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June 26th, 2011

Modular Masters: Studio Aisslinger

Studio Aisslinger in Berlin. Man on left is in detention. Woman on right is watching a company ping pong game. The hex screen in foreground gives us  a taste of the eponymous designer’s predilection for modular design.

In our gathering of modular product designs from all the world, it’s hard not to notice that many of them emanate from Italy. Just think Magis, B-Line, Kartell and already you’re talking about a slew of top-flight and enduring interactive pieces. Maybe it’s the climate, the food, the culture – who knows why such a regional concentration exists for this type of design? Still, it would be hard to develop a convincing theory on Italian supremacy without having to explain why, just a few hundred kilometers to the frozen north, the modular meter spikes again as we approach the Berlin studio of Werner Aisslinger.

Aisslinger is a very talented, multi-media and prolific designer who has generated some of the world’s most innovative product, interior and architectural design for brands such as Mercedes Benz, Swiss furniture company Vitra, adidas and Bombay Sapphire (Bombay Sapphire?). He’s got offices in Berlin and Singapore, so we’re talking about a global reach of considerable dimension. That’s good news for aficionados of customizable design.

Aisslinger’s chairs and chaise on display inside the Berlin studio. Below is his Plus Unit for Magis.

The company’s artistic philosophy focuses on making sophisticated new designs from novel materials and technologies, whether modular or not.  Fortunately, this is not the stuff of geeky sci-fi fantasies devoid of the human dimension. Rather, the design firm says it wants to change the paradigm of modern product design by looking beyond purely functional capacities to integrate a “dialogue between emotions and technology”. Progressive? We’ve just barely scratched the surface. In an estimated 5 to 10 years the firm has plans to install a small chip inside every product that will generate product information (producer, designer and distributor) and an opportunity for instant purchase when scanned with any type of wireless communication device.

Aisslinger’s deep interest in repetitive, modular design is evident in some of the product displays in his Berlin office. On the left is Mesh, a 2007 concept design for a lightweight semi-opaque screening system (more on Mesh below). On the right is a 2008 modular bookcase made out of, what else, books!

We aren’t the only ones with an interest in this portlfolio: Aisslinger has had his furniture and product design featured at world-class museums such as  MoMA (where he has a permanent exhibit on his chair design ), the MET, the French Fonds National d’Art Contemporain in Paris, the Musuem Nue Sammlung in Munich and the Vitra Design Museum in Weil, Germany.

What follows is just a sampling of the modular designs to have come out of his offices over the years.

Coral Seating and Lighting

TOP: Coral seating cushions lay on the beach as if they’ve been washed up from the sea. BOTTOM: Translucent Coral lights using a similar hex unit.

Inspired by  the micro organisms emanating from the deep depths of the ocean floor, these modular seating arrangements and lighting fixtures from 2009 are composed of flexible hexagon funnels made from a mix of felt and polycarbonate that create a coral shape when joined in multiples. The sea-inspired pieces come in varying color schemes and, being modular, can be scaled to suit.

NetWork

Embroidered design enters the Age of the New Industrialism.

Perhaps you were under the impression that crocheting was culturally retrogressive. No more. Aisslinger managed to transform this traditional, old-school craft into a progressive, interactive and contemporary design form using high-technology and software. Its 2-dimensional embroidery designs are directly programmed into ‘smart’ machines that stitch the pattern together to make 3-dimensional objects.

Mesh

Your request for privacy should not result in staring at stark white walls!

Gone should be the days of the opaque wall divider or cubicle. For subtle separation with visual appeal, Aisslinger designed a lightweight textile structure evocative of honeycombs. The units interconnect to form customizable interior dividers with the potential to be bent into 3-dimensional shapes – distinctly unlike most separators, which are typically confined to straight planes. Made with three different types of relief structures, the hex motif and ribs were inspired by a blow-up of a vegetable organism. The color contrast of the fibers and directional changes in the weaving pattern add perforation, depth and texture to the dividers.

PLUS Unit for Magis

Stack up or down with the playful storage design unit by Aisslinger.

Similar to UP’s, the PLUS unit is a modular storage system that allows for customizable configuration of shelving units. Traditionally stacked or stacked side-by-side like a staircase, the aluminum drawers add a dimension of fun to functional design. Check them out at our store.

UP’s for RS Barcelona

Here’s how Studio Aisslinger explains the UP’s design:
“UP´s is a totally new modular block-system which integrates the open space between the attached boxes for the scheme: UP´s can generate endless modular sideboard landscapes or shelves always including the “free” space between the box-elements. These box-elements are offered in various types, such as the standard open box, box with sliding doors or boxes with folding wings. All these front-options can be later attached to the basic steel box-element. The visual “architecture” of the UP´s system is a rhythm of closed volumes with airy gaps in between”.

Loft Cube

TOP AND BOTTOM: Get sweeping views of any city with the 360 panoramic views of the Loft Cube. It travels anywhere you go and comes with a handsomely coordinated interior design. Will not fit into an overhead compartment.

Meet the modern day mobile home. This architectural piece is so cutting-edge that it may still belongs in the future. Composed of four walls of either translucent, transparent or opaque material, the structure forms a mobile living cube with 360 degree panoramic views. Custom interior design options are available so that lucky  cube-owners can turn the Loft Cube into any type of living or working space, anywhere they would like. Made with the highest quality lightweight materials, the Cube Loft takes only a few days to set-up.

Light Wave

Bombay Sapphire sets the mood blue with their lighting fixture designed by Aisslinger.

Created for Bombay Sapphire, this large-form lighting structure created the ultimate mood lightning for one of the gin brand’s events.  Made of 50 x 50 cm modules, the communal lighting object can be arranged in a variety of pixel-like configurations to create larger formats. Each individual module is designed to create a 3-dimensional shape that allows for an infinite number of additional modules. When shaped together, the overall product is an installation of fluid movement among convex and concave shapes (that’s fluid, in case you didn’t see the connection).

And this just in:

Hemp House at DMY Berlin 2011

TOP AND BOTTOM: A structural system made from the cannabis plant. A modular Mary Jane anyone?

Exploring sustainable materials, Aisslinger presented his Hemp House at DMY berlin 2011. The structure is made of more than 70% natural fibers, such as hemp and kenaf, bound together with acrodur, a water-based acrylic resin from german chemical company BASF.

The compression of renewable raw materials forms a new environmentally-friendly composite that is lightweight yet durable. Says Aisslinger, “Design history is driven by new technologies and material innovation. For us designers, the advent of these technologies has always been the starting point for new objects and typologies in design”.

Like we said…thanks Mr. Aisslinger.

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July 26th, 2010

Laudi Vidni: Customizable Handbags

This model lost her head over her fabulous bag she was so happy with it!

If shoes are punctuation points encasing a part of the body, then a handbag is its extender as the body transitions from arm to hand to bag. The handbag, or pocketbook as it’s also been called, has many roles to play, including 1) to hold stuff; 2) to catch the eye of anyone design-savvy enough to know something cool when they see it and initiate conversation with said individual; 3) to complement and accentuate the rest of the fashion ensemble, thereby further advancing item 2; 4) to express one’s individuality and taste; and 5) to hold stuff. So, given how tightly the identity of person and bag are interwoven, what fashion object lends itself more naturally to the concept of mass customization than the pocketbook?

Laudi Vidni clearly realizes the insightfulness of our viewpoint, since they’re a web-based company that offers buyers the opportunity to personalize their handbags by selecting styles, materials, colors, ornaments and other details from an array of interactive menus. Their flash configurator is among the most visually and functionally sophisticated we’ve seen for ecommerce sites and is almost worth a visit for that reason alone.

Interestingly, this approach to handbag design is in some ways directly opposed to the counter-trend of creating value by elevating a mass produced item to cult status. The folks who put out the high-end Prada, Louis Vuitton and Hermes bags are continually searching for a singular, iconic item (like the Kelly bag) which they hope will be acquired by large numbers of people; Laudi Vidni facilitates the production of an almost limitless number of different bags each of which, ideally, would be acquired by just one individual. We see no reason why both approaches can’t remain viable in the marketplace for the foreseeable future, which makes this an excellent time to be alive and in the hunt for a handbag.

By the way, if you’re wondering about this company’s unusual sounding name, here’s a clue: think ANAGRAM. Now do you get it? Ahhhhhh, yessssss…of course!

References:
Laudi Vidni website
Laudi Vidni configurator

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July 8th, 2010

Roundup: Mass Customized Food

Within the sphere of customizable products one might say the two areas most ripe for personalization are the things you put in your body (food) and the things you put on your body (clothes). We’ve already begun to look at examples of the latter (as in this earlier post), so now let’s check out the food department (pardon the puns).

Of course, one could say that cooking is itself a process of customization — mixing together individual ingredients in infinitely diverse combinations to produce coherently tasteful ensembles.  What’s perhaps fresh about the idea of customizable edibles is that it’s happening now at the level of prepared foods, rather than remaining at the miniature scale of individual preparation. Especially since this is not an industry known for finessing its wares — listen, when they say General Foods, they mean general foods!

Now, we understand the economic (and perhaps even moral) challenge of trying to shift the packaging of food from the scale of mass production to one of mass customization, but then, that’s what the shift towards the New Industrialism concept is all about. So here are just a few of the companies working now to satisfy the hearts, minds and tummies of their customers by personalizing their comestible wares.

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Chocri: Customized Chocolate Bars

Chocri is a German startup, founded in September 2008, and then launched in the US in January of this year. Chocri enables its customers to design their own chocolate bars by selecting from a menu of base chocolates (white, dark or milk) and toppings, of which there are over 100. These include global favorites, like nuts and dried fruit, but if you really want to surprise someone you can also choose real gold flakes, roasted almonds, pretzel, chive rolls, and even jalapenos! Talk about hot chocolate…Anyway, the bars are made in Germany and shipped globally.

Chocri says it wants you to eat chocolate and fully enjoy the good feeling it creates, so they claim to use only the best ingredients, such as organic, fair trade chocolate from Belgium. And, since goodness comes in different forms, they also state that they donate a percentage of their revenues to DIV Kinder, an organization that supports children in the West African country of Ivory Coast. According to a running tally on their website, these donations are approaching $50,000 to date.

Website:
http://www.createmychocolate.com/

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YouBars: Customized Trail Mix, Cookies and Other Nibbles

This online operation takes the cake (sorry) when it comes to the variety of customizable food products offered by a single site. Here’s the list of offerings: nutrition and energy bars; protein shakes; trail mix; cookies; and cereal. While the cookie category stands out at first glance as not exactly aligned with the nutritional goals of the other products, the company has done a pretty good job of offering healthy choices among its ingredient options. The website even provides a nutrition chart on every category page, which is not a universal feature among the other sites reviewed here. The About Us page, by the way, tells the classic story of a start-up launched by a mother/son team and the business’s subsequent evolution. We wish them the best of luck with their venture.

Website:
http://www.youbars.com/

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Red Moon: Customized Pet Food

We love our animals, certainly enough that we’re willing to spend time concocting their very own chow online. Yup, pup — you heard us right: throw away that bag of Purina, you’re getting a custom mix of your very own! And same with you, my friendly feline. Actually, the degree of product customization is relatively modest; you go on the Red Moon website, select one of the available base formulas, add a supplement or two from another list and choose your bag size. The order is then shipped direct to you and your mammalian companions. Re-order the very same mix from the saved formula when that last shipment’s been devoured by the hungry beasts.

Website:
http://www.redmoonpetfood.com/


eCreamery: Customized Ice Cream and Gelato

Forget the iPhone, forget the iPad, forget even iTunes — the topper is now…iScream! Yes, the old chant “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM” can finally be put to rest, or at least truncated after the very first line, since WE no longer all have to grab spoonfuls of the delicious foodstuff from the same container as it’s being passed across the sofa. Thanks to an online purveyor of customizable ice cream called eCreamery, we can now create our very own personalized flavors and have them shipped to us in tastefully designed containers bearing the flavor names of our choice. Don’t ask us how they manage to get the stuff to our doors without melting in a gooey mess, but they do.

The company’s configurator is easy to use and involves a four-step process of which the most impressive part is the long list of mix-ins — those added accent flavors that take ice cream out of the bland chocolate/vanilla/strawberry mode that existed before Baskin-Robbins’ 31 Flavors arrived on the scene in the Early Boomer Age. Thanks to mass customization we can now guffaw at the notion of having only thirty-one flavors to choose from — although we’re not sure the world is quite ready for avocado-flavored ice cream!

Website:
http://www.ecreamery.com/

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Heineken Beer: Personalized Bottling

Okay, so this is the kind of food product that you DON’T want people trying to customize, at least, not in terms of formulating the food itself. So what do you do if you still want to provide your customers with the co-creative experience? You let them design some of the packaging, of course! That’s what the people at Heineken did, and we must say, it would be pretty cool to serve your guests a bottle of beer with a picture of your frat brother’s derrière on the reverse side – you know, a heiny on your Heine!

Website:
http://www.heineken.com/ie/YourHeineken.aspx

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General disclaimer: listen, we’re art and design types, not food critics, so we can’t vouch for the taste or preparation quality of anything discussed here. That’s why we’re inviting our readers to send in their own reviews and recipes for customizable eats from these or any other sites, so we can compare notes and all head to the nearest food configurator!

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