With a studio in Newcastle and consulting office in London, interior designer George Bond has been advising clients for over 30 years including TV personality Carol Vorderman and Amnesty International activist, Bianca Jagger
Familiar to national TV viewers in his role as resident interiors expert on ‘Better Homes’ with Vorderman from 1999 2003, George was guest design advisor on BBC One’s ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’ from 2008 and currently appears in a new regional TV series, ‘Behind Closed Doors’.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, was a (founding) board member of the British Institute of Interior Designers, and currently serves as Lead Judge on the panel of the Northern Design Awards. George Bond Interior Design has been the recipient of numerous awards, most recently London’s prestigious five star International Property Awards for Interior Design in 2013/2014 and the following year, 2014/15. In a role he has taken seriously for nearly a decade, George also mentors numerous students and graduates of Newcastle College and continues to provide them with support, guidance and inspiration.
What Is Your Opinion of the Standard of Work Presented at the 2018 Northern Design Awards?
I have been on the Judging Panel of the Northern Design Awards since 2013 and it’s very interesting to see how the regional industry is developing and where investment is being directed. I was struck this year by how much the entries in the commercial sector have improved – in fact, some of them were quite outstanding. On the other hand, there were fewer residential submissions that were really exceptional and I’m not entirely sure what’s behind that. Budgetary constraints continue to play a critical role and I believe the commercial market is increasingly sophisticated and competitive with larger budgets being allocated to comprehensive newbuild or refurbishment developments that need to impress. However there seem to be fewer residential projects with the budgets and clients brave enough to look beyond current fads and trends and explore new frontiers. In addition, it appears increasingly that design graduates and novice professionals are playing it safe, regardless of the many exciting innovations in technology and materials in the industry, instead of inspiring clients to think ‘outside the box’.
Perhaps experience is a key factor designers with a track record are more willing to push clients a little beyond their comfort zone and produce something really note-worthy and interesting. Trust is fundamental. New designers starting out on their own need encouragement to be more confident and assertive
it is so important that veteran industry specialists guide and support them.
You have been mentoring students for several years now
are you impressed with the calibre of work being produced?
I’ve been mentoring graduates from Newcastle College and Northumbria University for nearly ten years and there is no shortage of raw talent coming out of region. However, I believe the curricula should incorporate more classic and traditional design influences as well as contemporary trends – and it is critical for students to have greater awareness of the importance of [paying attention to] detail. Broadening horizons as a result of visiting experts and first-hand travel is imperative, to my mind, to achieving original and inventive results grounded in a solid understanding of the craft.
Furthermore I believe that an extended period of apprenticeship in the workplace should be a mandatory element of the degree qualification process, beneficial from the perspective of both the student and potential employer. Upon graduation, students generally seem unprepared in the practical application of their trade and often too nervous to really demonstrate what they are capable of.
