HIX London 2025
What Else Can You Show Me?
After HIX London each year, we take some time to reflect on the installation and event, what worked, what we could do differently and to make the first tentative steps towards thinking about what we might do the following year.
Much more than just a showcase for our furniture collection and bespoke production, we see this key industry event as a chance to challenge ourselves to do something creative and original. Working with our friends at Graphical House, we refined our initial ideas towards a striking installation which celebrated transformation, the fusion of ideas and the value of the creative process.
Inspired by lyrics from Bob Dylan’s incredible ‘It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’ we built a space which reflected the event’s culture clash theme, recognising that there’s a real value in opposing positions and that the creative process is ultimately an act of fusion. Blending distinct thoughts, concepts, or perspectives into something new and unified often gives us a result that’s richer, more complex or more innovative than the distinct parts alone.
While it may be tempting to work to a trusted formula and aim for a standardised path through a project, some degree of culture clash can provide a catalyst for new ideas. Despite the negative connotations, it can be a truly positive force and a way of fostering new dynamic, open and innovative approaches.
The monochrome palette used for our HIX installation was chosen to reflect these opposing positions, with one side of the space using finished pieces of furniture selected for HIX 2025, while the other side featured bespoke pieces which were designed and created for the event. These were deliberately unsettling, provocative and uncomfortable - glue oozing from the joints of a chair, brash neon paint on raw foam cut to create an angular chair and an unfinished sofa revealed the unseen structure below a polished piece. There are possibilities in each, with the opportunity to create something different and better.
These bespoke pieces were the talking points of the event - it was fantastic to engage with so many visitors to our stand, see their reactions to the installation and share some great conversations about creativity, design and vision. The sofa in particular showed the value in being brave and taking some risks - something exemplified by Dylan when he transitioned from folk music to rock’n’roll more than sixty years ago. This was a huge creative shift, and one that was provocative, controversial and divisive at the time. When Dylan sings ‘He not busy being born is busy dying’ it’s a rallying cry for progress over stagnation, learning and developing, staying ahead, being aware and constantly innovating to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Legendary music producer Rick Rubin has an interesting take on this. He maintains that great work comes not from chasing a particular outcome but by really giving full attention to the act of making something. This doesn’t mean that you don’t care about the outcome but that you don’t get drawn into being influenced by who might like it - a fear of being different or experimental will inhibit your creativity. Rubins advocates being focused on the process and on making the best thing that you can, while resisting the urge to think about how the audience will react. This doesn’t mean that you’re not client-centred, but rather that you’ll get the best result for the client by giving yourself permission to concentrate only on making something great.
Of course with the best will in the world, we’ll all hit stumbling blocks in our creative endeavours, or will find it hard to get started in the first place. Rather than reworking something or relying on a standard template, give yourself permission to try a new way of thinking or approach the project from another angle. Visitors to our HIX installation were invited to choose a card with a single word printed on it - one of a series of pairs chosen as prompts to provoke discussion and creative thought. A set of custom playing cards used the same set of opposing words, along with a line for each designed to promote creative thought, challenge a conventional way of thinking and stimulate discussion. Reflecting the Dylan lyric, these cards helped show ‘there’s always a sense in trying’
It’s a maxim that we’ll keep close as we begin the process of working on our concept for HIX 2026 and the projects that will occupy our team until then - creativity, collaboration and connections are what makes this industry great
