Sculptural multi-plugs and flowery push-button switches - 3 examples of a playful approach to technology
Designers regularly rethink our relationship to objects and how they are designed. Particularly exciting in my eyes right now: redesigns for multiple plugs, TV stands and cord switches.
There are many ideas floating around in contemporary product design about how technical devices could look more natural and playful. I recently came across three projects that make hardware look a little softer: A multi-plug sculpture, a screen with a trendy hot metal look and an on/off switch in the shape of a flower - and I liked them.
Multi-plug or sculpture?
Multi-plugs are often as indispensable as they are ugly. That's why they are usually hidden. The Eindhoven-based designer Carlo Lorenzetti found this strange. As part of the Dutch Invertuals exhibition "Objects for a New Kind of Society: The way we work", he therefore presented an alternative design: the "Multi-Plug" - a multi-plug that boasts a handmade clay housing.
Carlo Lorenzetti's design surprised me not only with his choice of material, but also with its somewhat indefinable organic shape. The unusual combination transformed the everyday object into a sculpture that I would no longer want to hide. "As we rely more and more on digital devices and screens, it is important to integrate human elements and natural materials, shapes and textures into our future environments," says Lorenzetti about his work. With "Multi-Plug" there should be more room for playfulness, interactions with the object should become more meaningful.
The art gallery effect
At the last Salone del Mobile, Guglielmo Giagnotti and Patrizio Gola from Studioutte presented their collection at the Temporanea gallery in Milan. Part of it was a film that was shown on a screen. However, I found the stand on which the screen stood much more exciting. It was made entirely of metal and designed in such a way that it became one with the screen.
The stand reminded me of a gallery plinth. It suddenly made the screen look like a sculpture and its material created exciting light reflections. Whether this was intentional or not, the idea inspires me to place my TV in the room using a table or plinth. In the hope that it will cut a better figure there and no longer just look like a stain on the wall.
Flower power for more naturalness
Even the most beautiful lamps are often not thought through to the end. Sometimes they have a black cable with a white body or come without a ceiling rose, so you have to find a suitable one first. The appearance of the cable, switch and cover also contributes to a successful design. The Greek designer Natalia Triantafylli, based in London, has recognised this. She presented her wall lights called "Leafy Sconce" in the Alcova exhibition during the last Salone del Mobile. They were rounded off by cord plugs that resembled a flower and are made from the same 3D-printed material - PLA plastic - as some parts of the lamp.
Natalia Triantafylli combines physical and digital production methods in her work. Instead of drawing everything from scratch in a rendering programme, the designer first models her objects out of clay by hand. She then photographs and digitises them. She uses the photos to draw the objects as 3D models so that she can print them out later using PLA plastic. The result is a hybrid object made from handmade ceramics and 3D-printed elements.
Like a cheerleader, I love celebrating good design and bringing you closer to everything furniture- and interior design- related. I regularly curate simple yet sophisticated interior ideas, report on trends and interview creative minds about their work.