Camira chats with transport designer, Ray Stenning
For over 30 years, Ray Stenning and his team at Best Impressions have been ahead of the curve when it comes to understanding how public transport is presented, perceived and promoted. Working alongside Camira to inspire and provide his expertise for many years, we caught up with Ray to get his thoughts on his colourful design background and where he sees the future of public transport design heading.
For anyone unfamiliar with Ray & his work, we were keen to find out how he found himself in this niche sector of design…
It might sound cliché but I’ve always been interested in transport. My mother always told me the first word I said was ‘bus’. Growing up in a Sussex village, buses passed through infrequently so clearly spotting one was a novelty.
Fast-forward to my mid-teens, I made a conscious effort to dismiss the things I was interested in as a child but realised quite quickly that I couldn’t ignore my penchant for public transport, so I rekindled my interest before choosing to study design.
I never set out to start my own company, it kind of just happened and then grew organically. After college, I needed to help out in my family’s grocery business but also began part-time coach driving for extra cash and to see the transport industry from as many sides as possible!
How did you start working with Camira?
I've never claimed to be a textile designer as such, I rely on your wonderful people to add their professional expertise. We come up with a visual concept and then your team interpret and develop it to make sure it's practical in production. It's all about collaboration and trusting one another. It's about fusing concept with reality; I respect your abilities and take on board any feedback whilst we pool ideas together. I think this is what makes our relationship so successful.
Why do you think it’s important for brands to collaborate with designers, such as yourself?
Design isn't just about making something look pretty. Good design is a powerful business tool, it can affect so many things and it really has strengths and power. Our favourite clients come to us because they know we understand what they're trying to achieve, be it classy, youthful, sombre – we invite clients to let us read their mind and get behind their thoughts. The mission? To turn their abstract direction into something tangible.
Aside from a client’s brief, where do you source your own inspiration?
Ah, here’s an example. I can't remember if it was a picture or the real thing but I saw a bird once and thought, that will make a good livery. It was its markings and colours that caught my attention.
As a designer, you just soak things up. For me, visual language goes in and eventually it comes out as a livery or a moquette design. Inspiration isn’t derived from one single thing. 101 things can have an influence, it's just something that's built into your natural processes.
What quantifies a good design, in your opinion?
I like to mix materials. moquette, real leather or flat cloth, or even a polyurethane with incredibly interesting textures blended into it. I'm not that fond of synthetic leathers. I'm a great believer in celebrating the honesty of a material. If it's a plastic based fabric, why try and disguise this as a leather?
For me, it’s often the little details that make the difference. Take a recent project we’ve been working on for Transdev, each seat has a branded tag on the upholstery seam, creating a bespoke feel. Small details such as contrast stitch detailing are another example of creating almost a couture effect. These little things show care and consideration from the transport provider; showing that they have considered the individual passenger’s seat rather than seating as an overall function.
You talk about how seating should never be referred to as this. Instead, it is a seat for an individual person. How do you apply this to your design process?
Back in the early naughties, we were working with Trentbarton. For their interior upholstery, we alternated coloured moquettes. At the time, I remember the manufacturer couldn’t understand why we had taken that decision. Well, because not all people are the same was my answer. We’re giving people a choice. Once you get on a bus or a train, once you sit down - you need to feel that you own that space. Recently, this concept has been brought to life further with stop buttons and charging ports built into the seat itself. This in turn creates a sense of home, inviting passengers to do what they wish. Whether that’s to take a snooze, gaze out of the window or connect with others through their smart devices. We work with clients to make this possible.
As we all adapt to a new normality post COVID-19, how do you foresee the use of public transport changing?
I think it's too early to say. There are obviously severe threats to the industry but also opportunities that could be grasped.
I do think the industry has a big job to do to influence hearts and minds. We need to be cleverer and kinder. I'm noticing on social media a lot of large companies letting their hair down a bit. They’re friendlier and being nicer to each other. As an industry, we should see more like this. We're an artisan business largely suppling local journeys. The perceived emphasis should always be far more on the customer and heartfelt friendly service. We must love our customers more, basically. Key decision makers should be thinking, why don't we have a whole new world order? Build on community - that's what public transport is all about. I hope we do grasp those opportunities.
With a heightened sense of sanitation and hygiene, do you expect this to influence the fabrics selected for new projects?
Firstly, fabric shouldn't be unhygienic in the first place so I would like to think this heightened awareness of anti-microbial properties is tempered with common sense. Whether you opt for a plush wool moquette fabric or a performance vinyl, each have their own anti-microbial properties and can be enhanced further with post-treatments. Naturally this is something that is factored into transport design, so the industry needs to simply reassure people that travelling on a bus or train is safe.
For customers particularly concerned about this, Camira have pulled together a useful guide highlighting their upholstery solutions for transport here.
On the contract side of our business, we have seen 2020 colour trend predictions that are very much influenced by nature. Looking ahead to 2021 & beyond, which colour trends do you predict within transport design?
I'm not an avid trend follower. I like to be a trend creator. I'm not trying to be arrogant to say that me and my team always set trends but I do believe we’ve triggered a few.
Generally speaking, fabric is on a train, bus or coach seat for a reasonable amount of time. What might be a trend today is likely to have been and gone next year. We should definitely keep an eye on trends but if you can quantify a good design then this will stand the test of time.
Having said this, going ‘Back to Nature’ and respecting our earth is definitely a trend that I too have observed this year. The danger is knowing how to translate this into a public transport environment. You don't want the interior of a bus or rail carriage to look drab and dull but you also don't want it to be totally garish. I believe passengers need a little excitement to lift their spirits but they then need to be able to sink back into calm.
At a personal level, I love colour and think a lot of people are scared of colour. If a more subdued colour palette is required, then something might be needed to lift and fire it up, such as a fleck of acid green or tangerine orange in a predominantly grey scheme – this can then act as a catalyst to make it all work together.
As for pattern, where do you see the future of this heading? Large-scale, bold designs or smaller, more subtle prints?
Sometimes oversized patterns can be fun but a smaller, more discreet pattern can make everything look more spacious. It depends what the pattern is. I think there's a lot to be said for regular pattern. There was a trend a few years ago for more random patterns. For me, this felt a little too chaotic. A more regular pattern brings a sense of order which brings reassurance - something I think we all subconsciously desire and probably even more so in the current climate.
Going forward, I think a brand must still look to be true to itself but always with one eye on its future direction. Yes, a key decision maker might have their own personal design preference and we might look to work that in to some quirky element somewhere - so long as it doesn’t create a discord or look totally out-of-place.
Looking ahead on a more personal level, what’s next for you guys at Best Impressions?
What I love about the work I do is that it is creative. To me, I've never been one to focus on commercial gain. It's the doing it; bringing a vision to life and making a difference. Ultimately, our goal is to up the whole standard of public transport to create desire for it. One of the main reasons I love working with Camira is that we all seem to think the same way, so it's really building on this common goal and working with many more clients to make this happen.