It’s a 9 minute cycle from Unit.d to the street from which Studiomama live and work. We called in on Jack and Nina to ask a few questions. Over coffee, with instinctive answers encouraged, the wisdom naturally flowed. Here’s what they had to say.
Where do you start?
With a conversation. We always start with a conversation.
What does an ideal working day look like?
A good day is a mix of things. Movement, making, something social. We often meet up with our little coffee club, share some ideas, get a little feedback.
What is going right with design?
Independence from an unreliable industry. More designers setting up shop by themselves. When we started Studio Mama in 2000, those tools didn’t exist. To sell online, self-market. You don’t need a massive advertising budget, you can still communicate. It's quite democratic.
Before, were you more reliant on the whim of the press. You were invisible otherwise. But it’s changed now, it’s opened up to other ways.
What would you like to see change?
Big thinking and radical ideas. These are missing within the wider scope of design education. But if people avoid the ‘wicked’ problems because they can’t be solved in one go, we lose innovation in design.
Which everyday object is most undervalued?
Our cutlery.
What's an everyday object you’d prefer not to live without?
J: Pencil
N: Chef’s knife
Do we need new things? If so, why?
There's too much choice, too much saturation of stuff. Short answer? Yes, but only if it’s relevant and meaningful.
If you weren't a designer, what would you be?
N: Chef
J: Tap dancer
Is it important to have heroes? If so, who?
N: Yes, it’s important. My Scandinavian hero is Poul Kjaerholm. Very clever, very sparse, very engineered.
J: I have always loved Shiro Kurumata. Of the Italians, I would put Bruno Munari at the top. He made so much, including these cards with faces made from two punched holes, which we’ve ended up drawing from in our ironmongery work.
That whole generation of post-war designers, they used their new technology, new ideas and they just did everything. This is both the strength and the weakness of the studio, that we like to do everything, but they did everything. So I carry them with me.
