In action at the workplace BY MARC
My passion for design emerged when I was quite young. I had a dream to construct products, which people would eventually recognise as my own style. Just as the world-famous interior designers ‘Charles & Ray Earmes' or ‘Ferruccio Lamborghini’, known for his automobile.
However my career started in a very different branch. I studied the course ‘Interaction Design’. This was in a time where work in the digital world was highly requested. I wanted to be a part of that and had a feeling that my love and passion for design would fall right into place. I became very interested in diverse styles and transmitted the traits of ‘Bauhaus’ and ‘Swiss Style’ into my own ideas. During my minor I came in touch with other mechanics (Smart Computer Interaction), where I discovered the world of ‘Arduino’s’ and ‘Raspberry Pi’s, they endeavored in the physical interaction between the computer and the user.
After going through a couple digital application companies, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to design physical products. Especially products that I could build myself.
This thought process resulted into the idea to design interactive interior, with a heavy focus on illumination. I started making light ornaments for private use, where the product was mainly centered around the communication between three factors; the digital device (smartphone, tablet, laptop etc.), the user and the physical light ornament.
My course hadn’t offered the knowledge about artisan elaboration of my designs, so I was obliged to learn these skills myself. I started with testing out different materials on my projects, this way I identified the kinds of materials I preferred to use. I taught myself the practice of welding, soldering, making molds for different pouring materials, measuring different pouring ratios, manipulating metal materials and creating light designs. This was all a big phase of trial and error, with a lot of important learning moments.
After a couple of years of venturing with these new skills, I realised that I set the bar too high. It was difficult for me to create these interactive lights all by myself, as well as exceeding throughout all the specializations in this area of work.
I was obligated to make a choice. I realised that the concept of digital design plus the construction of interactive applications was overcomplicated and not motivating enough. For me this was a sign to go back to the drawing board. I decided to focus my work first on the actual design and physical product. I sketched out the idea, tested out materials and developed a prototype I was proud of.
This resulted into me focusing more on the craft of the product. To discover diverse metals, concrete, epoxy and synthetics. All this coming together in a combination of my knowledge of building electrical circuits, transpire into a strong base for designing and constructing handmade light ornaments for private use or public spaces.