At just 27 years old, Jason Phillips has already attained a lifetime of experiences and accomplishments. He took home the 2010 ARTS Award for Product Designer of the Year, has traveled the globe in search of inspiration, is the VP/Creative Director for The Phillips Collection, has a B.F.A in Interior Design, is the founder of the Jason Phillips design brand, and is the youngest recipient ever of the Prized Pinnacle Award given by ASID. His talent, drive, and creativity just continue to amaze me!
I first became aware of The Phillips Collection last year when I designed a room for the Home for the Holidays showhome at the DMC. I used one of the chairs in their collection (dubbed “The Seatbelt Chair”) as a vanity chair for the bedroom. Let me just tell you…that chair was the star of the whole room! People kept coming up to it and touching it, wanting to know what showroom it came from and what it was made out of. The chair was also used in the Showtime and Metropolitan Home exhibit in the “Dexter dining room”.
After discovering the fabulous Seatbelt Chair and viewing the rest of their furniture and accessories, I fell head over heels in love with all of the pieces from The Phillips Collection and Jason Phillips himself.
I’ve been wanting to sit down with Jason and interview him for some time now and that time has finally come. I am so thrilled to share his interesting story on MG. Enjoy the interview and all of the fabulous eye candy that encompass Jason’s designs as well as those from The Phillips Collection.
How long have you been designing furniture and how did you get your start?
I’ve been involved in the family business from a very young age, taking trips to Southeast Asia, Europe, and throughout the Americas. This developed a great appreciation for global design, and inspired me to pursue an artistic path. But I would say it’s been close to ten years now since I first sat down to design a piece of furniture.
Were you formally trained in design?
My training may sound formal but was really quite exciting and I was free to explore my own creativity. My high school did not give me enough of the tools I wanted, so I studied after hours at the Huntington School of Fine Arts in New York, where I was exposed to sculpture, oil painting, photography, and live figure drawing. I was fortunate enough to be selected to study in the South of France for a summer under the direction of renowned American Sculptor Joseph Mack, where we quarried our own limestone and turned it into art. I then went on to The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where I concentrated in Industrial Design. This is where I became a digital artist, learning photoshop and 3d softwares, graphic design principles and design theory. I fell in love with modern art. I visited museums. My training was a progression but very focused all the while.
{Starfish Table}
All of your designs are so unique. Where do you get your inspiration?
In an industry that so often references historical design, I find myself of a modern generation, pushing the boundaries of what is appropriate. My designs, however different, do have a balance to their form, a refinement of the details and an appreciation of the material and finish. I like to absorb fashion, current events, car design, luxury goods, architecture, and so many other things and can tap into my own creative pool for on-the-spot inspiration. I imagine this how the creative thinking of any generation go about conceiving new ideas and themes.
How have your parents inspired or influenced your work and what was it liked to grow up in the business?
They are my biggest fans and have been the platform to make my ideas a reality. I’m sure words wouldn’t do justice to the profound influence they have had on my life.
{Slant Mod Shelving}
Do you travel a lot? If so, how have your travels influenced your design process?
Traveling lets me experience raw materials, international trends and sophistications, but most importantly it has shown me how amazingly interconnected we all are. Seeing an Apple ad in Malaysia really gets you excited about the global influence and impact design can have. It’s amazing how good design speaks a universal language and can make everyone smile.
What materials do you use the most of? What is your favorite material to use?
I love woods with figured grains. I am also very into metals and glass. There is a constant shift for me between materials; shiny to rough, natural to plastic, dark to light.
{Curtain Console Table}
How does the Phillips Collection motto, “every piece a conversation,” describe your work?
We want our pieces to have a meaning behind the form. For us it isn’t enough for it to just be beautiful. It is an appreciation of the details and the story that we love to extract.
How do you find harmony between artistic form and functional furniture?
That is a fine line, making your design a piece of furniture and at the same time a piece of art. Go too literal and you find yourself a furniture maker. Too far off the deep end and you are a pop artist! I try to take an idea that could float off like a balloon and anchor it to reality with functionality.
{River Stone Cocktail Table}
Where can you see yourself in the design world in ten years?
I hope I never become predictable, especially not to myself. I hope in ten years I am pleasantly surprised at where I am and that it is not where I thought I’d be but rather where I ended up.
Do you use your own furniture pieces in your home?
Yes. A perk of the family business is I can furnish my entire place in Phillips Collection! I am a big fan of design houses like B&B Italia, BO Concept, DWR, but am not in that economic stratosphere!
{Burled Bowl- Gold Leaf}
What is your favorite piece of furniture that you have designed?
My Continuum Dining Table, to be released end of this year. A very complicated piece from a manufacturing standpoint but in the end it will be quite playful.
What type of projects are you working on now?
I am working on a collection for a dynamic west coast company using the most renewable materials possible and local manufacturing for a truly eco-chic collection for 2011.
{Martini Table Black}
What are you currently listening to on your IPod? What are you currently reading?
The Black Eyed Peas latest album. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (on my Kindle).
What do you do for fun?
I have three young Dachshunds. They keep me and my wife Karen thoroughly entertained.
{Bubble Leg Dining Table}
What is your advice for young, aspiring designers?
Don’t wait around. Go out and grab it. Stay confident in your talents and listen as best you can; I know it’s not a designer’s greatest quality J
(*If you will be in New York City this weekend, you can see his work at the Phillips Collection space at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair- space 2070 from May 15-18*)
