Between The Lines 006: Humanrace
Finding Your Own Working Method with Edward Robinson
Words: Siân Toolan
In conversation with Edward Robinson. Talking human-centred design, re-inventing the production process, and creating your own working method.…
You’ve likely come across Edward Robinson’s handiwork before, perhaps in his ventures with Alexander Taylor at Adidas or Athletics FTWR’s Model ONE. He is the founder of studio Working Method and the recently appointed Creative Director of Humanrace, Pharrell’s product-focused wellness brand. His modus operandi is all about the process, challenging the normal method of making or production, and his understanding of the languages of industrial design is the key to his success.
Fig.1 Alexander Taylor Studio for Adidas
Throughout his education, Robinson spent hours immersed in workshops, building, reiterating ideas, and appreciating the cause and effect of design. “Design was still in books at that stage, it hadn't really been explained to anybody” and studying design was very much up to the imagination. Pursuing Furniture Design at Northumbria University, Robinson took advantage of the vast resources and continued his process-based hands-on working method. He recalls the advantage of timing, in a generation familiar with life before laptops, he became adept in analog processes. By the time he reached degree level, the digitalisation of design was progressing and education shifted towards software such as AutoCAD and Solidworks. This fortuitous transition, learning the same 3D development tools that countless professionals were just coming to terms with, nurtured a comprehensive perspective of design, across analog and digital fields.“The amount of hand production I've done in my life allows you to imagine what that 3D object is and design that 3D object based on the reality of production” Robinson explained.
The intersection of these tools, Robinson believes, is where design develops character and classic meets contemporary. Designs built solely digitally are unable to capture “that hard to put your finger on quality, that little touch or little bit of stardust”. The handmade process of design lends itself to a human result - a product that has a personal effect on you. Robinson experienced this effect early-on through his internship, and subsequent freelance work, with Max Lamb. Lamb’s sculptural furniture is renowned for its craftsmanship and ability to merge traditional and digital methods of design. Assisting on an array of gallery-based projects, working with Lamb was an invaluable experience for Robinson - it even facilitated a move from Newcastle to London.
Fig. 2 Adidas Tailored Fibre
The combination of analog and digital languages seems as though a thread in Robinson’s career, perhaps best demonstrated in his work with Alexander Taylor. Robinson found himself at Alexander Taylor’s multidisciplinary design studio, against the lasting effects of the financial crash, when consumer habits were changing and people had stopped buying furniture. Sneaker culture, however, was on the rise. Taylor was part of an initiative of industrial designers at Adidas that brought their rigorous research and development skills to explore material and process innovation. It wasn’t long before Robinson joined the project in Germany. “It was like an Industrial Revolution, it was a wholesale change of how to look at products and I think our effect on the brand was significant in the sense of a working approach”.
“The success of a project is the method of working that gets you there”
Working on hundreds of shoes and material investigations at one time, Robinson played a significant role in Adidas’ Parley for the Oceans shoe - with fibres made from marine plastic waste - and the Machined Leather Futurecraft - a one-piece upper of milled leather. The Parley project utilised technological advancements in recycling and digital machinery, yet every individual line of the tailored fibre placement was drawn by hand in CAD by Robinson. The Machined Leather Futurecraft, made in collaboration with Joachim de Callatay, married the qualities of handcrafting milled leather with a computer-controlled carving pattern in a shoe with implications for efficiency, waste reduction and bespoke services. Robinson recollects the hours and hours of tests, “the aim was to bring some soul back to shoe design”, investing in craftsmanship, opposed to working from a sketch. “It felt like what Adi Dassler would have been doing, in a workshop trying to figure it out”. Its simple yet innovative design was ultimately a labour of love, with a design language “true to its concept”.
Fig 3. Adidas Milled Leather Superstar & Parley For The Oceans Ultraboost
Industrial design is about combining art, business, and engineering to make products that people use every day. It encompasses commercial, responsible, explorative or discursive design, and each brand or product may develop their own industrial design language. Learning from Lamb and Taylor, Robinson not only honed his process of making, but established himself as an industrial designer that could smoothly move between furniture and footwear. During his time at Adidas, he was able to “stockpile” the language of materials, learn the nuances of both small studios and big companies and how to communicate in each environment. Robinson rose to Director of Alexander Taylor’s studio, before moving on to founding his own industrial design studio Working Method, asserting that “the success of a project is the method of working that gets you there.”
His first project as Working Method involved putting that approach into practice with a client that sought to disrupt the movement of big brands and seasonal trends. Athletics FTWR wanted to create a timeless sneaker, concerned with functionality and design opposed to marketing. Without the infrastructure of a brand like Adidas, Robinson’s consultancy began from the ground up. Visiting manufacturers in China alone, with little understanding of the language, it was a wild and “an interesting experiment” for Robinson. The resulting model, Athletics ONE, was a characterful combination of nostalgia and innovation. It was pure and organic design, and Robinson realised the benefit of working with new companies is being able to affect full change, implementing your “own culture of working”.
Fig. 4 Athletics FTWR Development
The conception of Humanrace is rooted in Pharrell’s long-standing relationship with Adidas dubbed Hu, short for Human, and its ideology of positively impacting people. During Robinson’s time at Adidas, his path briefly crossed with Pharrell in the form of one-off uppers of intricately woven carbon-fibre, which have never seen the light of day (until now). “They were so good” exclaims Robinson. Having already witnessed Pharrell’s dedication to design, when the opportunity of presenting Humanrace’s skincare line arose, Robinson “relished the challenge”. Humanrace is a “universe” concerned with human-centred product and the meticulous methods of industrial design, with an emphasis on material, development and craft. Pharrell has significantly contributed to the reframing of celebrity endorsements into co-creation, as well as being a template for those operating across disciplines. He has collaborated on projects that occupy the space between street culture and wellness, and, with his work ethic, his own brand was a long time coming. Robinson’s experience is not too different, with a belief in hard-work, attention to the process and “a want to apply that process into as many environments as possible”. It’s no wonder he got the job.
Fig. 5 Carbon-fibre Prototype for Pharrell
Product creation, in terms of skincare, is not too different to that of sneaker design in its extensive testing and re-working and the “complexity of bringing all the parts together”. If you look at the skincare market, most brands are doing a variation of the same thing, particularly in terms of packaging, as they all refer to the same standard mould sizes. Challenging and re-imagining the unwritten rules of an archaic industry is exactly what Robinson, and Pharrell, stand for. Developing their own working method, Humanrace chose to invest in new packaging moulds to cater for “a customer that hasn't really been catered for”. What that means is a product that speaks to everyone, regardless of race, gender, expertise; a product that is accessible and sustainable and improves people’s lives.
Fig. 6 Humanrace Skincare Product
That story is told over three products that fuse technology with humanity through a quality formulation, honest ingredients and digestible packaging. The bold colour took multiple experiments alone to find a green that was fun, natural and sophisticated. For Robinson, size and scale were crucial, with each product distinguishable from the other but consistent in the experience offered. Reminiscent of childhood building blocks, the Cleanser, Exfoliator and Humidifying Cream are easily identifiable without having to refer to a label, though they do include additional markers denoting the order of use. Moving beyond their playful tactility, the products include Braille for the visually impaired. They’re undeniably easy to engage with and, as all three are currently sold-out, it’s a testament to their universal appeal.
“Leave something better than when you found it”
The products have established a strong brand identity and design language, whilst incorporating a language as literal as Braille. Robinson believes that “care and attention to detail” are the core of good design, and that is what Humanrace has proven thus far. It is a brand concerned with giving back, following a Japanese philosophy of design in which you leave something better than when you found it. This can be achieved by ways of sharing wisdom as Robinson explains “we're educating people by breaking it down, even with the cards in the routine box of how to wash your face, we’re not afraid to be that simple.” It is also about sharing that wisdom with the industry, specifically in terms of the brand’s sustainable efforts, and encouraging other companies to share information and advancements for the greater good. Designers have a massive responsibility as “there is no sustainability if we don't have good designers - no marketing spin is ever going to change the world.” Robinson feels he’s reached a stage in his career in which he wants to give back in more than just design, but by supporting other creatives. With the launch of Humanrace, it was essential they reached out “to some unlikely studios and spaces” to considerably affect the industry.
Fig. 7 Humanrace Skincare Campaign
It is readily apparent that Edward Robinson does not subscribe to the logic of every designer. His role as Creative Director was carved out of dedication to his work as he progressed from packaging to website design, to social media concepts, consistently “producing ideas before being asked to”. “It has been a very successful tool of mine” he laughs, though it is clear his success is much to do with his expertise and talent for the many facets of industrial design. In his refreshing approach, he believes he can function as Creative Director whilst engaging with other projects and expanding his knowledge and capabilities as such is to the benefit of his collaborators. These personal ambitions of growth are translated into the ethos of Humanrace, as Robinson explains this is “just the beginning” for the brand.
“Continuously tackling the same problems and building on them is a sign of a good company” as Humanrace continues to innovate sustainable and inclusive products with wellness in mind. Building the team and building a culture is the next natural step, whilst ensuring consistency in process and quality. Robinson’s lips are sealed regarding Humanrace’s next endeavour, and whether footwear and Pharrell will interact under the Humanrace moniker we’re yet to find out, but whatever is next for the brand, we know it’s going to be aligned with their human-centred design language and have that “little bit of stardust”.