Kaj Franck

"Katia : Kaj Franck was a champion of anonymity. He believed designer names should be reserved only for unique art pieces, not functional objects made for the everyday. Yet his utilitarian forms became so iconic they denied him the very anonymity he sought! Tiago : That’s an interesting question. I think it’s a discourse that we as designers have to have with ourselves. Today we live in this environment where we’re obviously battling with—as designers, as creative people, as artisans—this clash between commercial viability, being known, and at the same time the principle of what we are designing. Is it something that needs your name attached to it, or is it something that just needs to be good design? In today’s day and age, there’s a belief that if you don’t market yourself, you don’t market your designs—it’s just going to be swallowed up, disappear in the mass of undifferentiated products. At the same time, Franck stood for something beautiful, the idea that design, when it’s actually effective or dare I say ‘good’, when it’s thoughtful design, it will outlast trends. It will outlast brands. It will simply exist as something that conveys utility and beauty. “Encompassing so many different disciplines, Charles and Ray Eames ended up developing great, humanitarian design” Katia : There’s a human need to create something that will outlast us. Something that will transcend. We all want that, ultimately. And I think Kaj Franck achieved that with his work. We need to be careful about over-branding ourselves, with the design being too brand-centric. At the end of the day, if it’s thoughtful design, if we create objects with meaning, whether or not they carry your name becomes irrelevant. The object will speak for itself. Ironically, in promoting ourselves, we try to make ourselves invisible as designers."