Design Guild Mark discussions with Luke Pearson

PearsonLloyd is a product, furniture and innovation design studio led by founders Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd, and run from a studio in Shoreditch, East London.

A multi award winning agency, PearsonLloyd has designed products, systems and environments for the home, workplace, transport and healthcare sectors.

In 2018 PearsonLloyd were awarded two Design Guild Marks for their products Famiglia for Allermuir and Edge for Modus Furniture.

Famiglia for Allermuir

Comprising over 20 products, Famiglia includes low, mid and high-back and lounge chairs, as well as occasional and light work tables.

Edge is a comprehensive workspace furniture collection including tables, storage and soft seating in freestanding, clustered and linear formats.

We recently sat down with Luke to find out more about his life in design.

When did you first decide you were going to be a designer?

When I realised I would not ever become a quantum physicist.

Edge for Modus Furniture

What was your first big break in the industry?

I launched an upholstery system on graduating from the Royal College of Art with Hitch Mylius. This was a great start and to get something produced on graduating is quite rare. Something I still appreciate today. I can also reflect on how nice the owners, Hazel and Tristram, were.

What do you enjoy about being a designer?

Finding solutions that we didn’t know existed before we started the project.

What is the most frustrating aspect of your job?

The fact that you have to make money. Sometimes the time required to do really great time simply isn’t reflected in the pay. Everybody wants fast but also quality. Obviously, good things take time.

Which design are you most proud of?

It’s hard to say what we are most proud of because we work in many sectors. Our Upper Class seat for Virgin must now be one of the longest flying business class seats and really did change the industry. Parcs for Bene has also been a huge success for us and arrived just before the economic crash but still managed to capture huge sales and I think most people would agree has really changed the current office landscape. It’s now about 10 years old and is still going strong.

What influences you?

People, science, art, commerce, culture.

Is there a product you wish you’d designed?

Lots. However, neither of us are particularly interested in consumerism so a lot of products seem pointless and wasteful to me.

For more information about PearsonLloyd, go to www.pearsonlloyd.com