Eugenio Perazza: 40 years in design

Eugenio Perazza is the head and founder of the Magis company (1976-now). This October in Moscow he presented his lecture which consisted of two parts: the presentation of recent Magis products and Eugenio Perazza's personal attitude towards product design.

Before the lecture started, every visitor had an opportunity 

to pick a bag and have a look through the Magis catalogue:

The CD contains an extended Magis catalogue (2012).

Magis: products

«Flower»
(designer Pierre Paulin)

Low chair.
Year of production: 2009.
Material: polycarbonate.
Cushions in fabric (Kvadrat) or in leather.

«Cyborg»
(designer Marcel Wanders)

Armchair.
Year of production: 2011.
Material: seat and legs in airmoulded polycarbonate.
Back in standard injection-moulded polycarbonate.

«Nimrod»
(designer Mark Newson)

Low chair.
Year of production: 2009.
Material: shell in polyethylene or polyethylene painted glossy.
Seat and back cushions in expanded polyurethane covered in woollen fabric (Kvadrat).

«Tom and Jerry» 

(designer Konstantin Grcic)

Swivel bar stools, adjustable in height.
Year of production: 2012
Material: frame in natural solid beech; 
joint and screw in standard injection-moulded polypropylene.

Magis Me Too
Magis for kids

"We do not create just smaller versions of adult furniture, 

we're making it for kids using such criteria as
the importance of game, 

multifunctionality,
the importance of «unfinished» objects -  

as kids use their imagination to complete it; 

some unnatural elements are widely used
 to develop observation skills of children."

© Eugenio Perazza.

«Puppy»

Abstract plastic dog to sit on.
Year of production: 2005.
Material: rotational-moulded polyethylene.
Suitable for outdoor use.

«Little Flare»

Children’s table.
Year of production: 2005.
Material: legs in standard injectionmoulded polycarbonate transparent clear. 
Tops in MDF with polymeric cover. 
Patterned tops also available. Pen holders in ABS.

«Trioli»

Children’s chair.

Year of production: 2005.

Material: rotational-moulded polyethylene. 

Three different seat heights. It can also be used as a rocker.

Suitable for outdoor use.

Compasso d'Oro ADI 2008 Award

Eugenio Perazza: about product design

«Design is not only the project of one exact product, but the idea which leads the company its own way»

«Design doesn't exist without good idea. How to seek for the idea? That's a question.
1) You should be opened to the idea;
2) Try to look at things thoughtfully, from different angles;
3) Search for empty nishes on market;
4) Market: see what appears and disappears from it;
5) Choose some concept inside the old things and apply it to your new ones»

«Design-making is about developing culture and making experiments»

«Designer should be curious and brave»

«Good designer should be able to answer the following questions:
- what is special about my project?
- why my project should exist?
- why should market accept it positive?»

Eugenio Perazza (img from http://lighterra.ru)

At the end of the lecture Eugenio Perazza stated that today the quantity of designs overweights its quality: designers tend to work with lots and lots of briefs throughout the year and sometimes it results in the variety of almost useless and carelessly designed objects. Actually, he suggests companies to slow down a bit and give the design teams more time to work on higher quality projects.
Any opinion on this?