Stone & Sawyer - Julian Peploe & David Ryan BY MICHAEL DAKS Julian Peploe and David Ryan are the vision behind Stone and Sawyer. As friends, designers and visual artists, they created the company to satisfy their search for the perfect lamp. Initial- ly inspired by mid-century design and designers like Gunnar Nylund and Otto and Gerturd Natzler, David and Julian produced their first line of Stone and Sawyer lamps in 2014. Learn more in their interview with Michael Daks.
Daks : Hi Julian! When I first met you, you were an art director at Sony Music in New York. Was that your dream job at the time? Peploe : Hi Michael! It’s hard to believe that so much time has passed. Yes, Sony was definitely a dream job. Oddly it took me several years to realize that without seeking it I had landed my ideal creative position. The nature of being an Art Director in the music industry is that you have to constantly reimagine yourself creatively so that in turn each campaign you create is unique to the artist or band. So many creative professions require designers to work within narrow parameters. Every day for me at Sony was a challenge,
something new, and I thrive on that. There was also of course the excitement of working with pop stars. At twenty-three, when I first started, I couldn’t believe I was sitting next to someone I'd only seen in magazines, on posters, billboards, television. Suddenly they were looking right at me for answers! It was terrifying; but quickly that was replaced with a sense of incredible opportunity. And back then, before Napster and streaming services changed the face of the music industry, there were big budgets. We could create elaborate photo-shoots and packaging, work with pretty much any photographer we chose, it was a fantastic time.
46
Powered by FlippingBook