"Invitations" Collection by Common Design Envisions Bringing People Together
Handcrafted in East London.
London-based designer Conor Hacon has launched his latest furniture collection through his studio, Common Design. Named “Invitations”, the pieces aim to be just that – an excuse to bring groups together, sitting on handcrafted chairs around a handcrafted table.
For the collection, Hacon looked to references that ranged from chairs designed by George Hepplewhite, which feature ornate, open backrests, to a mock Tudor mansion designed by architect Norman Shaw in 18880, named Cragside. “I remember visiting [Cragside] with my architecture tutors at the time,” he says. “Someone asked why the inglenook was so large, surely that would decrease the amount of heat held in the space from the fireplace. They answered: ‘it’s symbolic’. From this I took the idea of the warmth of a gesture between the designer and user.”
From his east London studio, each piece has been handcrafted from a combination of ash and fir woods. Six color and finish options are available and are handmade by Hacon from natural pigments and oils. “Each object of the Invitations Collection is designed as a primer to an imagined scene of collectivity and kinship,” he adds.
The collection is rich in specific details. The wider pieces came to fruition after Hacon created the Cruz chair, which features a split backrest detail intended to look like a repeating pattern in reference to togetherness. The Invitations coffee table has slanting fin-like edges, in hopes of inviting sitters to lean in and get closer around the table, while the fruit bowl creates a communal food ritual, featuring painted engrains and warped edges.
Prices for Common Design‘s Invitation Collection are set at £800 GBP (approximately $958 USD) per chair, £2,200 ($2,637 USD) for the coffee table, and £220 ($263 USD) for the fruit bowl.
Take a closer look at the pieces above, and for more design – check out Form Us With Love’s modular “Spine” chair – an office staple made adaptable to ever-changing work environments.
