Designing an everyday practice.
Personal note from June 2018
Free to design my own practice, since 2012, I have been fully attracted by the Design Thinking. Probably because it allows intuition and analytic thinking to meet in a creative process, but also because his success is based on a plural and collective approach. It allows in practice to have a similar methodology for different kind of project, from graphic, web, to product and space design.
In april 2015, I met Marine & Kazuyki Tanaka to explore and define an identity for their first restaurant Racine. A friend suggested them to meet with me because of my sensibility with Japan culture and my experience with Corso Restaurants.
To test my methodology, we established a transparent relationship. We work as a team, ideating together, exchanging in documenting and conversing. After screened ideas, I developed the identity, into digital and physical matters.
The restaurant opened in june 2015.
Our approach of photography was part of the identity. Our insight is to treat the gourmet dish as a landscape, in trying to offer a journey in the chef's world. Later after the launch, for more autonomy, I formed the chef to take professional pictures. We experienced together different places and set up to make picturing easier and still neat.
At the beginning of 2016 came the opportunity of a move.We recall the team for the version 2 of Racine restaurant in a place almost ready to be renovate and with a garden.
We had the target market and product positioning validated, at that time the restaurant was booked 2 to 3 weeks in advance. So we had to express the full potential of the next move to convince the banks to follow us. Beyond financial planning, we built a presentation to convince them of the upmarket quality we were chasing. This work on how to present the project helps a lot, wait for the end of the story.
I developed the identity into an interior approach, still ideating with Marine and Kazuyuki, documenting star's world restaurants and conversing with Kazuyuki about where he is planning to land his restaurant in the future.
As the place was before an apartment, we teamed with an architect agency. All together, we dealt with them and then they would orchestrate the building site, following, converting, adjusting recommendations and plans.
This allowed me to focus more on the furniture design. Thanks to a friend of Marine and Kazuyuki, we were able to meet small Italian craftsmen from the region of Como. Thus, in less than 6 months, we have been able to design and produce a set of furniture that matches the identity and functionality of such a context.
"Success is where preparation and opportunity meet."
The famous Bobby Unser quote is perfect for the end of the project. Last month of this project was stressful. Do we have all the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle, will they merge in the right timing? It was quiet and correct, we now just remember: the first restaurant closed, the new opens and between this meantime of few days, Racine restaurant received his Michelin star.
