• Review of The Design Annual 2007, Inside: Private Identity, Part 2 – Design & Materials
• Review of SaloneSatellite 2007
• Review of DESIGNMAI 2007
• Blog from 100% Design London 2007

Straight Lines, Hidden Value

By Le Vin Chin

An interview with Fabian Baumann of Formfjord during the recent Design Annual in Frankfurt

There’s quite a wide variety of things you’re showing here. How would you describe your focus?

We started one and a half years ago doing a lot of accessories, small things, because it’s faster to get them to the market and you need less investment. But we work on pretty much anything that solves a problem in the details – for example with Spring it’s the surprising simplicity, with Duplex you have the magnetic detail - all things that you don’t immediately see. I don’t limit myself to furniture. If somebody asked me to work on a lawnmower, I’d do it.

Spring

Tell me about the coat-hangers.

There was an exhibition – only for coat-hangers! – in Milan called Transalpino. It was an interesting project because of the use of materials. We didn’t just want to make a new coat-hanger, we wanted to solve some kind of problem, and the problem I had with coat-hangers was putting them into tight T-shirts. We wanted a really simple mechanism because we knew it had to be cheap and simple in order to be fit for the market. So we were playing around in the office with this measuring tape and we found out that you can bend it and in one position it’s very stable but you can also manually close it and then it springs open again when it’s not held in place.

Is that the original color? How important is it to you also that the visual impact of the surface looks right?

At first we wanted to leave it like a measuring tape: in yellow with numbers on it, but it looked like somebody just went to the basement and built it. So we tried out different colors and we chose the metallics because otherwise it looked like cheap plastic window blinds. We wanted them to “spring” into the eye, so we decided for quite bright green and red.

Duplex

You obviously took a lot of time and energy to find the right materials and to find the right surface, the right colour …

It is important. It gives the product value. And it depends on the surface’s function. For example the magnetic shelves have different surfaces on the inside and outside because the outside will develop scratches when you slide them around and it’s important that they still look good after a couple of years of use. Surface always has a function, even if it’s just the “look” – the surface can give a product a cheap look or an expensive look.

The magnetic detail was supposed to be the “inner” value; we didn’t show it explicitly because we wanted the boxes to look good as they are … and then have that extra, hidden value. The magnetism in the boxes isn’t very strong, but is enough to behave like a slot so the boxes slide into position magnetically. The boxes can be moved around without tools and fixed into position – it’s fun to play around with them!

Linus

For the Linus lamp, we made a switch out of the whole surface of the lid, which covers all the electronics. We got it ready to show at the SaloneSatellite in Milan.

The other thing I’ve noticed in your designs is this idea of playfulness.

A lot of my earlier projects are quite playful, for example the brick lamp. It’s actually made of a standard brick, and the shape of the bulb is water-cut out. It heats up with 95% of the energy from the bulb and gets really warm. If you go to your balcony in the Fall, you have your heating with you at the same time as your lighting. The idea came from my grandma, who had a brick from her oven that she put into her bed before going to sleep, to pre-warm it. There is also a discussion about low-energy light bulbs right now – people don’t really use them because the light isn’t very good, so we decided to use a normal bulb and re-use the energy that’s lost.

Lightbrick

What about the light fittings? How did they come about?

In my kitchen, I use Linestra tubes because they make very nice lights and I always just soldered the cables to the fittings. At some point I was fed up with getting out my soldering iron every time; I wanted to build something as simple as possible. At the same time, the theme of the DESIGNMAI in Berlin was Digitability – which had to do with digital tools for rapid prototyping of products – so we decided to make the light fittings by laser-sintering.

The fitting looks really simple on the outside but it’s quite a complex form: on the inside there are all the hooks for the light bulb and they’re all integrated. We made it complicated to show what you can do with this technology. Companies that make lighting with 3D printing or laser-sintering technology in most cases use the freedom of shape to make really complex forms but that’s not our style. We like to stay really “straight”, so we made it look really simple on the outside.

Ceres

Obviously you use a lot of technology, but how does the technology fit into the design process? Is it there from the beginning?

It depends on the project. As you can see, there is a big variety of materials in our projects. You try to find a solution and then you think about what kind of materials to use but the solution can look very different depending on whether you make this way or that.

For example we made these cable holders that can clip onto tables to hold cables: so that when you remove your laptop the cable doesn’t fall to the floor. The first draft was a bent steel part, but the manufacturer said the tooling would be too expensive and asked us to re-think it and make it simpler. Now we use this standard tablecloth clip and we just added the Plexiglas™ part which is laser-cut. So they can buy the very cheap clips in any quantity and just add the Plexiglas part to them. The whole shape changed completely as a result of the means of production and the material.

Knicks

How would you characterize your design approach to shape, form, material?

I’d say we try to take the materials and the technology and the market needs into our thoughts very early on, and then we try to make as few decisions as possible on the look of the object. For example, whether something has this angle or that is very subjective. We try not to make subjective decisions but rather to find arguments from the function for why the angle has to be that specific angle. If injection molding saves you an Euro, or this other process saves you an extra tool, then that’s a good argument for making your design decision. And it makes it easier for you as well; you can’t say afterwards that you should have done it the other way.

We have quite a technical approach; maybe because I am an engineer. An engineer cares a lot about physics and mechanics. He uses materials where they are needed. And that’s also what we’re trying to do – to use materials in a way that doesn’t cause waste and to use the right material at the right place for the right product.

But you do still have a design philosophy; your pieces still have a “look” to them.

There’s definitely a need to simplify, to reduce, as much as possible. We don’t really work a lot with free forms, we try to keep everything straight, simple and clean. Often, in the process of development I look at the designs in two dimensions. I make a picture from above and from the front and from the side. If it looks good in these three views then most likely it’s good in all angles, because there’s a simple graphic idea behind it. If you look at drawings by Dieter Rams, who designed for Braun, you’ll find the same idea: mostly two dimensional drawings. And if you look at stereos or calculators from Braun, you find lines and straight forms with very few roundings, very little free form.

Fabs                                             Francois

How do you research the right materials for the job?

Sometimes by accident. For the Duplex we went to a distributor for different materials and they had a sample on the table of this very light material, with something like an MDF surface and a Styrofoam filler. There’s possibilities on the internet: Materialworks, for example, which is part of Stylepark. They have a good database where you can find things. You’re also always inspired by other designers although then you have to be fast picking up new materials before everybody starts doing the same thing. We also try to build up contact with companies that have machines and new technologies. It’s not easy; you have to try to look ahead to what’s next.

Are you from Berlin originally?

Yes, I’m from Berlin, it’s my hometown. We have a pretty big network there. The good thing about Berlin is that you have a lot of different companies and technologies and know-how - lasers, water-cutting, rapid prototyping - in a very small space, so you’re very flexible …

A lot of people ask if we’re from Scandinavia, because Formfjord sounds very Scandinavian. Actually, we wanted a surprise effect from the name; it works well in English as well and it gets people talking to you. I really like Scandinavian design – for their “straightness” – and I think we kind of fit into that Nordic style.

Laufbahn

Any dream projects?

Our stand at the Designmai 2006 in Berlin was quite a fun project. We built an integrated cross-country skiing track in concrete that ran in a circle and we built bent skis for it. Beside the track there was a table and an executive office chair. The theme was “your personal career” – (“Laufbahn” in German means both “career” and “running/skiing track”) – and the idea was that you run in front of your boss’s desk and you have to ask yourself if you’re actually running in circles or moving forward. Do you have to step out of the track, or do you feel secure in your track? I‘d really like to do more of this kind of thing - developing funky ideas and creating wicked trade-fair concepts for hot companies.

Formfjord are Fabian Baumann, Sönke Hoof and Andrea Wald

Plexiglas is a trademark of Rohm and Haas