Chris Hardy

What are your favourite product/s used in your capsule and why did you choose them?  
I think the Kivi Votive hand-pressed glass candleholder designed by Heikki Orvola in 1988 is a favourite of the products I selected for the Caroma capsule project – an incredibly pure product that has become a (contemporary) classic piece of design. I also love iittala as a brand and its vision to association with incredible designers like Alvar Aalto and more recently Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

Describe your approach to design?
I can’t help but be influenced by the tenets of modernism.  I also look to contemporary designers/design researchers in the fields of user experience and emotion (cognitive psychology) to inform the products I develop.

What inspires you in your design and how do you come up with your ideas?
Designers will tell you that inspiration can be gleaned from anywhere, at any time …in addition to this lovely phenomenon; focussed research and extensive sketching and prototyping to iteratively work through ideas characterises my process.

What is the biggest single influence on your creative thinking?
A pretty big question …I think perhaps modernist/neo-modernist attitudes towards design mixed in with contemporary research concerning user experience (in its various forms).

What is your strongest skill? 
I think all designers are problem solvers …I’m a pretty good problem solver.

What are you currently fascinated by and how is it feeding into your work? 
I still love solving problems by sketching ideas out with a blue BIC fine pen.  Beyond that, I’m very interested in ways users interact with objects and how technological advances are informing this.

What are you passionate about besides your work? 
My beautiful family.