Sebastian Bergne has been appointed as the new course director of Kingston University's Product and Furniture Design MA.
Renowned for his human approach to design, Bergne has worked with a varied range of brands such as De Beers, Moulinex and Procter and Gamble in a diverse and influential career. As well as collecting more than 40 design awards, his work is included in the permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Design Museum in London.
Following his graduation from the Royal College of Art, the influential designer founded his studio in 1990 and quickly made an impression with a unique acid etching manufacturing process which produced a distinctive, award-winning stainless steel lampshade. "The product's inception was very much in line with the 'thinking through making' ethos that informs the work taking place at Kingston University's Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture," Berge said. "I manufactured a product that had a niche, was useful, and the production costs enabled me to sell it at an attractive price - it was the equivalent of my first hit single."
Designers have an increasingly important role to play in society by helping find creative solutions to issues affecting our communities, according to Bergne. "Being resourceful and creative people, I don't see it as unreasonable that designers could get involved with politics and solving problems within a country's infrastructure, examining how communities work or how to help industry to find intelligent product solutions," he stated. "I want to help students discover how to operate in a way that feels right for them and studying an MA is a great way of taking your thinking to the next level and learning how to find your own creative space."