Design trends over the past ten years were identified, the key ones being Emotional expressionism which viewed work as play, this was prevalent through the dot.com era. Exposed structure followed which celebrated engineering by putting it on view, an excellent example would be the Aeron chair. New modernism which is still strong and focuses on elegant strong clean lines. Finally, Team spirit which reflected the frenetic activity, was very mobile and flexible but often not all particularly attractive.

SPF’s design direction for Staverton would be best described as Emotional expressionism which combined three key elements. ‘Emotional response’ (touch and feel), ‘restrained elegance’ (simple aesthetics) and ‘perceived quality’ (detail and finish). Other descriptions that would apply to the brand include ‘sensual surfaces’ (deep gloss and crafted), ‘clean lines’ (restrained and subtle) and‘engaging transparency’ (enigmatic).