Wood Works

Over a coffee and a chat on a muggy Thursday in June, we kick off the conversation about the all-important first sparks of inspiration, to find out a little more about what makes her and Wood itself, tick.

“As long as I can remember, creativity was an important part of my life – It was the only career choice I ever considered.” After emerging from Farnham College of Art with a First in fine art with a specialism in sculpture, it turns out it was theatre that brought her to event design.

“The owner of an exhibition contracting company had, by chance, seen my work in theatre design, and asked me to a design a large trade stand for one of his clients. As I’d never been to a trade show before, I visited an exhibition at Olympia to get a feel. There was row upon row of shoe-boxes. I remember thinking: I know I can do better than this.”

With influences at the time likely dictated by the dramatic (surely not a bad approach given the act of making statements in event spaces), Melanie gambled on a big statement for the first commission.

“I was fascinated by architect Frei Otto’s tensile structures. The moment I walked into the vastness of an empty hall to witness the emergence of the organic white form I had imagined was a defining point in my career. The contractor and his client who trusted me, with what was at the time a revolutionary design, gave me my first big break.”

With a recession in full swing in the 80s, the agency she was contracting for began to slowly crumble, “I realised that radical solutions were needed so I decided to take my career into my own hands.”

Given the UK’s collapsing economy scenery, it seems like a risky manoeuvre, but this big break gave her the impetus to open Wood’s doors.

“When you start out, stepping into the unknown and maintaining self-belief is clearly a big challenge. There are days when your goals seem improbable and impossible.” Catching me by surprise, she continues “However! I always encourage people in this position to keep up the momentum and continue to push far outside their comfort zone – this is where cut-through ideas live.”

Fast-forward to now and what’s happening in the market, we open the can of worms that is globalisation.

“We’re in a time of rapid change, so the challenge is to keep agile. One of our first clients, back in the early ‘90s, was a youthful Dubai Commerce and Tourism Board. Dubai had global ambitions and needed a global presence to meet its targets. The worldwide network we developed then still serves us well.

She caveats this with the need to be humble, “We can’t be complacent: we need to harness the opportunities that technology provides to grow our progressive and competitive advantage.”

On the topic of digital and tech, we find ourselves talking trends in both.
“Without doubt, the use of sustainable materials and methods to reduce waste in the industry. They provide a design language all of their own that refers to a distant past and is at the same time unequivocally contemporary and fresh.”

It’s evidently a subject Melanie is passionate about, and rightly so.
“As creative leaders, we have a responsibility, along with the rest of the world, to play our part to improve our environment. Digital technology is and will continue to be a powerful tool that we can harness and lead the way we plan and think about design – especially 3D.”

“But!” she exclaims, “Digital is not a catch-all. Everything matters – it’s always the idea that makes the difference.”

As another coffee gently steams its way to the table, we talk inspirational figures. The composer Philip Glass comes up as a musical influence to her – I presume stemming from a belief in creating drama in a cinematic and theatrical way.

“Anyone who is ready to take an imaginative leap and isn’t afraid to disrupt widely-held perceptions is a source of great inspiration. Creativity takes many forms – it’s a mindset that can be applied anywhere.” She continues, “Es Devlin as an example of a designer setting trends, and producing leading-edge productions at scale – but I also take great interest in young entrepreneurs who are striking out and developing new business models across industries.”

Looking closer to home, innate creative instincts evidently don’t fall far from the tree “My son is in film direction and picking up on his creative influences is invigorating, so you don’t always need to look far.”

Bringing the conversation back to Wood now, I ask her what her favourite piece of work the agency has produced. “This is a cliché response, but it happens to be true: the projects we are involved in right now are my favourites – new chances to push possibility.”

It might be a cliché but it’s also a mantra to live and learn from. As Melanie prepares her bike for a homeward journey towards Hampton Court, I can tell she’s already thinking about the ideas and energy that this particular London bike ride will give her for tomorrow’s designs.