The Designer
When talking about Collect Furniture, what is the story you like to highlight?
What I really aspire for is making playful functional design inspiring all ages. My focus on long lasting high quality design in sustainable materials is an absolute must, but to me, it is sort of the foundation or the starting point to create from. Designing goods for a throw-away culture does not make any sense to me.
Originally you were working as a civil engineer. What made you transition to design and what has been the biggest upside and downside of the shift?
Working with my designs from idea to final product is a passion and I simply had to go for it. The enthusiastic feedback I get daily about my furniture is such an upside and reinforces my belief in this project. But being a one-man company is not sustainable in the long run, so I hope to be able to join forces with others soon!
How come you design furniture for kids?
In my small collection, many are designs for kids – my kids originally! Kids design allows more playfulness, which probably unconsciously appeals to me a lot. But being design conscious and living with kids, it is important to me to design children’s furniture, that can be a permanent part of the furnishing of our living room, hereby clearly inviting the children into spaces conventionally furnished for adults only. High quality design furniture for children, as I would have for myself, are certainly not only great in the kids bedroom! Actually, I often get requests for adult versions of my kids designs. Probably why I now have included playful designs for adults to my collection!
What’s going on with the moustache?
‘Ha ha… I have actually had this mustache for over half of my life! Travelling without shaving for a couple of months, my moustache started twirling on my upper lip. It was a fun experiment, but today it has become an integral part of my identity, I guess.’