End of the Habitat Generation

It was announced today that the era of Habitat is effectively over. The retail revolution launched by designer Terence Conran in the late 1960's - that by the mid 80's had changed the shopping habits of a nation - draws to a close as most of the brand is placed into receivership. In his heyday Conran was accused by a fellow-designer of 'wanting everyone to have a better salad bowl'. The comment was intended as a mild reproach, but captures perfectly Conran's vision: to break good design out of it's elitist, super-rich mould and pour it into everyday products. With principles later taken even further and massively popularised by Ikea, Habitat raised the aesthetic bar for millions. Conran wasn't alone in this, but he was a pioneer. Figures like James Dyson and Jonathan Ive, the genius behind the MacBook, iPod and iPad, might never have achieved what they have without the foundations laid down by the likes of Conran. From the post-60's 'boomer' generation, through Gen X and into the Millennials, there has been a steadily building wave of aesthetic sensibility: so that today's young adults will make major decisions on purely design criteria. Churches have largely missed this revolution, and still see design as an 'added extra' in their communication: the icing rather than the cake. But the polarity of content and creativity - in McLuhan's prophetic language medium and message - has now fully switched. An older generation will say 'you can't reject a church just because it has a bad web-site or a hideous notice board!'. A younger generation will reply, 'that's exactly how we decide!'. Churches that fail to give attention to aesthetics will fail entirely to reach the generation of Conran's grandchildren.