Old skills, new styles

Last Tues we shared the evening with Ben Wilson and Benedict Radcliffe. This pair of industrial, product, interior designers and makers of many 'stuffs' were great company as they delivered a talk at UTI down at The Garrison.

We (Luke P) made this poster to advertise their talk within the agency. "Old Skills, New Styles" - because these guys are properly trained makers of stuff, real heavy old school craft skills - but their output is so diverse and at times out there.



Ben was up first. He's bike crazy, massively influenced by all forms of human transportation. Here he is on the left when well young.



This is one of the first bikes he designed and made (he's done over 30 now)



And here is one of those 30 - commissioned by Swarovski, this one is covered in crystals and is worth a cool £30k.



Not just bikes - it's chairs too. Here the Chairfix (one of many designs, this one commissioned and sold by Eley Kishimoto) and below that, a stool for Stussy.





Ben met Benedict at the Art Car Boot Fair - and afterwards they collaborated and made this pedal power wire frame Lamborghini...



And here are both together, Ben on the left, Benedict on the right, riding/driving it around Manchester...



Another of Ben's 'bikes'...



I could go on. Ben's made some serious stuff - check his site for more. One of my personal favourites is a tilting trike that can be pedaled manually by foot or hand and gives people with limited mobility the thrill of a ride. Watch the movie here.

Next up was Benedict. He's got the same influences as Ben - bikes, BMX, skating, vehicles and so on. A trained Architect, he's a bit more hands on than Ben and really likes making it happen. Let's see some of his stuff

He makes bikes...



Motorbikes made out of wire as decor in a restaurant:



Marilyn Monroe on the bonnet of a Beamer - with badge as mole



A huge old spanner - anyone whoever owned a BMW will recognise these



This old Honda 90 was made and adapted for an exhibition in Glasgow...



This gypsy style caravan made for Red Bull as a chill out area:



The Lamborghini gets a new paint job - cool



This cut and shut job of the two back ends of VW Golf's to create an internal space inside where 4 seats face each other



And this bull Beamer



There is so much more on their sites - take a look.

Next up for Ben is an exciting new Bike project that he showed a sneak preview of and we're sworn to secrecy. And Benedict is making a garden installation at the Nike 1948 store out in Shoreditch (Ben, with his brother Oscar, has already done a job on the interior).

So there you have it - 2 1/2 hours of talk in one post - can't really do it justice.

Thanks guys for coming down.