Gijs Bakker, of Droog Design has resigned as board member of the Droog Design Foundation, citing irreconcilable differences with his co-founder Renny Ramakers. Apparently Bakker feels his focus on the "creativity and originality of Droog Design products" has become second fiddle to the "commercial element" after the opening of the NYC Droog store in February.
Here's a picture of the Tree Trunk Bench, an iconic Droog product:And here's Bakker's full statement, courtesy of Design Boom:
"the original ambition of droog was to identify and showcase talented dutch, and later foreign,
designers, and to stimulate discussion about the real content of the profession. millions of euros
were invested in opening a large, expensive shop in new york - an initiative of renny ramakers -
while the philosophy of droog was pushed to the background. the shop in new york implies,
almost inevitably, that from now on profitability will depend on the development of only large,
expensive products.
the creativity and originality of droog design products have always been a first condition for me.
the new york shop means the commercial element is now the main goal. unfortunately,
I have been forced to conclude that this has driven a wedge between renny and my fifteen-year relationship.
regrettably, lengthy negotiations over our difference of opinion have yielded no result,
my role with droog design, and also as a teacher at the design academy, in eindhoven,
has always been about content. I am proud of the fascinating projects that we have realize
worldwide with droog design. many now-famous designers, including hella jongerius
marcel wanders, tejo remy, richard hutten and jurgen bey, got their big break thanks to droog design
in my opinion, we have contributed significantly to a change of mindset in this profession.???