Improving People’s Lives Through Design: A Conversation with Nix Alañon
“It starts from a desire to improve people’s lives through my designs,” shared Nix Alañon, Interior Designer and founder of FTA Design and Phoenix Home, with BluPrint.
Choosing the right furniture not only enhances the overall aesthetic of your home. The right furniture enhances comfort and functionality in your living spaces, ensuring that you can use each piece for its intended purpose and have a pleasant experience.
Alañon recently released his latest collection called: “Easy Living” under Phoenix Home. The collection features a wide variety of side tables, stools, and other items that are perfect for any space. The idea behind the collection is to produce easy pieces that can seamlessly blend in with existing pieces in a space.
BluPrint visited Alañon at his showroom to see and discuss his latest collection.
Elevating A Space with A Touch of Style and Functionality
The Easy Living collection includes a range of styles and shapes. The pieces feature sleek and modern designs, as well as more traditional ones. Alañon and his team crafted all the pieces from the collection with quality in mind. They used only the finest materials to ensure durability and longevity.
“For our latest collection, it was about “easy” pieces that can be easily added or matched with the current pieces they have at home,” Alañon explained. He shared that his creative journey starts with his desire to improve people’s lives through his designs. From there, his team goes through research and development, chooses materials, and finishes the products.
Moreover, for this collection, Alañon revealed that he reflected more inwards and seeked inspiration from within, what the brand stands for, and what they have been putting out for the last 12 years. He added: “I have always been inspired by mid-century modern design and create pieces that are made by hand by our talented Filipino craftsmen.”
When it comes to the materials, Alañon prefers to work with wood, metal, and glass. The first batch of the Easy Living Collection features wood pieces. But he also plans to release new easy pieces that use metal as the main material.
As a designer, functionality is vital for his designs. “Function always comes first and then aesthetic a close second,” Alañon explained. “You need to understand the lifestyle of the end user so you can design pieces that are functional and could help them improve their day to day life.”
On Championing Filipino Craftsmanship
Alañon is a proud advocate of Filipino designs and craftsmanship. In his years in the business, the designer has done multiple collaborations to highlight Filipino products. For example, he has worked with Manila Fame, a premier trade show for quality home, fashion, and lifestyle products. He has also collaborated with other furniture designers and manufacturers to create new pieces with a fresh perspective, while careful considering the manufacturer’s brand DNA.
Despite being an advocate of elevating local artistry, Alañon also recognizes the challenges in merging traditional Filipino design with contemporary furniture trends. He believes that having a limited source of materials to use, particularly wood, is a major challenge. “There are only a few wood species that we can use here with beautiful graining, color, and durability that are well-priced and/or ethically sourced.”
In line with this, Alañon also makes sure that his brand produces environmentally friendly pieces. According to him, his team sources from reputable suppliers for their raw materials and wood approved by the FSC.
Lastly, Alañon shared with BluPrint what he hopes to achieve through his furniture designs in terms of cultural preservation and innovation. He aims to create pieces featuring designs inspired by Filipino heritage, craftsmanship, and traditions.
The conversation concludes with how Alañon envisions the future of Filipino furniture design. He told BluPrint: “I see Filipino furniture design excelling both in retail and in the hospitality industry, both locally and overseas. We have so much to offer including our workmanship, reliability, and work ethics.”
RELATED READ: 2 Local Furniture Brands Champion Filipino Craftsmanship and Creativity
Photos by Ed Simon
