NOTE: This blog is not specifically for my customers but for potential students of kitchen design – it is posted here because I helped develop the course with colleagues at the university.

Bucks New University, School of Design, Craft and Visual Arts
Faculty of Design, Media and Management.

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Course qualification: FDAUCAS code: W24B
Study mode: Full-time, Part-time
Location: High Wycombe

Start date: September 2013
Duration: Two years full-time, three years part-time
Cost: £7500 per year. Bursaries may be available

Is this course for me?
The course is aimed at school and college leavers or mature students already employed in this field and looking to extend their knowledge and experience, as well as those who wish to develop a career in a design field with a relevant application.

Course overview
The kitchen industry is large and diverse and fragmented, with little structured training. This course answers the need for a specialised education programme and deals with all aspects of the role of kitchen designer.

Drawing on Bucks New University’s established expertise and provision in the field of design and making as part of the faculty that houses the National College of Furniture, this course will help you develop an understanding of the kitchen industry.

Primarily design based, the course will teach you about consumers, suppliers and how to design and manage kitchen projects. You will study modules in design, cultural and visual awareness with a particular reference to historic interiors and social practices. Spatial design processes will also increase your understanding of current markets and ability to design for a range of market sectors in kitchen design and installation. Practical aspects of construction and fitting will be taught, but the emphasis will be on innovative design and development of the kitchen as a space for living. You will also learn relevant CAD programmes as well as drawing and visualisation techniques to enable development of ideas.

Visits and live briefs from industry partners will be a core aspect of the course. You will benefit from our specialist facilities and strong industry links, including companies and organisations such as Hettich UK, Johnny Grey Studios, Kitchen Bedroom Bathroom (KBB), Society of British Interior Designers, Lago, KBSA, KBBNTG and Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA) and Company of Furniture Makers.

You will have access to a range of specialist facilities including Bucks New University’s computer rooms, MAC rooms, spatial design studio, workshops for multiple materials including plastics, wood, metal and ceramics, as well as laser cutting and rapid prototyping machines.

Modules

The course will equip you with skills in the following areas:

Design: aesthetics, interior architecture and design, ergonomics - understanding that the modern kitchen is often a multi-functional living space.

Making: technical understanding - materials, fittings, appliances, lighting, furniture making. Live making projects will be undertaken throughout the course.

Culture and context: history of design and domestic living, aspects of psychology and social trends – to help understand the wider aspects of design and society.

Business: retail, sales and marketing - the designer is often the person that makes the sale.  Financial and project management skills are essential for a successful kitchen designer.

Further opportunities
The quality and complexity of kitchen design is increasing all the time with much influence from both Germany and Italy, bringing opportunities for interesting and fulfilling employment. Graduates from this course will be fully prepared to work within this industry, or you may wish to set up your own company. Alternatively, you may prefer to continue studying and progress on to the final year of one of our BA (Hons) courses in Spatial Design or Furniture depending on your interests, allowing you to top-up your qualification and gain a full honours degree.

Entry requirements
School leavers with relevant GCSE’s or A Levels, those with Level 3 qualification in kitchen fitting, furniture manufacture, design or similar qualification.

We also welcome applications from mature students who have relevant experience but do not hold formal qualifications. Applicants from industry can combine the part time mode with employment

Contact

For more details on the FDA in Kitchen Design call 0800 0565 660, email Julie.Catlow@bucks.ac.uk, business and student co-ordinator or go to http://www.bucks.ac.uk.

I developed the Kitchen Creative Index as a checklist for the kitchen industry to offer more creativity to customers, as I believe they deserve more exciting and better designed kitchens.  As people selling and making kitchens are not given enough training or opportunity I have helped set up the first ever Kitchen Design degree course, starting in September 2013, at Bucks New University.

Places can be applied for now on UCAS. http://search.ucas.com/cgi-bin/hsrun/search/search/StateId/E1oTG791YFnRIJkuaiWosEGQDpRRC-VzFV/HAHTpage/search.HsDetails.run?n=1169559

(A separate blog is to follow on aims, contents, description of modules)

I will be presenting a talk, sponsored by Miele UK, on this topic at the KBB conference on 12th September in order to help persuade the kitchen industry to back the course.

Spagetti bench design by Pablo Reinoso

Always use a good crisis, so the political saying goes.  I would like to think the kitchen industry could benefit from the financial downturn through using creativity in their offering in readiness for full economic recovery. The industry can re-enchant householders by pointing out it that the kitchen is now the main social room in most people’s homes and so worth investing in. It’s a living room in which you cook.

Here are six suggestions for designing better kitchens, taken from the initial content of the Creative Index:

1.    Communication and collaboration.  See a kitchen project as about making a whole environment - more than installing cabinets. Imagine thinking like an artist, interior architect, psychologist and kitchen designer all rolled into one. Every customer is entitled to a brainstorm session, in their own home, exploring how they might use a kitchen for more than cooking. Look at how adjacent rooms are used, as well as access to the garden and integrate the kitchen into the matrix. Establish an ongoing design conversation and suggest favourite items of furniture and décor be included.
2.    Design and Layout. Make sure that sight lines work for the cook. Eye contact is vital for sociability. Is the scale of the furniture appropriate for the room? Is the table a decent size and placed within the arc of sunlight coming through the windows? Is the architecture respected and can any features be retained?  Will the space be sociable and encourage lingering? Are there any perching places?
3.    Ergonomics and appliances. Can people move around with ease, especially when the cook is not the only one in the room? Is the culinary zone efficiently planned so that the cook feels organized and enough space is left for sociable furnishing? Are there varied countertop heights and materials to allow for multiple uses?  Are the appliances ergonomically positioned, in particular the dishwasher, hob and oven heights?
4.    Creative review. A moment to reflect on the big picture as well as the details. Has the architecture been used to maximum effect or is there a new window waiting to be put in to reveal a view or bring in more light? Will the owners feel they really belong in their new kitchen, does it reflect their character in any way? Will the design make the clients smile or raise their spirits? Could it date easily? If so, look at reducing any close similarity to items in high fashion, say handles, colours or materials? The kids, will they be welcome? Is the table big enough for people to work on before or after meals? Will it end up feeling like a room that will be used a lot? Will there be a spot where fresh produce can be displayed so showing its credentials as a place where food is cooked?
5.    Manufacturing, materials and budget. Cleanly produced, eco materials and energy efficient appliances are in everyone’s interest. These include induction hobs, steam ovens, low water use dishwashers and LED lighting. Ethically minded customers are more likely to spend money and feel good if what they are buying is not harming the environment.  Anything artisan made, particularly accessories, are an easy way of upgrading lower cost cabinetry. Willow baskets, hand made tiles, handles, brackets and artwork panels add interest and charcater.  Does the design leave opportunity to personalize over time? Vacant wall space allows for pictures to be added later.
6.    Niceties. Every kitchen needs personal touches. These could be a rocking chair, window seat, music system, a fireplace or family heirloom like a dresser to display the children’s pottery. Is there a spot for the family dog or space for a family noticeboard or desk? Can some of the furniture to be moved around like the way people do in their sitting rooms and can it be taken with them if they leave their home or move house? Is the lighting flexible enough to make a kitchen evening a cosy experience?

All this is dependent on having skilled kitchen designers available to carryout the work. Once we have students graduating from the kitchen design course the industry will truly be able to raise the quality of their offering and customers will benefit from more original and efficient kitchens.

For enquiries about the kitchen design course:
Julie Catlow, Business and new courses co-ordinator,
Faculty of Design, Media and Management
Bucks New University

Tel: 01494 603153

Link to interview:  http://www.kbbreview.com/Home/interview-johnny-grey.htm

I believe the public is often deprived of creativity when buying a new kitchen. This is the reason why I am calling for  the setting up the Kitchen Creative Index: it’s a list of actions that would ensure every customer gets a kitchen environment which has sound ergonomics and suits their personality, home space and budget requirements, and has sustainable thinking built in.

In financially straightened times when resources are limited it’s right moment to unleash the powers of creativity to make well developed kitchen designs. This involves a two step process, empathetic listening and inventive thinking is followed by meticulous sifting and refining of the design to make it work. It’s not only the artistic and style elements that need including in the design proposal but a focused attention on value for money and ergonomics. Blue-sky thinking should open up the use of new materials, sustainable appliances, lighting design, which of the home owners possessions can be incorporated and how effectively the architecture is deployed.

There are unknowns ahead for uninitiated clients (and if there aren’t, there should be). A good customer relationship starts with exploring these unknowns and unblocking preset ideas. This is a productive process that counters the general suspicion of the unfamiliar and helps allay anxiety. Many of our regular commercial transactions are unemotional purchases. However purchasing a kitchen environment should not be like buying a collection of products; it’s a service and multi-faceted one at that.

Our job as kitchen makers is to provide the consumer with ideas that translate into a physical product, not the other way round. Good ergonomics, a high sociability factor and abstract notions such as providing meaning through individual associations of objects do matter. (Neuroscience studies will tell you that the brain uses surroundings as ways of recalling memories – we have more emotional connection to things we use or decorate our homes with than we may realize). Alienation comes about when we don’t identify with our environments. Dull, copycat brochure led kitchens are a case in point.

Childhood memories, scenes from places we have visited or things we have loved, whether objects on a mantelpiece or a vintage armchair that our granny used to sit on should be included in the story-board for a kitchen design. Favourite colours that have no easily identifiable reason for being liked help make up a ‘mental map of comfort’. As kitchen makers we need to connect with our customers so we can create a wonderful physical world of surfaces you can stroke, places to perch, furniture that helps the body move smoothly from one culinary activity to another that provide hints of pleasure scattered throughout the room.

Over the next few months, starting at Grand Designs Live next Sunday, I will be talking about the Kitchen Creative Index at a number of public events, sponsored by Miele UK. What should kitchen companies and the design professions offer their customers in the way of creative guarantee? What should customers expect?  With luck this will help rebuild confidence and increase the status of the kitchen industry and make the whole process of buying a kitchen more enjoyable and better value for money.

Please get touch with ideas for ideas you think should be in this manifesto. Email  enquiries@johnnygrey.co.uk;  facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Johnny-Grey-Studios; twitter @Johnny Grey.

Grand Designs Live is on Sunday 13^th at 4pm. I will be in discussions with George Clarke. Please come and join us in live debate.