I went to visit Designers Teng Chong and Natalie Kruch from Panache Ceramics at their studio last week. We sat down to talk about what they are doing at their new roles at Panache Ceramics and their design process.
Can you tell me about the company?
Natalie: we do custom glass and tiles, all handmade in Edmonton. Itʼs mostly custom orders.
Teng: Weʼre in the ceramics department and we basically put out what the client want, so for example, if they want a certain amount of tiles for a kitchen back splash we do that.
How much do you work with the client?
Natalie: I would say fairly minimally. We have a sales person who spends a lot of time with them getting the details of the order and weʼre more in charge of the production and the back side. Teng does most of the production and i do more on the finishing end, so the glazing and the shipping now as well.
Teng: but sometimes we talk with the client a little bit too for things like matching the glazes and clarification on any particulars, or if we need to get them to check a sample weʼll get them to come in.
Do you do a lot of prototyping when you start?
Natalie: I would say right now the company is in transition so weʼre doing a lot of prototyping because Teng and I are trying to focus them a bit and rebrand them with some more distinct lines, so prototyping is big right now for us in ceramics but the glass side not so much.
Are you two leading the rebranding?
Natalie: Pretty much, yes. I would say most our time is spent in production and about 10% is devoted to the rebranding of the company. Weʼre working on redesigning their website right now and devoting some time each day to testing new products.
And you both started 3 months ago?
teng: Yes.
When you were brought on was rebranding part of what your role was supposed to be or was it something you brought up as something that should happen?
Natalie: It was definitely mutual, i think we kind of saw the opportunity and then so did she. I would say when she first hired us it was not something she had in mind until she realized what our background was and saw an opportunity to push the company forward.
Can you tell me about the new lines that youʼre developing?
Natalie: We have right now Tuscan and Provence, which is kind of our traditional lines and weʼre going to do a more contemporary take on the two. Weʼre also doing a Canadiana line which will be typical log cabin style and I think we might do some plaids and things like that which will be fun. A lot of things weʼre proposing we donʼt know if they will actually sell but could be more for displays to get people interested and then maybe theyʼll buy a small panel of it in addition to their beige tile.
We also have Geoff Lilge launching two designs of tile with us that are actually already doing pretty well already, they have a show room at Kitchen Craft and theyʼre getting good feedback.
I think sometimes it takes someone from the outside to be able to see what they do and organize it a little bit so that was definitely our experience.
Teng: Yeah, we’re organizing what they have and coming up with new glazes that are not so old fashioned.
Natalie: Panache has a distinct style which I think is awesome and it does appeal to their customers but we want to push them a little bit, even with their production processes so for example the embossing is not necessarily a style so much as a process that we want to push because we think it will be easier in the back to get it out faster and itʼs nice for a more modern clean look.
Can you talk about your background a little bit?
Natalie: Sure. We both graduated from the Industrial Design program at the University of Alberta with a focus on Product and Furniture Design and then I did a year at UBC studying Architecture.
Teng: For the past year I was in Spain doing a one year Masters program. My focus was on Industrial Design but I would say more like textile design, somewhere between Art and Design.
Does the textile design relate to what youʼre doing now?
Teng: I think it could relate to it...
Natalie: I think it does because mostly weʼre coming up with patterns.
Teng: yeah, for sure.
And Natalie you were in Holland for awhile?
Natalie: Yes, I was there over the summer doing an internship with the Maarten Baasin team in Den Bosch which is closed to the design school in Eindhoven. There I was mostly doing prototyping because he mostly does custom one-off pieces.
Do you both maintain an independent design practice while youʼre working here?
Natalie: Definitely, and I think thatʼs why weʼre working here a little bit. The shops are awesome and it makes it possible for us to prototype our own work.
Teng: and itʼs good for coming up with mini projects, like I did little tiny ceramic reclaim cups from a slip casting project. Having the equipment to do that kind of stuff is pretty sweet.
(Image from tengteng.org)
Can you walk me through the process of making tiles?
Teng: I usually get the order and then I plug it into our production list so that itʼs clear how much we need each tile. If it needs to be pressed or extruded we do that and then it goes to dry on the board. Once they're dry they get cleaned up.
(pressing the tile, releasing clay from the mold, setting the tile to dry)
(tiles on the drying board, Teng cleaning up a tile)
Natalie: For glazing each one is pretty different I would say so we make sure we understand what the customer is looking for and try and match it with a paint chip or previous sample.
We do a lot of testing first so that we have it down and then usually as Teng is doing the production Iʼll test the glazes and then when sheʼs done Iʼll glaze all of the tiles and then we load them into the kiln and itʼs baked and weʼre good to go and then we just ship them out.
(stored glazes, Natalie spraying a glaze on cleaned tile, loading and setting the kiln)
(finished tile, Teng packing up tiles to ship)
How long does that take?
Teng: After getting the order we usually say 4-6 weeks.
What issues come up when youʼre working?
Natalie: I would say right now weʼre just trying to learn what they have on the floor and be more familiar with whatʼs there.
What do you like having around in the studio while youʼre working?
Teng: music is very important.
Natalie: Yes! Right now we have been listening to a lot of pre-1964 radio stations.
Teng: and hip-hop or rap.
Natalie: Yeah, pretty much. Itʼs good. Sometimes weʼre doing repetitive work like glazing so itʼs nice to have that.
What’s the best part of your job?
Teng: I like knowing and learning new processes that can back up our design side of things, like knowing how everything gets made so we know how long it takes to make a specific plate versus just wanting it to get done and having someone else do the production without knowing what goes into it.
Natalie: Yeah, it definitely informs our design process, that is definitely what weʼre getting out of working here. That and also seeing first hand the business side of it. Itʼs nice to see the distribution, I think itʼs a bit unusual to be involved in the design, production and the final sale.
What inspires you?
Natalie: This job is fun because weʼre pretty free to test different ideas. Weʼve been looking at a lot of different references and websites and random stuff on the street. We look to see whatʼs trendy and also at more traditional tile ideas. Even when we go out to different restaurants or bars, like the Empress, we think about what a tile line for them might look like. And collaborations inspire us too, weʼve been talking to the Loyal Loot Collective girls about doing something.
Posted in Methods on August 9, 2010
blog comments powered by Disqus