Down-to-Earth Spaceship Design

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But Seymour and Powell aren't bitter. "We design Yamahas, or Nokias, or Doves. We don't design a 'Seymour' or a 'Powell,'" says Seymour firmly of their workhorse approach to design. "It's a matter of choice and I'm glad we chose this way. Don't get me wrong; it's got nothing to do with humble, hand-wringing, 'we're not worthy.' It's just the way we do it. We like it—and it works."

The Customer's Not Always Wrong

"What drives us is the high street," adds Powell. "I remember once, [designer] Ron Arad was disparaging us, saying 'Seymourpowell are the guys who do the stuff in the Argos catalog.' Well actually we're quite proud of that. That's the stuff that your mum buys, and shouldn't you want it to be better than it was before? It's actually much harder to produce something that costs £4.99 and has to be produced by the million than something that's limited edition and costs £150."

It's an attitude that's certainly popular with clients who can approach Seymourpowell feeling confident that practical matters pertaining to the bottom line will not be overlooked. "The key thing about having a long relationship with a client is that when you go into a presentation, you remember that they know more about their market and business than you do," says Powell. "Their perspective on what you've done is critical, and for you to simply stand up and fight without giving that view adequate consideration is often wrong. Designers often do that, forgetting that just because a client disagrees doesn't mean that they're wrong."

Seymourpowell has worked hard to build its long-standing relationships, which it has forged with companies including Samsung (SSNGY), Dualit, and consumer kitchen product company, Tefal (known as Calor in its native France and as T-Fal in the U.S.). In fact, when Powell was first introduced to the team at Tefal, more than 20 years ago, he was described as l'aestheticien—the styling guy. Rather than vault onto his designer high horse, Powell simply rolled up his sleeves to show what design could make possible. "We went on to create the first cordless kettle," he recalls. "Then we transformed their toaster business. The first year, one model sold 60,000 pieces. By year three it sold 3.5 million." That's a lot of toasters, and a tidy black mark on the bottom line.

A Better Bike

Not that Seymourpowell shies away from more conceptual or experimental problems and challenges. Its partnership with hydrogen fuel-cell pioneers Intelligent Energy led to the creation of the world's first hydrogen-powered motorcycle (see BusinessWeek.com, 11/27/06, "A Motocycle That Runs Clean and Quiet").

"In that case, the client wanted something compelling to demonstrate their technology, and we worked with their fantastically competent engineers to create this bike," says Seymour. "It's an extraordinary technology and we knew that it should have an extraordinary demonstration. They didn't say 'we want a fuel-cell powered motorcycle, here are the specs.' It was 'do you know anything about fuel cells? You do? Oh good. Can you help?' And we all worked together to design a motorcycle."

Ever ready to integrate itself more deeply in a client's culture, 10 years ago Seymourpowell founded its own offshoot research and strategy unit, Seymourpowellforesight (SPF). Again, this taps into the collaborative reality of their work. "Most people don't come to use saying 'we need a new toaster' or 'we need a new phone,' but asking us what we think they should do," says Powell. "They have a rough idea that they want an 'x' or a 'y,' but they're not very good at figuring out what they should do because they don't have a wide-ranging view of people and markets and cultures."

The "Corporate Electrician"

That's where SPF comes in, offering detailed market-mapping, competitive analysis, and consumer research. The eight-person team neatly transformed the mother company from a traditional product design company to what Seymour describes as a product-centric management consultancy, á là Ideo, Continuum and the like. And with three other creative directors, Nick Talbot, David Fisher, and Adrian Caroen, overseeing many of the projects, the balance of power is spread out, allowing both Seymour and Powell to remain hands-on designers. "We run in full armor. We fight, and then we win," says Seymour bullishly.

"Six years ago, people would ask me what I did and I'd say I was a product designer," says Seymour. "Now, I struggle. The latest description I like is 'corporate electrician.' In other words, Seymourpowell doesn't simply hand over a design and then grab the check and trip off into the night. Instead, the firm works with clients to apply creative thinking to every layer of a business model, even when a tangible product isn't called for per se. To Seymourpowell, it's about creating long-term solutions that can affect an industry (no one ever accused these guys of thinking small).

Seymour himself was recently appointed as global creative director for the Dove and Vaseline brands within Unilever, and is working to implement strategic design thinking at the highest levels of that organization. "One of the most interesting things about working with Unilever," says Seymour, "is that it delivers products to half the population of the planet. If you get a bit of it a bit right you can have a huge effect."

Click here to see the video animation Seymourpowell designed for Virgin Galactic. To see an overview of Seymourpowell's other work, click here.

Helen Walters is the editor for BusinessWeek.com's Innovation and Design Channel .