Host: Theresa Dowling - FX Magazine
Theresa has been working in the contract design sector for over 30 years of which 11 years has been Editor of FX and Group Editorial Director. She comes from a Fine Art background which she studied in London, Manchester and Chicago, and still loves painting and the history of art. But it's FX that makes her bounce out of bed for the colourful characters and inventive industry that contract design has become. In her own words "I love my FX job!"
Paul Priestman - PriestmanGoode
Paul Priestman is a designer and Chairman of PriestmanGoode, an industrial design consultancy whose work focuses on improving everyday experiences across transport, aviation and consumer products. Their expertise across a range of sectors has enabled the studio to consistently deliver new innovations, and win a host of prestigious awards, including the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards, the Future Friendly Award for Sustainable Design Innovation and numerous Travel and Transport Awards around the globe.
In 2015, the Evening Standard voted Priestman one of London’s 1000 most influential people for the third consecutive year. This January, he was also announced as one of Britain's 500 most influential individuals by The Sunday Times newspaper. He has just been awarded the Design Innovation Medal by the London Design Festival.
John Tighe, Design Director Transport, JPA Design
John has an in-depth understanding and knowledge gained from his breadth of experience in the aviation field. His experience includes working for an airline as head of product, a manufacturing group designing aircraft seats and galleys, and working through the ranks of a design consultancy. This experience provides a thorough understanding of the processes required to go from ‘blue-sky’ idea, to an ‘in-service’ product. Key aircraft projects include; Gulf Air, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Kingfisher, the newly launched flydubai narrow-body aircraft and directly with Airbus on A380 programs. Singapore Airlines' multi-award-winning next-generation business class seat has again been voted number 1 in the world by Skytrax (2017), a design project headed by John. More recently, John headed up the team to develop the all new unique Singapore Airlines business class seat, which launched November 2017.
Mark Gutjahr - BASF Coatings
Trained as a designer at KISD Cologne, Germany, Mark works since 2011 for BASF as head of design EMEA in the field of automotive coatings. Focus of the team’s work is trend research, translation into automotive colors and consulting for automotive design divisions of customers.
In 2004 he started working as a freelance designer for BASF in consulting on trends and color directions. In 2005 he received a scholarship at the EKWC in ‘s-Hertogenbosch NL where he developed and produced unique ceramic objects. From 2005 he also was assigned to develop a project in Belize with a Mayan NGO. Back in Europe he continued his own studio with works in the field of product and exhibition design when in 2011 he finally joined BASF to lead the EMEA design studio.