It all Starts with An Idea & a Napkin

When lightning strikes, it’s time for another napkin sketch—rough doodles that make an idea a little more tangible. These napkin sketches go to our 3D designer to play with form and shape. Here, we find ourselves in a back and forth, a Waltz if you will.

 

 

“Inspiration comes from anywhere: nature. Design. People. Music. Like when you hear a new beat, and you’re suddenly inspired to dive deep in your own work, motivated more than ever.”

- Gaurav Nanda

 

The dance is long

It’s not uncommon that we want something that seems like it can’t be done. We play with digital models, drawing and redrawing until we reach that Aha moment. Once we feel good about our digital models, we create cardboard samples that inform the shape, size, and look of what will be our first metal prototype.

Once we go metal

We admire it. We sit in it. We see how it feels. Yes, we strive towards innovative, fresh designs with beautiful wire patterns that stand out like art. But all is lost unless it is functional. Sitting in our own chairs is essential to our process. It has to feel right.

 

 

Details. Details. Details.

Once we’ve created a metal prototype, we bend backwards for especially the tiniest details—The closeness of each wire. The thickness of the metal. The shapes that make it interesting. The curves that make it comfortable. Getting the right shape, or the correct proportions is the reward that we’re chasing. It’s like a hit of dopamine. It’s only then, once we’ve fallen in love with our model, that we are ready for a production run.

“My passion in life is really to design things. It’s the process of designing something, changing it, evaluating, and changing more…how much further can I push a design that is not exactly abstract or non-useful? How can this be a both functional and fresh look at design?”

- Gaurav Nanda