Salto & Sigsgaard
A series of short interviews about how creative professionals play at work. In the third instalment, we hear from design duo Kasper Salto and Thomas Sigsgaard.
What is the value of play in design?
We believe design should be about creating useful, well-functioning products that are relevant to the world. We strive to keep a joyful and open-minded process throughout the whole period of time we spend making things.
As a designer, how do you use play in your creative process?
If playing means that you engage in an activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious and practical purpose, then we don’t want to add playfulness to our design process. That said, we now and then end up with products that contain a kind of playfulness. This is because we believe a product should be the result of a thorough research process and evolve from a relevant problem. At the same time, we try to avoid adding subjective design implementations, so the result is allowed to take the shape it should. Sometimes this leads to unique and funny looking products, like our Wet Bell lamp or the Nosy lamp.
What advice would you give to those who wish to incorporate more playfulness in their work?
Respect that design is not about playing around, because every time you produce something there are consequences for the planet.