STEPHEN & LEO CHI - Chi and Chi Studio, Taiwan

Chi and Chi is a Taiwanese design studio that was founded by brothers Stephen Chiu Chi Hung and Leo Chiu Chi Tat in 2013. Formerly full-time designers for other studios, the two Hong Kongese brothers decided to set up their own studio, driven by a desire to develop a better understanding of products’ lives and to work more closely with manufacturers. “The meaning behind an object should come first – its story, its interesting facts and its uniqueness,” says Stephen.

The duo pays close attention to the relationship between people and objects. Taking inspiration from everyday – often forgotten or ‘normalised’ – objects, Chi and Chi aim to create and redesign objects with content and purpose; with simple functions in their essential forms; that look nice, work well and make someone’s day happier.

The Polygon watch – the studio’s signature piece – is a modern 24-sided analogue timepiece. Each side of its unusual faceted case corresponds to an hour of the day. The watch is designed with geometric features and made with precision engineering and careful hand polishing. Unlike the usual round and smoothened contours of regular watches, Chi and Chi’s Polygon watch preserves the ‘edges’, thereby presenting the time in a distinctively different yet aesthetic way.

For Chi and Chi, working closely with its manufacturers is an integral part of the creative process, and the studio had initially struggled to find a watchmaker able to produce the Polygon’s geometric silhouette. “At the beginning, several manufacturers turned us down because it was too difficult to make,” explains Stephen. “We almost needed to redesign the whole watch.” Instead, the studio has now successfully launched its second edition of the Polygon series.

“The reason we set up the studio is to have a better understanding on product life, not merely to design an object. We can work closely with manufacturers, create something cool with clients and have more interaction with the customers.”
 

Meanwhile, Chi and Chi is partnering with brands and creatives on designing new products set to launch in early 2017, including tableware and home accessories. Make sure to scroll down the page to view a personal selection of the brothers' favourite works of art, artists and products as well as the things that inspire them.
 

@chiandchico 

chiandchi.com

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The composition of images below is a personal selection of Stephen and Leo Chi's Favourite Works of Art, Favourite Products and the things that inspire them.

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by Clay Mahn

Arne Jacobsen, Tongue Chair

Harry Bertoia, Silver Teapot, 1940

On Kawara, Date Painting(s)

Lucie Rie, Conical Porcelain Bowl

Floris Hovers, CARtools

Sabine Finkenauer, Sculpture-sample, 2010

Designed by Dieter Rams 

Paul Winstanley, Art School 16, 2013

Harry Gitlin,Table Lamp, Model T9, 1951

Marcel Breuer, Cesca Side Chair (model B32), 1928

Josef Alvers, Never Before a, 1976

Bruno Mathsso, MI 1050 Wall Unit

Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Cripsis, 2013

Tadao Ando - Architect

Designed by Naoto Fukasawa 

Sori Yanagi, Spoon

Izziyana Suhaimi, Reaching for equilibirum

Molded Pentray by collaboration brand "PH" (HIGHTIDE and PAPIER LABO)

Kaj-Franck, Kilta

Walter De Maria, Tryth / Beauty Series

SEEM SOAP STUDIO - Product Design Duo, Paris

Mathilde Lehmann and Valentine Sée are the founders of Paris-based Seem Soap Studio. After completing individual studies in Strasbourg and Geneva, the two young women decided to open their own studio in 2015 after crossing paths in Paris. We met the trained plastician and product designer in Paris to talk about their work, their approach to product design and the importance of everyday objects.

Mathilde and Valentine are fascinated by working with functional everyday objects that seem often forgotten. Experimenting with natural colour pigments, various moulds and 3D printed shapes, the duo approaches the everyday mundane in completely new ways – often bridging the gap between design, art, sculpturing and functionality.  

What had started as an experiment, ended up in their first collection, which the studio launched at Paris Design Week in 2015. Taking a new approach to soap, the duo questions and explores the function of this, often unnoticed, object, reimagining it as a sculpture that adopts new states as time passes. Seem Soap’s four collections – Songe, Patience, Vertige and Paradoxe – apply this careful consideration of product design. Made with a vegetable soap base and formulated with natural ingredients and pigments, the artisan soaps are not only fragrance and allergen-free, but also ergonomically shaped to fit your hand with ease. Mathilde and Valentine make up to twenty soaps per day by hand in their Paris based studio.

Today, soaps are everyday objects; and their shapes have developed into something quite standardised. We wanted to push the boundaries of new approaches in conception and production.

Seem Soap have recently been added to the selections of WallpaperStore*, Papier Tigre and the London Design Museum and have launched an exclusive collaboration with Emily Marant. 

@seemsoap

seemsoap.fr

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The composition of images below is a personal selection of Mathilde and Valentine's Favourite Works of Art and the things that inspire them.

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Thevoz Choquet for Bloc Studios - Marmo Domestico Collection N°1 (2015)

Ladies & Gentlemen - Scales & Folds (2015)

Delpozo SS15 Backstage (2014)

Studio Swine, Hair Highway (2014)

Henri Matisse - Formes, PL. IX (from Jazz, 1947)

Hella Jongerius - Gemstone Tables (2013)

Aude Pariset and Juliette Bonneviot - Last Spring/Summer IV (2015)  

Éléonore Delisse - Day & Night, Lights (2015)

Gustaf Nordenskiöld - Beardrops, Ceramics (2011)

Louise Zhang - Slosh Samples (2014)

Dephine Coindet - Modes et usages de l'art (2015)

Delpozo, Resort 2017 Collection (2016)

The Getty Museum - Los Angeles

Celia Hannes - Emissaire, Glass Objects (2013)

Botanical Gardens, Geneva

Camille Henrot - Sculptures Massées (2011) 

Tomas Alonso - Lines & Waves, Marble (2014)

Epiforma - Meanwhile Curiosities: A Conceptual Representation of Time (2015)

Pierre Charpin - Oggetti Lenti, Vases (2005)

Anny Wang - Treasures (2016) 

Button - "Déboutonner la Mode" (2015)

Philippe Jarrigeon - Baccarat, Harcount Bday (2011)

Bruno Peinado - Sans titre, Looking for a certain ratio (2014)

Hermès - Les facéties de Pégase

George Byrne - Hotel Pool (2015)

Karina Bisch - Arlequine (2015)

STACK - Inkjet Printer by Mugi Yamamoto

Stack – a truly innovative inkjet printer designed by product designer and ECAL alumnus Mugi Yamamoto. The printer is reduced down to the central function of a device of this sort – the actual printing. With traditional printers, the largest component is the paper compartment. Stack does without it altogether. 

The printer is placed directly on the stack of paper that is to be printed. During printing, the individual sheets are pulled in from below and ejected again at the top of the device. Stack thus works its way, so to speak, through the pile of paper until the paper runs out. As a result of this approach, the printer has a highly compact, simple and appealing design. 

Essential conditions for the creation of the device were a careful choice of components and the development of a special infeed mechanism. Stack is designed to meet the needs of people who work in a mobile manner or in a confined space, and have problems with the bulky form of ordinary printers.

Stack has been awarded with the Design Prize Switzerland 2016 in the category 'Rado Star Prize Switzerland for Young Talents'.