What is Minimalism?

Often over quoted and misinterpreted, this simple quote from the godfather of product design has always stuck with me. Put simply, it asks us as designers to be intentional with every single detail. It sounds simple in its framing, but in reality is much harder to deliver with real world production, budget and business constraints.

Minimalism strips a product down to its essential form - so it can be understood at a glance and used without friction. Done well, minimalism produces products that are long lasting (avoiding trends that come and go as well as planned obsolescence).

That Rams quote gets used in isolation constantly. It was never meant to stand alone. He built his ten principles as a manifesto - a set of rules for how products should be made. I had them pinned above my desk in art school. They were aspirational then. They still are.

Image source: https://uxdesign.cc/dieter-rams-and-ten-principles-for-good-design-61cc32bcd6e6

There’s a purity in those ten rules that gets steamrolled, again and again, by decision-makers in a world moving too fast to care. Designers have been losing ground for over a decade - and part of that is on us. We lost the argument. We’re empathetic by trade, trained to understand the people we design for (down to the smallest detail). That same empathy sees us lose the argument in the room where decisions actually get made.

The Timeline

That purity didn’t come from nowhere. Two lineages, on opposite sides of the planet, arriving at the same instinct independently. Tracing them shows exactly what’s been lost since.

• The West, the Bauhaus movement. Born out of a post war flattened Europe and a direct reaction against the ornate design styles of the past.

• The East, Zen Buddhism. Its foundational principles emphasise simplicity, austerity, and natural beauty.

The 1950s saw Rams joining Braun and shaping how consumers valued mass produced products through honesty of materials and simplification.

Braun SK4 Record Player (1956) - for me, the embodiment of minimalism. Beautiful, purposeful and timeless.

By the 1980s MUJI was founded as a reaction against logo-driven consumerism of the time. Muji was rooted in Japanese design philosophy and an antidote to status-signalling.

In the 1990s-2000s Jony Ive put his stamp on the world through Apple. Inspired by Dieter Rams, minimalism became aspirational, detaching from its core foundations and becoming a visual signifier of premium brands.

It stopped being a discipline. It became a price tag.

Minimalism continued on this journey morphing into a lifestyle brand in the 2010s. Scaling as a wellness and productivity narrative - restraint sold back to us as consumption.

Everything starts looking the same. The homogenisation critique lands, and it’s earned.

Minimalism didn’t die. It lost its nerve.

Maximalism Takes Over

The pendulum swings. As everything begins to look the same and with an increasingly uncertain world around us - our homes become our sanctuary and an opportunity for self expression.

An iconic image with some classic Memphis pieces.

This isn’t the same flavour of peak 80’s maximalism that the Memphis Movement brought us but a more muted maximalism, as we learn to embrace the chaos and fun - reflecting our craving for individuality in an era of algorithms. Curated rather than cluttered.

Think:

• layers instead of clutter

• restrained colour families

• rich textures

• meaningful collections

• visual density without chaos

Image source: link

So What Next?

Ultimately, we mostly still crave calm spaces, but we’re also embracing personality, colour and possibly even clutter.

Minimalism taught us intentionality. Maximalism is teaching us joy.

For me? I don’t follow short term trends, I never have. The intentionality that sits behind the minimalist philosophy still resonates with me - anything I bring into this world will always be thoughtful. But I have also been embracing the more joyful element within recent work and it feels incredibly freeing. A lighter touch is welcome in today’s world.

What do you think?

A Small Ask

Did this months focus resonate with you? Do you own one of my products? Can I kindly ask you to consider writing a review on my website? Your feedback helps others trust in my little brand. It only takes a minute and means the world.

Review Now

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot. That incense holder that sits next to you throughout the day, reminding you to take a break. The coffee cup that feels just right in the hand and encourages you to savour every sip.

Objects designed to help you notice the moments you’re in. Support a small independent designer :)

I’m down to my last few sets of Mμ and Laminar with no plans to restock soon, so get yours while stock lasts.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (10% off).

Last months most clicked link: Hard Fork - How AI is changing loneliness.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Where did all the minimalists go?. Matt D’Avella with a new hard hitting series. As a passionate advocate for sustainability and curbing our impact on the planet, it does feel like this conversation has disappeared.

2. 

Variable Aperture is coming to iPhone. I’m on an upgrade year for my phone and have been seeing these rumours for months now. Looking forward to seeing this role out… may just wait until next year though for the 20 year anniversary of iPhone!

3. 

The Odyssey was filmed near me. As a Nolan fan, I have been looking forward to seeing this since May last year - it did not disappoint! Did you know quite a bit of it was filmed a stone’s throw from where I call home though? Scotland really is beautiful.

4. 

IKEA: life at home report. IKEA invests huge amounts in market research and understanding their customers. They share a lot of their findings openly in a really digestible format. This one is back from 2024 but it’s clear the trajectory they outlined has come to fruition.

5.

The Problem with Capitalism. An update from Smarter Every Day on the journey to producing a product 100% in the USA. An incredible story and highlights perfectly how reliant we have become on overseas production.

I’ve withheld sharing my views on AI here. It’s a minefield out there and incredibly divisive. In all honesty - my views on AI change daily and are still being shaped. Too often I see opinions that take an extreme view and lack nuance. A lot of people’s views on AI are visceral and I totally understand why. Personally, the Design Council’s paper “The Centaur and the Minotaur" resonated hugely with where I sit and I find it helpful to separate AI into these two camps when talking about AI:

The Centaur

The human head leads and the machine body provides power

The Minotaur

The logic is reversed: the machine frames the problem, generates the options, and embeds the assumptions, while humans respond to what it presents.

The Case Against AI

The world is on fire. The UK declared a climate emergency back in 2019 following that hard hitting 2018 IPCC report. Do we really need a race to develop AGI, endless data centres powering millions of GPU’s, consuming endless energy and creating huge amounts of heat, placing placing increasing pressure on local water supplies in some regions to cool these systems? All for what? Generating yet more AI slop?

Compound this with the mining boom across copper, silicon and rare earth metals to fuel the growth of this industry.

Data centres accounted for 1.5% of all electricity use across the planet back in 2024. This expected to double by 2030, using more electricity than the whole of Japan.

And that’s only accounting for the impact on our planet, what about the cultural impact? AI by design, is trained on enormous collections of existing human content, aggregating this information to provide you with what you want - resulting in creative homogenisation. AI makes average work incredibly easy to produce. We’ve all seen countless examples with near identical event posters right? This is the minotaur approach and, for me, results in AI slop.

The Case for AI

Clearly mindless use of AI is bad - bad for the planet, bad for people and bad for culture. But does that mean that all use of AI is inherently bad?

If we take a step back and actually think back to what we are trying to do as designers - create meaningful products that add value to people’s lives - is it possible to reframe things? What if AI could help us do this? AI will never, and should never, replace real world human centred design research. Certain elements of the design process do not lend themselves to leaning on AI tools - we will always need to observe and speak to our users as designers. This is where the magic happens.

Equally, there are many across any design process that are incredibly time consuming and could benefit hugely from incorporating AI tools. For example, every product designer has a need to communicate their design intent to their client - telling the story. For years we have leveraged software to visualise our design ideas as realistically as possible - rendering materials and lighting and staging our designs to tell the story and create buy in. This used to be incredibly hard and relied on specialist skills (likely outsourcing) which made it inaccessible to many. Keyshot changed this hugely. Transforming what used to take days and years of training into hours with very little training. Having invested years using Keyshot and teaching students how to use Keyshot, I never thought there would come a day where I could see a future without keyshot.

Vizcom has quickly become my go to tool for visualising design ideas for the last 2 years. The pace of evolution and the control possible now is mind boggling. What used to take a few hours to setup and render overnight, now takes under an hour.

Alongside the ethical issues around AI and ownership, many have concerns around the environmental impact of mass adoption of AI (and rightly so as outlined above!). Mindless use of AI is an incredible drain on our precious resources however with some quick back of the napkin calculations for this specific use case, there is a sustainability argument to be made in favour of design visualisation using AI.

* There is no published data on energy use for image creation in Vizcom. Discussion forums suggest there is a range of 0.01-0.05KW/image generated, therefore a median value of 0.03KW/image has been used above.

This approach also democratises the production of high quality, engaging design visualisation. There is no longer a need for high spec hardware and expensive software - opening the door to an even broader group of designers.

This is the Centaur approach, for me, adding huge value to any design process.

The Design Council’s paper shared previously states: “Research shows that human-AI design teams work best when humans lead.”

Are Product Designers Doomed?

I don’t think AI will replace designers. I think designers who surrender judgement to AI will replace themselves. The future belongs to designers who use AI as horsepower rather than a compass. That’s the difference between the Centaur and the Minotaur.

I don’t know what product design will look like in ten years time. None of us do. The tools will change, workflows will evolve and some parts of the job will almost certainly become automated. But the organisations that create products people genuinely love will still need people who understand people. They’ll still need curiosity, judgement and taste. Those have always been the hardest parts of design, and I suspect they always will be.

To stand out in a world of AI, I believe that the below 3 skills will always set you apart as a product designer:

Human First. As designers we should be embracing human centred design more than ever – developing empathy for those we are designing for to bring joyful experiences into everyday life. Great products begin with curiosity: watching how people behave, listening to what they don’t say, and uncovering needs they can’t always articulate. So many products on the market currently have leveraged these tools negatively to support the attention economy. As the tech bro’s chase AGI at an ever increasing pace, I strongly believe that the desire for real world, human experiences will only grow. This is something we can, and should, be leaning it. Not avoiding technology, but leveraging it to create moments of delight.

Technical Skills. Designers will always need to embrace and become masters of the best tools available – be they analogue or digital. Stellar CAD skills have been a non negotiable for over a decade. Designers will always think through drawing. In an ever increasingly competitive market place, designers don’t have the privilege of sitting on the side lines when it comes to developing new skills. It’s one of the things I value most – constantly learning new skills and being a lifelong learner. I would never have never imagined that I would be replacing Keyshot as a visualisation tool but that tipping point is close for me personally.

Design Intuition. I never used to buy into this notion of intuition within design and I certainly don’t believe it’s something you are “born” with. I’ve come round to the idea that design intuition is curated over time through exposure. Designers see the world differently and are obsessive over details most pass by without noticing. Designers are constantly absorbing the world around them. This compounds over time and cannot be replaced by AI. The way we bumble through life lacks logic and we make connections that otherwise wouldn’t be possible (that lightbulb moment). Silicone valley has been chasing “taste” over the last few months as they vye for cultural relevance. They’re losing.

A Small Ask

Did this months focus resonate with you? Do you own one of my products? Can I kindly ask you to consider writing a review on my website? Your feedback helps others trust in my little brand. It only takes a minute and means the world.

Review Now

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot. That incense holder that sits next to you throughout the day, reminding you to take a break. The coffee cup that feels just right in the hand and encourages you to savour every sip.

Objects designed to help you notice the moments you’re in. Support a small independent designer :)

I’m down to my last few sets of Mμ and Laminar with no plans to restock soon, so get yours while stock lasts.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (10% off).

Last months most clicked link: What I told designers graduating into the AI era.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

3 Days of Design - Morrama. 3 Days of Design received a lot more coverage this year and has begun to be talked about in the same vein as Milan Design Week. A lovely write up from the team at Morrama.

2. 

New Designers. I am just back from setting up our graduates work in London for New Designers (the annual showcase for graduating designers across the UK). Always a great buzz of excitement and wishing all of this years graduates the best of luck as they kickstart their careers.

3. 

Hard Fork - How AI is changing loneliness. A brilliant, lighthearted podcast on AI developments. This week featured an inspiring story around how AI is being used to support the elderly with loneliness and living independently in their homes.

4. 

The World Cup Souvenir taking over. World Cup fever has taken over - the football has been hugely compelling with goals galore. The one story really taking off though? The free World Cup charm bracelets.

5.

UK bans social media for under 16’s. Delighted to see the UK follow Australia here. The sentiment is in the right place and regardless as to whether this ban will actually effect change or move the needle - the conversation has changed and it’s positive to see our young people being properly considered here.

Vizcom Challenge (Update)

Last month I shared my submission for the Vizcom x Corkway challenge. Exploring speculative design concepts is a great way to stretch the muscles and really put your process into practice. These are rare opportunities for me and I really enjoyed refining this concept. Delighted that it was well received and was selected in the top 30 of over 400 submissions.

The Side Quest Continues

Last month I introduced our latest family side quest. A project that intentionally shuts itself off to my commercial work. A playground to explore, play and build. We’re building a camper. Follow along the journey from transforming this panel van into our family adventure camper in the Camper highlights reel on my IG:

https://www.instagram.com/bendurackdesign/

This month was all about the deep clean and beginning the sub floor. Loving diving into the research and exploring the best ways of transforming this van at each stage.

Before the deep clean:

After the deep clean:

Laying down the subfloor with treated battens. A second bench seat will be fixed just behind the drivers seat so the battening in this area will need to be fully reinforced. Next step: bond battens down, with with PIR insulation, cut and fit a new ply floor. We’re moving!

Before we dive in - if you're in London on the 29th June, our graduating students are showing at New Designers (an annual showcase of graduating British designers). Reach out if you fancy a meet up :)

This update marks 3 years of Balance and it’s had me in a reflective mood all month. I started this newsletter as a means of holding myself to account. Accepting that with a full-time job in design education and a young family, it would be slow moving to push forward with my own work. Writing these updates for the last 3 years has been an incredibly rewarding outlet for me and has resulted in launching a number of products I am incredibly proud of. More than anything, it’s connected me to people like you - and in a world pulling hard for your attention in every direction, I don’t take that lightly. Thank you for being on this journey with me.

(There’s also a new side project this month, I’ll tell you about at the end. Make sure you get there.)

The Importance of Space

I’ve always believed you can tell a lot about someone’s work by the room they make it in.

The spaces we inhabit shape us in ways we rarely stop to examine. They set the tempo, lower the barrier between thinking and doing, and tell us without words what kind of work is possible here. Researchers call this the threshold effect:

Crossing that threshold communicates to our brain before we can make sense of it ourselves. The space primes you before you’ve lifted a finger.

I’ve always been a hands on designer. I learn through making, and I need to hold an idea in three dimensions to truly understand it. For years after graduating I dreamed about having my own studio - missing the possibility of the workshops I’d had as a student, feeling their absence in every role I had in industry. So eventually I stopped dreaming about it and built one.

The Plan

When we moved into our home 4 years ago, we developed a plan to build a home studio and workshop in our garage. It took months to design and build - making sure that every small space was fully optimised and that ultimately it felt like a place I actively wanted to spend time in. Not only did it have to function as a studio and workshop, it still had to act as a functioning garage.

Once we fine-tuned the design - producing the obligatory rendering of course (which proved incredibly useful in working with my wife to plan what we needed this space to do), we committed to the build. It was slow moving in evenings and weekends but slowly came to life.

The Studio

The goal? Create a studio that calls out for your to spend time in. A studio where I could grow my business. A space to design and prototype. A space to feel inspired. A space to store stock. A space to photograph and film content. A space to store project work. All of this, in 5m2!

This studio and workshop have transformed the way I work. The space has evolved over the years, through use, and upgrades slowly added along the way and I feel inspired every time I’m in this space. I can hit flow state almost immediately and ideas flow freely.

That final rendering before we committed to the build, now sits on the wall, proudly framed. Every detail in this space matters.

The Workshop

The workshop - a 3 second walk from the studio - is set up test ideas and produce final products. A flexible space that can be a wood shop one minute, a silicone tooling workshop the next to a Ceramics studio. An ever evolving space.

A Small Ask

Did this months focus resonate with you? Do you own one of my products? Can I kindly ask you to consider writing a review on my website? Your feedback helps others trust in my little brand. It only takes a minute and means the world.

Review Now

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot. That incense holder that sits next to you throughout the day, reminding you to take a break. The coffee cup that feels just right in the hand and encourages you to savour every sip.

Objects designed to help you notice the moments you’re in. Support a small independent designer :)

I’m down to my last few sets of Mμ and Laminar with no plans to restock soon, so get yours while stock lasts.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (10% off).

Last months most clicked link: The Layup Chair by Nathan Martell.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

The Power of Storytelling. It’s never a tool that impresses me. It’s always a tools ability to help communicate a story. As a designers, I strongly believe our role is to tell compelling stories that resonate with people through the products we design.

2. 

Adam Savage Meets Imagineering’s Star Wars BDX Droids. The pace of change with animatronics is incredible. This is the type of experience that would make me want to go to Disneyland. Where technology and design come together to create magic.

3. 

I Don’t Think You Understand Just HOW Fast 1:59:30 Is. A record many thought was impossible under race conditions was broken at the London Marathon. This video does an incredible job at showing why running a sub 2 hour marathon is superhuman.

4. 

The many lives of Taiwan. I’ve recommended Search Engine quite a few times now. Taiwan produces around 90% of the world's most advanced chips - this episode does a great job at expanding on how Taiwan pulled this off.

5.

What I told designers graduating into the AI era. A slightly long read but a really positive take in a world filled with doom and gloom around our economy and AI by Kevin McCullagh.

Vizcom Challenge

Product design visualisation is an industry that is rapidly evolving. 2 years ago it would be hard to believe that Keyshot could be knocked off its perch. Keyshot entered the scene during my masters and instantly blew me away. What used to take days, could now be done in hours. I will continue to use keyshot for the control but having invested time into Vizcom over the last 2 years, it has crossed the horizon for me over the last few months. When Vizcom announced their latest design challenge in partnership with Corkway, I knew I had to take part. Moving from ideation through to final visuals for this project took 3 hours. It builds on an idea I had previously and adds a much more playful twist.

Honestly, I know it won’t win - it’s possibly a little too ambitious for what the challenge was looking for but I feel strongly that it’s a product that deserves to exist.

Introducing Grounded Rituals - a stacking stool set designed for homes that are asked to do more with less.

Inspired by Japanese low-sitting culture and its links to connection, balance, and wellbeing, Grounded Rituals is a set of four low stools that stack into a single sculptural totem. Something worth looking at for the 60% of the time it isn’t in use - and something worth gathering around when it is.

As our homes shrink - urban flats are on average 15% smaller than twenty years ago - the objects inside them need to earn their place twice over. Grounded Rituals does this by being honest about what domestic life actually looks like: long stretches of quiet punctuated by moments of gathering. The stool set holds both.

Low seating brings people physically closer. It encourages conversation, warmth, and the kind of unhurried time that a sofa at arm’s length doesn’t quite allow. Grounded Rituals is a design cue for a different rhythm - slower, more intentional, more human.

A New Side Quest

A few updates ago I shared a photo of a van we converted into a camper. A camper that stood for adventure. We have been craving adventure now that our family is a little more grown up and we’re excited to explore the world with them. After months of exploring our options we finally bit the bullet and bought our next side quest!

We’re going to take our time converting it and will do most of it ourselves. I love a design challenge and designing for small spaces so I’ll be sure to share updates along the way, right here on Balance. The balance is well and truly shifting more positively.

I was in my second year of university. An aspiring product designer watching people around the world launch exciting products and build communities around them overnight. The energy was palpable. I knew back then that I wanted to launch my own product through Kickstarter one day.

I still remember the first kickstarter campaign I backed. It was back in 2016 and the concept was simple: Why can’t we repair headphones? Rarely is it the components that fail - it’s almost always the housing. What if you could 3D print the housing?

A DIY headphone kit produced by Print+ - a group of designers from the Netherlands. The product didn't ship on time (what Kickstarter project has?), but that didn't matter. The behind-the-scenes updates, the stumbling blocks shared openly, the clear passion behind every message - it was here I understood the real power of Kickstarter. Not just funding. Community.

During my Masters degree in 2014, I worked with a local design consultancy specialising in developing Kickstarter projects. One piece of anecdotal wisdom stuck with me ever since:

The algorithm had long prioritised campaigns with rapid early traction.

Careful planning, months of pre-launch hype, customers primed and ready to buy on day one - this was the reality even then. But it wasn’t really an issue until large organisations began to play.

The dynamic shifted entirely. Away from a model where funds raised would define whether a product was realised at all, towards a model of marketing and promotion for products that will launch regardless. It moved from a platform that enabled something like Pebble - $10 million raised by a founding team of just 10 people - to a platform where Anker, a company with a turnover exceeding £2 billion, launched Kickstarter’s highest funded project of all time.

The childlike excitement I had when I first discovered Kickstarter - the infinite potential - vanished. There was a large barrier to entry again. It wasn’t a simple as having a production ready, exciting product and a good story to tell anymore. Now you needed:

• A pre-built email list of at least 1,000 warm leads - before launch day

• 6-12 weeks of pre-launch runway, running paid ads to build the list

• A £10,000 - £15,000 advertising budget - before you’d sold a single product

• A professional campaign video that hooks someone in under 30 seconds

• A PR agency to get press coverage at exactly the right moment (and a budget for paid product placement)

• A crowdfunding marketing agency to manage your funnel, ad spend, and conversion rates across your campaign.

• A pledge manager, a fulfilment partner, and a shipping strategy

I had none of that.

When I made the decision to launch Mμ back in 2021 following over a year of prototyping, I did so in the knowledge that I would be doing it all myself and on a shoestring budget. I launched my social accounts and began sharing behind the scenes development, testing the water and gauging interest. I spent a grand total of £100 on ads. Instead, I focussed my energy on reaching out to publications and influencers I felt were genuine and was incredibly surprised when so many responded. Having commissioned a small batch of production samples with my production partner, I sent these samples out to as many influential people as I could afford to - keeping only one final set for myself to film my campaign video. This translated into a brilliant review on CoffeeGeek and some incredible promotion by a few smaller coffee influencers. This grew my email list to just under 300 warm leads before launching (a fraction of what is recommended). I primed them as best I could, reduced my funding target as far as I could personally subsidise, and pressed the launch button.

Mμ was funded in just under 4 hours. It raised 12x the funding goal.

Over 500 projects now launch on Kickstarter every single day. The algorithm rewards whoever arrives with the biggest pre-built machine behind them. It took me years to get a place where I was comfortable with this to launch Mμ and honestly - I wasn’t sure I would ever launch a second campaign.

Seeing Simone Giertz recent kickstarter success with her Laundry Chair (raising nearly £1 million!) gave me hope. I have long admired Giertz’s candid voice and ability to build community and this project was a signal - the soul of the platform, briefly, unmistakably visible.

I’m starting to the rethink running a second campaign. Eyes open, clear about the work involved and what I'm up against.

I try to be as open as possible here. Read on to see what I'm considering launching - and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

A Small Ask

Did this months focus resonate with you? Do you own one of my products? Can I kindly ask you to consider writing a review on my website? Your feedback helps others trust in my little brand. It only takes a minute and means the world.

Review Now

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot. That incense holder that sits next to you throughout the day, reminding you to take a break. The coffee cup that feels just right in the hand and encourages you to savour every sip.

Objects designed to help you notice the moments you’re in. Support a small independent designer :)

I’m down to my last few sets of Mμ and Laminar with no plans to restock soon, so get yours while stock lasts.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (10% off).

Last months most clicked link: Build your own Eames House.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

The Layup Chair by Nathan Martell. With Milan Design Week this month, my feed has been full of furniture. Nothing has stopped me mid scroll faster over the last year than this design. It defies everything I know about bent lamination and is stunning in its simplicity.

2. 

Why Kids need to take more risks. Brilliant TED talk on the value of risky play for kids and what we have lost by sanitising playgrounds.

3. 

NASA’s Plan for the Moon. Who was captivated by the NASA’s Artemis launch! We need more hope in the world and this was incredible. More incredible still is what lies ahead!

4. 

IKEA’s Inflatable Chair. Another chair launched at Milan Design Week and the strongest signal yet that playful design is back!

5.

Design Trends 2026. I’m a big believer in Macro trends - less so in fast moving micro (aesthetic) trends but Gray’s video’s always bring a smile. Well worth a watch.

A Guest Writer

I had this privilege this month of guest writing for Mario Alessiani’s substack. As a designer based in a small town in Italy, Mario is proving that geography isn’t as critical to success as it used to be - something I resonate hugely with. The community here on substack is something I have come to value hugely!

Check out Mario’s latest post here: Designer from Nowhere

A Second Kickstarter?

There’s a Japanese word - sundoku (積ん読) - for the phenomenon of buying books with every intention of reading them, then watching them pile up untouched. It’s so universal it has its own name.

I am a chronic sundoku sufferer. And a few years ago, that recognition became the seed of something I haven’t been able to let go of since.

The lightbulb moment

I was reading Atomic Habits when I landed on the idea of “habit stacking” - building new habits onto existing ones rather than starting from scratch. Something clicked. What if your bedside light only turned on when you lifted your book? What if the book itself was the switch?

The idea arrived fully formed. I sketched and tested as fast as I could - I needed to see it! I knew immediately what it needed to be:

Designed to make reading the easiest decision you make before bed.

That’s Sundoku. A bedside lamp that responds to your book — not your phone.

We’ve had two working prototypes in our house for years. Slowly refined, made better, lived with. And of all twelve products I developed and shared in my first year on Substack, this is the one I keep coming back to.

So what’s changed?

Presence

The original form was always driven by production constraints (powder-coated, laser-cut, folded sheet metal). Low-volume friendly, honest and premium feeling. I still believe in that approach.

But I’ve been questioning how much of the metal needs to be visible. The original silhouette is something I genuinely love - simple, considered, a little architectural. I’ve been exploring a revised form that reduces the visual weight of the metalwork.

I’d love to know which lands better for you?

Reliability

A product like this only works if it feels like magic. The magic disappears the moment the light doesn’t turn on.

My original switch mechanism (shared back in update 023) worked well for a few months before becoming inconsistent. I was keen to keep things simple - no complicated electronics, nothing that would push the cost up. Inconsistency isn't an option when the whole point is the moment. So I kept testing.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been testing a time-of-flight sensor (miniature radar using infrared lasers). It’s a more complex setup that requires a microcontroller to run it, but that complexity has opened unexpected doors. The light can now fade slowly once the book is placed back down, giving you a few quiet moments to settle before darkness. That feels right.

Two years ago this would have taken me weeks to develop. AI tools have changed something fundamental about how I build. I’ve used Arduinos for years but my coding was never fluent enough to simply make what I imagined. That limitation is gone. I’m no longer bounded by what I can code. I’m only bounded by my own creativity. I still need enough understanding to troubleshoot but the ceiling has lifted dramatically, and I think that matters beyond just this project. It means designers like me can close the gap between idea and realisation in ways that simply weren’t possible before.

Next step: making my own circuit board to permanently connect each component, then re-housing everything inside Sundoku. Watch out for the next update!

So… a Kickstarter?

Licensing was always my instinct for Sundoku. The complexity of bringing it to market pointed toward a brand partnership, and I’ve quietly developed pitch materials for brands I feel are genuinely aligned. But cold outreach has its limits, and the longer I sit on this, the more I think Kickstarter might be the right move.

There’s a clear niche. A clear need. A product that needs to be experienced to be understood - which is exactly what a well-made campaign video can do. I can see the campaign. I can see the community of book lovers and habit-seekers it would reach. I have some production partners already identified.

What I’m honest about is the weight of doing it alone. A campaign needs capital to engage production partners, time to build an audience before launch, and the full commitment of seeing it through to fulfilment if it succeeds. I’m not afraid of hard work. But I’m deliberately careful about where I point it.

This felt like the moment to think out loud with you and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The goal posts for productivity have been pushed further still now that agentic AI has arrived. Some people are already deploying hundreds of agents to do in seconds what took us days. The world isn’t just accelerating - it’s compounding. And somewhere in the middle of all that, it’s worth asking: what’s it actually for?

The promise was always that efficiency would free us. Instead it just raised the baseline. We got more done and immediately found more to do.

Maybe we need to go the other way. Be a little less productive. Make more of the things the world considers useless - a cup, a mark on wood, a fold in paper.

The Research

Have you ever found yourself totally consumed with what you’re doing - losing all sense of time? It’s my favourite sense of self. When the conditions are just right, you hit that flow state and the world around you melts away.

A 2016 Drexel University study found that 45 minutes of making - measurably lowered cortisol levels in 75% of participants. Regardless of skill level. Cortisol is the stress hormone your body releases when it's in fight-or-flight. The same one that spikes when you open your inbox at 7am, or toggle between 14 browser tabs. Making something with your hands pushes it in the other direction.

Alongside this, a 2024 study published in Frontiers in Public Health, drawing on survey data from over 7,000 adults in England, found that making arts and crafts significantly predicted increased life satisfaction, happiness, and a sense that life is worthwhile - above and beyond age, income, health, and employment. That’s huge.

Occupational Therapists refer to flow state as the “just Right Challenge”. something that is not too easy, not too hard. A challenge that pushes just that little beyond your current capability. This is the condition that tends to produce flow. As designers, we are constantly pushing ourselves just beyond our current capability - learning new skills as a means to evolve our practice. Without this mindset, I wouldn’t have scratched that itch I had about pushing slip casting to create Mμ - snowballing into my current product line. I wouldn’t have cut holes in a perfectly good van to transform it into a camper.

Making is a form of therapy. Or at least it is for me - and it’s not always cheaper than traditional therapy!

Design that Slows us Down

This is where slow design moves beyond being just an ethical choice and starts being something with actual stakes.

There’s been a growing conversation around slow living - slow food, slow travel, the deliberate resistance to speed for its own sake. And looking at the research above - it’s clear why! I think slow design belongs in that conversation. Products designed to introduce friction - not remove it.

Take my coffee products. Purchased with intention and used deliberately each morning. This sits in direct opposition to a notification-driven start to the day. It doesn’t optimise your morning. It interrupts it, in the best possible way. It asks you to be present for 2 minutes it takes to make a coffee, instead of being productive from the second you wake up.

This is the thing I keep coming back to when designing my own line of products. Every product I introduce, the goal isn’t to create hype. It’s to add a moment of resistance to autopilot. A small, physical interruption in the stream of noise.

That’s what slow design means to me. Not slower manufacturing. Not nostalgia for handcraft. A designed pause.

Making as Therapy

Back in Update 005 (back in Oct 23!), I Introduced The Grampian. A DIY, premium wallet kit that takes you on journey of discovery into a craft that has been practised for 400,000 years. With this kit you would get:

• Your choice of matched full grain leather

• All of the tools to get started with leather working (needles / edge beveler / leather glue / edge slicker / burnishing gum)

• Designed Experience: Die cut leather and a high value video guide to guarantee even a total beginner can produce a premium wallet to be proud of and cherish

By committing to the process, you’re not just making a wallet, you’re investing in it. This is what slow design means to me - a chance to slow down, reconnect with your hands, and reclaim a sense of presence in a world that constantly pushes us to go faster.

A Small Ask

Did this months focus resonate with you? Do you own one of my products? Can I kindly ask you to consider writing a review on my website? Your feedback helps others trust in my little brand. It only takes a minute and means the world.

Review Now

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot. That incense holder that sits next to you throughout the day, reminding you to take a break. The coffee cup that feels just right in the hand and encourages you to savour every sip.

Objects designed to help you notice the moments you’re in. Start your 2026 right and support a small independent designer :)

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (10% off).

Last months most clicked link: Lessons Learned Shipping 500 Units of my First Hardware Product.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

The race to save the clay: Wallace & Gromit. I have always enjoyed watching behind the scenes videos on stop motion. The details draw me in. Great little WSJ piece.

2. 

Did the PSP Fail? This console is 20 years old! The PSP for me is peak nostalgia. I remember the anticipation before it launched, standing in the queue on launch day and the incredible memories I had with mine.

3. 

The Designer Who Makes You Forget Design | Naoto Fukasawa. One of my all time favourite designers and really enjoying this channel’s videos. Cannot recommend his Phaidon book enough!

4. 

Navigating the Matrix. Casey Neistat has an incredible power in telling stories that resonate. Boy does this one resonate.

5.

Build your own Eames House. Will be keeping a close eye on this one when it launches at Milan Design Week later this month!

More Making as Therapy

I am driven to make things. Quite often, these are projects that have no commercial lens at all. They allow me to scratch an itch, keep my sanity and quite often show my loved ones that I care.

My wife and I both love food. You can’t beat a little cheese board / small plates / antipasti.

For years, we’ve just used a collection of bowls and cutting boards. It served our needs. For Christmas last year, I spent a few months thinking about how I could make something that would heighten our experience, specifically for our setup.

Two small ceramic pots. One for mustard, the other for celery salt - a classic pairing in Belgium served with young gouda (the cheese sits in a softly scooped area to right).

Playful ceramic bowls, perfectly sized, sunk into the machined oak board. Two soft pockets machined into the oak, one for cheese and one for a nice sourdough bread.

Don’t get too caught up, trying to squeeze out that last 0.5%. Remember to disconnect and make. Whether that’s through craft, cooking or sport! How do you find that flow state?

It’s easy to get bogged down in the detail when it comes to understanding the impact of our design decisions. This can result in many of us feeling out of our depth and sometimes overwhelmed.

Designers have the opportunity to play a key role in impacting more positively on the planet - with the caveat of course that most designers are not the ultimate decision makers. We have the ability to propose better solutions but shouldn’t beat ourselves up by factors outside of our control.

Sustainability is something I have written about before (and no doubt will again!). If you’re interested in reading my broader thoughts, check this out. Today we’re zooming in though and focussing on materials and why they matter.

Do Materials Matter?

A 2020 study compiling 866 product carbon footprints revealed a clear picture of where emissions are concentrated. On average:

40-60% of a product’s total carbon footprint is associated to materials and manufacturing (embodied carbon). This includes everything from:

• Raw material extraction

• Material processing (smelting, polymerisation, refining)

• Manufacturing & assembly

• Packaging

Of this 40-60%, it’s estimated that 70-90% of this is associated to materials. In other words, material choice accounts for 28-54% of a products overall carbon footprint. That’s potential for huge impact!

Beyond the Science

Let’s be honest though - a material choice goes far beyond pure environmental impact.

Carbon metrics matters. Lifecycle assessments matter. Materials are not just numbers in a spreadsheet though - they are signals. They communicate to us before we even touch them.

Materials imbue value.

Over millennia, we’ve built deep cultural associations with them. Stone suggests permanence. Bronze suggests legacy. Solid hardwood suggests craftsmanship and care. Polished stainless steel implies hygiene and precision. Soft-touch silicone feels contemporary and accessible. Even plastic (depending on context) can signal either disposability or democratic design.

These meanings weren’t invented by marketing departments. They evolved through architecture, tools, jewellery, furniture, objects of ritual. Through use, status, scarcity, durability, and craft.

This is why product design has an entire discipline dedicated to CMF (Colour, Material, Finish).

CMF isn’t decoration. It’s psychology.
It’s anthropology.
It’s storytelling through surface and substance.

A bead blasted finish feels different from a high-gloss finish.
A visible grain tells a different story than a uniform moulded part.
A cold metal touchpoint signals something entirely different from warm timber.

These signals influence perceived value, longevity, and care.

A product that feels precious is treated as precious.
A product that feels disposable is treated as disposable.

This is where sustainability becomes more nuanced.

You can choose a lower-carbon material but if it feels cheap, fragile, or culturally “low value,” it may be discarded sooner. Lifespan is one of the most powerful levers in reducing the total carbon impact.

Conversely, a slightly higher-impact material that creates attachment, durability, and longterm use may outperform a technically “greener” alternative over time.

So the question isn’t just:

What is the carbon footprint of this material?

It’s also:

What story does it tell? How long will someone keep it? Does it age well? Does it feel worthy of care?

Sustainability lives at the intersection of science and meaning.

We can quantify embodied carbon.
But we also design for emotion, perception, ritual, and cultural memory.

I believe that the most powerful products sit where those two worlds meet.

A Playful Example

if you have been reading my updates for a while, you may have come to realise I drink a lot of coffee! With an 18g espresso each time, I likely go through 25kg+ of coffee annually. That’s a lot of a spent beans going to waste and I’m just one person. Imagine a coffee shop! Spent grounds can be a great addition to your compost but this needs to be done in balance so as not to overly effect the PH level or nutrients in your soil. So what else could we be doing with coffee waste?

Years ago, I ran a series of experiments to see if I could add coffee grounds to basic bio-plastic recipe’s to create a textural coffee bio-plastic. The results were rough at first, but over time, I could see the material’s potential. Fast forward to today and companies like Kaffeeform are turning spent coffee into tangible, desirable products, like coffee cups. Proof that waste can become something people cherish.

What if we could collect coffee waste from coffee shops and create products that actively support our environment. Something like a bird feeder. Something like this.

This is a simple bird feeder I have been playing with over the last month. Clean, playful and hopefully perceived as a celebration of the coffee bioplastic material as a premium material. Something you would want to take care of. It would clearly need refined but I feel like its got legs (or wings perhaps?).

With a focus on materials, if this coffee-based bioplastic concept replaced a traditional plastic and metal wire bird feeder, there would be the potential to reduce the overall product carbon footprint from around 5.5kg CO2e to around 1.7kg CO2e - a reduction of nearly 60%, purely thanks to materials choices.

Materials really do matter.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot. That incense holder that sits next to you throughout the day, reminding you to take a break. The coffee cup that feels just right in the hand and encourages you to savour every sip.

Objects designed to help you notice the moments you’re in. Start your 2026 right and support a small independent designer :)

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (10% off).

Last months most clicked link: Jacques Monneraud coffee cups.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Integrating compostable materials into tech products. Leveraging a new plant based, home compostable plastic (bamboo-O) for use in a portable charger. Why use forever materials in a product designed to last a few years?

2. 

Project Vesta. Olivine, a naturally occurring mineral, can capture CO2 and transform it into stable minerals - essentially one of the best materials for pulling CO2 out of the environment. Having come across this material a few months back, I am always excited to see real world applications!

3. 

Material Matters. Carole Collet on the magic of mycelium and regenerative design. A powerhouse of a podcast for anyone interested in materials.

4. 

Tapei 101. You’ll have come across this one way or another. Nail biting stuff from Alex Honnold (Free Solo) and a testament to the power of mind of body.

5.

Lessons Learned Shipping 500 Units of my First Hardware Product. Making hardware is hard and this honest reflection takes you behind the scenes for all the trials and tribulations first hand.

How I visualise early concepts

I can’t tell you how many hours I have lost to developing my ability to realistically visualise my design ideas. I have always enjoyed rendering and since moving to Keyshot over 13 years ago, I was drawn in by the ability to quickly visualise 3D models. I was a relatively early adopter of Keyshot and remember colleagues would often ask how I was able to pull together impactful visuals on the day of a client meeting. They weren’t marketing ready visuals, but enough to communicate the design intent with clarity.

I joke with my students when teaching them Keyshot that when I learned to render at University (not that long ago!), real time ray tracers weren’t a thing and you had to render out your scene to see any changes you made to materials and lighting (which would typically take at least 3 hours!). Keyshot changed the game with product visualisation.

This feedback loop between designer and client drew me in. It has become a critical tool in my arsenal to communicate design intent. there has always been a tussle however between good and a good enough. It can take 10 minutes to produce a visual that is good enough but hours to produce a visual that is good. I have been keeping a very close eye on developments around AI tools and have tested more than I care to admit. The one tool I keep coming back to though is Vizcom.

Having played with Vizcom for a few years now on and off I want to share a little behind the scenes process that has begun to deliver consistent results for me. For anyone that has toyed with AI tools, you’ll appreciate the frustrations around consistency!

I can now go from print screen to photorealistic in context shot inside 15 minutes. This used to take hours (spread across multiple days) and honestly… I couldn’t deliver the level of realism I can get here. It doesn’t work with every type of product, but for simplistic, form driven products it’s a dream. Particularly where you want to communicate narrative - like this bird feeder.

I start off with my CAD model - there will always be a need to 3D model! From here, I apply basic materials and lighting to define the CMF. A short render later and I have my starting point. From here, I would typically use an LLM (chatGPT or google Gemini) to create a contextual reference. Inside Vizcom, using a quick prompt in pro mode, I can replace the product in the contextual reference with my rough rendered product. The materials and product form get pulled through but incredibly will be upscaled and relit to perfectly match the reference.

Some of the latest updates in Vizcom really help to bring a level of control that simply didn’t exist before. Using the paint tool in Vizcom, I can quickly identify areas I want to change with a red marker (like the way the feeder connects to the tree in the above). The adaptive canvas tool works like adaptive fill in photoshop, allowing you to simply drag and change the canvas size, filling in the missing areas of the image. At this point, I had my hero shot, birds and bird feed included.

A few close up’s to try and sell the realism:

A simple prompt with clear guidance to create a calm animation:

And finally, some testing to communicate how the product could be refilled with seed:

It’s not perfect, but it’s certainly good enough!

This level of deep dive isn’t something I typically showcase here and I know using AI can be a polarising topic but I’d be keen to hear if you feel hearing about this is of value to you?

Concerns around AI are totally valid and I know the design world is divided here. Personally, the tools I learn serve as a means to explore and express my creative intent. Vizcom in particular is enabling me to visualise design ideas in a way I simply didn’t have access to before. If we can solve the challenges around resources use and have creatives fairly compensated for having their work used in any training data - we’d be living in a much more compassionate world.

I had a realisation a little while back that I had gone a whole week without actually designing anything. Most designers didn’t get into this industry to answer emails, sit on calls, strategise or plan. It got me thinking - how much of our time is actually spent designing?

As students I think most of us carry a fairly idealised vision of what a career in design might look like. Exciting projects. Meaningful work. Tangible progress - each day pushing projects forward. We don’t think about the admin, managing client relationships or the business side of things.

There are so many different paths you can take as a product designer - each one quietly shapes how much “design” you actually do day to day. Over the past month I’ve found myself talking about this a lot with friends in design - including one incredibly talented designer you’ll hear from further down.

The more I think about it, the harder it feels to generalise. The range across roles and industries is huge. But in loose terms, a few patterns keep coming up.

• Designers working in consultancies tend to do the most hands on design work. At least early on, before strategy, management, and client relationships start to take up more space.

• In-house designers often do less day to day but experience intense periods where they’re almost entirely focused on developing new products.

• Freelance and independent designers usually have to split their time across many different roles, balancing design with the less visible work required to manage and grow a business.

Alongside this, there’s been a clear push toward increased productivity and broader responsibilities. Digitisation and the introduction of AI continues to reshape design work, creating new ways of working - all geared towards getting products to market ever faster. At the same time, designers are increasingly expected to have a rounded understanding of the wider business - squeezing design time more over time.

Is less design time a bad thing?

As with everything in life, there’s no one size fits all answer here. For me though? What excited me most about design was being able to realise ideas and never get bored. That’s still true for me - maybe more true than ever.

Constraints that used to exist have disappeared and the broader understanding of business has helped me better articulate the value I bring to the table to colleagues and stakeholders. No two days are the same for me and that’s something I am eternally grateful for.

Our First Guest Writer

This feels like a big moment for this newsletter.

I started this monthly update as a means of holding myself to account but also to engage with the design community. I’ve spoken to some incredible people over the years as a result of this newsletter and have long had ambitions of introducing new voices.

I’m delighted to introduce a good friend and someone I met through Substack - Mario Alessiani, an incredibly talented industrial designer based out of his hometown in Italy. Mario runs his own studio and has a fantastic Substack you should all be following where he shares behind the scenes access to projects as well as his thoughts on design.

Before we dive in, two Products I love:

Archetype-A

A stackable wooden chair with reclining backrest. Clean with a quietly beautiful interaction.

Vela

Developed from a lighting collection, this centrepiece is a stunning combination of folded sheet metal and hardwood. A centrepiece for any home.

image credit: Mario Alessiani

So… what are Mario’s thoughts?

When I was younger, I imagined the role of a designer very differently from what it actually is today. I’m still not sure whether the job has always been this way, or if what I’m experiencing is simply part of the natural evolution of a designer over time.

To be honest, I didn’t really know what “doing design” meant even when I was a student. I enrolled in design thinking that architects were the ones designing objects, probably because in Italy, in the 1960s and 70s, that was often the case. Later, I realized that architecture and design are completely different disciplines. They sometimes intersect, but they follow very different logic. Even choosing to study product design already made me understand that the reality would be different from what I had imagined.

I remember a moment very clearly. It was around 2011, I was in London, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, during a talk by Fabio Novembre. At some point he said something that stuck with me: that a designer actually designs very little during the day. Most of the time is spent on calls, meetings and emails. The act of designing is reduced to a small portion of the working day. At the time, I didn’t fully relate to that.

For many years, my experience was different. I designed a lot, constantly. Looking back now, I’ve probably worked on more than 500 projects, including products that went into production, projects that never made it, and many concepts that remained just that. I spent years designing intensively, and that period was fundamental. Designing works a bit like sport: the more you train, the better you get. And if you don’t have a great coach, you learn by making mistakes - as I did.

Back then, the main thing people expected from me was simple: to design style-driven projects, ideas, concepts.

Today, things are much more complex.

Before even starting to design, I spend a lot of time on strategic conversations. Conversations with myself, but more importantly with my clients. Trying to understand what really needs to be designed, and sometimes helping them realize that what they think they need might not be the right answer.

When I was younger and less experienced, I relied much more on instinct and often trusted the client’s direction without questioning it too much. Now, with more experience, I can sense when a client might be heading in the wrong direction. And that’s part of the role. When you work within an industrial model, the designer is also a consultant. You’re expected to give advice, not just form.

As a result, my projects have become more refined. Refinement means narrowing the field. I filter ideas much more than before, selecting only the ones that truly make sense. This increases research time, but it shortens the design phase itself, because when I start designing, I know exactly what I’m doing. I understand materials, processes, constraints and that clarity makes execution faster.

At the same time, as your practice grows, so do responsibilities. Financial management, for example, has become more complex, not because I became rich, but because things are no longer done randomly. Managing money properly is essential if you want to grow. If you don’t understand how resources work, you risk blocking yourself, spending badly, or missing opportunities to evolve.

Then there’s networking and communication. At a certain point, you realize that having both a physical and a digital network is crucial to improve the quality of your work. The more people know you, the higher the chance of working on projects that matter - with people who share your values and understand what you want to build. Design collaborations are not just economic relationships; they’re long-term paths.

All of this takes time. Communication takes time. Building visibility takes time. And yet, none of it works without strong projects. Without good design, there is nothing to communicate, no reason to grow, no network to sustain.

So the real question is not whether I have changed, or whether the role of the designer has changed, it’s probably both.

My experience tells me this is a necessary step for many designers. You start as a “pure” designer, focused almost entirely on making things. Over time, the role becomes more complex and more strategic.

In furniture and lighting especially, the role of the designer is shifting. Companies are investing less in discovering new icons and more in reinforcing existing ones. Market conditions have changed, marketing has changed, and the ability to build meaningful collaborations has shifted as well.

This places designers in a new position, one that requires not only design skills, but strategic thinking, communication, and adaptability. Designing objects remains fundamental, but it becomes one of several tools used to generate innovation.

I’ve been reflecting a lot on this shift recently, especially on how the role of designers in furniture and lighting is becoming increasingly strategic. It’s something I explore more deeply in my newsletter in recent days. Writing has become one of the tools I use to think through these changes, not to explain them, but to understand them better.

In the end, I don’t think designers design less.

I think design has expanded beyond the object.

I want to hear from you

This is a big topic and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this - are you designing less than you used to? Are you designing less than you expected to? Are you ok with that? Let’s start the conversation in the comments.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot. That incense holder that sits next to you throughout the day, reminding you to take a break. The coffee cup that feels just right in the hand and encourages you to savour every sip.

Objects designed to help you notice the moments you’re in. Start your 2026 right and support a small independent designer :)

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (10% off).

Last months most clicked link: An AI powered sticker printer for kids.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

The crit - Jon Marshall. Thought provoking conversation with Jon, industrial designer at Pentagram. Especially loved hearing about how he developed one of our family favourite products the Yoto player.

2. 

Wild Robot. This has been on the list to watch with the kids for too long. This was the month and what a heartwarming story told through beautiful animation.

3. 

The Monkey Sony Walkman ad. No dialogue, no slogans - pure restraint in an age where selling specs was the norm.

4. 

Behind the Scenes - the Lego Smart Brick. No doubt you’ve come across the new lego smart play system. I have loved seeing updates on Linkedin from people in my network that have worked for lego and have finally been able to share this big project. I worry for the cost but appreciate the focus on encouraging play (and avoiding screen based interactions).

5.

Jacques Monneraud coffee cups. I have admired his work for a while - his ability to so perfectly replicate corrugated card in clay is unreal. These playful cups are stunning.

The Nostalgia Machine

I am always testing new tools and I am 100% a technophile. Nothing in life is a zero sum game to me, I don’t believe you need to choose between analogue/digital or traditional/contemporary. I believe strongly that being open to things makes us better at what we do.

That being said, the world around us only continues to spin faster. AGI is seemingly around the corner and the volume of everything has been dialled up - noise is everywhere. Maximalism is coming back big in 2026 as people seek to curate a calm in the home - insulating themselves from the outside world. Alongside this, I expect to see a lot more retro based nostalgia coming back - particularly Anemoia (yearning for a time you never personally experienced) which I predict will be a growing trend within Gen-Z this year.

I have been feeling this pull myself and have been looking for a playful disconnect that doesn’t grow into an unhealthy addiction I don’t have time to feed. The PSP turned 20 last year - that is still wild to me. I loved this handheld and was one of the first in Belgium to get my hands on one, queuing in line on launch day! I spent hours on this handheld growing up and have incredibly fond memories. The PSP still holds up today in my view… but could do with a facelift.

As a designer, I have always enjoyed taking things apart (often not being able to put them back together again!) - I think of it as a right of passage - a means of understanding how things are made but also the small design decisions others have made. Taking this PSP apart, cleaning it (much needed!) and rebuilding it was a great escape and boy does it look the part now.

Enjoying going down memory lane with this one. Let me know what games I should be playing!

Studio Upgrade

One day I will do a studio tour in an update. My small studio packs a punch - it’s a small space that is incredibly flexible. That being said, my drawers were a mess. I couldn’t afford not to be maximising this space anymore so took some time to really think about what each drawer should be doing. With that in mind, I designed and 3D printed simple inlays so that everything has a place - meaning I should always be able to find what I need… when I need it!

The little things stack up.

One last thing…

I shared the Ripple Lamp last month. A quick project for the home and a nice little stretch of the muscles in a no stress environment. It’s been keeping us cosy up here in Aberdeen with the apocalyptic amount of snow that quite literally closed the schools and forced us all to stay home. We rarely shy away from an overly ambitious project in our family - so we committed to a 4 person Igloo… fairy lights and all.

The Ripple Lamp has been optimised (for 3D print, removing the CNC oak piece) and is now available for anyone to print their own on makerworld. You can print yours here:

Print Yours Now

Trends are all pointing towards short form content. YouTube is now considered “long form”. If this is true - long form writing like this will become more and more the exception. As a designer, I have always been a salmon and will continue to swim against the stream. The edges are where discovery happens - and discovery is at the heart of what I do.

This Substack will continue to be a haven for ideas unpacked. No clickbait straplines with half baked ideas. Thank you for joining me on this year’s journey of exploration! I can’t wait to see what we uncover next.

And while Spotify has “Wrapped”, Substack doesn’t - so this month, I’m making my own.

Welcome to 2025 Wrapped.

2025 by the Numbers

📅 12 updates published this year

💡 4 Product Concepts shared

🚀 4 Product’s Launched

✍️17484 words written

🔥 Biggest Themes: Failure, focus, craft, rituals, conscious consumerism

🔗 Most shared: Update 028: A New Hope

⏳ Longest to write: Update 029: Designing for Rituals

🏆 Most Shared Find: Why Everyone is Quitting Social Media

📈 201% more subscribers

Thank you for reading, sharing, and sticking around. It genuinely matters.

My top tools for 2025

If you have been reading my updates for a while, you know I’m always testing new tools (analogue and digital). Growth, for me, comes from curiosity. Here are my top tools for 2025:

🎵 Alex Productions - Best Royalty Free Music. Exceptional quality, generously shared..

📐Vizcom: This was the year ai evolved from fringe tools for designers to everyday, credible tools.

🎙️ Notebooklm: Turning dense resources into instant podcasts. I now use it monthly on my own updates—and it keeps improving.

💡 Godox SL100D + lantern diffuser: Good lighting defines how well your work is understood. This was the single most important photography upgrade in my small studio—soft, forgiving, consistent.

🛠️ Bambulab P1S: My single best upgrade over this last year and this guy has already delivered 2116 hours in just under a year and half.

2030 Calculator: Not a silver bullet, but an essential starting point for understanding CO₂ impact when developing new products. Every designer should have this in their arsenal.

Failure is Part of the Journey

I’ll be honest. This year has been tough.

From the outside, it may seem like the wheels have been spinning with some exciting products in the works but the reality is that I have experienced more failure than success this year.

Failure is part of the job. Social media encourages us to edit it out, to present only the wins. I’ve tried to resist that here, sharing the missteps alongside the progress. The biggest lesson moving into this year has been simple, but hard: less, but better.

I started this newsletter to find balance; between family life, a full-time role as an educator, and this work. Last year that balance tipped. I spread myself too thinly, and I wasn’t happy with the results. This reflection matters as much as any product launch.

That said, there was one clear success this year - and it matters more to me than any product metric.

This community.

Over the course of 2025, this newsletter more than doubled in size. Even more surprising: the open rate is sitting at 59%. In a world where we’re all drowning in emails, the fact that you keep opening, reading, and engaging (amidst all that noise) means a great deal to me. Thank you.

For context, an open rate of 18–25% is typically considered good. This feels like a genuine signal that these slower, more thoughtful updates are resonating and that makes all the difference.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I’ve spent the last few years reflecting quite heavily on what I want to focus my attention on for the next 5 years. Time is tight, family time is important but I am driven more than ever to add thoughtful friction into people’s lives.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot. That incense holder that sits next to you throughout the day, reminding you to take a break. The coffee cup that feels just right in the hand and encourages you to savour every sip.

Objects designed to help you notice the moments you’re in. Start your 2026 right and support a small independent designer :)

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (10% off).

Last months most clicked link: Memo: the playful robot.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

An AI powered sticker printer for kids. Hearing this founders story really resonated with me and this feels like one of the first good use cases of AI to empower and encourage kids imagination. Very cool.

2. 

I Skied Down Mount Everest. A world’s first and the most suspenseful 30 minutes you will experience this week.

3. 

Search Engine (annual review). Listening to a long format podcast discuss the state of media today was eye opening. The internet is not going to tune algorithms towards thoughtfulness - so we need to do something differently.

4. 

The Crit - Ab Rogers. Great episode focussing on the importance of human centred design in healthcare settings. The importance of community and co-design in creating meaningful spaces.

5.

Pixar Luxo Jr Lego. I have been loving building lego with my son over the last few years and this Christmas, I got my first lego set in over 20 years. keep your eyes out for this guy being converted into a working lamp ;)

A Bit of Fun

The nights are getting dark and it’s been a long year - I needed a little fun.

Sometimes we just need a little escape - a chance to stretch your muscles without having to set the world on fire. It gets seriously dark over the winter months up here in Aberdeen. Whilst we have a few smaller lights around the home, we still overly rely on “the big light” in our main living room. We needed something a little warmer and calmer. I had a bambu LED panel kicking about, some leftover oak from a previous project and a seed of an idea.

4 prototypes and less than 48 hours later, we have a working prototype.

A simple machined oak base and 3D printed shade and we now have a cosy lamp to keep the vibes just right over the colder months. Sometimes ideas come to you fully formed and just need teased out.

The speed gets me every time. Turning an idea into a physical object in under two days (using only evenings) still feels a little magical. It’s a reminder of what’s possible when momentum matters more than perfection.

I’m a huge advocate for passion projects. Going from nothing to something always unlocks new ways of working, fresh knowledge, and often entirely new tools. Even when the outcome is small, the learning never is.

This is how I grow.

Ripple Lamp - a warm accent for the home. Japanese lantern inspired form with a soft glow and warm oak for a premium feel. Calm by design.

Looking Ahead to 2026

One big change: less time on video. Same Impact.

I still believe video can be a powerful way to tell stories about craft. But after nearly burning myself out over the last three years, the truth is I don’t have the time to do it the way I want to.

2026 will be a year of testing: faster workflows, lighter production, more emphasis on storytelling than polish.

This is the first attempt - a quick, imperfect look at the Ripple Lamp.

And that’s okay.

Less, but better.

With the pace of change in the job market, young people today are expected to have up to 7 distinct careers in their lifetimes. For a lot of people, this could instil fear. One of my favourite things about being a designer is feeling comfortable feeling uncomfortable. I love that feeling when you step into a new project, in a new industry, with a new set of unknowns… and trusting the design process to guide you. Over time, that becomes its own form of confidence.

The Lifelong Learner

If there’s one constant in a world of shifting careers, it’s this: curiosity is the only compass that works.

As designers, we don’t have the luxury of standing still. The landscape moves too quickly. Tools evolve. Industries change shape.

The real skill is knowing how to learn.

It’s something educators talk about a lot, and something I believe deeply. If we can teach the next generation how to learn, they’ll be able to weather whatever their future careers throw at them.

I feel that in my own practice. I love learning new skills - digital or analogue. One week it’s refining a plaster mould for slip casting; the next, experimenting with a new AI tool. Every new skill is another lens, another way of understanding the world.

Every tool added to the toolbox doesn’t just make you more capable - it makes you more resilient.

Yes this is a cheesy image and yes it was produced with AI. I have been playing quite a bit with nano banana lately and have been incredibly impressed with its ability for consistency with base images (not re-interpreting the geometry of a model for example).

The Challenge?

We’re expected to learn new skills endlessly. To be creative, strategic, technical, social, analytical. To understand branding, marketing, finance, product development, storytelling - and somehow also remember to drink enough water.

Wearing Hats

We’re wearing more hats than ever before. Designer one minute, copywriter the next. Customer service at 10am, operations before lunch, social media manager in the evening. Roles that used to belong to whole departments now sit on one pair of shoulders.

The Cost?

Burnout has become a quiet companion for many of us - not dramatic, just persistent. A hum in the background. A reminder that the tools that liberate us can also stretch us thin. So thinly at times, that we barely move the needle.

Yet, We Keep Creating

Yet even with the overwhelm, people are still choosing to build something of their own.
Company creation in the UK has surged over the past two decades because this new world, for all its demands, offers something previous generations rarely had: agency.

Entrepreneurship isn’t a niche anymore and it has never been easier to setup a business:

• The world is more connected than ever. We don’t need to be in big cities anymore to connect and share. Social media has provided us all with a megaphone.

• Globalisation connected our industries. It has never been easier to source production partners and put your ideas into the world.

• Creative tools have become more accessible. You can 3D model and produce production ready files for free. You can also access professional level editing and layout tools (hello Affinity) for free.

• Knowledge is accessible. Online courses have grown, YouTube has matured and more people are going to University than ever before (free university education in Scotland!).

Where This has Led Me Lately…

Like many of you, I’ve been learning new tools, strengthening old ones, and trying to manage the delicate balance between curiosity and burnout.

One of those chapters has become a quiet obsession - something I’ve been building in the background for months.

It’s called TRACE and it’s a product I introduced back in Update 025. A fully customisable wall-art map. This month, I had a breakthrough.

I finally built the website that brings TRACE to life - something I genuinely didn’t think I had the skills to do until now.

I’ll share the behind-the-scenes later in this newsletter, but for now:

If we’re all going to wear many hats, it feels good when one of them starts to fit just right.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

By now, you’ve probably been hit by an avalanche of festive ads, discount emails, and even text messages. Small businesses like mine don’t operate on the same margins as the big retailers, and I’m not interested in using scarcity tactics to pressure anyone into buying.

The festive season can already be overwhelming, so this December I’m keeping things simple: 20% off all products for the whole month. If you know someone who might enjoy one of my pieces, now’s a lovely time to share a gift that’s thoughtful and intentional.

This December, give (or keep) a gift that nudges you - or someone you love - out of auto-pilot

Mμ

A set of two porcelain cups, designed to elevate daily coffee rituals. The matt exterior and thoughtful silhouette make every sip feel intentional.

One for the coffee lovers

Learn more

IKIGAI

A calming incense holder designed to bring balance and reflection to any home.

A mindful gift for those who seek calm and ritual in everyday life.

Learn more

CASTLEGATE

A playful series of stackable trays featuring a 3D scan of Aberdeen’s famous cobbles.

A thoughtful gift that brings a little more order and fun to the home.

Learn more

LAMINAR

A pair of latte cups with a parabolic interior for better latte art and a tactile, comforting feel in the hand.

Perfect for the coffee lover in your life who cares as much about the ritual as the flavour.

Learn more

Shop Now

Use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): festivecheer (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: An IKEA Classic relaunched.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Patagonia’s First Impact Report. A brilliant write up on Patagonia’s radically honest take on impact reporting. Once again setting the standard for sustainability best practices.

2. 

Memo: the playful robot. In a world with weekly home robot’s launching, this is the first one I wouldn’t be horrified having in the home. No uncanny valley here.

3. 

Love + War. An incredible national geographic documentary that shines a light on the incredible work war photographers carry out in showing the world what is actually happening whilst tussling with family life.

4. 

Adaptation isn’t backing down. Brilliant article on the reality of where we are with climate change and the reality that we are now in a world of adaptation, not purely prevention.

5.

Threads. Having left the toxicity of twitter years ago, I have been really enjoying the positivity on threads. If you need a positive social media platform, come join the conversation on threads!

TRACE LAUNCH

5 months ago I introduced TRACE - a minimal birch plywood wall art map that is personal to you. If you missed that update, feel free to read about TRACE in more detail here.

Having gifted various versions of this for wedding presents over the years, I finally developed TRACE into a product that could be installed on any wall within 5 minutes - even for the DIY avoiders.

Back in update 026 I shared that the bottleneck in making TRACE a reality was me. It relied on a back and forth conversation with me and a LOT of design time on my end to bring each one to life.

I proposed, What if…

• You could visit a website, choose your location, preview it live, add your custom text, and check out in minutes?

• It arrived beautifully boxed, direct to the recipient?

• It was easy to install - even if you’re renting?

Surely a go-to gift? Personal, timeless, and simple to order.

Well… I am delighted to share that all of the above is now possible and LIVE on the website:

Test our TRACE for yourself

I could not be happier with how this turned out and whilst it’s not perfect - it does allow you as the customer, full control over the map you want to create.

Easy to order. Easy to install

I’d love to know what you think of the product, the website and the ordering experience. If you haven’t commented before, let’s start the conversation :) if you’ve been reading since update 026 - you’ve seen this one evolve.

Time alone with your own thoughts?

The shower seems to be one of the last places left where I am alone with my own thoughts – a digital break. A rare opportunity without distraction. This was a shower thought (I literally ran out of the shower to note it down).

The Vanishing Art of Solitude

There are so few moments these days with our own thoughts. We are constantly distracted. On average, a 2025 study found that we pick up our smartphones 74 times a day. We no longer have to endure the boredom of waiting for a bus, standing in a queue or waiting for the kettle to boil - every moment is now filled with our digital devices.

I have vivid memories of being around 9 years old, sat in my mum’s office waiting for her to finish work. I was always bored - looking for things to do. I once transcribed an entire book, illustrations and all! We evolved to have periods like this (moments of solitude) time alone with our thoughts and we are now entering a world where this experience may no longer exist.

Cal Newport (author of Digital Minimalism), defines this as solitude deprivation:

The question is, is this bad?

For years, big tech has sold us the dream that being constantly connected is a good thing. But as Cal points out, to understand the cost of losing solitude, we need to look at an extreme case: those born after 1995. This is the first generation to grow up entirely in the age of the smartphone - the canaries in our digital coal mine. A 2015 study found they were already consuming an average of nine hours of digital media a day.

The result? Anxiety among young people has skyrocketed. We have been witnessing a full-blown mental health crisis.

Where are the moments of pause, a chance to reflect? A chance to think?

That tiny wedge – less than half an hour in the day, is all most of us now have for solitude.

This is nothing new, Anthony Storr was writing about the enforcement of noise into all parts of our lives with the introduction of the car phone in the 1980’s. Wall-E predicated the end game back in 2008.

People are starting to wake up to the impacts this lack of solitude is having as a result of our always on world. And we’re starting to see the rebellion begin.

The Opportunity

This is the opportunity as I see it – my design philosophy is centred around making that wedge of solitude a little bigger. Provide people with more solitude, more idle time with their thoughts and to live a more balanced life. No longer designing for frictionless experiences. Friction can be good when used thoughtfully and intentionally.

For too long, we’ve been told to design for frictionless experiences. But maybe friction, when it’s thoughtful and intentional, is exactly what we need.

In a world obsessed with convenience, I want to design products that add just the right kind of friction - gentle pauses that give you space to think.

That’s been at the heart of Ben Durack Designs since I started almost six years ago.

Designing for rituals

My moment of realisation?

A trip to Japan. Having always admired Japan from afar both in terms of design, culture and craftsmanship, I had the privilege of visiting Japan back in 2017.

Alongside the incredible food, scenery, architecture and technology, I was drawn in by the traditional Japanese tea ceremony through a chance experience following a meditation session. The care, attention to detail and time to carry out the ceremony left me appreciating the time I had with my thoughts.

While I don’t host tea ceremonies at home, I try to carry that spirit into my day-to-day life. Why should my coffee be ready at the push of a button in 30 seconds? What if it took five minutes instead?

Small changes like this, when carried out every day can have a big impact. We all have rituals in our daily lives, most of which we may never have questioned. What daily rituals do you have? And what if one or two took a little longer? The kind of ritual that consumes just enough focus not to be able to default to your smartphone while you wait – providing you with moments of pause. Increasing that wedge.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I’ve spent the last few years reflecting quite heavily on what I want to focus my attention on for the next 5 years. Time is tight, family time is important but I am driven more than ever to add thoughtful friction into people’s lives.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot. That incense holder that sits next to you throughout the day, reminding you to take a break. The coffee cup that feels just right in the hand and encourages you to savour every sip.

Objects designed to help you notice the moments you’re in.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: Benjamin Hubert - The Crit.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Dutch Design Week. A haven for out of the box thinking and CMF - one day I will make it in person, but for now seeing others highlights keeps me inspired.

2. 

Secret of Secrets - Dan Brown. Always worth the wait and thoroughly enjoyed this page turner… all nearly 800 pages of it!

3. 

Tim Berners-Lee - Leading. Another firm favourite podcast, leading interviews some of the leading voices in society. This month they interviewed Tim Berners-Lee with some interesting reflection on the how the internet has developed.

4. 

An IKEA Classic relaunched. Really nice to see IKEA reintroducing some of their classics. The corduroy lounge, DYVLINGE, originally released in 1967 in orange certainly brings joy into the home.

5.

Pricing - Simone Giertz. Pricing your products isn’t easy. There are some sensible rules around how to price but like Simeone, I always guided by what I would feel comfortable with a customer paying. I haven’t increased the price of Mμ since launching - 2 cups for £30. had I increased my prices inline with inflation, they would now cost £38.

A Design with Impact

A few months ago I teased a detail for a product I was developing for a possible local client. As is so often the way, the project didn’t make it to market. That’s the sad reality of our industry but I still think the design has legs (pun intended!) so thought I would share here. Please do let me know what you think.

The brief for this one was simple. There was an opportunity to design and produce a low volume run of a bar stool for a local organisation that prided itself on its sustainability credentials. The stools were going to be a centrepiece in a new flagship location. They should be highly functional, produced locally, demonstrably lower in embodied carbon than imported alternatives and be cost conscious.

With this in mind, I knew the largest contributor to embodied carbon with any product is typically distribution, so wanted to constrain myself to working with a local steel fabricator and sawmill capable of producing local plywood.

The concept was simple, using only straight steel tube and making this a feature not a constraint.

Straight, chunky tube steel with a bent laminated pine plywood seat. The curvature of the pine plywood has been optimised for comfort and connection to the tube legs (the legs meeting exactly perpendicular). This allows for the tube steel to be straight cut and for the exposed top to sit seamlessly up against the plywood as a centrepiece for the design. Optimised for ease of production and scalability.

And the best bit? An opportunity to show the customer the impact of working locally.

A potential carbon saving of 641kg/CO2e! When producing only 17 bar stools when compared to ordering in a similar spec of bar stool from overseas.

Powder coated steel for a long lasting finish and an opportunity to inject colour and brand identity. A design that was costed and ready to execute.

As always, I am forever testing the water with new tools, constantly seeking to expand my toolkit. My latest obsession? taking renders and introducing models to give my designs context… going one step further and animating this into a video. Still very early days but clearly of value already.

We’re trained to empathise, think critically and solve problems. Sometimes it weighs us down. Especially young designers. Fear of causing harm can paralyse us. This is the designer’s paradox: the tension between creation and consumption.

A very warm welcome to our new subscribers - it’s so nice to see this small community growing and I hope you find value in this months update.

👉 Quick pulse check:

A bold statement that sent shockwaves around the world at the time - I remember this landing and there being a moment where the world came together with a collective will to put weight behind this problem. This was a moment of action, with commitments being proposed to stay inline with the Paris Climate Agreement in limiting global warming to 1.5C.

I co-founded Origin in 2019 (a plastics recycling startup that placed design and micro-circularity at its core I wrote an update about origin back in Update 019). I felt energised and like I was contributing to the solution.

Fast forward to today and sustainability has slipped off the radar as our consciousness has been consumed by a global pandemic, war, resource scarcity and a cost of living crisis. I have found this particularly challenging personally. It’s not a topic I wanted to write about as I had nothing positive to say at the time. That was until I attended World Design Congress this month (virtually). A Design summit centred around Design for Planet and I came away inspired again.

This month is about sustainability. A positive update. A new hope.

What Sustainability Really Means

Sustainability is a term that at this point has been so overused, it has lost its meaning. Personally, I align with the UN’s definition:

Sustainability is absolutely about the planet. It’s about more than that though, it’s about people, profit and planet - it’s a triple bottom line approach. Neglect one, and you risk failing all three.

Why should designers care about sustainability?

There is a clear opportunity for designers to have a real impact through design and this was why designers have been picking up the mantle to use design as a means to make meaningful change. The challenge? Designers aren’t decision makers. For as much as we may seek to adopt circular design principles and propose more sustainable concepts - our clients are ultimately the decision makers. Whilst there was a large appetite from brands a few years ago to leverage sustainability as a USP (driven by consumer expectations), the last few years have seen a shift backwards - with a lot of brands now pulling their sustainability targets from their website altogether (cough Coca-Cola).

Designers have immense power to shape meaningful change - but there’s a catch. Designers aren’t always decision makers. We can propose circular solutions and sustainable concepts, but our clients ultimately choose. A few years ago, sustainability was a strong USP for brands. Today, some have quietly removed sustainability targets altogether (I see you, Coca-Cola).

But when design meets decision-making, the impact can be transformative.

Mukuru Clean Stoves

A mother’s tragedy sparked innovation. Charlot Magayi’s daughter was burned by a traditional stove in Nairobi. Charlot designed a safer, cleaner stove using processed biomass - 90% less pollution than open fires.

• Price: $10

• 200,000 stoves sold

• 835,000 lives improved

• 177,000 tonnes of CO2 avoided

• Hours saved that would have been spent collecting firewood

Impact that scales locally. Real lives changed.

TÅNUM - Impact at scale

When you think of IKEA, your first thought likely isn’t sustainable. How could a company who produce products so cheaply be even somewhat sustainable? it turns out IKEA (through it’s democratic design philosophy) has sustainability front and centre. IKEA invented the flat pack - originally as a means to save costs while transporting furniture. This cost centred approach has led to a highly efficient supply chain - where the form of a watering can has thoughtfully been designed to stack (enabling more units to fit in a shipping container and ultimately paying less to ship more).

One of IKEA’s best examples of a product with impact is TÅNUM. What started as a design student’s idea, quickly became one of IKEA’s best selling rugs. Made from offcuts from IKEA fabric production, and made by a social enterprise in Bangladesh, this rug has reduced waste whilst also empowering skilled craftswomen with financial independence.

Closing Thoughts

Sustainability is complex. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed but design gives us a tool to make a real difference. From local solutions like Mukuru stoves to global scale products like IKEA’s TÅNUM, designers are already proving that thoughtful, human-centred solutions can impact positively on the world.

This month, let’s focus on hope, action, and the real impact design can have.

At Origin, this inspired our mantra: #DoBetter.

Perfection is a trap. If you wait to get it just right, you’ll end up doing nothing at all. Give yourself permission to try, to experiment, to stumble - and keep moving forward. Every small step counts.

I’d love to hear from you: any inspiring sustainability stories or examples of design making a real impact? Drop a comment below and let’s spark some positive energy together!

Is this a topic that interests you? 📚

Here are a few book recommendations:

📘 A Sustainable Design Handbook — By Morrama
📕 The Circular Design Guide — Ellen Macarthur foundation
📙 Sustainable Material Library — an ai powered chatbot connecting to Materiom’s library.
📗 Cradle to Cradle — The first book on sustainability I read, nearly 20 years ago.

📓 Junkyard Planet — Incredible insight into the real world of recycling.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I’ve spent the last few months reflecting quite heavily on what I want to focus my attention on for the next 5 years. Time is tight, family time is important but I am driven more than ever to add thoughtful friction into people’s lives.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: Why Everyone is Quitting Social Media.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Why designers abandoned their dreams of changing the world. A brilliantly timed piece by the Financial Times and totally puts into words thoughts I’ve been having over the last few years - although I heavily disagree with the comments around student work.

2. 

Benjamin Hubert - The Crit. A brilliant podcast interviewing some of the most impactful designers of today. Great interview with Benjamin from LAYER design. I really connected with his founding story - moving from styling to meaningful experiences. Worth a listen.

3. 

Tim Berners-Lee - Leading. Another firm favourite podcast, leading interviews some of the leading voices in society. This month they interviewed Tim Berners-Lee with some interesting reflection on the how the internet has developed.

4. 

World Design Congress. Online passes can still be purchased for £5 to review all recorded sessions. Totally worth it and inspiring.

5.

Banff Mountain Film Festival. Really enjoyed attending the Banff Film Festival world tour. I have always enjoyed extreme sport / adventure documentaries so I was sold hook line and sinker here. Absolutely worth checking if the tour is come to you.

AI within Design

One of my favourite things about being a designer is learning new skills. My skillset now vs when I first graduated is entirely different. The tools on my tool belt have grown significantly. Having tested the water with just about every new AI tool I can get my hands on since the early days of AI (check out update 006 from back in Nov 2023), I have been waiting for the day where it would become genuinely helpful within my own workflow. That day is quickly approaching.

My dream use case is to be able to explore design ideas quickly early in an ideation phase. I want to be able to draw a very loose (terrible!) sketch like the below and through a simple sentence transform that into a photorealistic rendering. I have been playing quite a bit with vizcom (still not getting the control I want but it’s getting better) alongside chatgpt’s image generation.

The below is a very quick recent test:

• 5s sketch

• 30s image generation (chatGPT with 3 iterations)

• 2 minute video generation (vizcom image to video using short text description)

Total time spent: 10 minutes.

The Details Matter

Another BHS detail of a furniture project I am currently scoping out. It has a playful interaction and deals with small space living. I can’t say much more now, but this detail is really drawing me in. Hope to be able to share more in a few months :)

“The painter who draws by practice and by eye, without any reason, is like a mirror which copies everything placed in front of it without being conscious of their existence.” Leonardo Da Vinci

Good design starts with understanding your product’s purpose - but real understanding comes from knowing your users.

Every year, at Gray’s School of Art up in Aberdeen (Scotland), we kickstart our new intake of foundation year students education with a week of life drawing. Clearly, drawing is a foundational skill as a designer but as a designer that themselves didn’t receive this foundational basis in drawing, the real value in this exercise (for me) is the power of observation. We constantly encourage students to spend more time observing than drawing.

Our retina’s take in an overwhelming amount of visual information every second - far more than our brains can process. In fact, research suggests we consciously process less than 1% of what hits our retina (Koch, 2004). We fill in the rest subconsciously. Learning to draw is really about learning to see again.

Design isn’t just about what we create, it’s about what we observe. Observation fuels empathy, uncovers unmet needs and in my view is the secret sauce to good design.

This month, we’re looking at observation-based research tools. Let’s explore what happens when observation is leveraged… and when it’s ignored.

Observation Leveraged

How does this image make you feel?

Now imagine you are 5 years old.

Children often panicked when needing an MRI scan, resulting in hospitals often having to sedate children to complete a scan - increasing risk, slowing down throughput and diving up costs.

Designer Doug Dietz (GE Healthcare) shadowed families and medical staff in hospitals. Instead of just looking at the machine as an engineering problem, he observed the experience of children and parents. He noticed the fear in the waiting rooms, the stress on parents’ faces, and how the environment amplified children’s anxiety.

The solution?

Through observation, he realised the problem wasn’t just the machine itself but the experience around it. The solution was to redesign the MRI environment into an “Adventure Series” themed rooms that turned the procedure into a story (a pirate ship, a space journey…). Teams were trained to guide children through the “adventure,” making it playful rather than frightening.

The Results?

• Sedation rates for children dropped from 80% to under 10% (saving thousands)

• Children often left saying they wanted to “come back tomorrow”

Observation Ignored

Too often we fall back on simply asking people what they want. What could go wrong?

Released in 1979, the Sony Walkman is one of the most iconic products Sony have ever produced. With strong sales amongst young men, Sony wanted to appeal to a wider audience. They wanted to appeal to women and thought an easy way to do this would be through colour. So what did they do? They asked women directly in a focus group and the majority said pink. So Sony launched a pink walkman.

Sales were terrible.

Asking isn’t enough. What people say doesn’t always align with what people do. We all carry around a huge range of biases, shaped by our lived experiences, that influence our every decision. Framing questions, interpreting answers, and even the answers themselves introduce bias. The real way to understand needs? Watch, observe, and learn from real behaviour.

A Personal Example

One of the most rewarding projects I’ve worked on in recent years was the redesign of a disability sport now played by over 8,000 young people across the UK. The kit had barely changed in 20 years, and it was holding the game back.

During our very first discovery workshop, I overheard a participant say something that completely reframed the challenge:

“I look forward to playing all week. I get half an hour a week to play and it takes my teacher 10 minutes to set it up. The side panels often come off during gameplay.”

That single comment became our compass. We set ourselves two clear design targets:

• Setup should take no more than two minutes

• The kit should never disrupt gameplay

By the end of the project, we’d met both targets. More importantly, we’d created a kit that lived up to the expectations of the young people that love playing this sport.

Closing Thoughts

Whether it’s a hospital MRI suite, a pink Walkman, or disability sports equipment, these stories highlight one truth: design lives or dies by how well we observe.

Observation lets us move beyond assumptions, beyond what people say, and into what they need. It helps us see the gaps, the frustrations, the small moments that if ignored become barriers, but if addressed, can transform an experience.

As Da Vinci hinted, copying what’s in front of us isn’t enough; we need to be conscious of why it’s there. For designers, that consciousness begins with careful observation.

So next time you’re sketching, prototyping, or talking to users - pause. Look closer. Notice what’s not being said. That’s often where the real design opportunities hide.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

With what seems like an infinite number of forces at play making it harder than ever for small, thoughtful product companies to survive, never mind thrive - I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I’ve spent the last few months reflecting quite heavily on what I want to focus my attention on for the next 5 years. Time is tight, family time is important but I am driven more than ever to add thoughtful friction into people’s lives.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: ILM Season 2.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Convenience is killing Culture. John’s design deep dive’s have been a fantastic source for years now. This latest video connects the dots nicely.

2. 

Space X Starship landing. A huge step on our journey to be a multi-planetary species. After what’s felt like a fair few failures for starship, this video of the first landing in the Indian Ocean is jaw dropping (human engineering at its absolutely best).

3. 

Alien Earth. If you’ve been holding off on this one - this is your sign to start! Directed by Noah Hawley (who directed the Fargo TV series) has a track record of taking phenomenal movies and transforming them into seriously captivating tv shows. This one has pulled me in massively with its impressive world building.

4. 

Why Everyone is Quitting Social Media. Matt has essentially had a default slot on my top 5 finds over the last few updates - if he keeps producing content as hard hitting as this, it always will. Well worth a watch.

5.

Disaster at Sea: The Piper Alpha Story. Having lived in Aberdeen for the last 10+ years, there is a long history with the Oil and Gas industry. The Piper Alpha disaster in the late 80’s was the biggest disaster to hit the industry with 167 people losing their lives. This documentary is hard hitting but an important watch.

Practising what I Preach

This month I had the chance to take part in the Summer TeaGreen Market at Aberdeen Art Gallery. I don’t often do markets, but every time I do I’m reminded how valuable they are for honest, face-to-face feedback.

When most of your work lives online, it’s easy to slip into a bit of a bubble. Spending a day in a bustling gallery, chatting with locals, watching reactions in real time - it was refreshing and eye-opening.

The venue was inspiring, the conversations energising, and it gave me a great chance to test buy-in for my work in the real world. Definitely worth stepping out from behind the screen.

The Details Matter

Since launching the Carlin Collection (shared in full earlier this year in this newsletter - check back if you missed this here!), it has opened doors to scoping out future furniture projects with local clients. One that got me excited was an opportunity to take the same guiding principles behind the collection and strip them right back to something beautifully simple.

You know those moments in ideation when an idea so simple strikes that it then guides your entire approach? That tiny spark became my north star for this project.

I can’t share the outcome just yet, but it’s a reminder that sometimes the smallest detail is what shapes the whole design. More on that soon...

It’s the kind of thing that can easily come off as preachy (and I’m definitely not claiming to have it all figured out!). But it’s an important conversation to have.

Take a read, and let me know if any of this resonates with you. This month is a real deep dive into an area of design I am very passionate about.

What’s the problem?

In order to define conscious consumerism, we first need to unpack the alternative, unconscious consumerism.

We live in a world where we can buy can pair of jeans for less than £5 and have them delivered to our doorstep in less than 24hrs, without leaving our homes. We are constantly bombarded by adverts that are becoming more and more specifically targeted to us. Pushing us to acquire new things for a dopamine rush that instantly evaporates.

The way we consume is broken. We have become so detached from the products we use as everything becomes ever more accessible.

Advertising has changed dramatically over the past decade, shifting from broad mass marketing to highly targeted, data-driven campaigns. Today, billions are spent annually by brands aiming to influence our desires and steer consumer behaviour.

Social media platforms collect vast amounts of personal data, which they use to offer precision targeting to advertisers. We only need to look at Meta whistleblower, Sarah Wynn-Williams, to see how nefariously this data has been used:

“It could identify when they were feeling worthless or helpless or like a failure, and [Meta] would take that information and share it with advertisers,” Wynn-Williams told the senators on the subcommittee for crime and terrorism within the Judiciary Committee. “Advertisers understand that when people don’t feel good about themselves, it’s often a good time to pitch a product - people are more likely to buy something.”

As AI becomes more powerful, we're moving toward a world where ads are not only targeted based on your behaviour, but are generated in real time. Think: personalised scripts, visuals, and product offers created just for you.

Advertising is already effective. And as tools like generative AI, deep user profiling, and real-time content creation converge, it’s only going to get more persuasive—and more difficult to detect. It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee.

The majority of us, give no thought at all to how this system works (unconscious consumerism). We buy things everyday without any consideration for what the product is made from, who it is made by (and under what conditions) and where in the world it is made. The global supply chain is so interconnected and opaque it’s practically impossible for anyone to truly answer these questions - including the people designing these products. This global supply chain is a feat of human existence, a result of the world working incredibly closely together to provide products at the cheapest possible price. A race to the bottom that considers only one thing - profit.

Today, we are consuming the resources of 1.75 planets. By 2050 this is projected to move beyond 3 planets. We live in a world with infinite growth and finite resources. At a global scale, we have no concern for the environment or the impact we are having on it. Our system is fundamentally flawed and we need a solution.

I think it’s important at this point to make it clear that I really don’t want to make any feel guilty for simply living their lives. We shouldn’t have to be highly conscious when making purchasing decisions. Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are ever increasingly targeted to continuously purchase new “things” and not all brands should be demonised. We have brands like Patagonia that are mission led and endorse more circular design principles- through schemes like a top that lasts forever (they will repair it for you) as well as investing profits back into preserving our natural environment. Equally, we are all part of this messy system and I don’t mean to make any of us for simply wanting to

🌍 So... What’s the Fix?

Enter conscious consumerism. A more intentional approach to consumption, where emphasis is placed on consuming less and being much more selective (in relation to sustainability and ethics) about what you choose to consume. It’s a trend that has seen a really positive rise over the last number of years with 73% of millennials and Gen Z saying they would spend more to support sustainable brands. With a cost of living crisis however, consumers are being priced out of the market.

As someone trained to reduce friction in user experiences, I’ve seen first-hand how big brands have mastered the art of making consumption effortless. It’s never been easier to click, buy, repeat. But when everything’s optimised for ease — what happens to intention?

And even when we try to buy better, how do we trust what brands tell us?
The global supply chain is a black box. Sustainability claims are often vague, unverified, or downright misleading. Greenwashing is rampant, and consent fatigue is real.

Meanwhile, we’re dealing with:

• 🔋 energy and resource scarcity

• 🌍 fragile supply chains

• 💸 a system that rewards price over principle

It’s no wonder that some big conscious brands like People Tree, Ingle & Rhode, Ren, and Trakke have shut up shop in recent years.

So where do we go from here?

The Opportunity 🌱

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the problem. The systems we’re part of - from the way we shop to the way we’re advertised to - are designed to make consumption effortless and constant. And even when we do try to make better choices, we’re met with greenwashing, rising costs, and a lack of transparency.

But here’s the thing: change doesn’t start with perfection — it starts with awareness.

Conscious consumerism isn’t about guilt. It’s not about never buying anything again. It’s about slowing down. Asking better questions. Choosing fewer, better things (quality over quantity). Supporting the brands, makers, and movements that are trying to do things differently — even when the path isn’t easy.

We might not be able to fix the global supply chain overnight. But we can begin to rewrite our relationship with the things we buy. That’s powerful.

Because small, intentional choices made consistently — at scale — can shift culture.

We don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly - Anne-Marie Bonneau

My Challenge to You

Ok - actions speak louder than words. So let’s put this into action. Let’s try and understand the impact of the decisions we are making. I challenge you to calculate the carbon footprint of something you purchased recently using this tool:

Product Carbon Calculator

This used to be an incredibly time consuming task and whilst not a perfect tool it gives us a good ballpark. I have been using this tool myself recently to get a better understanding of some of the design decisions I am making.

Let me know in the comments your result!

Is this a topic that interests you? 📚

Here are a few book recommendations:

📘 Digital Minimalism — why less tech can lead to more meaning
📕 Indistractable — how to reclaim your attention in a world built to steal it
📙 Atomic Habits — small changes, big impact (yes, it’s worth the hype)
📗 Hooked — a behind-the-scenes look at how products keep us coming back

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

With what seems like an infinite number of forces at play making it harder than ever for small, thoughtful product companies to survive, never mind thrive - I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I’ve spent the last few months reflecting quite heavily on what I want to focus my attention on for the next 5 years. Time is tight, family time is important but I am driven more than ever to add thoughtful friction into people’s lives.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: Fairphone 6.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

The Disneyland story. A story about finding your creative spark when stuck in a rut. Just what I needed this month and feeling energised from it. Great newsletter by Cal Newport.

2. 

How brands manipulated you into buying more. I’ve shared quite a few of Matt D’Avella’s videos in the past - this video could not be better suited to this month’s theme.

3. 

Blake Crouch - Upgrade. I’ve been reading a lot more over the summer break. I’ve always enjoyed the pace and premise behind Blake’s books and this one was no different. Must read if you’re into Sci-fi.

4. 

CMF Watch Pro 3. I love my Nothing watch pro 2. The design and value are unmatched in my opinion. This new model brings some serious AI integrations that I’m excited to see tested.

5.

Light & Magic Season 2. Some companies seem magical from the outside and I can’t think of any company that felt more magic growing up than ILM. Season 1 was incredible and season 2 didn’t disappoint.

Castlegate

This month, I have been pushing a personal project. Having toyed with the idea of capturing a physical location within one of my products a good few years ago, I was amazed at just how good smartphone 3D scanning had become. I 3D scanned the cobblestones in the centre of the market square of the city I grew up in. Cobblestones that have had thousands of people walk over them.

I wanted to take this further, for where I live now in Aberdeen. I wanted to capture somewhere iconic, that has seen Aberdeen evolve over time. What better place than the granite cobbles of Castlegate. Once the gates for Aberdeen Castle (long since destroyed), dating back to 1294, this has been a bustling market square for well over 600 years.

Having scanned the iconic granite cobblestones, I wanted to create something functional. Something that honoured the history of Aberdeen whilst celebrating the vibrance of the city now. I decided to create a series of simple trays that can stack up - something versatile for every scenario (a catchall for the hallway, clean storage for the home office, a companion for your bedside table, a centrepiece for the kitchen table…).

The final trays are cast from a portland stone based jesmonite for a natural finish. It’s a production process I have played with a lot over the years, moving from high res 3D print to silicone tools to final parts. These trays have cork feet that not only protect surfaces but also double up to help lock trays together.

I will be launching these in a limited batch at the Teagreen market in Aberdeen Art Gallery on the 16-17th August. If you’re Aberdeen based, come and say hi!

Time to take things in a new direction.

Here’s how this newsletter has evolved:

• Year one: A new product every month

• Year two: Behind-the-scenes and delivery

• Year three: We go big - each update will dive into one big theme in design that’s shaping the world around us.

To kick things off? Mass customisation - what we were promised vs what we got.

A warm welcome to the 33 new readers who’ve joined us this month - I’m really glad you’re here.

Mass Customisation

What is it? The ability to produce products that meet individual customer needs at the scale and efficiency of mass production. Essentially, promising the advantages that come with the scale of mass production with the flexibility of bespoke craftsmanship.

The dream? A world where everything from your shoes to your desk is made exactly for you - personal, fast, and affordable.

But what have we actually got?

A Few Bright Sparks

• OpenDesk: beautifully executed furniture, designed to be CNC machined locally (avoiding global shipping). Back in 2016, they introduced a customise feature, where you could plug in the dimensions you needed for your setup and it would parametrically update the file and export the drawings for machining for you. This was the excitement we were promised with mass customisation but sadly no longer exists on their site.

• Sonova custom hearing aids: Mass customisation at its best. Scans of your ear shape → custom-fit hearing aids. The same approach powers Invisalign and modern prosthetics. Fast, life-changing, and fully tailored to the individual.

• Adidas Futurecraft: Adidas promised a future where you’d walk into a store, sensors would track your movement, and a custom 3D-printed shoe would be ready by checkout. Bespoke midsoles, tuned to how you move. The concept? Brilliant. The reality? Still a long way off from true scale. The below image is as close as we got - a semi customised running shoe. Driven by 3D scan data and 3D printing, bespoke midsoles can be created that fit to the contours of someone’s foot whilst manipulating the density of the lattice structure to provide more support where needed.

So… What Happened?

This is the kind of design that got me hooked in the first place - big ideas, brave prototypes, and giant leaps forward.

Scaling these ideas is where things break down. The tech exists, the ambition exists - but mass production of custom products is still a puzzle we haven’t quite solved.

Meanwhile…

Mass Customisation Already Happened - Just Not the Way We Hoped

It happened in software.

Open any social media app: no two people see the same feed. Algorithms shape every interaction to fit your preferences. Seamless, automatic, hyper-personalised.

But here’s the twist: we’re not the customer - we’re the product. The true clients are advertisers, and what we see is designed to keep us scrolling and engaged, not to serve us.

It’s mass customisation for attention - not meaning.
This isn’t the future we asked for.

Where Is It Going?

Here’s what gives me hope:

• Parametric design (born 40+ years ago) introduced the concept of customisation by enabling quick changes to existing designs.

• Generative design took it further, using algorithms to explore thousands of design solutions. You define the problem, generative design produces your options.

• Generative AI still very much in its infancy is pushing personalisation into new territory and I’m excited to see where it leads.

Combine that with the maturing of the maker movement and powerful, affordable digital fabrication (hello, Bambu Labs) and suddenly the idea of creating beautifully tailored physical products at scale doesn’t feel so far-fetched.

Who's Reading This, Really?

I started this newsletter with the hope that I would grow a closer connection with people with similar interests to me - finding people out there who share a similar curiosity for design, making, and thoughtful idea. Last month I released a poll with the hope of finding out more about you.

The results certainly surprised me.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

With what seems like an infinite number of forces at play making it harder than ever for small, thoughtful product companies to survive, never mind thrive - I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I’ve spent the last few months reflecting quite heavily on what I want to focus my attention on for the next 5 years. Time is tight, family time is important but I am driven more than ever to add thoughtful friction into people’s lives.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: The Watchmaker Apprentice.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Fairphone 6. I have a lot of appreciation for fairphone - every phone should be modular in this way, avoiding the slow incremental disposable nature of smartphones. I love the idea of a physical “dumbphone” toggle - and am actively seeking solutions like this personally.

2. 

Matthew Encina: building a brand. Every one of Matthew’s videos are gold dust - slow and thoughtful in a world of fast paced rubbish. I first discovered Matthew on YouTube when he was with The Futur through an incredible brand building short series.

3. 

How to Turn a 3-Year-Old Tree to 25-Year-Old Bonsai. Another rabbit hole I have slowly begun to fall down lately. These videos are so captivating and this one in particularly resulted in me now being the proud owner of two small Japanese Acers. Check back in with me in 5 years to see my progress…

4. 

Convenience is Destroying Culture. John is a deep thinker and his videos do a fantastic job of breaking down important conversations within design - none more important than this in my eyes.

5.

Papyrus: SNL. I’m 7 years late to the party here but boy did I enjoy this one. Some simple comedic escapism.

TRACE Reborn

Continuing the theme of mass customisation - I’m picking back up TRACE (first introduced back in update 010) this month with the ambition of turning my design principles on their head.

I have had a version of this product on the wall in our house for over 8 years. Designed for my wife and I’s first home, it is one of the most commented on things I have ever made. I have produced quite a few over the years as gifts for friends and family - each one taking over an hour of manual line tracing. For 8 years I’ve had the thought in the back of my mind - how do I deliver this, passively to anyone that wants one? How do I remove myself as the bottleneck.

So what is TRACE?

It’s a custom map, laser-cut from birch plywood, that can show anywhere in the world. You can personalise it with a title and marker to highlight a location that means something to you.

Over the years, I’ve seen a few similar ideas crop up - but none with the same clarity or finish. Most rely on messy back-and-forth emails to finalise the design. I want to do it differently.

What if…

• You could visit a website, choose your location, preview it live, add your custom text, and check out in minutes?

• It arrived beautifully boxed, direct to the recipient?

• It was easy to install - even if you’re renting?

Surely a go-to gift? Personal, timeless, and simple to order.

Rewriting the Rules

For the last few years, I have flipped my own design education on its head - purposefully seeking to re-introduce some friction back into our day to day lives. Providing small moments of escape from our endless digital world. Time to disconnect. Time to think. Developing this product is going back to my roots and developing frictionless experiences, leveraging the obsession for detail and testing to produce a frictionless experience for good.

My original maps always used chrome standoffs (typically used in the signage industry). They’re clean, secure and leave no visible fixings - but they’re not DIY friendly. This is the single biggest roadblock for installing any of the maps I have gifted friends and family. It needed to be simpler.

So I went deep down the rabbit hole of alternatives. Could it be as easy as peel-and-stick? I tested every adhesive I could get my hands on. Every one failed — eventually falling off the wall. Not acceptable. Not sustainable. And definitely not renter-safe.

I tried countless options. Surely, peeling and sticking it to the wall would be the most frictionless way to install it? I tested every adhesive I could get my hands on. Every one failed — eventually falling off the wall. I cannot ship a product that doesn’t stand the test of time - we have enough landfill in the world. Equally, adhesives can damage paint on walls which isn’t ideal if you’re renting. I needed a solution that was easy to install and renter friendly.

The Breakthrough? A Humble Nail.

Simple. Reliable. Time-tested.

Imagine this: the packaging includes a little offcut you use as a template, complete with a built-in level. Line it up, tap in two nails, and you’re done. It gives the map just the right amount of shadow and depth — and anyone can do it.

Now I need your help

This newsletter exists to share ideas in progress, not polished final products. TRACE is still in development and your thoughts are a huge part of shaping where it goes next.

👉 What do you think?
Am I missing something obvious? Is there a better way to do any part of it?
Drop your thoughts in the comments - I’d genuinely love to hear them.

Right now, I’m finalising the packaging to make sure the unboxing experience is just as considered as the product itself.

One Last Thing

Whilst I have a crystal clear idea of how the user experience should look and work through the website - actually developing and delivering this is well beyond my skillset. I have a sense of what it would take but if this is your world and you have any insight or would be willing to work with me on this one - I want to hear from you!

I have a strong vision for how the online experience should feel but building the actual platform is beyond my current skillset. If this is within your wheelhouse - or if you know someone who’d be the perfect collaborator - I’d love to chat. Let’s make this happen!

A very warm welcome to the 71 new subscribers since last month’s update - you chose a good time to join!

This update is packed: design origin stories, a refined product relaunch, a deep breath in the Scottish Highlands, and a glimpse into where this whole thing’s heading next.

2 years ago I was feeling pulled in all directions and a little snow-blind. I had so much to do that I found it hard to focus on just one task or even figure out what the most important task was in that moment - never mind have the space to look ahead and figure out where I wanted to be. I started this newsletter as a means of finding that focus and moving the needle. By forcing myself to share a monthly update, I had no choice but to find focus.

Here’s what that foggy starting point has grown into:

🧠 Announced 15 new product ideas

🚀 Launched 8 of them into the wild

🏢 Shared 1 local commercial project

🪑 Developed a full furniture collection

🔎 Posted 120 of my top finds

✍️Written over 38,400 words! (some of you have read every word 😮)

Moving Forward

For the first 12 updates, I launched 1 new product a month. This was exhilarating and exhausting. For year two, I eased off and shared more behind-the-scenes work. Now, year three begins — and I’m switching gears again. Now, year three begins — and I’m switching gears again.

Each month, I’ll focus on one big theme in design — something worth chewing on. It might be mass customisation, digital friction, conscious consumerism, or the quiet decline of design education. Got something you want covered?

Next month we’ll be unpacking mass customisation: what we were promised vs what we got.

Who's Reading This, Really?

I started this newsletter with the hope that I would grow a closer connection with people with similar interests to me. The newsletter has grown a little since then and I’d love to get to know more about you. Help me focus in a little more by answering the following:

🎁 The Giveaway Winner is…

To mark 2 years of running this monthly update I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my updates. What better way to do that, then to run a giveaway and provide you all with an opportunity to get your hands on some of the products you have helped me to launch.

Thank you to everyone that took part, participation was high!

Congrats to Frances Plommer, our winner! You’ll be receiving some of the very products this community helped bring to life.

Your ID Origin Story ✍️

Last month I shared my design origin story. The idea of anyone discovering product design as a career still seems so unlikely to me and relies on so many strokes of luck. With subjects at school that allow children to discover this incredible discipline on the decline (42% drop in uptake of Design & Technology at A level in English schools), I want to shine a light on how others discovered product design as a career path so I went to the Minor Details discord channel (an amazing, worldwide community of product designers):

Brian Donlin - Freelance Industrial Designer

Studied mechanical engineering in College in the US for 3 semesters and through a fortunate conversation with a friend discovered Industrial Design and realised this was exactly what they had been trying to do through mechanical engineering.

Ryan Hume - Acid Rain Technology

Grew up constantly building “things”. Discovered Industrial Design when speaking to his Dad about College who had been to Art School himself (Art Center in LA) and spoke about students he would see walking through the building with models studying something called “industrial Design”.

Jason Palermo - Industrial Designer

Grew up with a father who was an Industrial Designer that had medically retired before they were born. Seeing their fathers design drawings as a young child stuck with them and lit a fire to draw at every opportunity and be a sponge to any related opportunity until they were able to study Industrial Design at University.

Alex Blondek - Product Designer at OMK

Was always hands on helping his Dad fix classic cars growing up. Alex had a love for technology and film and thought they would be studying animation at University. A lightbulb moment happened when designing and making a modern grandfather clock at school, leading to the realisation that this was the direction they should be taking.

Each of these stories has a moment — a conversation, a project, a parent’s influence — that unlocked the path to design. But what stands out most is how accidental it all feels. It shouldn't take a stroke of luck to find your way into such a vibrant, creative industry.

As schools continue to move away from hands-on, design-led subjects, the chance of young people stumbling into industrial design is shrinking. That’s a problem — not just for the future of our field, but for all the children who never get the chance to discover what they're truly great at.

Let’s keep sharing these stories. The more visible and varied our paths into design become, the more likely it is that someone else sees themselves in them — and finds their way in, too.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

With what seems like an infinite number of forces at play making it harder than ever for small, thoughtful product companies to survive, never mind thrive - I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I’ve spent the last few months reflecting quite heavily on what I want to focus my attention on for the next 5 years. Time is tight, family time is important but I am driven more than ever to add thoughtful friction into people’s lives.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: Fellow’s first espresso machine.

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

How to stop being so phone addicted. I have shared episodes by search engine previously and this one really resonated with me. As someone that is deeply interested in adding friction back into our lives, I am constantly exploring options to establish a healthier relationship with my phone. Considering buying a brick - if you own one, I’d love to hear your experiences!

2. 

The Watchmaker Apprentice. One of the most powerful documentaries I have ever watched. I enjoy watching documentaries but when I first watched this over 10 years ago, it totally changed the way I look at the world. An absolute must watch if you haven’t seen this already.

3. 

Jony Ive X OpenAI. I was skeptical when I saw this first. Ignoring the ridiculous production value, there is a childlike excitement here that’s infectious. The same excitement that got me excited about design in the first place. I want this to be true but can’t help but feel skeptical.

4. 

I tried to Master espresso in 30 days. There are only a few YouTubers that I actually stop what I’m doing to watch and Matt D’Avella is one of those. If you enjoy your espresso as much as I do, you’ll enjoy this one.

5.

Who Broke the Internet: Understood. Another podcast. Sorry. Great listen if you’re interested in how “enshitification” works. The act of actively making something worse to increase engagement.

CMF Dock Reborn

Back in update 015, I introduced an open source, 3D printed dock for the CMF watch pro 2 - a brilliant budget smartwatch with a terrible out of the box charger. I wanted to design something simple that could sit on a bedside table without taking up too much space and offer a better charging experience. I was never happy with the result though - it felt clunky and lacked the minimalism and refinement I seek in my own work.

I have long been a believer that some of our best ideas come when we’re not actively focussed on them. This frustration has been sat in the back of my mind, slowly cooking away, until a better version popped into my periphery. Less than 30 minutes later I had a mockup of version 2 and 1 hour later a first prototype in my hands. After quite a bit of tweaking to ensure the tolerances were dialled in, I’m happy to re-release the new and improved CMF watch dock, now taking up even less surface area. Made from two simple 3D prints, this design seamlessly hides the cable internally and snaps together without the need for any additional fixings.

I’m pretty chuffed with this one and it’s available to download and print yourself on makerworld.

Why I live in the middle of nowhere.

Aberdeen, my home, is tucked away at the very top of the UK - geographically isolated from a lot, including the design industry. It is never lost on me how privileged my family and I are to call this our home though. In less than 20 minutes, we can be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nature.

This walk is my wife and I’s absolute favourite and the first time we have been able to walk it together since having our children. A 6 hour hike up to the top of 1,150m Lochnagar through some of the most stunning scenery you could hope to witness.

What started off as a few short videos taken on my iPhone (playing with sport mode for smooth footage) quickly became the below video, drawing you into the beautiful Scottish landscape.

Music by Alex Productions

Having the ability to escape into nature in this way gives me perspective - we need more friction in our system to draw us away from our digital lives. One of the many themes I want to unpack across a whole update in the future. Watch this space.

🎁 A Giveaway to Celebrate Update 024!

To mark the occasion, I’m launching a special giveaway — starting today and closing the night before Update 024 goes live! The winner takes it all:

• 1 set of Mμ (finish of your choice)

• 1 set of Laminar (finish of your choice)

• 1x Loop

• 1x IKIGAI (finish of your choice)

👉 Enter the Giveaway Here

Don't miss it — it's my way of giving something back for all your support over the past 23 months.

Your ID Origin Story ✍️

It still baffles me how unknown the world of industrial design (product design) is to the outside world. What baffles me even more is how industrial designers discover this world to become a part of it. I’ve spoken to lots of industrial designers over the years and I love hearing their origin stories - the moment they discovered you could design physical products for a living.

For me, I always loved to make things and had a fascination with how “things” worked. Whether it was getting lost in building worlds from Lego, sketching out dream homes so real in my mind and so extravagant they should have belonged on MTV cribs or learning to use just about every piece of kit in Design & Technology I could get my hands on - designing and making was my flow state, my happy place as a kid. I also enjoyed maths and physics and assumed my only path forward was some form of engineering. I was lucky to have a good careers advisor at school and they told me I should look into Product Design and a light bulb went off in my head - Of course there has to be someone that actually designs the products we use everyday?!

As Design & Technology subjects continue to disappear from schools in the UK, it’s becoming harder for the next generation to discover this path. So next month, I want to celebrate our incredible industry.

📣 I’d love to feature your story.
I want to feature your story next month. I want next month to be a celebration of Product Design. Drop your story in the comments or reply directly — I’d love to include a few community origin stories next month.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a year

now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

With what seems like an infinite number of forces at play making it harder than ever for small, thoughtful product companies to survive, never mind thrive - I find myself more driven than ever to put thoughtful, meaningful products out into the world that don’t compromise on quality. The type of products people want to own and help in some way.

I’ve spent the last few months reflecting quite heavily on what I want to focus my attention on for the next 5 years. Time is tight, family time is important but I am driven more than ever to add thoughtful friction into people’s lives.

I want to design products that intentionally take us out of auto-pilot.

Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: Brief's are dying: Morama

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Has the design industry become too enamoured by the hype culture of the fashion world? Another Milan Design Week has come and gone - one day I will make it! This article really resonated with me as the maximalist trend really takes hold. For me this ties to the escapism trend that has been on the periphery for the last number of years as we seek refuge from the deluge of real world problems. There was a moment 4+ years ago where it felt as though there was a real energy around leveraging the power of design to tackle some of these big problems. This seems to have subsided somewhat and it saddens me not to see the climate crisis take more centre stage at key moments in our calendar like Milan Design Week.

2. 

Tariffs Effect on the Design Industry. This has been a month of doomsday articles and posts on LinkedIn in relation to the impact of both tariffs and AI on the design industry. Where there are threats - there are also opportunities.

3. 

Owning and Maintaining your Design Identity. Brilliant talk. Let this be the video you watch today to inspire you.

4. 

Fellow’s first Espresso Machine. This was the article that stole Fellow’s thunder. After weeks of teasing us about their upcoming launch, Bon Appetite released their review early and gave the game away. An exciting looking espresso machine by Fellow that seems to combine the visual appeal of a La Marzocco Linea Mini with the brains of a decent espresso machine. It’s a beautiful looking setup but It’s still a single boiler machine though which worries me.

5.

China: How to maximise your factory visit. We have some fantastic design consultancies in Scotland and Filament are right up there. This is a brilliant article with some quick tips.

Design is Iterative

Last month, I asked you to help me choose which of my four unreleased products to develop next. It was a close call, but Sundoku (a bedside lamp that encourages reading) came out on top. I was pretty chuffed! I have been playing with countless iterations of this design since introducing this back in update 012, with one version or another having been on my bedside for nearly a year now.

Sundoko (積ん読): The phenomenon of acquiring books but letting them pile up in one's home without reading them.

Sometimes the concept itself is the easy part: a reading light that turns on when you lift your book — replacing that guilt-inducing pile you keep meaning to read. But as with most designs, the magic lies in the details, and getting them right has taken countless iterations.

Designing for Habit

Back in update 012, I talked about a lightbulb moment I had when reading Atomic Habits by James Clear when he talks about creating an environment where doing the right things is easy - for example, “Put a book on your pillow to read more before bed”. This really resonated with me. What if your book was the first thing you saw by your bedside each evening?

This product is built around a single magical interaction. One you want to repeat. By making it sticky, we’re borrowing the same habit-forming principles that big tech uses to pull our attention, but flipping them for good: to encourage regular reading.

For me, the magic happens when the tech disappears — like a well-executed magic trick. From the start, the ambition was simple: a light that turns on when you lift your book. I tested countless mechanisms, and after more prototypes than I care to admit, I landed on the humble microswitch.

To get this made at an accessible price point, I need to optimise for cost without losing the soul of the design. Microswitches are reliable, built for repetition, and perfect for a product that needs to just work — every single time.

Solving the Switch

One of the biggest design challenges was activating the switch reliably. The switch is mounted on the angled back of the housing, but the book presses down vertically — and that mismatch caused jamming.

After a lot of iterations, I landed on the hinged design you see above. It’s simple, clean, and lets me keep the button small and mostly hidden. Best of all, it just works… every time. It’s always a good feeling when things finally click into place.

The Power of Small Changes

Refining this product has been all about small, incremental shifts. From adjusting the blue metal housing to let more light through, to fine-tuning internal snap fits for a perfect assembly — every detail matters. This phase is where the vision is either realised or lost, and getting it right is what brings the whole thing to life.

Final Touches

Here it is — the latest Sundoku prototype, fully assembled and finally coming together. I’d love to hear what you think. Would having this on your bedside nudge you to read more often? And where can you imagine seeing something like this for sale?

This journey has given me an incredible amount of focus, helping me refine countless product ideas and share them with the world for feedback. Thank you for being part of it! And stay tuned for update 024 — we’ll be celebrating 2 years in style with a few exciting giveaways 🎉

Months in the Making: The Carlin Collection sets sail!

Three months ago, this project was just a bold idea — a blend of passion, storytelling, and a deep dive into Aberdeen’s shipbuilding heritage. Fast forward to today, and I’m thrilled to unveil The Carlin Collection, a celebration of craftsmanship and local industry that’s now proudly on display at Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Ready to dive into the journey and see how it all came together? read on! ⛵️

Big Decisions Ahead—And I Need Your Help!

Next month marks my final update before we hit the 2-year milestone, and I’m switching things up!

In my first year, I launched one product concept every month—ideas that had been brewing in my head for months, sometimes even years. It was an energising time.

Fast forward to now and 8 of those 12 products are now out in the world! But there are still 4 that are so close to the finish line, and I need your input.

Which one should I bring back and fine tune? 🏆

I want your thoughts, your instincts - your gut reactions. Next month, I’ll focus on the one you choose—with the goal of finally launching it!

Vote now and let’s make this happen together. 💡✨

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

Try listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think. I have been testing the water with notebooklm for a good few months now and it keeps getting better.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

My Products, My philosophy

As a designer that was taught to reduce friction, I am now passionate about adding friction back into our lives. Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

By focussing on producing beautifully crafted products that don’t compromise on quality and prioritise heightening everyday rituals, I aim to encourage more opportunities for disconnect.

I’m actively exploring ways to digitally detox and would love to hear what successes you have had - let me know in the comments and let’s start the conversation.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: Humane Pin…Dead

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Brief's are dying: Morama. I have a huge amount of respect for Morama and their value driven approach. This was a really interesting take on how client relationships are changing and how clients are feeling more empowered as a result of AI tools.

2. 

Nothing Competition. Design competitions are a great way to develop exposure as an emerging designer. What better competition to take part in than Nothing’s community competition, focussing on CMF that will result in the community edition phone (3a). An incredible UK based company disrupting the smartphone market.

3. 

Is Design Dead?. This article has been doing the rounds in design communities this month as designers come to terms with the ever advancing pace of AI development. Insights from industry leaders. Is the design industry losing its lustre?

4. 

Severence and Dieter Rams. Like everyone else, I have been drawn in by Severence and its dystopian world. Unlike everyone else… I have been admiring a lot of the design icons used to style the interiors - Dieter Rams pops up everywhere, be it his Vitsoe 620 chair or the iconic Braun wall unit stereo system. The combination of mid century design with a brutalist visual language was captivating.

5.

Bonus D’avella.I’ve share Matt’s videos before - he has some incredible videos testing the water on some hyped up habits that are worth watching. Since he took a break, his videos have felt more authentic than ever and this bonus channel feels a little less polished which in a world full of polish, feels nice.

The Big Reveal: Introducing the Carlin Collection

For the last few months I have been sharing behind the scenes access to a project that has been front and centre for me. If you missed the updates, catch up here: update 020 , update 021.

It’s rare as a designer that you get to work on projects that you are genuinely passionate about - projects that almost perfectly align your interests and enable growth. I have had the privilege over the last 3 months of designing a range of furniture inspired by Aberdeen’s remarkable shipbuilding heritage while collaborating with local industries to bring it to life.

Storytelling is at the heart of my design process, and video has become my go-to medium for capturing that narrative. I pour a ridiculous amount of time into creating videos that convey the journey and value behind my work. Curious to see this project unfold? Watch the video below and let me know your thoughts!

DELIVER

In previous updates, we explored the “why” — this month, it’s all about the Delivery. I’m excited to finally introduce The Carlin Collection — a celebration of craftsmanship, local industry, and Aberdeen’s deep-rooted maritime legacy. Seeing this project come to life has been a labour of love (and, if I’m honest, sheer exhaustion). I’m incredibly proud of what this project has achieved, and I’m excited to see how the spirit of the Thermopylae continues to inspire future makers.

The collection is now on display at Aberdeen Art Gallery for the next few weeks. If you’re local, make sure to stop by and witness the incredible work of all the talented makers who were part of this program.

Next Steps

After months of development, countless prototypes and fine-tuning alongside industry partners, the production prototype has finally landed — and it’s a beauty (even if I do say so myself!)! The original goal was to use this as a springboard to produce a small batch of welcome seating for a local museum or gallery.

But as I’m sure you can imagine, funding in the public sector is incredibly tight right now. So, I’m shifting gears — looking at ways to further optimise the design for economies of scale and exploring the possibility of licensing agreements to get this into production.

Here’s the thing… this is uncharted territory for me. I know it’s a long shot, but if this is a world you’re familiar with and have any advice (or know someone who does), I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a DM — I’m all ears!

What a Journey!

I hope you’ve enjoyed following along — three months ago, I had big aspirations for this project but no idea how it would turn out. It’s been a wild ride, and I’d love to hear your thoughts now that we’ve reached the finish line.

Let me know what you think!

See you next month! 🚀

Since starting this project, chairs have very much been on my mind - I see them in my sleep. Outside of work, I love to build “stuff” with my son - he’s an out and out maker and master lego builder at only 5! His unfiltered creativity and the joy he gets from seeing his ideas realised is infectious. This was a chair we built together at our local Science Centre which we were pretty chuffed with… who knows, it might even compete with the actual chair I am designing!

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

A few months ago I discovered notebooklm (a new AI that can distill information down into a podcast format).

Try out listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

Set yourself up for 2025

As a designer that was taught to reduce friction, I am now passionate about adding friction back into our lives. Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

By focussing on producing beautifully crafted products that don’t compromise on quality and prioritise heightening everyday rituals, I aim to encourage more opportunities for disconnect.

I’m actively exploring ways to digitally detox and would love to hear what successes you have had - let me know in the comments and let’s start the conversation.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: Mara X

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Humane Pin…Dead. Less than one year after releasing the AI pin, all sold Humane AI pin’s will stop speaking with the server (and essentially be bricks) on February 28th. Yet more tech failures stacking up in landfill. This was probably the most poorly reviewed hyped product in living memory and will be used as a classic case study in a product without a market - pure tech push, no market pull.

2. 

A real Pixar lamp! Developed by Apple, this AI driven robot explores human response to an expressive (over pure function) robot. Expressive robotics is something I can get behind and having modelled Luxo Jr during the pandemic, I always had ambitions of making a real world lamp… maybe now is the time!

3. 

Caamp - somewhere. Caamp’s new EP has been my go to this month for chilled out vibes when working or making. Folk/Country is my go to when needing to loosely concentrate and Caamp is treating me well.

4. 

AirPods made from a pistachio. Yes your read that right… and now you need to see it right? Sometimes “because” is a good enough answer.

5.

Jony Ive - Desert Island Disks. I couldn’t resist putting this one in. The one line Ive said that stood out more than any other - “I struggle being present in the now because I spend so much time in my head in the future”.

Last month I teased a new project I have been working on. Today we unveil the details and share a little behind the scenes on the development process. This project has reignited my creative spark, letting me tap into just about everything I love about being a product designer.

I was hugely fortunate to be one of the lucky makers to get funded through the Tallships Makers Program, which ties in with the Tallships coming to Aberdeen later this year. Aberdeen (where I am based - a small city in the North of Scotland) has a rich ship building heritage - something I wanted to celebrate.

DISCOVER

My pitch? Honour the past whilst inspiring the future. Develop a range of furniture inspired by foundational wood joinery techniques rooted in Aberdeen’s shipbuilding history. Leverage local industries to celebrate the craftsmanship still thriving in Aberdeen.

When I discovered the story I shared last month about the fastest sail ship (the Thermopylae) in the world being built in Aberdeen I was blown away by how little I knew about this history, the incredible craftsmanship and innovation involved in bringing this ship to life.

During its time, the Thermopylae was considered “experimental” because of its innovative design and composite use of metal and wood. While being innovative was celebrated at the time, being labelled “experimental” was not. Throughout this project I sought to embrace the qualities that made the Thermopylae “experimental”, wearing this as a badge of honour.

DEVELOP

As a designer with a thirst for embracing new tools, I jumped at the chance to explore 3D modelling in VR when COVID hit. Armed with an original Quest headset, I quickly saw its potential—not just as a playful sketching tool but as a serious design tool. Gray’s, where I teach, became one of the first UK universities to join Gravity Sketch’s educational program, and I’ve been teaching students in immersive virtual spaces ever since. Now, with my new furniture project, I’ve finally found the perfect fit. Designing at a 1:1 scale, testing seating positions and exploring over 50 concepts—VR has unlocked a whole new level of creativity.

This approach led me to a design direction I’m not sure I would have come across otherwise and having refined it through more traditional CAD software I have been able to test iterations over the last few weeks. Alongside this, I have been working closely with industry partners to fine tune it and make it’s production ready. Below you can see one of the latest chair designs with a good number of iterations behind it!

Alongside what has been quite a tech forward approach to development, there is always a need to go back to basics to test the fundamentals. With a design developed I needed to understand how comfortable it would be to actually sit in. I pulled together this rough and ready prototype within an hour and got the confidence I needed to push the button on production.

(my home workshop… which I use almost exclusively a night, when the full time job has wrapped up for the day and the kids are in bed)

Timelines are tight with this project and production orders have been placed. If you’d like to see more behind the scenes to see how the pieces turned out, let me know!

Driving my own practice forward alongside a busy work life and a young family - this newsletter is a means to keep myself focussed and share my journey openly. It also is an invaluable tool to gather your feedback to shape my products before they hit production - so please do share your thoughts!

This month we take a sneak peak at my latest project (one of my most ambitious yet!) as well as launch a small drop of a product I announced back in update 004.

Want to listen to this update as a podcast?

A few months ago I discovered notebooklm (a new AI that can distill information down into a podcast format).

Try out listening to this month’s update as a podcast below and let me know what you think.

Don’t forget, help me to spread the reach and get more products off the ground by getting your friends and family to sign up below :)

Set yourself up for 2025

As a designer that was taught to reduce friction, I am now passionate about adding friction back into our lives. Too often we find ourselves in autopilot, trying to complete the never ending to do list we really don’t stand a chance of ever getting to the bottom of.

By focussing on producing beautifully crafted products that don’t compromise on quality and prioritise heightening everyday rituals, I aim to encourage more opportunities for disconnect.

Why not kickstart 2025 with intention. Start as you mean to go on, invest in your rituals and empower yourself to take more breaks next year.

Shop Now

As a thank you, you can use this discount code at checkout (available site wide): SubstackCrew (20% off).

Last months most clicked link: Magsafe docks… the reality

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Bambu Labs the end? Some shady changes in the latest software update for Bambu Labs printers - inevitably leading them down the path of putting everything behind a paywall. Not cool!

2. 

Mara X. I upgraded my 10 year old espresso machine over the festive break and have absolutely fallen in love with the Mara X. Making coffee is by far my favourite everyday ritual and gives me a proper time out from everything else going on.

3. 

Tsunami. When I saw this National Geographic mini series pop up I wasn’t sure if I could bare watching it - I’m so grateful I did though. I remember this happening when I was younger and seeing the human stories relived is incredibly powerful

4. 

Changes at Meta. No doubt you have been bombarded with the news of Meta’s changes since Trump coming into power again. Platformer is an awesome newsletter that has been providing invaluable updates on what these changes are and what they mean.

5. 

The Cure: Song of a lost world. The cure are peak nostalgia for me, I grew up with my parents playing the Cure and have always loved Robert Smith’s voice. This new album felt left field at the time but has been slowly growing on me.

This was one of my favourite product concepts that I announced in the early days of this newsletter. Having used various prototypes around the house for the last year, they have proved so helpful in my everyday life, I have made a small batch of 15 which are available to purchase today.

It was one of those classic lightbulb moments where you suddenly see the world in a slightly different way. As a creative, my desk is always in a state of flux and having tried just about every productivity tool out there, I have come to realise my desk space is prime real estate and I often need every last nook and cranny. I still need to be able to see my to do list though… or find my business bank card. That’s where FOCUS came in. Inspired by how Chef’s manage orders.

Voice overs is new territory for me and this has always been a space to test the water with new ideas. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the video in the comments. Does it work?

If you’re interested in finding out more about the origins of FOCUS, scroll to the bottom of update 004.

Buy yours now:

Buy Now

I don’t normally apply for funding calls but when I saw an opportunity come up in December I just couldn’t resist. It aligned so many of my passions and provided an opportunity to develop a product that is on every product designers bucket list. My application was totally left field so I had no expectation of hearing back but I made the cut and I have been developing this concept since early December.

I genuinely cannot wait to share more but for now I’d like to share a bit of Aberdonian history that up until a few months ago, I knew nothing about.

When looking back at Aberdeen’s long history with ship building I was drawn immediately to the tea clippers, an incredible period starting in the 1840’s and lasting only a few decades before steam power took over. The demand for tea, resulted in the fastest sail ships ever made. This developed into the annual tea race, where ships set sail to bring back the first harvest from China to London with the winner being able to sell their tea at a premium.

AI video created from the iconic painting of the Thermoplae by Tim Thompson.

These ships were the fastest sail ships ever made and the Thermoplae (built in Aberdeen) is still the fastest sail ship to date. When I grew up imagining pirate ships, this is what I thought of… infinite number of sails, huge bow and incredible wooden craftsmanship.

The essence of the tea clipper and the history of the Thermoplae is something I want to be able to celebrate. This project is an opportunity to:

• Celebrate local industries (laser cut folded sheet metal / locally milled hardwoods / CNC machining)

• Showcase craftsmanship (highlight foundational wood joinery: carlin joints)

• Be commercially relevant (inspired by the past but relevant to the world today)

• Be a statement

• Testament to the region’s heritage: introduce the story about Aberdeen’s history with the Clippers

• Celebrate Sustainable design practices

• innovative materials: combine wood with steel experimentally, similar to the experimental Thermoplae

Have I peaked your interest? Any ideas what I might be designing? let me know in the comments and make sure to tune in next week!

Origin was a company I co-founded with a colleague and very good friend to establish a design centred alternative to addressing the issues around plastic waste. Above is a pop up we opened for a few months that put everything we had been working towards into practice - in the public eye. Read on to find out more about Origin and why it ultimately failed.

We should celebrate failure more openly. We all need the freedom to fail.

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Last months most clicked link: Casio Ring

My top 5 pieces of content I have found helpful/inspiring:

1.

Precious Plastic in Trouble. There have been a lot of small scale plastics recycling companies going out of business over the last year. The landscape has shifted significantly and seeing this update from Dave Hakkens was sad to see but also reflective of the times.

2. 

Magsafe docks… the reality. I need your help with this one. I’m looking to gather as much feedback as I can about iPhone users experiences with magsafe docks. I am looking to launch mine officially in 2025 and want to make sure it’s the best of the best.

3. 

Why I disappeared. I have enjoyed Matt D’avella’s content for a long time - particularly his storytelling and videography. Having had his first child, his content began to slow down and this is his first video in 8 months or so. I always appreciate is honesty. It’s ok not be ok.

4. 

Billy & Molly. I love a National Geographic documentary. The epic documentary tells the tale of a Scottish man that saves an Otter out in Shetland. Beautiful story, beautiful Scotland.

5. 

The last Great Tea Race. I have been diving into the records and learning LOTS about Aberdeen’s epic history in Shipbuilding as a result of a project I am involved in (more on that next month possibly..). Genuinely amazed to learn about the tea race and the history of the clipper (the fastest of which was made in Aberdeen).

This months edition is a little different. Nearly 5 years ago in February 2019 I co-founded a company called Origin with dreams of positively impacting on plastic waste. A 2018 IPCC report stunned the world into action stating we had 12 years to reverse climate change. It was a tipping point for the planet and I felt empowered to do my bit to effect change.

As a product designer, we set out to effect people’s lives positively with the products we put out into the world (like the photo above of our first product: a small planter with a porcelain drip tray, seed paper and bespoke plastic free packaging). We also understand the reality that our products will likely end up in landfill and it has always been a paradox that has plagued me. For as much as I might try to propose more sustainable options to clients, the reality was that I was not the decision maker. The only way to effect change was to become the decision maker.

As designers, we also understand the nuances in the conversation around plastics - it’s not as straight forward as the black and white image portrayed by the media. Plastics are the most versatile material we have developed and it saves lives daily - whether it’s a fireman bursting into a burning building, or an incubator keeping a newborn baby alive. The sad reality is that of the 9+ billion tonnes of plastic waste created, 6+ billion tonnes is already considered waste. Only 9% of this waste has been recycled and a large proportion of this was used for less than 15 minutes. Single use plastics are the issue.

At the time, a lot of emphasis was being placed on new bio-plastics that were only compostable industrially. We didn’t think this was longterm solution and found it hard to simply brush the 6+ billion tonnes of plastic waste under the carpet. Why can’t we do something with this?

This, alongside our background in developing products for injection moulding and additive manufacturing set us up to believe it was possible to recycle plastic at source - something we called micro-circularity. Even when plastics are recycled, circular economies operate on such large scales that require the waste to travel around the world to be processed, recycled, re-manufactured, warehoused and then distributed to an end consumer. What about the carbon involved in that supply chain?

We secured a place in an accelerator program and various rounds of funding which enabled us to build the equipment we needed (borrowing initially from the awesome work of Precious Plastic), design, tool and produce 4 products, selling thousands of units and hiring 4 recent graduates over our 4+ years in business. We attended and gave talks nationally and internationally, spreading the word about Origin as well as educating the public about plastic and waste.

Failure in design is important. I learned quickly after graduating, working in the real world that inaction had a cost. It was critically important to move fast and make decisions - you can fix mistakes. It can be much more expensive to pay for time lost through inaction.

We failed a lot along the way with origin, learning as we went and pivoting constantly to maximise the resources we had available to have maximum impact. From the outset our goal was to establish the first micro hub, collecting, recycling and selling products under one roof - in full view for the public to see and trust in.

Over the years, we applied for multiples rounds of funding that would enable us to realise this goal - getting incredibly close at times. Managing a startup with ambitions as high as Origin alongside a full time job and a family was a challenge for both of us. When we began to get offered opportunities that would help to scale Origin that we couldn't act on fast enough, we realised it was time to close Origin.

I am immensely proud of what we achieved with Origin. Whilst ultimately Origin could be considered a failure, there were a huge amount of small successes along the way and I have grown massively as a result.

As a mission driven designer (and admirer of Apple), I have always bought into Woz’s description of how he built the first Apple computer.

All of our experiences add up. They lay there dormant, ready to be activated and connect with other experiences to create something that has never existed before. This has been my definition of creativity since reading Woz’s book back during my undergraduate and is why I will always prize being a lifelong learner and celebrating the journey (no matter how many failures) over the destination.

Wishing you every success in 2025 - pursue your passions and thank you for joining me on this journey.