Todd Bracher is a designer in the most fundamental sense. He’s a problem solver who is inspired by complex challenges and the depth of the stories behind them. His desire to continue learning comes as a refreshing and rational approach to design.
While Bracher has designed for some of the most reputable companies around the world, his drive is rooted in understanding brand identity and motives, market goals, and human behavior. With an emphasis on research and collaboration, equal parts of technical expertise, strategy, and design consideration go into his studio’s work.
Founded in 1999 and based in New York City, Todd Bracher Studio draws upon his international experience and a network of experts that he has built over two decades. He spent 10 years living, working and teaching in Copenhagen, Milan, London and Paris.
We enjoyed every second of our conversation with Bracher, who shared what he loves about design, new projects, and problem solving for the COVID-era.
Tell us about what you do.
The main two functions of what we do in the studio is mostly furniture design, and then advisory work. The advisory ranges from product road mapping to identifying opportunities that are moving in the market. We want to understand the relevance a product has to the business and how it can help push a company in a certain direction.
How do you describe the balance between research and design?
As a designer, you’re supposed to execute a design brief, and then you hand the product and design back to the company. You hope it’s marketed well, you hope it’s the right opportunity, you hope it’s at the right price, there’s a lot you just hope for.
Around 2007, we were asked to do certain things and we would think, “this makes no sense, have you thought about it this way?” We knew the market was shifting, we saw younger people were having influence in the workforce, and we said hey, we’re going to help write the brief, define the opportunities, drive the businesses for growth. That gives us more value for our company, as well as makes our products more successful, since they are tied to a metric of success, as opposed to “we hope it sells, we hope people think it looks nice.”
What kind of team do you work with to support your research?
We’re small. Tina and I are the day to day, we’re the core of the business. I do the design, she’s mostly working on the strategy. We also have 18 experts, who tap into another layer of what we do. We might be working with this type of architect, this type of technology or science, whatever it might be. We’ve developed a lot of partnerships over the years.
What is the most important thing to think about when expressing a brand identity?
What we are interested in is if it lines up all the business objectives, all the human objectives, the cultural objectives. We start with the research into what are we bringing to the table to advance the business, and we want to be relevant to an emerging audience.
It’s not about us [the designers], it’s about establishing a metric so the client knows when we are winning. So rather than, “is it just nice?”, we ask, “is it improving your environmental condition? Is it moving you closer to this new market you want to get to? Does it fit within your facility?”
That’s sort of the last thing we think about, is what it looks like. It’s about if it’s right and relevant for the market.
Are there any projects that were more challenging than others? How were you able to creatively solve for it?
This sounds so strange… The more challenging ones are the ones that say, “do what you like,” or “do something beautiful,” or “we need another one of these that you’ve done.” For me, that’s really hard to do.
In what ways do you consider the product life cycle when designing?
We are soon launching a product with Humanscale that will be the most sustainable solution in this category. We’re designing it in ways where parts can’t get damaged because we understand how they’re used, we use less materials, create less waste. Humanscale goes out of their way to find alternatives to the status quo. They partner with businesses that are cleaning up the oceans, employing people that are doing things to improve our environment. I appreciate working with a company with such a thorough appreciation for doing the right thing.
Is there anything you’d like to design that you haven’t yet?
That’s the question I get all the time in the studio. “What’s next?” It could be a birthday cake. I’d be happy with that, just something different. Design, for me, is really a chance to learn. It sheds light on the anthropological, historical, scientific, cultural aspects, all the layers that go into any designing. And of course, the business.
We stay away from things that don’t bring positive solutions to the world. I’m not interested in shopping for names and a brand. I am interested in brands that are looking to embrace the transformative nature of aligning a business opportunity with market relevance.
As a designer who has worked in the US and Europe, what differences do you see between European and American design?
Design is born in the US more from a rational approach, whereas design in Europe is born from a passion, that’s the really big difference. Furniture businesses in Europe are owned by an individual. It’s their passion, a family heritage in many cases. These times are changing, however.
There’s a flip side, depending on which metric you use to measure. Sales or beauty? I love making beautiful work, though at the end of the day, I am drawn to the business side of design, which is more interesting in the US. It is a rational approach, because it’s how you can sustain a business. I spend a lot of my time doing that work, it’s where my heart is. European designers often struggle in the US and vice versa.
Are there any American designers or American design thoughts that have inspired you and that you see as doing something different in the world?
Living as an American in Europe for 10 years, you’d catch a lot of flack for being American. There were a few companies where I was one of the first American designers, like Zanotta and Fritz Hansen. It would be a tough argument with my colleagues. But then I’d say, “Well, hold on – Apple computers, Coca-Cola, IBM.” These are some of the greatest designs mankind’s ever made. What Elon Musk has been able to achieve with some of his work, not so much in the execution, but just in the visionary mindset. These are all very much designed-led businesses. They’re helping shape our culture. I’m really inspired by what I see coming out of the stage, not so much in the furniture way, but in the “bigger D” design way… and honestly, Europe has to catch up on this front in my opinion.
We have to design for what’s 2-3 years ahead, sometimes even further, and not what we see today.
Have you had any projects recently that have been impacted with Covid?
We work with a former scientist of NASA who was responsible for the light on the international space station. He wrote a patent 12 years ago about pandemic control with a specific wavelength of UV light that’s proven to deactivate pathogens. We’ve been partnering with this business and we’re generating a lot of product that’s going to bring light into the commercial sphere in helping create truly safe and healthy environments. To me, this is way more interesting than making sort of a nice-looking sofa. It’s really making a difference and that’s what we find interesting.
How do you see experiential design changing in the COVID era?
I read a lot about what the workplace is going to look like and get asked a lot about it. Distancing, sneeze guards, barriers… that’s not how you’re going to win or defeat this type of situation. That’s all temporary and provides a false security. I believe the solutions will come from scientists and technology.
I’ve always said that the furniture industry should be acquiring technology companies, that’s the future of workplace. I think it’s close collaborations, integrations, that will be how we’ll deal with Covid.