Introducing Studio Turn Around

an interview with Vic Cautereels

Designer Vic Cautereels has been teaching for more than a decade, and has seen trends come and go at DAE and in his professional practice – most recently, a shift away from the aspirational idea of the “celebrity designer”. Now, as the leader of Studio Turn Around in Design Academy EIndhoven’s BA department, his mission is to cut through the “blah blah blah” and help students channel their natural curiosity into a critical approach to design and its role in the world.

Professionally, Cautereels is a creator of design and product concept solutions, with a studio based in Antwerp, Belgium. As well as product design, he offers design management and consultancy services, and is involved with the development of a wide range of consumer products. His career includes periods working with major corporations as well as as an independent designer.

Writer and DAE alumnus Emma Lucek spoke to Cautereels about his practice, design education, consumption patterns, and his vision for Studio Turn Around.

“Learning comes from both sides. It’s not just a one-way thing”

→ Emma Lucek: You’ve worked as a professional in the design field in various facets – at deSter with a global airline brands portfolio, and at Tupperware for example – but also borne witness to the very beginning of new careers and early student projects. How would you say that those two scales inform each other in your design thinking?

Vic Cautereels: I have learned from working in and for global economic structures that the creation of concepts and the appreciation of value aren’t that different to what we’re doing at DAE. Obviously, there are differences, but it’s not because of the scale of the, on the one hand, the global companies and on the other side, this little school in Eindhoven. It doesn’t follow, in my experience, that if the scale is different, the approach will be different. In both scenarios, it’s about creating an idea and a strong concept. Probably the main difference is that for the businesses, the main driver is economic. At the school, we luckily don’t have that restriction.

→ EL: As a designer working in the field and as a tutor working in education, you’re balancing two wild animals — how do you see those two types of work?

These wild animals, you know, they’re different. And it’s great to see those differences. The preciseness that my company asks of me is the liberty that I’m able to have with the educational programme at the Academy. It’s interesting, because being a tutor sometimes reminds me of being in a senior management position, where you don’t actually do the designing. But I have to say that I’ve been enjoying it a lot – seeing them grow and learn and become experienced with the profession of design. It’s an absolute joy.

→ EL: Have you noted a shift in interest or attitude from the students over the years?

VC: I’ve been teaching for about 12 years now. I can’t speak on the Academy’s very long history, but in the last decade or so, there are some undeniable changes that have happened. Of course, some of these changes have to do with the landscape of design, but the changes that come to mind relate to the management of the school, where visions have been flipped over, turned around, changed and re-changed. I think in the end it’s a good thing.

When I started teaching, the departments were headed by designers with celebrity status, which gave them a lot of liberties. Jumping to what’s happening here today, I have the feeling that we’re back to being one school now, more unified, with the board having better oversight over the educational programme.

Vic Cautereels. Photo by Boudewijn Bollmann

“Being critical towards the world around us is absolutely crucial”

→ EL: As a tutor, what is the most valuable lesson you have learned from your students? And what is the key lesson that you’re aiming to communicate with Studio Turn Around?

VC: It’s true that the learning comes from both sides. It’s not just a one-way thing, which, honestly, I didn’t realise until I started. Looking back at it, I actually think I should have started teaching much earlier. I like the experience because you come into contact with people of a certain age who – while looking at things very consciously – also have a perspective and outlook that is unspoiled by the global firms that I spoke about before. In fact, the main element of learning has to do with attitude. Sure, there are some main skills that need to be learned, but it’s about being curious and building up knowledge and being observant and critical.

→ EL: In the introduction to Studio Turn Around you write about the Studio being an effort to “escape the meaningless blah blah blah culture embedded in global political, economic and environmental realities”. Could you tell me a bit more about that?

VC: In each of those domains – politics, economic, economics, environment – there is a lot of “blah, blah, blah,” going on. And then there’s a tremendous fluidity of opinions. When Greta Thunberg addressed the United Nations, she told these leaders that they aren’t addressing the real issues, that they were talking parallel to the issues. And there is a lot of “blah, blah, blah,” today, and it’s getting worse. If we’re not careful and we don’t address the definition of our design practice and address real topics, this will also continue creating a blur in design. Being critical towards the world around us, particularly towards our economy and consumption patterns, is absolutely crucial.

“Contemporary consumption patterns suck”

→ EL: One of the key challenges facing designers and design students today is linked to consumption patterns and mass waste creation — what do you say to those who would advocate for slowing the cycle of ceaseless production? Do you think we have enough already?

VC: This is what I meant regarding building up a critical attitude: that’s a very valid question. Contemporary consumption patterns suck. And the responsibility of designers is huge in this domain. There are two main options, in my opinion, which can be illustrated with projects by recent Studio Turnaround students. The first option is to design things that we can return to nature, like in the case of Thomas Norman who has just been nominated for the Green Product award for developing a bio-based furniture system. The other option is to design to last forever, as in the case of Thomas Mair who designed a modular coffee machine that is easily and endlessly repairable. As far as I see it, we as designers can do either one or the other. But the economy isn’t really built for either.

EL: What is coming up next for you and for Studio Turn Around and Look Ahead?

VC: There is a lot to be done in the way that I look at design and the way that I look at the criticism that we need to have towards our economic reality. And that is one thing that I will keep on fighting for, probably, the rest of my life – or at least the rest of my professional life. And I want to continue fighting for this type of discussion to have a place within the Academy.