John Christakos is a founder, designer and president of Blu Dot. A graduate of Williams College, his artwork has been shown in several group exhibitions as well as a solo show at New York's John Good Gallery. He later earned an MBA at Northwestern University in Chicago. John partnered with Charles Lazor and Maurice Blanks to form Blu Dot in 1996. The firm began as a loose collaborative of three college friends trained in architecture and art, based on the premise that design should be affordable. The partners chose furniture as the subject of interest and opened a studio and operations in Minneapolis. Recognition includes numerous Good Design awards, as well as the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award. The work of Blu Dot has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, and is in the permanent collection of the Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts as well as many others. Pieces have also been seen on the sets of well-known television shows such as Friends, ER, MTV- Real World, and Saturday Night Live. We interviewed John during a recent visit to Edmonton...

Greg Ball interviewing John Christakos in Edmonton.

ML: How did Blu Dot get started?

JC: Along with two friends Maurice Blanks and Charlie Lazor - that shared a similar frustration the furniture we liked, we couldn't afford, and the stuff we could afford, we didn't like. We thought we could change that.

ML: Blu Dot has produced several lines of furniture, what has been the most popular in terms of overall sales?

JC: It is hard to gauge, but our Chicago 8 Box Shelving System continues to be a top seller. This was one of the pieces in our original collection debuted at ICFF in May of 97.



Steel Strut Table.


ML: There is a lot of debate of the term "good" design. How does Blu Dot define the term?

JC: Not "bad". Or, as Charles Eames said: bring the best to the most for the least.



Steel Strut Table side view.


ML: You guys are into all kinds of things. Furniture, film, even a cookbook? Tell us more about that?.

JC: The films and recipes are just fun diversions. The Blu Dot Film Series was an excuse to collaborate with other creative people. In the process, hopefully, we will create a series of short films that celebrate design in everyday life. We love to eat so we decided to let people submit their favorite recipes to be posted on our site along with some of our favorites. People really like Charlie's Hot and Spicy Nuts recipe.



Barbarella Table with steel bend-yourself frame.


ML: Blu Dot furniture seems to have great success landing on many TV shows such as MTV's Real World what are your thoughts on this?

JC: I wish I could say it was a result of our aggressive promotional efforts, but the truth is we typically get a call from the producers asking if we would donate stuff for the set.



0043 Table.


ML: Where would you like to see Blu Dot in five years?

JC: I'd like to see us growing as designers and taking more risks. Hopefully, as our business grows, we will be able to be more experimental and take greater risks from a design perspective, without worrying too much about marketability.

ML: Who are the designers working today you respect most?

JC: Personally, I really like the work of Konstantin Grcic. His forms are usually derived from solving functional problems or are the result of a particular manufacturing method he has taken an interest in. His pieces end up having an almost DaDa quality to them, but in the spirit of what we do at Blu Dot, I love the fact that they are merely the residue of problem-solving.

ML: What are your three favorite designs?

JC: The Spork. Riva Super Aquarama, Poul Kjaerholm PK 25 chair.

ML: What are the key elements to a successful piece of furniture/ home
accessory?

JC: Solving a problem in a seemingly inevitable way.

Shown images of products are Blu Dot's newest collection. They are not available for sale yet, but will be very soon!