The Baroque - a chair design

Today I finally decided to publish one of my chair designs, since I feel that it should not just sit around in my drawers and rot in the middle of dust and pencil leftovers.

I made this design as a study of environmental friendly furniture. I wanted to creat an alternative to all of these plastic white outdoors chairs, since I think they are filling the earth with wrong values. 

The Baroque is made of wood composites and therefore can be 100% recycled. Other very good point about the design is the cost that makes the chair very affordable. Estimated materials cost for the composite is around 3€ and the chair is fully mass manufacturable.

But see for yourself:

Any comments and improvements more than welcome. Thanks!

design! to make an impact..

Company design strategy is an important factor in a successful path to growth and renewal. I had a nice discussion with a friend of mine, Mikael Heikkilä on the fact that often companies have a successful technological advantage behind their corporate strategy, but many of the companies would gain even more from a strategic design development plan that would keep them ahead of competition. If thinking about a company that has got a very innovative patented technology as a key success factor, adding a design advancement would even further improve the product and the company´s situation.

I truly believe that in the current competitive global market one cannot put all the eggs in a single bucket. True innovation and advancement has to be incorporated in the company´s assets in all areas.

If thinking about a simple scenario:

1. Company A develops the lightest running shoes on the market.
2. Company B develops very light but very well designed running shoes to the market.

In the above mentioned case I would suppose that company B has got better chances to succeed, since they are directing their attention to many consumer battlefields.

I still keep wondering that so many companies rely solely on their great advantages on a single success factor. If the management would require further development through the value chain, take the battle to many fronts, we would be able to see much more success stories in the world of products. Also acting bravely and taking off the "this is how we have always created successful products" -glasses would really cherish the possibility for an impactful design. Breathing new life to the soul of the company would make the company stronger in the eyes of consumers.

excellent engineering + successful modern design = a product with only a little chance to go wrong

Back to the business - out of the business

It has been a while since I have been writing on my blog. One key contributor to the lack of late stories has been the fact that I have been intensively working for my lovely employer. I also spent 6 months in china, and most of the times an access to blogger would mean higher hacking capabilities which I don´t own.
However, the past year has been surely an educational one, teaching me a lot of modern business and strategy creation as a whole. I have learned to know that in addition of a good design, one truly needs good product management to be able to be competitive on global markets. Product creation is truly a team effort that needs all contributors to be a commercial and profitable success.
I have lately been following Apple with a sharp eye. It is just amazing that how they can manage a successful product after another. I have been wondering that is it only the magical way they can combine a modestly stylish design into a magnificient user experience, or could it also be so that they just happen to be just the right size, with a right amount of products done by right amount of people. Of course the management style of Apple is very much straightforward and relying on key people, like Steve Jobs, but still I think that they are doing many things right. I also think it comes down to the culture of the company and the greater vision of implementing only good products, no matter what the consequences are. but thumbs up!
As I have lately been doing a very little design work (read: non) I would say that I am a bit out of the business at the moment. Of course I interact with designers very frequently but still it is different to actually hold the pen.. However, the interest is still there and keeping a very intense relationship with all new things very much a daily exercise. As a product maker, one is however in the very center of it all ;)