Voxpop

Stuart Wood, Creative director, Fitch London

It’s like life’s increasing polarities of either aspirational, high-end exclusive or low-end commodity. People with a lot of money have to spend it on something, don’t they? Does it have any value to the world of design? Maybe the better pieces do, but maybe we are celebrating the wrong debate. Is the value based on hype or quality of thinking? Only time will tell and maybe that’s half the fun of it if you have money to burn.
Luke Pearson, Director, Pearson Lloyd

Why shouldn’t innovative design be sold for six-figure sums? I think it’s fantastic! Whether it is a concrete installation or a poster, as long as it is thought-provoking then it is a good thing. Incidentally, we’re selling a poster for three figures at www.nbstudio.co.uk.
Alan Dye, Creative director, NB Studio

‘All art is quite useless’ and ‘The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing,’ said Oscar Wilde. The creation of both discerning design and beautiful art takes skill, sensitivity, experience, intelligence and talent. They also both reflect the zeitgeist, but it is their inherent usefulness that separates art from design. What people pay for art is based on an individual’s taste and criteria – the purchaser will make this value judgement on the basis of rarity, the provenance of the creator and how much effort has gone into making the object. However, in this case it is probably a large dollop of both. In my case, if I could charge as much as my lawyer for my design work I would be happy.
Sebastian Conran, Director, Conran & Partners