I never designed a normal low stool. When LUGI commissioned me to come up with a good representative affordable product, that would somehow present the company and actually have some value as an object, I immediately felt attracted to do a really smart stool. Barstools are my favorite territory in design, but stools are different. Its the simplest form of seating. This sketch sort of loosely summarizes the first prototype of the new stool. Guess what its a flat pack stool that you can put together and break down with just one wing nut. 11 / 5 / 2012 — M Ch
Curly grey pubic hair? Rice noodles? Pasta? Its actually polyamide waste created by a spinning machine when shaping rotational parts. Its really pretty or at least its more appealing than the product, which was some boring machine part that nobody understands or values. It makes me think of side products, of things that appear unplanned and without you looking for them. These are often the most fascinating and most naturally innovative. Whenever I work on a project, there is always a pile of ideas and process discoveries that appear by accident and cannot be used in the project, but can be used later. Often I notice that the unexpected side products are more enticing than the tightly tuned end product I was originally concentrating on. Therefore the process of design has greater value than any of the end products. 7 / 5 / 2012 — M Ch
This picture looks pretty dull and there is apparently nothing going on. Its a storage warehouse in a steel foundry in Eastern Europe. It all suddenly changes when you learn the story behind it. That expanded polystyrene 3D-lathed 1:1 model on the left will soon be cast into steel. A foam block that two people can carry will turn into a 10 ton steel pressing mould for the side of Škoda Octavia III. Thats the new generation that will come out later this year. Its incredible when you imagine what the new car feels like as a product and that it all starts as rough and primitive as this. And its equally appalling that you probably pass a lot of pictures, places and experiences, but you don't appreciate them simply because your knowledge is falling behind. 4 / 5 / 2012 — M Ch
Alejandro Ingelmo gold leather sneakers. An essential part of my closet. When dealing with objects in design I always wonder how long one likes an object before it has to be replaced. There are things that grow in value, like an old Bugatti. There are objects that lose their value entirely at a predefined moment, like a milk container. There are things with no actual value, but which become priceless when they are gone at a given moment, like the toilet paper. But with obscene gold sneakers I think the lifetime depends on how often you use them. Its too much to wear them everyday, but when you wear them sometimes only they remain special and valuable. Thats why I wear these once a year. 27 / 4 / 2012 — M Ch
A prototype footrest for my next barstool which is now in development. The shape and the logic is inspired by motorbike footpegs. Its a 2mm aluminium alloy laser cut sheet that is then bent on an automatic bending machine. Aluminium in higher thicknesses is known to crack when bent at room temperature, but surprisingly this alloy is able to take the bending even at sharp angles. One interesting thing here is that the flow of the material during the bending has resulted in these anti-skid elements on the edge of the footrest. Its always great to come up with a process that achieves more things with one operation. The other interesting thing is that there is no special tooling required, just standard workshop machines. 19 / 4 / 2012 — M Ch
Grid systems are something incredibly appealing. I like the idea of an inner logic or system that is there but perhaps only the creator knows about it. If I am working on a piece of furniture I always think about the logic of its components, how they fit together, how each component can handle more roles. This somehow always leads to a system and its very reassuring to figure out that you can create something systemic, because it usually means that more other things can be done in the same way. The system then becomes a sort of a universal language. These are some really vital design principles for me. The spider on this picture obviously wanted to have a break from a clean systemic approach and went really freestyle with his web. What he surely did not know is that he is doing his freeform web on a very logic grid of a lamp protecting frame. The result is a really lovely mix of order and chaos. 12 / 4 / 2012 — M Ch
Another observation from a metal workshop. One of the guys has a little personal chillout area hidden in the back. I especially admire the tuning on the armchair, the expanded polystyrene headrest. Whenever the boss is not around he sure drops himself in the armchair, slurps a cheap coffee and reads the local tabloid press. 6 / 4 / 2012 — M Ch
The workshop always has been famous for its nudes. There isn't a welder who wouldn't have a porn pic posted on his locker. I always wondered why porn is something you need everyday when doing physical work. It seems that spread out chicks are the best way to relax your mind from the job and make you think about the brightness of after-work pleasure. Actually it makes me think that one great thing about being a freelancer is that it is very well possible to fluently mix work and pleasure. No need for a porn-loaded locker. Anyway, this one is especially charming, since it looks like some jealous mates have rubbed out parts, may be as a revenge for a stolen lunch. And yes this is still about design, because design = workshop time. 4 / 4 / 2012 — M Ch
These are a pair of mens leather shoes by Shoe the bear. From the top they are ordinary, very well made with a sleek elegant form. They make the feet look good and of course they fit extremely well. Thats all what you are looking for with leather shoes, but it is not what makes you fall in love with the object. The magical thing about them is that they have an illustration of the main choreography from Michael Jackson's Thriller debossed into the soles. Its these extra layers, this extra attention that is so fascinating. Perhaps you wouldn't buy the shoes from the top, but you definitely will when you discover the secret on the bottom. 29 / 3 / 2012 — M Ch
This is a new piece in my vintage electronics collection. Its a Panasonic Toot-a-Loop portable AM radio. I find it interesting as a very hyper-styled example of a single function product. On one side consumer electronics have evolved to become multifunctional from the first integrated hi-fi units designed by Dieter Rams for Braun to the iPhone that combines a huge amount of functionality in one device. On the other side though there are new products like the Lytro light field camera that return to basic one-button single-function solutions. Its good to see a return to focused simple products that are not very ambitious but are definitely very stylish and pleasant to use. The Toot-a-Loop runs on a 9V battery pack, it features an internal mono speaker and a standard headphone jack. I can imagine it would be great to see it re-editioned perhaps as a bluetooth iPhone portable speaker. 26 / 3 / 2012 — M Ch
A friend of mine told me a dramatic story about his flooded cellar and how it destroyed his entire collection of vintage slide projectors. When the water was pumped out I came to have a look at the disaster. Everything was covered in orange slime and all metal parts were rusty. The only things that survived were these beautiful glass projection lenses of various shapes and sizes. They go into my inspiration closet. 21 / 3 / 2012 — M Ch
If you even slightly care about design, about beautiful products and attention to detail, you can't visit London and not go see whats new at The Monocle Shop. Its one of the few internationally spread tiny shops associated with the Monocle magazine and its amazing. The products are a fitting range of various collaborations with top brands, all commissioned and edited by the Monocle staff. Their magazine is an exceptionally tasteful design and print product with broad and deep content on many subjects. They even commission new illustrations from various artists for every issue. Their products reflect the same attitude and values so it was a pleasure to spend some of my pounds. 19 / 3 / 2012 — M Ch
The most inherent philosophical definition of objects is that they exist by deteriorating. From the moment a piece of material is produced in the form of some functional object it starts to fall apart. The more you use it the worse it gets. This can be incredibly frustrating for designers and for users. Everybody wants things not to age, but to be eternal. Its more worthwhile though to look for beauty in the ageing process. I find it quite fascinating and I like to design the way an object is going to age by understanding its material and production process. These are two identical sheets of laser cut steel, the grey one is sprayed with a matt car paint, the rusty one is naked and was left outside whole winter. Which one is better? 12 / 3 / 2012 — M Ch
In design one of the most essential things is how recognizable an object is, how much it tells you what you are supposed to do with it. The function of these two green plastic plates is no longer relevant, but since they have a stick shaped handle attached, everyone I gave them to has used them as a looking glass, taking one in each hand and looking through the mixed layers. It means everyone found these objects recognizable and interpreted them in the same way. I like working with such memory based archetypes and control the way people use objects by placing strong hints strategically. 8 / 3 / 2012 — M Ch
The roles of materials in different times are changing. In the 60's it was still alright to buy a wooden triangular ruler. Today you are most likely to get a clear perspex, aluminum or stainless steel one. Having tried this wooden one it actually works just the same and is just as precise. Its actually much more pleasant to use thanks to its warm welcoming oiled beech wood surface. The most relaxing thing about it is that it doesn't have a wicked colored Disney-licensed cartoon image on it. 6 / 3 / 2012 — M Ch
I tend to see beauty in basic things where it was not really intentionally sought after. It is the unique character of an object that makes it attractive and it does not really matter what it is. This cheap numberplate frame is perforated with an absurd amount of fixing holes. Its strictly symmetrical and was probably designed to be seriously practical and functional, but it has unintentionally also become a kind of odd graphic decoration. 3 / 3 / 2012 — M Ch
In my office I keep a large amount of all sorts of objects. Its a broad mixture of materials, shapes, production methods. And since I always work 1:1 on objects, doing real size models, it is an interchangeable universe of options and references that help me judge, decide and test new things. At one point this set of rusty steel cut-offs, profiles and bent sheets suddenly started looking like a really neat dirty little office table setup. 28 / 2 / 2012 — M Ch
Recently I worked on my father's new catalog. To get the feeling of the offset paper and binding exactly right I got several empty models made from several paper weights. These empty books with no print at all are so pure and beautiful. I realized that something like this is not possible to buy, the seemingly most basic notebook does not actually exist, because nobody is producing such things. Not even MUJI dares to make a paper product so clean and basic. I find that quite startling. Its like as if you couldn't buy an empty white A4 sheet of paper. 24 / 2 / 2012 — M Ch
For some time now I am working on a doorstop and I came to the conclusion that a wedge doesn't work. Its very hard to come up with a universal proportion for any door situation and there is no material that will stick under the door. Even the softest silicone will get dusty and won't hold in place. We made this wooden one, but wood doesn't have enough friction, it can damage the door and the thin end ages fast so its totally wrong. It seems that something well sized, heavy and with a handle would be ideal, but not a wedge shape. 20 / 2 / 2012 — M Ch
Probably the most basic form of a waste bin. Two circles, three rods, some welding, no paint and a plastic bag. It appears in several versions in all parts of the world, sometimes it even has a lid. These simple, honest and ever-surviving objects say much more about design than artificially forecast trends. 18 / 2 / 2012 — M Ch
This digger is such a brilliant blunt industrial object. It is obvious it was never designed for looks and its perhaps this simplicity of form that makes it so appealing. It even has Ferrari-inspired pop-out headlights on each side operated by an oily lever from the cabin. Its definitely very inspiring. 13 / 2 / 2012 — M Ch
Serial production is so appealing to me. It is the privilege of designers to be able to see identical objects multiply and observe how they spread out to become part of different life scenarios. I always look forward to the magical moment when my work on a project is finished, everything is fine-tuned and tested and production rolls out. 6 / 2 / 2012 — M Ch
Generating object typologies is my favorite part of designing. It is a divergent stage, where you set certain rules and then create as many solutions within that bracket. There are no objectives yet, no functions, its just making a broad array of similar things. It only happens later that I look for applications of these ideas. These here are some tube deformations. 5 / 2 / 2012 — M Ch