Visiting Voice in the summer of 2009, we were led on a tour of the facilities by Managing Director, Sonnie Byrling. Upon arrival at a production line of bean bags, he stopped. The facility, once churning out bags by the minute, now stood motionless. Trend and low quality copies had severely stunted production. The brief was concise - design a piece of furniture that would make the machines run again. We set about designing a new product for a new target group. One not clouded by childhood memories of what a beanbag was. The decision was made to make the product a lot more exclusive - more of an easy chair for the living room or hotel lobby, without losing the rationality of the production process.

Photo: Charlie Bennet