone or any place to start can be pretty daunting.  To use my Barcelona move as an example, I have been twice already just to scope out the culture, design scene, scout potential locations for studios and research the potential for work.  I have since postponed my plans to move to Spain during this financial uncertainty and in order to fully realise a new space here in China first, to keep a base here and then make the step over.  Saying all this, once you have removed yourself for them comfort zone of your own city/country, anything seems possible- even failure…

Eggos – Gavin Bufton Design

11. Where and what is your favorite restaurant? And what is their best dish?

Now that’s truly a difficult question to answer.  I have so many, different cuisine, different dishes, different countries..  Ahhh…  OK, let’s not bore people, one dish- what would it be?  La champaignaria, Barcelona, Spain.  It is a small cava bar that also serves up freshly cooked hamburgers/grilled sloppy stuff that will give you a heart attack.  But that is soooo delicious, that between the food, drinks, the people and the atmosphere, you will be indulging for hours.

12. Gavin, thank you very much for your time and for sharing your knowledge and experience with design droplets. Before we wrap up do you have any last comments, thoughts or advice?

Think, think again and re-think, question everything!  But most importantly- don’t make yourself work, enjoy what you do so you can live a life of uncompromised happiness.