Ben Shewry’s 'Uses For Obsession' shows the overlap between retail design and the culinary world

I’ve just finished world renowned chef Ben Shewry’s latest book, Uses For Obsession. The title alone got my attention because I only have two speeds, flat out or flat out on the couch. Luckily for me, my work is a great use for my obsessive mind.

Aside from being a great read, Ben’s insights into the culinary world reminded me a lot of what it’s like working in retail design. Both industries are trend driven, they’re fast-paced and require constant problem-solving.

If a restaurant only follows trends, we can end-up with menus loaded with foams, deconstructed messes and smoke-filled cloches. They all look great, but there’s a risk of being all style and no substance. We have to be just as careful with our work. Just because a colour palette or silhouette is en pointe today, doesn’t mean we should introduce it into every client’s project. We have to make sure the trend works for the brand, not just the feed.

Time is of the essence and there is no room for delay in a restaurant when a diner is expecting their dinner. It has to be served hot, on-time and well-cooked, irregardless of what’s happening behind the kitchen door. Commercial design has the same hard deadlines too, because time is money. Our work always feeds into a bigger team and the faster we work, the faster the store can open, which means our work is always due yesterday.

I remember years ago Ben posted a note that work is all about turning up, solving today’s problems, then doing it again tomorrow. The take-out I took away was that we need to adjust our mindset to expect that daily problems are just par for the course. In the restaurant game, there’s every factor from staff shortages to weather destroying produce, that can derail any service. For us, designing a good-looking store that serves the brand is never as simple as it sounds. We have to fight a path through a thousand roadblocks, from stakeholder non-negotiables to landlord requirements.

Both industries are pretty gruelling, but I think it’s the constant problem-solving that makes them both sustainable. The sweet spot is the anomaly, when everyone is happy and that’s what energises us to come back and do it again tomorrow