Theo Williams by Enrico Morteo

Fairly often, one hears the Anglo-Saxon method for coming to grips with problems being over-hastily classified as pragmatic. This judgment is somewhat superficial. It is almost as if the British's undeniably immediate manner of addressing a problem were a drawback since it lacks the accoutrement of critical/analytical muck and mire.

The truth is that equating pragmatism and simplicity is not always so elementary. At times, the immediacy of the approach is only apparent; thus, rigorously technological designs conceived in strictly functional terms become authentic poetry.

On other occasions, British designers assume a very direct approach, which enables their objects to capture all the complexity of a given situation without overloading them with Baroque semantic implications. These esteemed young designers include Jasper Morrison, Ron Arad, Nigel Coates, and Mark Newson. Theo Williams seems to have some relation with their approach.

Domus 734 January 1992

Giving form to function.

What makes this young designer different from his British peers is his work experience, not his training.
After receiving his degree in Industrial design in Manchester, he commenced almost immediately creating for some Italian businesses. In 1992, in Aldo Cibic's office, he worked on a project for the car maker Fiat. Then, he worked with Marco Zanuso Jr. on furnishings and lighting designs and is a design consultant for Technogym Italia.

In 1993, he began steadily working for Nava Design as a graphic and product design consultant; he has created products for Authentics, Alessi, Benetton, Ritzenhoff, Prada, and Armani. He likes to think that the objects he designs have a certain rationality and that the form expresses what the function suggests without going overboard with useless decorations. Yet, the indelible imprint of the designer's style is left on the article.

Domus 803 April 1998

Making Materials Speak by Dario Moretti

Theo Williams, an Englishman in Italy who hasn’t forgotten the pragmatism and immediacy of British social design. From Manchester to Milan, with substance from Cibic to Zanuso. Designers coming and going, the value of Italy on the world scene is also measured by the traffic of young foreign designers who come to Italy to learn the secrets of the trade. Theo Williams, a thirty-three-year-old Englishman, has not only absorbed the secrets that he came to learn in the studios of Aldo Cibic (where he worked on car design projects) and Marco Zanuso (where he worked with illumination and furnishings). He also fits well into the fabric of Italian design-oriented companies, including the fashion world; he designed for Prada (with Pierluigi Cerri) and a line of desk accessories for Armani.

 After earning his degree in Manchester in 1990, he got involved in the best English tradition with modular structures for public areas destined for children’s games. The pragmatism and immediacy of English social design have remained in his vocabulary, notwithstanding his “dip” into Italian design, giving rise to a language that succeeds in being essential and interesting simultaneously. Talking about minimalism makes no sense for him; rather, Williams is a designer who makes materials talk—succinctly, just like an Englishman.

This is the origin of his subdued notebook solutions for Authentics and his important innovations: nothing less than a new concept in champagne glasses to replace the classic flute. In a few years, Williams has created a series of small objects that insert themselves into the daily scene with a tranquil but precise identity: among the latest is a camera for children that has the fascination of a toy, given that it is essential that children immediately gain control of the vocabulary of images.

 Williams's simplicity also applies to furnishings (the Davos line for Consonni: beds, sofas, and tables), and it would be lovely to see it translated into objects of more significant dimensions and presence in domestic as well as urban furnishings.

Ottagono Italia - 2000

Theo Williams is the most "British" of Italians. He's designed accessories for Nava, others for Benetton, packaging for CK Jeans, and perfumes for Salvatore Ferragamo. He collaborated with Art Partners & Mario Testino on new Cesar and Sheba pet food packaging. He also took on the artistic direction of the Japanese store "Mono Come Cá," delving deeply into the world of accessories.
Over the past two years, this has led him to collaborate with the brand Lexon, for which he has designed multiple award-winning Designs.

More importantly, he brought meticulous artistic direction and careful supervision of the brand's image and packaging, elevating Lexon into a realm of quality.

Intramuros 105 Feb-March 2003

Wave Theory
Williams’ corporate mantra is balanced with modernity. He has a distinctive ethos in our brand-conscious society: He wants the buyer to connect with the object, viscerally or subconsciously. For consumers to take possession of the objects, to describe his designs as “my new lamp, not my new designer lamp.” That’s the way our Theo is. Unpretentious, down- to- earth.

How to get a head start in design-Annoy the neighbours. Build skateboard ramps. It’s the practical exercise of young architects the world over- from California to, apparently Bristol, England. Theo Williams is one of those boys. You can see the curve of a half-pipe in the wooden headboard he built into his Davos bed. It’s a little lower than the wave Tony Hawk skates on, but the influence is definitely there. At 33 years old, the Brit designer doesn’t have much time to skate these days. (He does snowboard when he can.) Williams is too busy working two jobs in two different countries. His own studio in Milan produces freelance products and graphic design for the likes of Alessi, Benetton, Dornbracht, Poltona Frau, Prada and Tronconni, Loot ranges from clever promotions and cutesy kitchen ware to sleek chaise lounges sure to make women go week in the knees.

Innovative & familiar.
The basis of all his design is simple, strong and straightforward. The kind of care free sexiness you would expect from an ex-skater growing into a debonair gentleman. Everyday impressions and memories inform sensual objects that are both innovative and familiar. Nature and modernity meld as easily as an ollie against brutal concrete. Some designs are blatant: An Alessi honey jar looks like a little glass bee hive. Others are more subtle. Williams’s points out that his ‘Fold’ floor and hanging lamps for Tronconni “were meant to be like candles….I love the way the inside of a candle burns and you are left with two different types of diffused light.”

Williams was recently given the prestigious job of Art Director at Lexon in Paris. The company makes functional, clean design in innovative materials. Williams makes your daily grind a little more fun. Sensuous pens, slim flashlights, a retro-future radio, a colourful computer mouse, the coolest mechanism for keeping your phone cord out of the way (at last!).

Williams also commutes to Paris once a week top foster Lexon’s image and promote it as the innovative design company it is.
Theo offers his pitch in strong West Country accent: “This is a great company because it thrives on gut reaction. ‘Let’s do it, because we like it’ is the fantastic philosophy of (big boss) Rene Adda, who inspires me all the time. When we believe in something, we go with it.”

SURFACE - April/May 2001 - by Wendy Dembo