When I schedule a phone interview I block 20 minutes into my calendar, and I always hang up with more than enough material for an article. Yet a few weeks ago I spoke with Judd Lord, the Director of Industrial Design for Brizo. We exceeded our alotted time by two hours and could easily have spoken for two more. About faucets. But not just about faucets. About the design process, about form united with function, and about the kind of detail-oriented thinking that Judd and his team thrive on, so that we at home don't have to worry about the little things.
I asked Judd about his background. When he told me he has a degree in engineering, I inquired why he'd built his career designing faucets. His reply blew me away: "You want to design products that are going to affect people every day of their lives. A faucet gets used an average of 120 times a day, and it has to work every single time. Plus water. What a great medium. What an element to work with." Furthermore, Judd sees fixtures as functional sculpture, and added that 90% of the time, they aren't in use—but of course still have to look great. So he leads a team that not only goes into homes and observes how we actually function in our kitchens and bathrooms, they do trend reports every six months to ensure that they styles they're producing are spot-on.
Judd then described some of the technologies that Brizo had developed, including my favorite, a SmartTouch feature that allows you tap the water on and off—perfect for when I'm cutting raw meat and don't want to touch the fixture with my contaminated hands. This innovation comes in designs that I'd be thrilled to have in my home, proving that style and substance can go hand in hand with the right guidance. Stay tuned part deux of this interview; you can imagine that after two hours on the phone with Judd I have a lot more to share!
P.S. Brizo and Elle Decor are hosting a Dream Kitchen Pinterest contest with a $2,500 cash prize and a Brizo faucet up for grabs! Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Brizo, but all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep The City Sage going.