via GQ UK : https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/tom-dixon-interview
1. Nurture offline networks
“Coal Drops Yard is a proper hub. There are six tube lines. Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross are all adjacent. Whether it’s people coming from Europe on Eurostar, people coming from Margate or Edinburgh, it’s very connected from a transport perspective. And there’s a mix of tenants: small retailers, Central Saint Martins, Google, Facebook, United Artists. So it’s good for the network network, not just the transport network. We’ll host young brands, whether that’s a flower shop or a music technology company, such as Teenage Engineering, a Swedish synthesiser brand that’s here at the moment. The more generous and open we can be, the more people come through. The restaurant is very effective at that. Rather than 100 people walking through the shop every day, you get 100 people at lunch and 100 people at dinner. We’re part of a bigger network that can emanate from here.”
2. A cycle of change gives people a reason to put down their phones and visit
“The Coal Office as it is now is just a departure point. Our reception area could be a coffee shop and then potentially that leads into an accessories shop – or it’s an ice cream stand in the summer and a soup kitchen in the winter. If you have a physical space, you have to keep it moving and alive.”
3. A singular brand image limits your options
“Total brand control is relatively old-fashioned now. Instead, let things mutate and evolve within a vague framework. Coal Drops Yard is steeped in history and has so much character – that’s why we called our new HQ “The Coal Office” instead of “Tom Dixon”. It allows us to do something else in New York or in Shanghai with a bit of local flavour.”
4. Play with your products in cyberspace (but don’t neglect the real world)
“I want to capture the majority of our products digitally, with CGI, so we can manipulate them. It means what’s normally a very static field suddenly becomes very animated and you can really play with it. On the other hand, I have trouble dragging designers away from their computers.”
5. Physical space is costly. Make it count
“You need to sweat your assets. Real estate in city centres have to be multiple use. Make something that’s open from 8am for breakfast and closes at midnight after dinner. In my dreams I’d also be running a 24-hour service centre here, for customers in Australia or deliveries to China. And then suddenly it becomes a cheap building because you’re doing three shifts. It’s no longer effective to only have a shop.”
6. In a world of social media, everyone is a broadcaster
“We didn’t choose this building because it was a good place to Instagram, although it has become that. In my mind this space mutates into a broadcast centre, an Insta background for people wandering round the shop.”
7. Don’t pop up; put down roots
“Half a million people visit Milan for Design Week and we’ve done a good job over the years of doing something bigger there each time. But then it becomes something people expect and you’re not impressing. So this year, we’re investing in permanence, in a Tom Dixon restaurant we can update constantly, instead of only being present for five days and then throwing all of that fabulous stuff in the bin.”
8. Let others play in your ballpark
“It’s nice to be hashtagged and to observe how people use our products. There are moments when someone’s thought of them in a completely different, amazing way. I don’t think you can control these things any more. The openness of the modern world and the obsession with newness and low-grade images is actually useful for us as a visual business. Suddenly you’re in a position where people can share films or pictures on a constant basis.”
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