About as soon as Bend Good’s Lucy Chair rolled out into the marketplace, it became a contemporary icon. Artistically sculptural in shape with nods to iconic mid-century designs and a look to the future, the chair attracted architects and interior designers in droves. While it makes a statement indoors, it’s also built to stand up to the elements outside. Best of all, Bend Good’s products are built with sustainability at the forefront of their priorities, and using them contributes toward LEED certification.
Today we’re having a chat with Gaurav Nanda, the founder of Bend Goods. Gaurav is not a jack of all trades — he’s a master of many. His many skills include sculpting, t-shirt printing, clay-pot throwing, contributing to automobile design and entrepreneurship.
Is there anything in particular in your background that drove/helped you with the designs for Bend Goods — automotive design, sculpture, throwing pots? Design in general has always been a very big interest of mine. I still today love to learn about different materials and love to work with different mediums that I have never worked with before. It really does shape your perspective. When you can look at something and see it for the process it took to make it and not just the end result, you get a deeper appreciation for it. It can sometimes also spark an idea or give you a realization about something completely unrelated that you are working on. That’s the best part about a creative job. the creativity breeds and multiplies and seeps into everything that you might be working on.
What attracted you to working with metal in this way? Working in the auto industry, building models kind of lead me to metal. It’s always fascinated me how you can take a material like metal and mold and shape it into something very sleek and beautiful. There is something about metal that has this chameleon quality to just turn into anything you can imagine. I chose iron for it’s sustainability. It’s one of the most recyclable materials on the planet, and sustainability is something that is very important to me.
I love the way you present your products with dancing videos! What inspired that idea? I’m glad that you like it. I had been brainstorming creative ways of getting the animal heads exposure and trying to figure out how to do that in a very creative way. I met a filmmaker online and we brainstormed many different ideas. A modern dance really seemed like the best way to give the animals personality but also function.
You began Bend Goods with seating and tables (I’m assuming?). What gave you the idea for the trophies and other accessories? How did you choose the animals? The seating definitely came first. When I started the company it was called Bend Seating for that reason. Then as I started to move into tables and eventually the trophy heads, we switched the name to Bend Goods. I’ve always had many interests in terms of design. I started with seating knowing that one day I would want to build an entire collection. The idea is to create classic designs that you could potentially outfit an entire home with. The trophy heads to me were a lot of fun to develop. I’ve always been a big fan of mounted taxidermy, but there is definitely something sad about the process. I wanted to put a modern more humane spin on that form of art. I chose the animals because I wanted to represent the power in the animal kingdom. I think that each animal that we have represented is very majestic and powerful in it’s own right.
What’s your workspace like? How does it inspire you? We are actually in the process of moving work spaces. We started Bend in a live/work loft in Marina Del Rey, California and earlier this year started to become very aware that we were rapidly outgrowing the space. We spent many months going back and forth trying to decide our next step and finally landed on buying a house. We now reside just south of Hollywood in what we are currently designing to be a living catalogue. It will be a space where we can have meetings and invite designers and architects over to see the furniture in a natural useable setting. It has an amazing backyard with a pool and a detached garage that will be our workspace and photo studio. It really is going to become a mini Bend Compound and we couldn’t be more excited about it. For me the process of building this space has given the brand life and shown me what is truly possible with what we are creating. Being able to live in a space that is all Bend Goods with some mid century modern pieces mixed in will inspire me every day and allow me to really think about where to go next and what we need to develop next.
[I hope they will share a house tour with us when it's ready!]
Do you have any design heroes or favorite designs that have influenced your work? Designers like Harry Bertoia, Warren Platner, Charles and Ray Eames to name a few are always big influences for me in terms of design and being progressive. Their work is what made me want to start doing what I do today.
Any advice for how to get out of a creative rut/block? Don’t sit and stare at the same spot on the wall and think that you will be inspired. We live in a day and age where you can work for almost anywhere on the planet. Find a place that inspires you and get out of your comfort zone.
Thanks so much to Gaurav for taking the time to speak with us today. We cannot wait to see the Bend Goods House!
Shop Bend Goods
