Daniel Nelson owns Atelier Tally, a UK design and style blog with a specific focus on graphic and product design. Daniel loves exploring timeless and enduring designs that are beyond superfluous and unnecessary. He has worked within design for the last 10 years being trained as a graphic designer and launching Atelier Tally in 2008, as a platform to explore modernist product design. So we are proud to bring you the Designer Insights of Daniel Nelson.
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1) In your own words describe your unique style and creative aesthetic?
I’m a real enthusiast for modernist design, that turning point in time when traditional was the norm and these radical designers dispensed with all of the pomp and ceremony in favour of clean, simple lines using modern materials and processes.
2) When starting a new project, what is your creative process?
I was taught to approach design as a way to solve a problem, which is probably why modernism is so appealing to me. Forget the superfluous, is it needed and what is it doing? That's how to approach a project.
3) Out of the creative people you have worked with, who is it that you respect and admire the most?
This is an easy answer. I worked closely with Dieter Rams for six years who was most famous for his 60s designs for Braun and (the company I worked for) Vitsœ. It's very difficult not to compromise the integrity of a design by appealing to your customer, so it takes a genuinely good designer to know instinctively the direction to go in without taking a lead from what the market is asking for. With that approach you always stay ahead of the competition.
4) When looking for inspiration is there a particular thing you do to get inspired?
Inspiration tends to come from obscure places. I tend to find TV advertisements or galleries are a great source of ideas. I wish I could harness whatever it is that sends the idea to me because I could bottle it and sell it.
5) What has brought you to this point in your career? And what is your advice for people looking to follow in your footsteps?
The best bit of advice I was given when starting out was to take the time to really get to know the people you are dealing with. Relationships matter so much and you’d be amazed at how much work comes your way when people know you and know that working with you will be good.
