The move to bring residential elements into the commercial interiors environment continues to be a leading trend today. It can be as meager as adding low lighting or pillows to a space, or, upon noticing things that can be improved upon in subtle but stunning ways, perhaps thinking to add fabric to an electrical cord.
A key influencer in San Francisco is Justin Champaign. The founder of Most Modest, Mr. Champaign is often mentioned as a “designer to watch” by his peers, and noted by clients for creating products that fit perfectly with today’s more curated sensibility. Officeinsight recently met with the designer to get a feel for his products, his creative passion and his speed to market business model.
Most Modest has 4,779 followers on its Instagram stream, which includes photos of products, raw materials and model iterations, cheerfully interspersed with lifestyle and adventure photos. Its website (www.mostmodest.com), while highlighting many of its collaborations with partners (Hightower is one), also allows you to purchase some products online. Soon, several of its newest products will be available for purchase at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Most Modest is obviously doing something right, and seems to be having a lot of fun building a network of collaboration with other designers to expand and enhance its brand.
We visited Mr. Champaign and his design partner, Ben Salthouse, at their light filled studio in the industrial area of South San Francisco. South San Francisco, while only 15 minutes south of the city, feels like a step back into the 1940s – a world apart from the trendy hustle and high rents of San Francisco proper. We were given a tour of their sophisticated model making studio, complete with 3D printer, CNC machine, elaborate wood working tools and even a sewing machine for leather and other soft fibers. Justin’s dog, “CB,” lounged, as if he was waiting for his close up, on a red sofa while we chatted.
Officeinsight (OI) : Can you describe what makes Most Modest unique?
Justin Champaign (JC): All of our products are very design focused and have a style to them, but they also have a layer of functionality and insight imbedded in them. Our focus is to create smart platforms that can play in the middle between residential and commercial applications.
OI: What’s new with Most Modest?
JC: We just returned from our first trade show, New York Now, to get our products in front of retailers nationally and internationally. We had a full collection of goods that showed our aesthetic and brand in its entirety. It was really exciting, because people could get a sense of the foundation of our vision on a retail and residential basis. People have seen what we’ve done for the contract industry with prior products, but this time we were able to show where we’re headed. We take a new approach to craft and also embrace color and material expression. We were different in New York. We stood out. We think we’re at the forefront of something different – American made products.
[Justin shows me Niko, a sculpted octagonal shaped wood power cable featuring a bright colored fabric covered cord. It screams touch me, and you’re delighted when you do.]This is something that I’ve been obsessed with since I graduated from college.
OI: Tell me about that.
JC: I graduated from CCA [California College of the Arts], but in my junior year, I took a class sponsored by DWR [Design Within Reach] that Brian Kane was teaching. Brian got us a tour of the Metropolitan Design Studio, where Jess Sorel and Otto Williams were running the design department. I stayed in touch and was later invited to intern with them.
It was amazing. I immediately knew that was where I wanted to be after school. I got exposure to the business side of contract furniture that I otherwise never would have known about. I saw research; I saw a process that was really interesting to me as an industrial designer who wanted to create meaningful solutions. I was hired on full time.
The transition was happening – that would eventually become Coalesse. I was lucky to be there then because Bob Arko came back, and I got to work with and learn from him at an amazing pace. It was like boot camp for building the brand, and learning about marketing and the business side of things.
OI: Tell me about your “obsession” with power.
JC: I was at Coalesse for four years. The first products I worked on were typical traditional office furniture – casegoods mostly. I was the lead designer (under Jess and Otto) when Coalesse launched Denizen at NeoCon. Power and technology became an obsession for me, because of all the cost and time that was spent figuring out how to conceal those elements and then bring them to the user in a thoughtful and manageable way. Today, we don’t hide those details. We celebrate them. If you design it better there should be no reason to conceal it.
In between Coalesse and starting Most Modest, I was design director for Pablo Designs [A San Francisco based lighting products company, founded by Pablo Pardo]. I incorporated a USB port into the very first product I designed for them.
I became interested in the combination of power and lighting, and in the idea of using lighting as a conduit to bring power to the user.
OI: Tell me about the product design community here.
JC: It’s a small community in San Francisco. We’re happy for our counterparts. We work with the other local furniture guys all the time. I’ll email Brian Graham or Brian Kane and ask for advice. Or Derek Chen with Council. We all help each other. It’s an awesome community. Ultimately I’d like to leverage this idea to other parts of the country – to bring in new designers to collaborate with and have fun with.
OI: You’ve been quoted using the term “honest design.” What does ”honest design” mean to you?
JC: It’s taking the details essential to products (like power and technology) and celebrating them. It’s choosing to use constraints as an opportunity to differentiate ourselves.
OI: Can you describe your design process?
JC: I do a lot of sketching and make rough models here in the shop. I try to get to a crude and quick model fast. Then we get into 3D imaging and revise it. I try to learn from failures, saving the good elements for later designs.
OI: How much time does that take for you?
JC: We’ve gotten it down pretty quick. [Mr. Champaign shows the Jackson Stool, made for Hightower] We did this stool in two to three weeks from design to prototype. We perfected it out of paper and cardboard, and then had a sheet metal prototype made. We can move this fast because we built so many prototypes. We learn from our failures. We learn and move on.
[He shows the Nico Power Dock, which they made prototypes for in two days, sketch to demo.]
OI: What are some challenges you run into?
JC: There are a lot of strategies in bringing this product to market. We had to vet our supply chain and build the infrastructure here to sell it.
OI: Ben, how did you start your career?
Ben Salthouse (BS): I started my career working at the Michael Graves studio in Princeton, New Jersey. One of my friends there was doing an exhibition for NeoCon at the Guerilla Truck Show [an offsite show, now discontinued, where people would rent trucks and pull up next to the docks in the meat packing district in Chicago]. I went there to show a lamp that I designed, and Justin happened to come through. He offered to tour me at Pablo, which he did. About a year later I reached out to him again.
JC: I was a couple of months into the start of Most Modest when Ben contacted me. I was buried, and I said, “Can you come out tomorrow?” We worked out of my apartment for the first six months. We’ve stuck to our ethics and worked hard for the people we’ve worked with, and it’s now coming to a place where the dots are starting to connect.
OI: How do you go to market?
JC: We do a lot of social media. It’s contributed to a lot of our relationships. We have a photographer who comes in monthly to document us, our products and our process in a really professional way. We’ve been able to curate the brand from the beginning to make it a “high fidelity” experience for our followers.
OI: What’s next?
JC: Now we’re doing trade shows. We’re doing Unique SF at Fort Mason on September 19-20th and we’re doing West Coast Craft in November. We did New York Now, which was a massive investment for us, but totally worthwhile.
We’ll also be in the San Francisco MOMA, and we have several other exciting retail outlets that I can’t disclose just now.
OI: How do you stay inspired?
JC: Through travel and a focusing on leading a balanced life. We bike and camp and reward ourselves with things like buying a canoe- if we attain a goal. Since all of our money goes back into the business, it makes it more fun to have the company pay for some adventures along the way.
[Mr. Salthouse and Mr.Champaign are both avid bicyclists. Mr. Salthouse, in fact, biked cross country from Philadelphia through Colorado and up to Vancouver, before ending in San Francisco. It took four months, and he averaged 60 miles per day.]OI: What do you enjoy most about your work?
JC: The freedom and the fact that we’re doing what we love. We have great partners, like Hightower. And the ability to make mistakes and learn from them. Being in South San Francisco allows us to stay focused on our work and not on crazy rent prices.
OI: How do you work with Hightower?
JC: Scott Hartkopf and his daughters, Natalie and Rachel Hartkopf, started the company about 10 years ago in their garage. Scott had been an executive at Steelcase, and then he saw an opportunity to build something. We’ve been working together for three years now. It’s a very successful company, growing rapidly. When I started working with them, they were transitioning from importing most of their products to building an in-house product development capability. I worked with them to develop that. A product we’re launching in two weeks (Arlo) is the output of our collaboration. It’s executed on a level that you really don’t see- except in Europe. The design challenged us on all levels, but we did it in six months. It’s being manufactured in North Carolina, which is very exciting!
OI: What drives innovation from your point of view?
JC: It’s incremental. It can be hard for larger companies to capitalize on research, at least at the point where it’s most relevant. For us, we know it’s incremental. It’s small steps and about being thoughtful. It’s about producing it now.
OI: What most distinguishes West Coast designers?
JC: Technology. And the polar opposite; the focus on craft. We have a community of collaboration here. It’s great! No one’s secretive or protective.
OI: What advice would you have for young designers?
JC: Don’t give up. Stay focused and creative. Don’t be afraid to fail and to take risks. If you have an idea, follow through on it. Network- but be authentic in those relationships. And work with people you believe in.
OI: What are your Five Faves – products, rituals, or things you can’t live without?
JC:
- Camping gear and food discovery in the Bay Area.
- Porsche 911s. I love the evolution of the details over the years.
- Coffee. We’re not snobs; location is key.
- Skateboarding. We skateboard to get coffee every morning.
- Bicycles; cross bikes and road bikes. Weekend adventures all over California.
