Interview with West Coast Furniture designer Eric Pfeiffer

Eric Pfeiffer of 10 Grain

West Coast design firm 10 Grain recently teamed up with fashion industry veteran Paul Frank Industries to launch the Small Paul Furniture Collection by 10 Grain. Here, 10 Grain Design Director Eric Pfeiffer discusses his partnership experience and offers his take on the modern youth furnishings market.

Pfeiffer has been a fan of the acclaimed Paul Frank brand for awhile. “My wife has a furniture and fashion retail store for kids called Modern Seed. They sell the Small Paul clothing line and do well with it,” Pfeiffer said. “I like their sense of humor.”

Committed to creating a youth line with “play potential,” Pfeiffer called Paul Frank to strike a deal. Little did Pfeiffer know, however, that the company was pursuing him, too. “Ironically, they were looking to get into furniture and had my name in the stack of people they wanted to talk to,” he said. “It was a total coincidence.”

From there, Pfeiffer and Paul Frank created the Small Paul Furniture Collection by 10 Grain, which debuted in December 2007. Furniture Style spoke with Pfeiffer about his inspiration, his partnership with Paul Frank and modern youth furnishings, in general.

Furniture Style: What was your inspiration for the line?

Eric Pfeiffer: The idea came out of the concept of “play potential,” creating furniture that has multifunctionality: [for example,] it’s a chair and also a rocking stool. People design products for kids that kids never use in the way they were intended to be used. I tried to design something that was really open-ended—that kids could bring their imagination to and interpret how to use.

FS: Did you collaborate with Paul Frank on the line’s design?

Pfeiffer: From the very beginning, I wanted to apply graphics directly onto wood. It’s kind of like skateboard technology applied to furniture. The artwork that [Paul Frank] generates is fantastic; so, they worked on the graphics, and I designed the furniture.

FS: What advice would you give designers interested in partnering with a brand?

Pfeiffer: The most important thing to consider, when partnering with a brand, is to fully understand the brand and the culture of the company. It is critical that your design approach and sensibilities align with the company that you’re partnering with.

FS: Do you plan to add more pieces to the line?

Pfeiffer: More functional storage pieces are next. It’s a response to what we’re hearing out in the field: people want great storage solutions for kids.

FS: How do you see the modern furnishings market changing?

Pfeiffer: For me, it never changes fast enough. Furniture is slow-moving. It’s certainly much easier, though, to sell modern furniture now than it was five years ago, especially kids’ stuff. I can’t tell you how many customers we have who are focused on this one little niche.

FS: Are consumers changing, too?

Pfeiffer: People are more willing to experiment with modern things in the kids’ world because it’s not as big of a commitment as buying a contemporary sofa and making a statement about who they are.

What we find is that, in traditional kids’ stores, customers with a more traditional taste [often] buy modern kids’ stuff, and they like it … it’s like training wheels. Then, they’ll buy a side table and [see that they] are able to mix these styles together. It’s not like people have to have everything traditional or everything modern; they’re getting much more sophisticated in their taste and are willing to try different things. That’s the biggest change that I’ve seen.