One to Watch: Harvey & John


Friends since primary school and now with their own studio, these two deliver playful, engaging design


FX

Who

Richard Harvey & Keivor John have been friends since primary school and (perhaps by fate) ended up working together at advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy after graduating from London College of Communication and Falmouth University respectively in 2010.

Tropism Well Designed as a take on the drinking fountain, Harvey & John says: ‘She is graceful, giving and always looking for a new friend.’ When approached, ‘she’ gently bows to fill their glass, which causes an interesting response: people often bow back and saying thank you. It feels like something living so people treat it with that kind of respect.’
Tropism Well Designed as a take on the drinking fountain, Harvey & John says: 'She is graceful, giving and always looking for a new friend.' When approached, 'she' gently bows to fill their glass, which causes an interesting response: people often bow back and saying thank you. It feels like something living so people treat it with that kind of respect.'

With backgrounds in interaction design and spatial design, the duo set up their studio in Brixton in 2011 using simple design principles: 'What we make has to be playful, engaging and real - not just a cold screen.'

Why

While at Wieden + Kennedy we noticed there was a growing desire to make more interactive, emotive, real experiences; we then set up a studio to do just that,' they say.

Pluck & Hug This is a multisensory light installation that invites guests to touch, play, observe and interact. Each giant bubble can be plucked from its stem and hugged, causing it to gently glow; the bigger the squeeze, the greater the glow. Once plucked from a magnetic charging stem the glowing bubble will remain charged and glowing for several hours.
Pluck & Hug This is a multisensory light installation that invites guests to touch, play, observe and interact. Each giant bubble can be plucked from its stem and hugged, causing it to gently glow; the bigger the squeeze, the greater the glow. Once plucked from a magnetic charging stem the glowing bubble will remain charged and glowing for several hours.

They designed The Floating Orchestra - levitating ping-pong balls, controlled via a mobile phone - as a way to attract commissions.

Commissioned by Microsoft, this installation was created to connect people in a novel way at its worldpartner conference. With each new tweet about the event a bird lands on one of nine branches, which then bows for the bird to reveal the tweet. When branches are full, they move back up, the birds fly off and the tree is ready again for new tweets.
Commissioned by Microsoft, this installation was created to connect people in a novel way at its worldpartner conference. With each new tweet about the event a bird lands on one of nine branches, which then bows for the bird to reveal the tweet. When branches are full, they move back up, the birds fly off and the tree is ready again for new tweets.

'Thankfully this worked, as Ford commissioned us to make Dancing Spheres, which levitated spheres in sync with the music of a live DJ,' they say.

Where
harveyandjohn








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