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FEATURE<br />
second year of gear and it has the same<br />
feel or vibe as the one before then I definitely<br />
reject it. Unfortunately I’m the only<br />
one here doing that! The sales guys want<br />
something comfortable so they can sell it<br />
all day long - so we have something that<br />
looks like TLD but also the other stuff<br />
- but I try not to go there. My job is to<br />
try and bring something original. Doing<br />
something timeless is always my design<br />
street.<br />
Is there any pressure that comes with<br />
that though? Especially for a company<br />
with a name like TLD and the long archive<br />
of your work and the firm’s output?<br />
Yeah, people have expectations of us<br />
but then I’d also ask them: what is Troy<br />
Lee Designs to you? Everyone will have<br />
a different idea. Some will say it is all<br />
about wild and wacky and neon colours:<br />
so that’s colour right? The next guy will<br />
be “you’re all about the flames and eyeballs”:<br />
so that’s graphic. Others will be<br />
“it’s all about the flat black, the chrome<br />
and the hot rod” so that’s the concept.<br />
Some might say “the sporty, field-based<br />
stuff” so that’s a fourth element. What<br />
do you want?! People want the next thing<br />
and that’s my job. I have to make a new<br />
flavour.<br />
OK, so talk about something that was<br />
great but didn’t sell-<br />
Oh! All the time.<br />
And something that you thought ‘that<br />
was a really cool piece of work’…<br />
Well, a good rider makes everything look<br />
good. Even the ugly designs where you<br />
think ‘how or why did people buy that?!’<br />
But that shows you cannot pick and<br />
choose what is ugly or not because it<br />
depends on personal taste. Mine changes<br />
all the time, almost every week! Sometimes<br />
a thing that seemed ugly to me ten<br />
years ago suddenly has new virtues. So<br />
it’s hard to really pick good and bad. A<br />
lot of people ask me “what’s your favourite<br />
design?” and the answer is always<br />
easy: the one I came up with today!<br />
Sorry… that’s not much of an answer.<br />
Talk about the collaboration with Adidas.<br />
That must have introduced some new<br />
design constraints…or maybe possibilities…?<br />
That was a fantastic project. It started<br />
with an introduction and eventually collaboration.<br />
A representative from Adidas<br />
came up to us and said “hi, I work<br />
in the Future Department” and we said<br />
“what does that mean?” and he was part<br />
of the advance team that is working on<br />
projects five-ten years ahead. They were<br />
keen to have some of Troy’s artistry on<br />
some of their products and we thought
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