Ibrahim Ibrahim: man with a passion


We go in for the close-up with owner and MD of Portland Design Ibrahim Ibrahim and find out what drives him and what vision he has for the future. He talks to David Tarpey


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Growing up over a fish and chip shop in Seventies' Bermondsey, southeast London and unable to read or write properly at 11 doesn't shout opportunity ,yet Ibrahim Ibrahim turned it in to a motivation. He says of his early circumstances: 'It gives you a fear of failure.' But he needn't have fretted.

Supported by his Turkish Cypriot parents, he went on to qualifiy as an aeronautical engineer, later a post-graduate of the Royal College of Art and London's Imperial College, and today is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a regular speaker on the conference circuit and blogger for The Economist.

The Montreux Jazz Café at Harrods by Portland Design. Below left, Terminal 2 at Heathrow, also by Portland Design

The Montreux Jazz Café at Harrods by Portland Design. Below left, Terminal 2 at Heathrow, also by Portland Design

Then there's Portland Design, the design practice of which he is owner and MD. Its clients span retail, F&B and public spaces between Europe and the Middle East, and its expertise takes in strategic research. Ibrahim's favourite project seems to be the Montreux Jazz Café, opened in Harrods in 2012 and now rolling out through Paris and towards the Gulf. It embodies one of his passions, jazz, and the immersive experience that he forsees developing in retail. Design is his passion and in this case, it's not a cliché. For Ibrahim , the word design seems sacred, like a faith.

He talks of it with reverence. He says: 'Design isn't just a job. It has to be part of who and what you are. I have a complete belief in the importance of design and what it means to society. It's far too important to be left to celebrities and the shallow way it is sometimes treated. Designers can contribute greatly to society if they use their insight and skills in the right way.

'If done with the right creativity, they can enhance and change the mood of a place and of the people using it.'

Constantly travelling the world, Ibrahim pinpoints London as 'the epicentre of global retail design', which he thinks is down to its identity as a highly diverse, cosmopolitan metropolis set in a country with a DNA well suited to creative pursuits.

'Individualism and non-conformist artistic expression are very prevalent here,' he says. 'This country, and especially London, embraces difference. The recent photo of artist [cross-dressing] Grayson Perry receiving his CBE in hat and dress surrounded by the traditional Beefeaters is a great example. We treasure mavericks. And with my dual cultural background, I can appreciate this as the Turkish mindset is so different. I'm also lucky as I can enjoy both Turkish and British jokes. And the British sense of humour permeates in to our workplace, where there is great banter and wit. This comes out in our design.'

When he talks of Portland Design, it's neither with ego nor narcissistic naked ambition but with a considered, humble intent: 'We have 35 staff but we want to grow our matter rather than our numbers. I want to create a rewarding and insightful business with a culture that wants to learn and develop and help each other. And I want to share our thinking with others.'

His thinking is deep and extensive. Well read, he plucks quotes from gurus and sages such as scientist and writer Susan Greenfield, educationalist Sir Ken Robinson and author Simon Sinek. An irrepressible optimist ('that can be exhausting!'), and inspired by his father, he has his own well-considered theories of what lies ahead in the world of design.

Looking at the retail sector, he sees rapid and exciting change. Citing best UK examples of retail complexes, he mentions Liverpool One and Bristol's Cabot Circus. He believes that the isolating effect of the digital age means that people are now looking to connect more with each other and that stores will become centres to learn about the products and their uses, to test them, to meet the like-minded and enjoy the conviviality of social contact. He sees tills vanishing as purchasing is increasingly happening via smart phones, and so he envisages sales assistants morphing into hosts, demonstrators and facilitators.

He foresees shopping malls becoming more like giant community centres with a range of experiential opportunities alongside stores that will no longer be as defined separate areas. 'It will be like an irrigation of the shopping centre and the public realm,' he says.

Based on extensive research and analysis, his crystal-ball gazing reveals a world where renting, hiring and sharing replaces outright ownership, as acquiring 'stuff' is echewed as unnecessary in an ever-more urban society with limited living space and a desire to avoid clutter. He sees this shared, temporary, rented culture covering a range of consumables, from drills to handbags.

In Ibrahim's vision consumers will become participants and there will be an overwhelming public demand for transparency and traceability in goods and services. Localism is one of his hobby horses, and he anticipates that with the spread of new arrivals, such as the 3D printer, there will be a revolution in how people obtain items in a bespoke, personalised way close to where they are.

There is mostly just a positive Ibrahim on show. But when I ask about his fears, his mood clouds over a touch. His main concern is about graduates and what they are not equipped with as they emerge for a job.

'To train as a designer has become the fashionable thing to do. There are so many coming on stream. But because the education system has become so industrialised, they are churning them through like fodder.

'But with so many, something is missing. You can't be a designer if you're not engaged in culture. You have to have other reference points. Being a designer involves a thinking process but it's also a way of thinking. You need to be a culture junkie.'








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