Dick Powell : Hi there. We're here!
Richard Seymour : Hello this is Richard online!
Chat Ed : Hi lads :) Right first question...
Nathan : What is your favourite product that you have designed?
Dick Powell : People always ask this! So hard... erm... kitchen appliances. My fave was a toaster called The Classic.
Richard Seymour : Mine was the Scorpion motorcycle before it got mashed about by the client!
joanna : i liked the bog seat!
Linley : What products, in your opinions, are crying out for a design overhaul?
Richard Seymour : Two things upset me. One is the hole in the wall at banks and the other is the video tape recorder (none of us can programme the damn things!)
Dick Powell : I've had endless frustrations with ironing boards, but don't get the idea I do that much ironing!
ed : whatever happened to the bioform bra?
Dick Powell : I'm very happy to say that after 2 years of development the bio-form will be launched this October.
Chat Ed : woohoo!
Dick Powell laughs
Nathan : Have you designed anything that you felt sure would be a great product but it hasn't been taken up by manufacturers?
Dick Powell : Yes loads!
Richard Seymour : One I can think of, which is a light weight motorcycle for commuters in cities.
Dick Powell : Our job as designers is to dream and sometimes these things don't work out. But we deal in ideas, and there is always a better one round the corner.
iwantanalienforchris : What is your most successful project to date?
Dick Powell : Probably not commercially, but I would choose the first cordless kettle, which paradoxically solved the problem that most people never realised they had.
Richard Seymour : Hmm that's a hard one... erm... commercially speaking the Baby - G, which we designed several of for Casio in Japan.
nanook : I've got one of those!!
Dick Powell : That's great nanook!
Marie Mosely : Had you ever thought about re-designing wheelchairs for the disabled? I've just spent some time in the US with very, very wealthy people who are disabled and found it amazing that there wasn't some kind of system to enable them to push a button and raise the chair to other people's level when having a conversation. Also, they could be made far more user friendly and LOOK nice!
Richard Seymour : The answer is yes we have. There has been some excellent recent work done in the UK and the states. But it isn't just wheelchairs, it's everything, it all needs a good re-working, the whole bloody lot.
Nick : Over the years there must have been some jobs that looked simple, but effectively defeated you. Do you have any examples? (But not many I'm sure !)
Richard Seymour : No, we've had some pretty close squeaks, but nothing has actually stopped us yet.
Tristan : Is there any product you couldn't design better?
Richard Seymour : Hmmm... tricky one. There are some products and objects which are so magnificent that would be hard to improve like the Rover patent bicycle which is the faithful double triangle frame that we all know and love. But advances in material technology may lull us in a different direction in the future.
Becky : Who or what made you want you want to become a designer??,
Jask : So where did you both meet and train?
Dick Powell : It was a love of art and mechanical things and structures. Design is a blend of these two opposites. We met at the RCA, and ended up teaching on a foundation course both riding motor bikes.
Richard Seymour laughs
Richard Seymour : Yes.
Juliet : What advice do you have for people wanting a career in design?
Richard Seymour : Let me think... Well first, make sure that you undertake a really good foundation course to decide which aspect of design you are most interested in. It may be at the end of this course that you find you have changed your mind and want to pursue a different element of art or design.
Dick Powell : Go to college, yes!
Sweeet : If you cannot afford to patent and research your designs fully - what's the best way to approach business?
Dick Powell : That's a hard one. All my children are laughing at me! It doesn't cost as much as you think to apply for a patent. The best thing you can do is find some people you can trust who know a bit about how industry works.
Dan Knowles : James Dyson genius, or sell out?
Richard Seymour laughs
Richard Seymour : genius or sell out!
Sweeet : Can't you be both?
nanook : GENIUS!
Richard Seymour : James Dyson is a very committed inventor, designer and manufacturer. And he's managed to achieve much with his vacuum cleaner design to date. We are all looking forward to seeing what his next trick is!
Dick Powell : Genius I say! (He said through clinched teeth.)
bigbadpapa : Hi can you let me know when your brilliant new bin will be available and where?
Richard Seymour : No we can't.
nanook : shame
Richard Seymour : As you will have seen from the end credits, things may take quite a long time to show any results.
nanook : Id' love one!
Richard Seymour laughs
Richard Seymour : Thank you.
silentsmith : what about the sanitary towel, would you have a go?
Richard Seymour : We are fearless in our pursuits of improvement for all, there is no depth to which we will not sink!
Lol : Do you think people react to you as designers since doing these TV series?
Dick Powell : Nothing's really changed in the way we work, except that more often people know who you are when you come through the door.
Richard Seymour : All of a sudden you seem to get an up grade on BA too!
Dick Powell : Can't say I've noticed that Rich!
Malcolm : London Eye - visionary design or homage to the bicycle?
Dick Powell chuckles
Dick Powell : Both!
Richard Seymour : I've been on it and it's great!
Dick Powell : It's a marvellous structure, and it makes everyday folk wonder how it stays up.
Bob Knott : What is your dream design job?
Richard Seymour : The answer is we are very fortunate that over the last 16 years to have had a go at many of them. But we'll keep on dreaming.
MichaelW : is there anything that bores you about design?
Dick Powell : Very little that I could ever consider boring, but a great deal that is frustrating. If you saw our first series you would have had some insight into the difficulty of changing mind sets.
Richard Seymour : People who think that the future is the past in a slightly different colour.
honey : Is it easier to redesign than design from scratch?
Dick Powell : Yes it is easier, but less fun. Although some problems prove hard to solve when you are carrying a lot of baggage from past designs.
tigger : Did it satisfy you at all to hear that Armitage Shanks went bust after totally butchering your toilet design?
bella_mac : Is it difficult to abandon your designs when they are rejected by a manufacturer?
Richard Seymour : It wasn't Armitage Shanks, it was Shires and as far as we know they are still in business! Try walking away from your children and see how that feels. You get used to having to just say OK and move on, but it can be very painful sometimes.
dave_d : have you ever considered manufacturing one of your ideas yourself?
Dick Powell : Yes we have, but our business keeps us soooo busy and it always gets put on the back burner.
Nic H : What would you do if you WEREN'T designers?
Richard Seymour : Gracious me! Erm... a musician.
Dick Powell : There are no alternatives for me.
nanook : what do you play?
tigger : What do you play?
Dom : Richard, what do you play?
Richard Seymour : Lots of stuff, including cello and some wind instruments that I never get a chance to practice.
Strings : Richard, would you design your own instrument?
craig : how about designing some instruments?
Richard Seymour : We already have craig.
Chat Ed : oo
Richard Seymour : An electric guitar a long time ago, but it never went into production and more recently an electronic keyboard.
Chat Ed : OK people, it's time to wrap things up now
Richard Seymour : Thanks a lot for all the questions. I know that lots of you have been asking about a second series, but for now we need a break! So we're having a rest. But thanks again. Goodnight!
nanook : good luck with the designing
Pab_online : Cheers Richard & Dick...
matt-le-kat : bye!
Wayne Daly : Night night
m : Bye Rich and Dick
honey : byeeee
Richard Seymour : And sorry we couldn't get to all of your questions answered. Goodbye.
Richard Seymour leaves the room
Dick Powell leaves the room
